DJ Yoda is one of Britain’s most admired original club DJs and an AV pioneer who is constantly pushing the possibilities of audio-visual manipulation, being described by Q magazine as of one of ‘The 10 DJs you must see before you die.’
See DJ Yoda – 5th April @ Spring & Airbrake Tickets
Interview by Chris Beattie
When you are on tour are all your sets the same for each venue?
When I perform my AV show, it’s pretty much a pre-rehearsed show – although there is a little flexibility in there for suiting it to the location. When I’m just DJing, it’s different every time, and it’s a case of reading the crowd to see what people are into.
Is it hard to sync up audio/visuals?
It takes a lot of preparation beforehand, and then a lot of concentration when I’m performing, but I think that it’s worth it, as the end result is pretty different to what I see other DJs and VJs doing.
In your live set up do you use turntables and vinyl or have you incorporated sequencers and laptops etc?
I have a lot of equipment – I use turntables, DVD players, audio-visual-mixers…it’s not the kind of thing I could easily do an “unplugged” version with!
Are there any artists or songs that you would you most like to Remix?
I can think of loads. To be honest, I’m into different music every five minutes, so it’s just a case of whatever I’m currently into. I’m working really hard on my next artist album at the moment, so remixes need to go on the back-burner for a while anyway.
With your new “How To Cut And Paste’ albums did you encounter any problems with copyright laws or artists refusing you samples?
Definitely, unfortunately it’s the nature of what I do, and the desperately out-dated copyright laws that artists like me are faced with. When I made my 80s mix I was told that I couldn’t use any Madonna, Michael Jackson or Prince – really upsetting! But it forced me to get a little more creative, so there’s always an up side.
On the “How To Cut And Past – The Thirties Mix” you use some pretty old and obscure records…how do you find these? do you have a favourite record store?
I tend to go through phases of being into different kinds of music – like I might spend a year researching old reggae, and then a year getting into jazz or whatever. I spent some time listening to music from the 1930s, so I wanted to get together all my favourite songs that I’d discovered and make a mix of them. I’m always looking for music, but it’s easier to do it on the internet than in record stores these days.
You re-scored “The Goonies” and “Ferris Buellers Day Off”…any more plans for rescoring more 80s movies?
That was something that I did before the technology existed to scratch and mix parts of the movies themselves, so that’s why I moved onto doing the style of AV sets that I perform now. The plan was to do a trilogy of 80s movie rescores, with the third one being “Weird Science”, but I’ve kind of put that off for now!
Your visuals at your live shows seem so natural but they are obviously painstakingly put together, ever had any problems live with audio visual sync?
There’s a lot of scope for stuff going wrong, as there’s a lot happening all at once – sometimes 2 different songs and 2 different videos are all playing at the same time – but I try and stay on the ball – no drinking mid-performance!
See DJ Yoda – 5th April @ Spring & Airbrake Tickets
Make yourself presentable, even when handing in that all important CV, or more-frustrating-than-life-itself application form. So many times I’ve rushed into a potential workplace, saturated in sweat in a frenzy. This is not a good look. Unless it’s ‘wet-look’, and you wish to come across as fashionable for some sort of clothing company. And even then I’d be wary.
On handing in the CV, just smile. Don’t say something ridiculous, such as: “There you go, sorry if it’s a bit sh*t, not really sure how to write them things, but you get the general drift.” From experience, this does not bode well.
You’ve got the interview. Well done you. Now they’re going to realise how erratic you actually are. Do not, under any circumstances, when asked to talk about yourself, say how much you love cheese, list specific types, and then finish your speech with a dance. It makes you look ridiculous, and, from experience, will not get you a job.
Oh look, you got the job. Fabulous. I’ve made the mistake so many times of pulling a sicky and enjoying it too much. After taking a day off after T Vital one year (formidable hangover), I wandered in a month later. They told me to leave.
“Somebody gave me the album by a Dublin band called Adebisi Shank. They are a very powerful, dynamic, post-rock trio. Really good!”
