{"id":7420,"date":"2015-04-10T12:02:47","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T10:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouselondon.com\/?p=7420"},"modified":"2015-05-14T13:53:32","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T11:53:32","slug":"exclusive-interview-richy-ahmed-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/exclusive-interview-richy-ahmed-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Interview: Richy Ahmed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richy Ahmed is a powerhouse of the dance music world. Playing regularly all over the world, giving the dance floor a thorough pounding at every opportunity while also having the time of his life and spreading positive vibes to all and sundry, he’s one of our favourite DJs here at Deep House London. On 3rd May Richy plays Magna Carta’s epic show, which is taking place at the Brixton Academy no less! With a few weeks to go until the event, we had a chat with Richy about what he’s been up to…<\/strong><\/p>\n

How has your DJ style evolved as you have played more and more – are you still learning? Are you different now than when you first started?<\/strong>
\nYes, of course I\u2019m still learning. Any DJ who says they don\u2019t need to learn anymore isn\u2019t a good DJ. In 15 years I\u2019ll still be learning. It\u2019s a neverending process. In terms of how I\u2019ve evolved; I\u2019ve got better! I think the major difference is, when you are up and coming you have a certain style, and then when you start playing to big rooms you realise that a lot of music that you like and love doesn\u2019t work in that setting. So you learn to adapt.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve recently given away your edit of The Foals, you seem to be doing more and more edits, how do you approach these? Is anyone off limits or can you tweak anything?<\/strong>
\nWell, I\u2019ve got to like the tune first and foremost. Then I listen to it and see if there is something I can work with and go from there. No one’s off limits. But, I generally do edits when I\u2019m doing a mix so there is something exclusive in the mix.<\/p>\n

Last year you dropped your debut Essential Mix. How did you approach the track selection?<\/strong>
\nI tried to look at it like a really long after hours session, with peaks and troughs, using different styles of house and techno but also showcasing other genres.<\/p>\n

With your own productions like Sneaky Acid and The Bells, has it got easier or harder to produce over the years?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s always hard to be honest. I think with experience I have improved. I can tell that my ear has got better. Things that I may have thought were good enough previously I would now know need more work and that comes with experience.<\/p>\n

Analogue gear is all the rage right now\u2026tell us about your favourite gear.<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s got to be the Moog Voyageur. I got it last year and it\u2019s an absolute monster. I just think the sounds amazing. It\u2019s mint.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been known for your eclectic music tastes, tell us what you\u2019re listening to at the moment outside of house and techno.<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve been listening to some old Big Daddy Kane albums recently. What I do with rap music is I\u2019ll go back and listen to old albums by artists I love. It reminds of certain times and people from my past.<\/p>\n

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

You play Magna Carta in London soon – what should people expect from your performance?<\/strong>
\nWell hopefully they should expect to be dancing! But seriously, they should expect lots of energy, progressions from raw house all through the spectrums to techno. A lot of love and good music.<\/p>\n

How do you like playing gigs in the UK vs. the rest of the world ?<\/strong>
\nPersonally, I love playing in the UK. What I love about the scene here is you get booked to play in these way out little towns and you think it might be a bit pony. Then when you get there it\u2019s wicked, the sound systems are always good, the crowds are knowledgeable and it goes off. As a bonus you can get back home the next day as well. But don\u2019t get me wrong I love playing everywhere I get booked. I love playing in Italy; they have a similar vibe to us. And I\u2019ve just started playing more in Germany and I really enjoy it for different reasons. They are a bit harder to win over the Germans, so it\u2019s a challenge for me to go over there and I want to prove myself.<\/p>\n

If you could own one record no other DJ was allowed to play, what would it be and why?<\/strong>
\nFucking hell\u2026 That\u2019s a tough question. You\u2019d want the biggest hit ever wouldn\u2019t you? You\u2019d want something like \u2018You\u2019ve Got The Love\u2019 to be honest. Can you imagine being the only DJ who could play it, everyone would want to come and see you play just to hear it! And it wouldn\u2019t be rinsed either.<\/p>\n

What are your plans for Ibiza this summer, and what\u2019s your involvement with Paradise?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve got a lot of gigs over the summer but I\u2019m only going there to DJ. I\u2019ll be flying back and forth from London where as previously I\u2019ve stayed there all summer. I\u2019ve got a really good gig schedule so far though – I\u2019m doing eight gigs for Paradise, three gigs for Circoloco, the Amnesia opening party, three Music On parties and one gig at Space. With maybe some more to be announced.<\/p>\n

As for Paradise, I\u2019ve been there from the start \u2013 I actually thought of the name! We were going to change the name every year after a tune that Jamie had brought out but we just stuck with it in the end. My involvement is I\u2019m the main resident and I actually pick the acts with Nick, with Jamie overseeing it all. The line-ups this year are next level; there\u2019s a really good mix of old school legends, top techno and house guys and new blood. I\u2019m really proud of it.<\/p>\n

What has the rest of 2015 got in store for Richy Ahmed?<\/strong>
\nHopefully a lot more releases on different labels not just Hot Creations. Lots of touring \u2013 I\u2019m playing in some new countries and venues. Summer will be about festivals and Ibiza and I\u2019ve got some stuff I can\u2019t announce yet towards the back end of the year but watch this space.<\/p>\n

Words: Ian Fleming<\/em><\/p>\n

Richy Ahmed plays Magna Carta’s Ibiza send off at the O2 Academy Brixton on May 2nd – www.O2academybrixton.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Richy Ahmed Artist Page<\/a><\/span>Magna Carta Facebook Page<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richy Ahmed is a powerhouse of the dance music world. Playing regularly all over the world, giving the dance floor a thorough pounding at every opportunity while also having the time of his life and spreading positive vibes to all and sundry, he’s one of our favourite DJs here at Deep House London. On 3rd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":7422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3971],"tags":[4562,4563,4565,4564],"class_list":["post-7420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","category-interviews-london","tag-hot-creations-london-2","tag-ibiza-london-2","tag-magna-carta-london-2","tag-richy-ahmed-london-2","post_format-post-format-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}