“Be consistent, work hard and be nice to people.”
Originally from England John Digweed arrived on the global scene over two decades ago to become one of the most respected names in the industry and leave his mark in the history of dance music. His list of achievements is groundbreaking to say the least.
He is the first British DJ to hold a residency at what was then the world’s most well known club in NYC (Twilo, also with Sasha) as well as having remixed tracks by Danny Tenaglia, Underworld and New Order.
He began with his first experiences in DJing in Hastings, England at the age of 15, when the scene of acid house was blossoming. His formula of success reveals hard work, persistence and integrity, which he has created and maintained as a benchmark for both DJs and producers based in his homeland and around the world. His moniker Bedrock where he is partnering with Nick Muir, is actually three things: a record label, a promotions company and a studio production partnership.
The label has very well served as a platform for various artists to showcase themselves while allowing them complete freedom in terms of their creativity. Through Bedrock he gave many great talents the chance to get exposure in front of a wider open-minded audience. To have a record released on Bedrock serves as the global stamp of production quality, ingenuity and integrity for producers worldwide.
As one half of Bedrock the production duo he has landed two tracks in the top 40 (Heaven Scent and For What You Dream Of) the latter of which made it into the hit movie Trainspotting. He has even tried a bit of acting himself (Groove). He and Nick Muir as Bedrock also recently scored a Hollywood film (Stark Raving Mad).
John’s imagination and creativity knows no pretence. It’s quite a good reason for John to be one of the most respected, analyzed and looked up to DJ’s in the world. Digweed is both solid and durable with firm precision. His graceful DJing and production sound has become its own convincing dance ethic. He is centered to the principles of life, living and friends in such a way that he generates an aura of self-explanatory excitement and enthusiasm. Without heroic pretensions his sets are filled with moodiness and musical mystery but held down with a punchy distinctiveness and earthly rhythm. Always emanating a sense of boundlessness he overlaps dream events that spill into reality with an enormous certainty.
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2014 was another successful year for you! What stood out?
Some amazing gigs and festivals around the world, 2 x Live in albums ( Miami & Toronto) and The Traveler album project with Nick Muir and John Twelve Hawkes.
In previous interviews you have mentioned that you are living the dream doing what you do. Thinking back to where you started from, what was one of the serious difficulties you had to overcome in order to become what you are right now?
DJs were way down the pecking order when I started, so trying to get people to take notice of what I was doing was always a struggle. I never had a plan B and just keep plugging away pushing my mixes in front of club owners and promoters to try and get the chance to play. My hard work payed off but I think that is also why I am so grounded as I knew where I came from and how long it took me to gain success.
Your label Bedrock is actually more than just a record label. It’s also a promotions company and a studio production partnership. What is the formula of success when you focus on multiple things?
I think these days its vital to have more than one thing that you are involved in as you need to push your music and profile through many channels.
On January 12th you are going to host your own Bedrock showcase at the BPM festival in Mexico. How did you decide which artists to invite at this showcase?
Jozif has played with me on the last 2 parties at BPM and he is such a fantastic DJ. In.Phrequent are from Honolulu and play some incredible music so I wanted to get them involved with the party too this year.
