On Sunday 27th of July DJ EZ returns to Sub Club with his Garage sound and bass-ic beat down. The highly touted Tottenham DJ cut his teeth as a pirate on the London airwaves and at the Gas Club in the city before going legit with his radio show in 2000. Expect old school classics and the best in new urban music from this guy as he takes us all back to the glory of the 2 Step raving days. We managed to catch up with the man himself ahead of the big event…
1. Your love for Garage music was fed back in the early days. What did you find in the clubs there in the small hours? Was it your first proper clubbing experience?
I got into Garage in the early mid 90s, I was playing Hardcore before that and the way I discovered UKG was by listening to the radio and came across some music from the likes of my God Mr Todd Edwards. So from then I done some research and bought some of his music. Stopped playing the Hardcore stuff and switched.
Next up I got in to pirate radio on a station called Freak FM, which done a lot of things for my career. From there I was recognised for doing my weekly radio shows and started getting club bookings, and the rest is history…
https://soundcloud.com/uncledugs/ezfreek1993
After being at Freak FM for four years I was getting a lot of interest from record labels and was approached by Warner Music to mix a compilation called Pure Garage & again, the rest is history!
2. How big a deal was the Pure Garage Compilations for you?
It done wonders for my career. The whole mix series sold over 2 million copies worldwide, and gave me a lot of exposure outside the UK. From that I got my radio show on KISS FM which I’m still doing to this day. Been on there for almost 14 years. To be honest, I owe a lot to Pure Garage Compilation.
New followers who are discovering the music are going back to the archives, and now and again I get the odd tweet of a picture of someone buying an old Pure Garage copy, its fascinating to see it. Even copies of ‘Pure Garage One’ – I don’t even know if I have a copy of that myself! It’s an amazing time right now, having followers from the early 90s to new followers who seen me at the weekend for the first time. This is a sort of balancing act for my DJ sets, where I can cater for those who’ve been around for years and for those into what I do now. 50% old & 50% new. It’s cool!
3. After all this time in the industry how do you keep motivated? Do you ever feel you have “been there, seen that, done that? ” Are you still fortunate to have a passion for it?
100% I’ve still got the passion! This is what I do and will do forever. I think to myself am I still going to be doing this for the next 10 – 20 years and I just can’t see myself hanging up my headphones, Ever! Maybe ill health or something will stop me, but can’t see my self stopping what I’m doing right now. I just love it!
4. Back in the day how relevant were promos and the likes of Exposure tape packs and is Boiler Room etc a modern day version of these concepts?
Funny you ask that as I just done an interview with some guys in Amsterdam, and similar chat popped up. It’s funny times, because when I was DJ’n back in the day it was the likes of tape packs and DJ’s doing their own self promotion, by handing tapes to promoters. Now a days you have so many platforms and avenues to get your DJ sets and productions heard. Soundcloud, Mixcloud, Twitter, Facebook and so on.
So it’s a great advantage for DJs & Producers if you’re getting into it, but obviously all this has its disadvantages. Things like saturation where everyone wants to be a DJ and make a track. For example, every Wednesday I go through all the tracks that are sent to me each week, and I cover at least 200-300 tracks whereas back in the day that would never have happened, you’d just get a White Label sent to your PO BOX.
5. Were you always very forward thinking by embracing technology and the transition from records to CDs to laptops?
I was one of the late comers to CDJs, I found myself going to clubs and still rocking up with vinyl and would often find that some of the clubs wouldn’t have turntables in good condition or they were only used to sit drinks on. Some didn’t have needles and were in a state of repair really. So I held out as long as I could for vinyl, because from day one that’s what I learnt my trade on. It got to the stage where I was actually carrying vinyl and CDs just incase the turntables at the gig were knackered, and then it got to the stage where the turntables were no longer in the club. When it got to the point where I said to myself enough’s enough!
Now I am using USBs with a Pioneer record box which has cut down my workload in a big way, it’s great. It is a massive step and so much different from playing on vinyl, where you can do a lot more technically with CD’Js. But yeh I do miss playing on vinyl, but as I said, you’ve got to move on.
6.You were one of the first to use reverb/delay effects on some Garage tracks, many of these features are now standard in the box features with Traktor etc. Did you see this trick becoming industry standard?
No I never seen that coming either. I was one of the first ones to incorporate that into my sets both on radio and in clubs. I like the use of effects, sometimes I do go a bit overboard, but that’s what I am known for so can probably get away with it in most cases. That’s the trademark, where I differ from some other DJ’s. I like to bring more to the table in terms of a more technical, entertaining style DJ set.
7. Did you ever pursue any production work?
I have done quite a few productions in the past, all the ‘EZ Intro’s’ and tracks that I start sets and mixes with and I’ve also done quite a few remixes back in the day. What I found was that the DJ’n got so much, where I couldn’t devote much time to making the music. Very quickly the bookings extended outside the UK to Europe and now internationally. My plans are to get back in the Studio , and I am actually gonna be taking some equipment on the road with me to get some productions out there. I was in the USA a few weeks ago and on an 11 hour flight I said to myself ‘I could be spending my time right now with a little mini keyboard & my laptop and be able to knock out some tracks.’ Watch this space man!
