AVALON’S NOTORIOUS QUESTIONS: Photek

AVALON’S NOTORIOUS QUESTIONS: Photek, Speed Demon…

Photek stands mercilessly on the edge. A sonic scientist, pushing both his sounds and fans’ expectations to the outermost limits since 1994, he floods the footnotes of electronica like MP3s clutter up your hard drive. The UK born, now LA native DJ has been in the drum n’ bass scene since it first originated, so he undoubtedly knows what’s up. And on top of all this, he has produced for several movie score, including recently for Pirates of The Caribbean. He’s a bit of an understated genius so we were so excited to get to interview him. Just beware if you ever see him on the roads of LA because he loves fast cars! Yikes!

AVALON: Good afternoon Tweeps! We’re interviewing @Photek RIGHT NOW! @Photek ya there?
PHOTEK: I’m here!

AVALON: Hey! How are you today?
PHOTEK: Doing great! Getting some new beats ready for the show tomorrow…

AVALON: Niice! We can’t wait! Ok let’s start! If you could open up for anyone (dead or alive and any genre of music) who would it be? Why?
PHOTEK: Pavarotti! Haha! I would set him up perfectly with a synthetic opera instrumental at the Coliseum.

AVALON: Haha that would be certainly interesting! Opera to electronic! Ok biggest track of the year?
PHOTEK: It would be “Sleepwalking” – Sorry but it’s one of my own productions that I’m very excited about.

AVALON: Don’t be sorry! There’s nothing wrong with loving your own stuff. Which gig has been the strangest gig? Why?
PHOTEK: The strangest (and one of the best) gig was The Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. There were 50,000 at the festival, I don’t know how many at my stage, but I could only make out 20 people in the front row but then you could hear the response from several thousand coming through the fog!

AVALON: Wooowww sounds epic and crazy, very cool! Sometimes the weirdest are the best! If you could time travel, what year would you go to? Why?
PHOTEK: Back to the summer of ’88.. Acid house! Yesssss… Warehouse parties and pirate radio – where it all began for me.

AVALON: Alot of CONTROL go-ers weren’t even around at that time yet! If they only knew! Ok so what’s your guiltiest after-gig meal?

PHOTEK: I know! After gig meal.. Probably a Spaghetti Bolognese from room service haha.

AVALON: Mmmm sounds pretty damn goood! If you were ever reincarnated, what would you hope to come back as?
PHOTEK: As myself, at the age of 7! Or a dolphin.

AVALON: Yess seriously I’d do anything to be a kid again! Life was so much easier! But we do have our fun If your life was made into a song, what would it sound like and what would you call it?
PHOTEK: I would want it to be epic with a very long intro. It would be around 144bpm and futuristic, inspiring and uplifting but deep too!! The title would be 101 haha.

AVALON: A loonng instrumental intro, then Tron-ish… Ok I’m daydreaming! If you weren’t a DJ, what other career would you choose?
PHOTEK: Racing driver – no question. I would win a Formula 1 championship for Ferrari to live the full dream though!

AVALON: Sounds like someone’s a speed demon and adrenaline junkie? Before you discovered your love for electronic music, what were your music tastes like throughout your life?
PHOTEK: I think it’s been electronic from day 1.. Duran Duran, Afrika Bambaataa and onwards… Oh wait.. John Coltrane was one of my big influences with no electrogizmos.

AVALON: Very cool! Ok what’s your best drunken story?
PHOTEK: I don’t have any that end well!!

AVALON: Haha most end with head-in-toliet bowl haha! What’s the recipe to your favorite cocktail?
PHOTEK: Not really a cocktail person… So I would say gin, tonic & a slice of lemon!

AVALON: Hey that’s a cocktail, nice and simple! What’s the first thing you’d spend your money on if you won the lottery?
PHOTEK: A Le Mans spec Ferrari race car!

AVALON: Ahh-haaaa so you are a speed demon! Nice! If you were stuck on a deserted island with no cell reception or internet, what’s the one thing you’d want to have with you?
PHOTEK: A piano! I’ve never had the time before to learn.

AVALON: Wow, good idea. No one’s ever said something like that before but that’s perfect! If you could make a candy bar, what would be in it and what would you call it?
PHOTEK: Coconut & melon, but not too sweet. I’d name it Meloconishiss.

AVALON: Haha like the name! You’ve said you draw a lot of inspiration from hip-hop. So who’s your favorite artist?
PHOTEK: Mobb Deep!

AVALON: Verryy cool.. Ok last one: You recently remixed a song off the new Pirates of The Caribbean movie. Was it harder for you to remix a song from a movie soundtrack then a regular track?
PHOTEK: YES! The Pirates mix was hard because the tempo was all over the place. And it didn’t have any of the usual elements.

AVALON: Yea seems pretty tough, but such a cool result! We love it! Well thanks for the time! We can’t WAIT for tomorrow!
PHOTEK: Thank you so much! Looking forward to tomorrow night – see you all there!