Damian Lazarus interview

Ahead of the enormity that befalls us on NYE in the mulletover vs rebel rave room @ Eastern Electrics. We caught up with crosstown main man, rebel rave extraordinaire and all round rabble rouser Mr Lazarus to find out his thoughts on London, the warehouse scene in LA, 21st century bodyrockers and a lot else besides….

Hope you’re good. Where you at, at the moment and what you been up to?
I’m in LA right now, recovering from a night out with Massive Attack.

You’re playing at our Eastern Electrics New Year’s Eve hoe down. The line-up’s ridiculous… and has been compounded by the addition of Matthew Dear this week. Being an LA based man these days, what’s your perception of the London scene as an ‘outsider’ these days.
First off, I may not be living in London day to day but I am very much London at heart so not the sure the term ‘outsider’ is particularly accurate. That said, London does move pretty quickly and you notice that alot more spending most of your time away from ‘home’. The scene appears to be very healthy, certainly from what I witnessed a few weeks ago.

Have you experienced a lot of the ‘warehouse’ revival over here and is there anything like it going on over stateside?
There’s a very cool warehouse scene in LA, just this weekend DJ Koze and Radioslave both played very cool warehouse parties in the downtown area.

21st Century Bodyrockers will always be one of my favourite clubs of all time. What do you think made it such a special night… aside from Cynthia and her robot?!
The atmosphere we created was thrilling; a perfect combination of danger, edginess and feeling. We were pioneering a new sound for London, bringing in the freaks and oddities of the London art scene, inviting the most cutting edge djs to play (plus the residents were 2 Many DJs and Erol Alkan along with FC Kahuna and myself). It really was a special party.

You were once a clubber and are now a DJ and label head playing all over the world at some of the biggest parties and clubs in the world. From fabric to  Watergate , from mulletover to your rebel rave tours. Which side of the decks is better and do you ever go out as a clubber these days?
I took last weekend off actually and went to see Koze play. I broke my golden rule of not going to clubs when I’m not working in them but there some djs who Ill break this rule for.

I recently revisited all my City Rockers 12”s and whilst they were perceived as being at the epicentre of the ‘electroclash’ scene back then, most of them actually aren’t anywhere close to that sound. They’ve pretty much all stood the test of time and sound as great today as they did back then. What was your vision for that label and how does it differ from Crosstown Rebels now?
Good that you notice that. We simply got labelled with electro-clash due to the fact that we were releasing music from Felix and Tiga and as these records became global hits we kind of got a bit pigeon-holed. We were so much more than that, I like to think that everything I have signed will stand the ‘test of time’.

You used to write for Dazed & Confused and I assume, packed it all in when City Rockers took off. Have you ever considered revisiting your journalistic days or do you still write a lot?
I’m write songs, I write music, I write to my artists and I write bits and bobs for the websites but I haven’t written a feature length article for some time. I’d consider any interesting opportunities though…

You’ve played for mulletover before, can you tell us any – printable – stories about your experience of their/our parties?
Nothing printable, but I’ve always left with a smile on my face.

You’re known to work  and indeed play hard. How do you fit it all in?
I am a robot.

Where do you come up with your names?  Where did Crosstown Rebels come from?
A gentleman never tells.

What was the concept behind Rebel Rave?
Lets take a group of people; Seth Troxler, Jamie Jones, Art Department, Deniz Kurtel and myself… get some speakers, get some people and lets have it!

What can we look forward to on NYE from your set?
An exclusive look into the delights of 2011

EE NYE HAPPENS @

61 St Thomas St,
London Bridge
SE1 3EX

Friday 31st December 2010 – NYE baby!

9pm till 7am London SE1

After party from 6am NYD @ Hidden w/ Damian Lazarus headlining.
Full details and tickets @ only a fiver on R$N Tickets, EE.com &  RA here

Tickets for NYE

Last tickets anywhere in person from:

OUTLETS:
The Star of Bethnal Green
359 Bethnal Green Road
E2 6LG
02077290167

Phonica Records
51 Poland Street
W1F 7LZ
02070256071

www.easternelectrics.com