RS: There is a bit of a backlash right now against the whole Ableton
DJ, that it's mostly staged and preprogrammed. When you're playing
live on Ableton, how much of it is actually live, free from your
thought and how much is preprogrammed?
Dave Dresden: None of our sets were programmed. We added songs to the
library before each gig and then at the shows we discussed the songs
we were going to play based on what the reaction was to the song we
were currently playing. We also discussed how we were going to do the
segue and everything else involved in the show. everything was 100%
live.
RS: What kind of controller are you using when you use Ableton?
Dave Dresden: None. Josh was on the computer sending me the song and
then I would control the volume through the club mixer and along the
way we would talk about when to cross over the mix. It was two heads
and four hands and a whole lot of fun. People in dance music should
not be afraid of new technology because technology is was pushes music
forward, and in the end it's not what you play from it's what and how
you play it.
RS: When you're in the studio working on music what do you use?
Dave Dresden: As a relative newcomer to the engineering side of
things, I use Ableton 7 and Logic 8 for making music. Both programs
have really evolved to helped musicians with less engineering
experience do things that they never imagined they could do. As I said
before, technology drives music and with just a little bit of time,
someone with not that much engineering experience can make decent
music. The future looks very bright for people with good ideas but not
a lot of experience or a music school degree.
RS: What effect do you think Beatport has on the distribution of your music?
Dave Dresden: Beatport has revolutionized the distribution of dance
music. Not only does it give you a wide variety of choices but with
all the DJ charts and "customers who bought this also bought this"
entries one can find whatever they are looking for and more. Beatport
has even made its share of newcomer superstars like Nick Terranova and
Deadmau5, who owe a lot of their success to Beatport. I remember when
they came on the scene in 2002 and there were a lot of detractors, but
they stuck by their guns and offered a quality service and that's the
reason why they are the industry leader in dance music retail.
RS: Do you think Beatport, with so much access to music distribution,
is watering down the quality of music that's out there?
Dave Dresden: Not at all. Every place is going to have its good and
bad music. its just like life. you can't have bad without good and
vice versa.
RS: When you made the song "As the Rush Comes" as Motorcycle with Jes
and Josh, did you have any idea it'd be as big as it was going to be?
Dave Dresden: Josh used to gauge how good a song we were working on
was based on how much I'd dance around the studio. "As The Rush Comes"
had me raving 24/7 with glowsticks and whistles for the entire
duration of its creation. But of course, you never know what will
happen when something hits the marketplace. We gave the track to DJ
Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, and Pete Tong and all three went wild for
it. We knew then we had a hit, but we didn't have any idea that it
would be one of the dance songs of that year, and live on to be a
neo-classic, which it still is.
RS: What was your favorite remix of that track?
Dave Dresden: I think Markus Schulz did the best remix of ATRC. The
music bed he created and the arrangement of the mix really had me in a
tizzy, and it still gives me goosebumps to this day.
RS: Who are some of your favorite producers right now?
Dave Dresden: So many names... Steve Angello, Trentemoller, Steve
Bug, Deadmau5, Tom Novy, Paul Harris... we could go on for days,
really. Anyone who makes forward-thinking, soulful techno-trance-house
whatchamacallit music that holds your interest and says something to
the listener that doesn't have dollar signs written all over it.
RS: Do you think DJs need to produce and producers need to DJ?
Dave Dresden: They are, in a way, a symbiotic relationship where one
part helps the other to understand what is needed. Of course there are
people who make good dance music who don't DJ and vice versa, but
making tracks is a surefire way of finding your way into the DJ booths
of the finest clubs in the world.
RS: What would you like to say to all your fans out there?
Dave Dresden: I love all of them and their faces at the shows really
inspire me to want to work harder and make better music and do better
sets. I hope that they find interest in both Josh and I as solo
artists as they did when we were a team.
