{"id":35426,"date":"2016-08-24T18:45:07","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T16:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/?p=35426"},"modified":"2016-08-24T20:45:32","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T18:45:32","slug":"interview-danny-howard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/interview-danny-howard\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Danny Howard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danny Howard has exploded to the forefront of the dance music world with an encyclopaedic DJ booth presence: Global Gathering, Gatecrasher, Ministry of Sound, Pacha NYC, Creamfields, the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, and a weekly residency at Pacha in Ibiza.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not to be outdone by gigs, Danny also boasts some 1.8 million listeners on his BBC Radio 1 Dance Anthems<\/em> show, a monthly British Airways podcast, and a monthly column in DJ Mag \u2013 Danny Howard is certainly not a man to shy away from responsibility.<\/p>\n

Yet another of these responsibilities has been head of his own Nothing Else Matters<\/strong> imprint, which was launched in 2013. Now, Danny Howard has released the first in a new series of underground focused dance music on the imprint. Entitled “Fire Beats Vol. 1,”<\/strong> the compilation (which you can preview at the end of this article) features original productions from Alexis Raphael, Siege, Solardo<\/strong>, and Unorthodox<\/strong>. With the monumental release at hand, we caught up with Danny to get the scoop inside his mind.<\/p>\n

“I think when you first hear a track you can almost instantly recognize if it\u2019s something for you or not.”<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

Why did you decide to curate \u2018Fire Beats Vol 1\u2019?<\/strong>
\nWhen I started the label I always wanted there to be two varying types of releases, which reflect what I do at radio and also the music I truly love to play out in the clubs. This EP shows the label\u2019s more underground side and also gives a snapshot into some of the sounds I\u2019m playing out in my own DJ sets. I wanted to create something that was strictly for the club and DJ\u2019s\u2026<\/p>\n

Will there be more volumes to come and what can we expect of the series?<\/strong>
\n100%! These are a collection of tracks that aren\u2019t trying to cross-over, they\u2019re not trying to copy any particular trend nor are they restrictive to any certain style\u2026 it\u2019s just four tracks that I can personally guarantee are absolute fire! We\u2019re aiming to do 3 a year, centered around key dates in the dance calendar.<\/p>\n

Can you tell us some more about some of the artists that feature on the EP?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m really proud of the artists that feature on the first EP\u2026 all are gaining massive popularity in within their own field through the brilliant productions they\u2019re putting out.<\/p>\n

Solardo are a duo that are getting huge underground support from the likes of Skream, Steve Lawler and Jamie Jones (to name a few) and I love everything they\u2019ve put out recently.<\/p>\n

Alexis Raphael is a well respected producer on the scene and I love his track \u2018James\u2019. It\u2019s a proper creeper and will have you vibing by the end of it!<\/p>\n

Unorthodox is a machine\u2026 he sent me about 20 demo\u2019s at once because he\u2019s that prolific in the studio but \u2018Thunderbolt\u2019 is the one and as far a tech house goes, is heavy!<\/p>\n

Finally, Belgian producer Siege is a guy I\u2019ve supported a lot on my BBC Radio 1 show and in my club sets. Every one of his tracks is a banger so I jumped at the chance of having \u2018Play me\u2019 on the EP. It goes off!<\/p>\n

The release is coming up on your newly launched label, Nothing Else Matters. How are you finding running a label so far?<\/strong>
\nFun and at times, challenging\u2026 but mainly fun. I love being able to help artists grow their profile through releasing their music. And also use it as a way of expressing what I love to listen to.
\nWe\u2019re only releasing club level tracks that we really love but keep an eye out for a couple of artists we\u2019ve been working with for the last year writing new music.<\/p>\n

How do you select the artists and releases to come out on the label?<\/strong>
\nI have to truly love the music of course, I think when you first hear a track you can almost instantly recognize if it\u2019s something for you or not. In terms of artists I want to work with people who are interesting and have a bit of edge, not just following the norm or what they think is relevant at the time.<\/p>\n

\"Danny<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Who is the dream artist you\u2019d like to drop a release on Nothing Else Matters?<\/strong>
\nSomeone who is undiscovered that we can grow from nothing to a superstar through producing amazing music. That\u2026 is the dream.<\/p>\n

How does your work as a Radio 1 DJ differ to your work as a club DJ?<\/strong>
\nThe Radio 1 show is very much reflective of what is going on commercially in club land from the more accessible sounds right down to the underground. I love how varied the show is and it\u2019s an amazing feeling to get millions of people hyped for the weekend on a Saturday night. My job as a club DJ is a bit more specific to the fact I play strictly house where as on the radio I mix it up a little.<\/p>\n

How do both these experiences feed into how you run your label?<\/strong>
\nBeing involved in both enables me to have a clear perspective on what is required in both areas. Ideally, I want a club record that can also feed into radio but it\u2019s getting increasingly harder to do that at the moment so I guess we have to be open minded and take every record for what it is\u2026 providing that of course (and as mentioned), we properly love it \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

What has been your favourite gig of the summer so far?<\/strong>
\nProbably Hideout Festival in Croatia. The crowd were really up for it and knew their music. I just went in pure house vibes, no compromise! I remember England had just drawn with Slovakia in the Euros and played terribly so I wanted to forget about it and just have a party\u2026 so party we did<\/p>\n

What plans do you have in store for the next year? <\/strong>
\nGet more of my own music out! I\u2019m in the studio now as I write this and it\u2019s the area of my career that often gets over looked, mainly due to the time it takes to produce and I\u2019ve never been good at it on the road. So 2017, keep an eye out for more tunes from me and of course, growing the label and the artists we work with.<\/p>\n

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