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Hernan Cattaneo Interview

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Hernan Cattaneo

www.HernanCattaneo.com
The only DJ with two Masters Series releases on Renaissance Recordings, Argentinean native Hernan Cattaneo has steadily climbed up the DJ charts to number six. With one of the most hectic tour schedules one could imagine, he has spun in places like Nashville "Music City USA" Tennessee all the way across the world to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. With a highly anticipated release set to come out in September on Bedrock Records with Warsaw from Cattaneo & Tonks, Hernan is now making his mark felt in the production world. We were privileged to talk to Hernan after the Sound of Spectrum tour about his career, music, and a few off-topic items.

Pete Kay: Can you tell us about how you got on the Sound of Spectrum tour?
Hernan Cattaneo: Well that was a Paul Oakenfold idea. Early this year they wanted to do a two-week tour around the country, in America, with different DJs joining in on different cities, and I thought it was a really good idea since I could work also on weekdays apart from the usual; usually I tour on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night basis, and it was like always the same, also doing all the different cities and, you know, having a chance to go to places I've never been before like Nashville or St Louis or Indianapolis, so I was really keen on doing it.

PK: Speaking of Nashville, I saw you play in Nashville last Wednesday and I was going to ask you about it? How did you think of the crowd, and as your first time playing in Nashville, how did you enjoy it?
Hernan Cattaneo: It's really good to get to see small cities where not many DJs go and play. And even when it was Wednesday night in Nashville, it was a really good crowd, rocking since very early, and they seemed to be having a great time, the same as we did, we really enjoyed the whole thing.

PK: That was a great set, thank you.
Hernan Cattaneo: Thank you.

PK: Is there a certain city in the US that you enjoy playing more than others or you don't really have a preference?
Hernan Cattaneo: Well, it's different, every city has its own charm I would say. It's great to play big cities, like New York or big clubs in Miami or LA, but also, going to a smaller city where we have smaller clubs and a more intimate atmosphere, it's also really, really interesting. It's not always about playing for huge crowds, great big crowds, it's also good to play in smaller clubs. So you go to a club to play for two hundred people, and you enjoy more than playing a set for twenty thousand.

PK: I agree, I definitely like the smaller, crowds myself, it's more intimate.
Hernan Cattaneo: Yes, it's always good.

PK: Definitely more intimate. Now I've talked to a lot of DJs and it seems like everyone enjoys playing in South America and Eastern Europe, is there a particular part of the world that you like playing more than others?
Hernan Cattaneo: Well those you just mentioned are really, really good at this at the moment, I mean and they've been in the last two or three years. And I think it's all about, Eastern European and South America are like new territories in terms of dance music globally. Like in Western Europe or in America, they've been doing this for more than fifteen/twenty years, while in South America or Eastern Europe it's more a newer thing, and you can really easily tell that they've been waiting for something like this to happen and they enjoy it a lot. They've been suffering from a lot of things so now they they go out, they enjoy the DJs, it's a whole club concept and it's massive over there. So I really enjoy it, also Japan, and all over Asia. Asia is really good to play, China is growing, I've been going to China in the last four years, and every year when I go to Shanghai, Beijing or Hong Kong, it's amazing the way that dance music is growing over there.

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