RS: Well, if you were to do a video for Calabria, what would it
look like?
Rune: You know what, I think I'd just stick to what I do. What I'd
love to do is, I'd love to illustrate what's going on in the
nightlife, because I think a big problem with music, and house music
in general, is that it doesn't have any identity. It does when you go
out somewhere, and you see a lot of young people going nuts in a club.
I want to do that. You know these classic stadium rock videos you had
in the 80s, with the band playing in this big stadium and people going
nuts? I'd like to do that with a house record. That would be so good
because it would be so clear. It would just be that going on, and
people could relate to that in a much better way than all these bikini
videos.
RS: Yes, those bimbos in bikinis videos are becoming just a tad
cliché. There's such a buzz on so many Dutch trance DJs and Dutch
DJs. What can you say for the people of Denmark, all the Danish
musicians?
Rune: You know what, I'm sorry to say so, but they're better. DJs in
Denmark are ridiculously good because they have to be. Denmark was a
really, really big rock country, so I'd say there was never any
respect for DJs. It was all about 'where's the guitarist' and 'where's
the singer'? We really had to work hard and a lot of DJs in Denmark do
so many tricks. And talking of myself, I was named the professional of
house music many times in Europe where I play around, because we had
to work so hard to get the attention of people. People don't do any
drug because it's a beer country. People drink a lot so you have to
work really hard to get their attention. From the technical side of
things, they are extremely, extremely good DJs, and musicians as well.
Do you know Trentemoeller?
RS: Of course, Rykettid rocks!.
Rune: Yes, he's a Danish guy, and he's fantastic as well. He's doing
really, really well. He's a friend of mine, too.
RS: I interviewed him last year. You also did something with MTV
and some TV competition?
Rune: Yes, I'm the judge on the new MTV Selective tour. It's a
competition in Northern Europe for the next big DJ. It's a bit like
the Heineken things and that sort of stuff. They're doing this big
competition, and I'm the judge on there.
RS: Very cool. In the Danish scene, what would you say is the
big musical trend coming from there right now?
Rune: I'd say we're going back to more vocals. We've had minimal and
we have this whole electro house thing, of course. At the moment,
vocals are coming back, but not like classic house vocals. More tech-y
stuff, but blended with a bit of funk, and then the vocal on top of
that. A good example would be John Dahlback's "Everywhere." It was a
huge hit in Copenhagen and Denmark. So the vocals are definitely
coming back, but they're coming from a different place. All the
minimal DJs in Germany are also playing vocals now.
RS: Are there going to be a lot of vocals on your album? Who
are some of the people you're working with on the album?
Rune: I can't really tell you that because it's not confirmed. But
there will be some really, really, really big artists on there, if I
can get away with it. This is a fantastic opportunity to approach my
heroes from back in the day. I had a big record in the US, and there's
so many, especially within hip-hop and rap, that I admired for so many
years. I'm going to try and get quite a few of those people on there.
RS: In the hip-hop vein, what was it like when you heard Pitbull
sample your record?
Rune: Well, I don't think his version is that good, to be honest.
But I'm honored that he did. It's a great approval – Pitbull, Lil'
Jon. That's just another tap on the shoulder for me as a producer.
RS: With all the different versions out there, Calabria has
been called the new Planet Rock.
Rune: That's a compliment. If anybody thinks of anything I've ever
done in terms like that, that is probably the biggest honor I could
ever achieve in my lifetime.
RS: What would you like to say to all the fans of Calabria out there?
Rune: I'd say you should look forward to the album. It's going to be
very good. We're looking to get some really big acts on there. It's
going to be a really, really good album. It's a new blend, very
interesting, in my opinion, taking influences from hip-hop and R&B and
then whack it together with this up-tempo stuff. It's really working
out very well.
