{"id":17262,"date":"2014-06-28T12:00:46","date_gmt":"2014-06-28T10:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouselondon.com\/?p=5495"},"modified":"2015-05-14T14:11:05","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T12:11:05","slug":"exclusive-interview-josh-butler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/exclusive-interview-josh-butler\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Interview: Josh Butler"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young Josh Butler was one of the first contributors to Deep House Amsterdam’s mixtape series and now, a few years later, he’s back with us to take part in an exclusive interview. We bumped into Josh backstage (with his pal Bontan) at DC10’s opening party at the beginning of the Ibiza season a few weeks ago, where it was actually his first time at the world famous club. After a brief chat we decided to catch up again once we had some more time, and so here’s the result of a conversation we had just recently…<\/strong><\/p>\n

What have you been up to lately?<\/strong>
\nJust ploughing on really; making lots of music, playing lots of gigs. I\u2019m going back to Ibiza next week, which I\u2019m buzzing for. I can\u2019t wait man!<\/p>\n

Yeah, you played at Tribal Sessions the other week, how was that?<\/strong>
\nIt was wicked. I played the Spektrum and, as soon as the doors opened, it was full within a minute. I couldn\u2019t have asked for much more. The sound system\u2019s f****** great in there too man.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s get into your career because you\u2019re not doing too badly for yourself at the moment. When did you start to feel like you were getting somewhere with your music?<\/strong>
\nProbably about three or four years ago. I had a release on Luke Pompey\u2019s label, Love Not Money, and that was one of my first big(ish) releases. Then I started working with Darius Syrossian on a few things, we had a track on OFF Recordings [Metal]. That was the time when I started to think, \u2018I can make something of this\u2019. Things were going to plan. After that was the \u2018Got A Feeling\u2019 release\u2026 but, I\u2019d been producing for years up until that point. I\u2019ve been making music for about 12 years I think..<\/p>\n

Yeah, I think you said that the other night at DC10. I always think, for everyone who\u2019s doing well, there must be so many other people who just aren\u2019t getting anywhere.<\/strong>
\nI was living in New Zealand and none of my mates over there were doing it. I was the only one making music and I didn\u2019t realise how popular it was becoming over here in the UK, so when I moved over here to start a Music Technology course at college I was shocked at how popular it was; how much it had blown up and everyone wanted a piece. I suppose that motivated me more to make something of it.<\/p>\n

[youtube id=”BPigmG44KmQ” width=”620″ height=”360″]<\/p>\n

What were you doing in New Zealand?<\/strong>
\nMy mum and dad wanted to move over, so we went when I was 14 and we were there for the majority of my high school years. I did my GCSEs over there and then came back on my own to start with, to go to college, and I lived with my granddad for a bit during that time.<\/p>\n

Why did you decide to come back? Was it always the plan to return to the UK?<\/strong>
\nIt wasn\u2019t the plan originally, but I always wanted to do something with music and it was never going to happen over there, there was just nothing going on. The scene\u2019s so small compared to how it is in England, so I thought, \u2018F*** it, I\u2019m gonna go back and give it a go\u2019. So I went on my own.<\/p>\n

Do you think coming back alone gave you more motivation to really try and succeed?<\/strong>
\nDefinitely. I didn\u2019t want to come all the way here from New Zealand and fail. It would\u2019ve been the worst case scenario! I never expected to make anything of it but I was always trying.<\/p>\n

Did you have a Plan B, just in case?<\/strong>
\nNot really! I probably should have, but foolishly I didn\u2019t. I don\u2019t know what I would have done otherwise.<\/p>\n

Well, there\u2019s a saying; \u2018If you\u2019ve got a Plan B then it\u2019s not even worth having a Plan A\u2019\u2026 It\u2019s like, if you plan to fail then you probably will. But if you have no other option but to make it, then you have a better chance of success.<\/strong>
\nI like that! I suppose it fits. If you\u2019re gonna do it, do it properly. Yeah, I like that.<\/p>\n

So now you\u2019re closely allied with Madtech, how did that come about?<\/strong>
\nThat was through my agency. My agent Jim knew the label manager at Madtech, so he introduced me and I just sent some demos over. I\u2019m a big fan of what Kerri does as well so I guess it\u2019s a good home for me. I\u2019ve got some more releases coming up with them later this year, so I\u2019m looking forward to that.<\/p>\n

\"josh\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Have you met Kerri yet?<\/strong>
\nYeah, I\u2019ve played with him a few times now. He\u2019s such a cool guy, one of the nicest I\u2019ve met in the industry. I played with him in Paris recently and he sat me down and spoke to me one-to-one and talked me through how he does all his soundchecks. He was showing me how he plays syne wave sweeps through the system and finds the troughs in the room. It was cool\u2026 educational. What an honour! He\u2019s got a lot of time for people and I respect that, there\u2019s not enough of that around these days.<\/p>\n

Yeah totally. And what\u2019s the deal with MTA as well? How did that connection come about?<\/strong>
\nI just sent demos to them, and they picked them out. I got a phone call from Will (from Chase & Status), saying he wanted to meet me \u2013 so I went down to London to meet him and everyone in the office and that was it really. It was a pretty traditional way of doing things.<\/p>\n

Do you have much of a plan about what direction you\u2019re taking?<\/strong>
\nThere isn\u2019t much of a plan to be honest, I\u2019m just enjoying what I\u2019m doing and hoping people follow. I just want to keep making the sound I\u2019m enjoying, seeing what works in the clubs and it seems to be going well. Hopefully, my next few records will do well as well. I\u2019m really excited about this MTA one, which will be out later this year, the vocalist we\u2019ve got coming in today is so good. He\u2019s not done many records before but his voice is out of this world \u2013 it\u2019s an RnB style vocal, it\u2019s going to end up being just good, classy house music I think.<\/p>\n

Lastly, what\u2019s inspiring you at the moment?<\/strong>
\nI tend to try not listen to house when I\u2019m not producing or playing. I buy a lot of vinyl, but I don\u2019t own many house records, it\u2019s mainly dub reggae, hip hop, ambient\u2026 stuff I can chill out to. Music that I don\u2019t understand sometimes, stuff that takes you out of that frame of mind where you\u2019re over analysing things and trying to figure out how they were made. I don\u2019t play any instruments so, if it\u2019s a reggae track, I wouldn\u2019t know how to even begin making that. It\u2019s nice to get out of the producer\u2019s chair for a bit and free your mind up.<\/p>\n

I was just listening to some stuff yesterday by one of the guys from dubstep outfit 16bit, he goes by the name of Moody Good. He\u2019s actually signed to MTA. His latest LP is bizarre, it\u2019s still under the dubstep influence but there\u2019s ambient stuff in there and some really twisted dark beats. Definitely worth a shout.<\/p>\n

Artist Page<\/a><\/span>Soundcloud<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Take That EP [Roush]
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