RS:: I heard you're a singer now also and that you're singing on
some of your own records.
Don Diablo: That's been going on for a while. I'm not really a
singer-singer but I like to make the whole record myself. I used to
work with several different guest artists but it's very hard to give
your music a face that way because you'll sound different all the
time. I write songs and records for other people as well, because
over here I also produce hip-hop and rock bands, so it's very broad
and I don't just do dance. But everything that I do, whether it's
hip-hop or rock or whatever, it has a big electronic influence. At a
certain point I was recording demos for my own album and when I went
to New York and London, people were like who's the singer on the
album. They said I should keep it that way rather than have 28
featured artists which is less personal.
Oftentimes, there are eight people working on an artist's CD - one guy mixing it and then there's another guy tweaking this and doing that. I locked myself in the studio and wrote it myself, produced it myself, composed it myself, mixed it myself and that's just the way I wanted t do it. I've always been like that I really want to take things to a higher extreme because everybody's doing the same thing right now. What I wanted to do with this first single is try to take that a little bit more to the right and then with the remixes take it a little more to the middle where DJs can actually play it out. The original just needs to be fresh especially if you want to put out an album because there is so much music out there already. I get bored easily so every song has to be a little story on itself and have a little edge or switch to it. Sometimes I work on a song for a month, sometimes it takes a few days, but I can do it all by myself and I can just stand there and sing and tweak it until I think it sounds good.
RS:: When you're in the studio are you working on a Mac or a PC,
do you use Logic?
Don Diablo: I use Nuendo on the PC.
RS:: Really?
Don Diablo: That just works for me, don't ask me why. I'm a PC kind
of guy. Everybody thinks obviously it's cooler to have an Apple but
it works for me and it works great. I'm not really the kind of guy
goes on a plane and makes a record on a latptop when playing abroad.
I really need to blast it out anyway, so I have my set up with the
Mackie DXB mixer hooked up with Nuendo and it's all synched. That
sets up works for me.
RS:: Where do you see yourself traveling aside from Miami in the
next couple of weeks?
Don Diablo: I just came back from China and I'm going to London
again. I'm waiting after that. I've learned from the experiences of
friends like Mason and Fedde Le Grand. When you have a big record it
makes traveling a lot different, so what I've been doing right now is
holding back on the traveling and I really want to finish the album
and drop it after the summer. When I see the first results of the
record- It's just been signed to Ministry of Sound in Australia, Gusto
in the UK and it's coming out in different territories and then it's
easier for me to go to those markets where I'm actually promoting
something. I've been traveling around going from New York to Sydney
and then from Sydney to Rio and then back to Israel and to all these
place, so people know me but when I go back I want to promote an
album. I want to promote more than just being a proper DJ. When
people know you're tune, you're no longer going crazy trying to go
everywhere.
RS:: Sounds good. What would you like to say to all your fans out there?
Don Diablo: I apologize to all the fans abroad because I've been
getting a lot of eMails about when I will be getting over to Australia
and to the UK and to America and I haven't been on planes for a while
but it's all been for the good, for the better. I'm very inspired and
I've been reediting and making special music for the upcoming gigs.
I'm ready to rock it with, instead of two decks, four decks and to
bring something special and I think it will have been worth the wait.
Interview posted - April 25, 2007
