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Interview with DJ Di'jital Di'jital, aka Lamont Norwood is the prototype for a DJ. Starting out, he was heavily influenced by Hip-Hop, Soul, Funk - not overtly surprising if you consider he is a native of Detroit, and as many of his contemporary's sounds and starting point were much the same. He began his ascent of the DJ ranks over a decade ago, rocking the clubs with his broad musical tastes, all thrown into his contemporary mixing melting pot. Yet, right from the beginning, Di'jital's declared mission was straight forward; "to keep the crowd moving all night long." His furious mixes are dizzying, and impressive. He has no problems weaving, blending and matching sets of rudimentary beats to effectively create his own live remixes, and mind boggling layers of sound from the tracks that are synonymous with his sound. Di'jital has tuned in on the skills it takes to drive the dance floor, and now demonstrates himself to be somewhat of a master mixing craftsman, effortlessly taking command of the decks he never fails to deliver his devastating musical performances. As a result, his fan base is constantly growing, as the underground dance scene slowly but surely realise that he is a rare and unique talent. This international recognition was the last thing on his mind when he first began his quest- instead, he simply drove himself on through passion and love of the music and the scene around him. A man who wanted to contribute to this scene could perhaps never have anticipated the success, and impacthe would have. As many of the greats have done before and after, he began his DJ life on a double cassette deck in his parents, house. His combination of unrelenting dedication and pure, natural ability took him far beyond his first set of turntables. Shortly after this phase of his DJ life, Di'jital became an integral part of Aux 88. "It's was like a dream came true", he says. His debut release on Direct Beat, "Prototype", began his journey into the world of production, and somewhat "further" than the dancefloor, paving the way for the sound that he calls "sinister techno bass." And here we are...take a seat and let's take care of some business. Wotcha Di'jital how's tricks? LD is at the bar, what you drinking? LD is skinning up, cone or 5 skins? How did you hook up with the Auxmen? Was it the remixes for
Direct Beat? What are the Aux guys like to work with? Who tells the best jokes, K-1 or Blak Tony? Tell us something about them we don't know? To the point of driving you nuts? What's happening in the D that we should know about? Anyone standing out? And what do you think the future of dance music
is? No names then, I've spoken to loads of people in the D and none of
you will name names, what gives? You started like most of us, messing around with tapes, but what
was The biggest leap forward for you, what flicked the switch of no
return? I did 3 albums on a Roland W30 and then bought a massive sampler and
completely lost focus because I had loads of sample time, limits make projects
interesting in my view, would you agree?
How do you approach writing a track? Who's been the biggest influence on you? What's your favourite piece of kit? Before you set off for a gig, do you know what you are going to play
or do you have a plan B and C in the box just in case? Mary J and Beyonce walk past your studio, they both offer to sing on
your tune, who do you go for and why? If you could work with anyone, who would you love to get a studio tan
with? You've always had broad taste, are you still pumping out a good
mix of tunes in your sets? Where the best place you've played? Are playing at DEMF this year? Why are the Police so against us getting together? It's weird and
frightening when compared to the UK - One false move and you've got a cap in you
ass, will they ever chill the fuck out? What's the maddest request you've ever had? Did you have it ?<laughing> How's the Bass? You still feeling it? You going for the body feeling across all the frequencies or the deep
harmonics? Great care needs to be taken with deep bass tho it wears the listener
out, how are you going to get round that? Leftfield once built a set of special speakers for bass, they knocked
you for six, I couldn't walk - you got similar plans? You often talk about the sinister sound, how do you define
it? No dark sinister backwards messages then? How do you rate our chances of getting an interview with Mad
Mike? What the biggest difference from playing in the D to playing in
Europe? But that's the same with any crowd, what's the biggest cultural
difference that you notice? Why do you think us European's have taken more to you guys than your fellow
countrymen? The North of England has always had an ear for what's happening in
Detroit - even way back in the soul days, have you checked out the stuff from
Sheffield, Manchester etc? Are you working on anything at the moment? Techno Bass 2 was brilliant, any more mix CD's planned?
You got a message for us geeks? All time top ten tunes Listening to at the moment. When are we going to see some new releases from you? Thanks Di'ji, there will be a Canberry and Vodka on the bar for you at DEMF 2004. Book DJ Di'jital |