8. Since it’s been 20 odd years, who would be your one to watch for the future, anyone capable of taking your hat / crown?
I hope to take the hat off for a crown one day, that’s my goal! ;) In terms of producers there is some great music coming out right now. I’m a big fan of Flava D , Tuff Culture, and Cause & Affects. Also Hannah Wants and the likes are making a lot of noise! Good times right now for DJs & Producers.
9. What’s your opinion on longevity of tracks, many of the best Garage tracks that smash a dance floor are 15/20 odd years old. Do you believe they were better produced or a case of music being more throw away now?
It’s funny you say that because some of the key tracks in my set such as RIP Groove , by Double 99 are 20 years old now and still smashing the floor. This is why I love Garage, It’ s got longevity. One of the reasons I got into it was because it has got so many elements , its got the dark side , the vocal side, the jazzy and soulful side, the 4×4 side and the 2 step. So many sides to it.
10. Any particular track that you see being just as big and still in the box 15 years from now?
RIP Groove, is kinda similar to Redlight’s Source 16, it’s one of them tracks that I play in almost every set and no matter where you play it always goes down. It’s got so much legs, it’s just gonna continue and no one will ever get tired of it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KSpvES1sWM
11. Do you ever Dj without that famous hat?
Never. I went to a club in Bristol one time and actually forgot and left the baseball cap at home. It was quite strange and was kinda hiding behind the decks and avoiding the photographer. It’s like my Superman wings. There was an option to go to the local petrol station and get a Shell hat but I couldn’t wear that in a club. It’s not cool! ;)
12. What do you do when you’re not playing, touring or on radio ?
I enjoy chilling out, watching a bit of TV and I’m really in to technology. I like to research gadgets , smart phones and the likes. I listen to a lot of podcasts. When I am driving in the car I don’t really listen to music as much, I listen to audio tapes , anything about technology. If I wasn’t in the music industry I’d be doing something along the lines of computers or working in the electronic industry. Big into gadgets!
13. I seen you a couple of times playing at Yoyo in Notting Hill, what do you think about these parties and their role in keeping the old school sounds and vibes on the radar of a younger audience who weren’t there first time round?
It’s great. Events like this and Back To 95 etc are where we still get the older crowd, and the new crowd come along too. At parties like Back to 95 the younger crowd seem to do their homework on the old school Garage. They know a lot about the old old stuff, the 90s sound and the music from the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAfqZuFYli8
14. How often do you see the old crew? Do you still share line ups with the like of Tuff Jam & Ramsey and Fen ?
Not very often, the odd occasion. I’ve got a gig in autumn at Back to 95 so no doubt I will be crossing paths with many of the DJ’s and MC’s of who I worked with during my UK Garage journey. I did a tribute radio show for MC Sparks who sadly passed away recently where most of the MC’s and DJ’s from back in the day came together for this special occasion. It was emotional but great to see everyone coming together and celebrating his life. RIP MC SPARKS…
15. There are still some younger DJs playing tribute to the Garage era now and again with the likes of Brackles on Rinse and Martelo on NTS, do you ever get the chance to tune in?
Of course, totally impressed with their sets, and what they’re doing by contributing to Garage which in turns keeps it alive and the scene moving. I always show respect to anyone that supports Garage music because it’s such a great genre and could well be the best genre lol!!
16. Last time you were playing the Subbie was for Jackmaster’s Numbers party. That was a serious bounce. What’s your expectations of returning to Glasgow?
http://vimeo.com/67190863
Aaaamazing!!! Well this Sunday is gonna be a tough one, I am planing to do better and make it even more special than the last one. If I return to a venue I’m always trying to make it better than the previous set. From the last time I remember the energy of the crowd. They were banging the ceiling and stuff like that. I am hoping for the same on Sunday.
17. Apparently there are 2 million people in town this week as Glasgow is hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Does this interest you ?
Not really, more into football and waiting for the Premier League to start. I am a Spurs fan unfortunately , someone has to support them ;) Tonight I am going to watch them playing Toronto FC which is part of their USA pre season friendlies. I have a funny feeling that we will do well in the upcoming season, FINGER CROSSED!! C.O.Y.S!
18. I know your uncut DJ sets are probably long enough for you, but hypothetically speaking , do you have enough records to play for 12 , 18 or 24 hours ?
Longer than that, If I have a look at my Traktor now. It will probably tell me how long I can actually play for. This is just about 20% of my music in total, not counting the vinyls. Everyone is selling their vinyl, I could never sell mine. That’s my babies right there & no one sells their children ;)
Traktor just loading….
At the moment it’s telling me I have almost 20,000 which will equate to 73 days of music. If you can get a license at Sub Club to do a 73 days uncut set I’m up for it ! Lets do it ! Make sure you have the paramedics on stand by!
THANKS TO EZ FOR THAT INTERVIEW! IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE PLEASURE. CATCH HIM ALONGSIDE PRO VINYLIST KARIM AT THE SUB CLUB THIS SUNDAY. THE CLUB IS OPEN TILL 4AM.
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