JW: I'd like to clarify that your DJ skills are second to none and that every mix that I get from you is excellent and tasteful. Sorry for focusing on your production.
QB: It's okay... I focus a lot more on my production myself. It's all intertwined. As above, my experience as a producer helps me put together my DJ sets... I doubt one would really be as strong without the other.
JW: You've got a rather large discography but from the tunes I've heard recently I've noticed that you've got your own sound and production tricks. Do you listen to other people's music for ideas and inspiration or do you find that it hinders your creativity.
QB: I do listen to a lot of other music and it inspires me, but not in the way you mention. It's actually competitive. When I hear a track that blows me away, especially if it's by a friend of mine, then it's like the gauntlet is thrown: "All righty! I can top that! Time to get busy!" I think my own production tricks just come from making music for almost two decades... I don't even really think about the sound or any tricks. I just do what I do in the studio and it comes out the way it comes out. My process is quite mysterious, even to me, so it's hard for me to talk about it.
JW: You work harder than anyone else in the game. I'm always seeing your name on flyers, getting eMails, hearing mixes and generally seeing news about something new that's happening with you. Have you always taken the approach of constantly being on the go?
QB: I'm a bit of a workaholic. I'm one of those people who can never sit around and do nothing. I get antsy and start going through the files of my brain... "ok, what do I have to do today? Why am I just sitting here?" I've always been like this and so I'm always working on something. I also know that success depends on stubbornness more than anything, so I'm constantly working at my goals and pushing myself to work harder.
JW: How has hailing from Orlando helped or hindered your career. Isn't Orlando the breaks mecca?
QB: Breaks mecca? I wouldn't know. I hear Disney is here, too, but it's not in my sphere so I don't even think about it. My friends, my scene, what I'm involved in is my focus and nothing else really intrudes on that. Not that I'm bad-mouthing the breaks scene... It's great what they've done and how they've had some success but it's not really where I'm roaming. That said, I think Orlando is quite the house music town... There is so much great talent here. There seems to be a house music night every night and there are some excellent labels based here (like Agave and Chillin, to just mention two). I think we have a stronger house scene (and music scene in general) than most US cities.
I don't think living in Orlando has hindered me one bit. It's a great city. I really like being here. And the ways it has actually helped me are numerous: it's cheap to live here, the weather is mostly nice, the people are great, and, most of all, the airport rules. Thanks to Orlando tourism I can fly almost anywhere in the world on the cheap and I know I get a lot more gigs than I usually would because of that fact. Yay Orlando!
JW: You travel all over the world. What are some of the highlights of your touring and if Orlando fell into the ocean, where would you move to?
QB: Well, I'd move to San Francisco as it's my second home but I'd need a lot more money in my pocket first. I also like secluded island nations... Iceland and New Zealand are attractive to me though, theoretically, if Orlando fell into the ocean those places would probably be underwater as well.
On its own, touring internationally is a highlight. Meeting all of the different people and having experiences with other cultures has educated me immensely. It's also fun to have close friends dotted all over the map. That's the best part of my job: making new friends and meeting new people.
I just returned yesterday from my eighth visit to Moscow, Russia. That's pretty crazy when I think about it. Eight times in Russia alone! My work is really tough... It's a 7 day a week job, I struggle financially on a regular basis, and I never seem to finish everything I need to do. But when I think about the fact that this job allows me, at the very least, to go to Russia eight times and make friends with the wonderful people there then I can't think of anything else I'd rather do.
