Legendary British DJ and producer Danny Howells has been around the world and back too many times to count. Blisspop had the pleasure of catching up with the globetrotting jock ahead of his upcoming date in DC to talk about his label, playing back-to-back and the records that never leave his bag.
Catch Danny this Friday (Aug 31) at U Street Music Hall for a very special appearance presented by Deep Secrets and Nomad. Tickets and info here.
So, how is 2012 treating you? Lots of touring one would assume. Any upcoming projects or releases you’d care to let us in on?
Been really good thanks, doing a nice, bearable amount of touring. Too much travel knackers me these days. Been to loads of great places in the last month or so…Beirut and Barcelona last week, and other amazing gigs in places like Berlin, Kazantip in Ukraine, a mini South American tour etc. Loads of fun.
Think it’s been about 3 years since you’ve played DC. Are you looking forward to coming back on Aug 31 with Deep Secrets and Nomad?
Absolutely. I’ve always loved coming to DC and this is the first time at U Hall. I can’t wait actually…the venue sounds amazing and looks like it will be totally up my street.
Back to back sets have been a trend of late. Is there a particular DJ who you enjoy tag teaming with or it that not really your thing?
If it’s with the wrong person it can be pretty ghastly. But when you’re doing it with the right person it can be absolutely inspirational. The only person I’ve really tagged with this year has been Cassy, and that’s something I always really look forward to. I rarely recognise anything she’s playing and she’s got such amazing tunes, it’s always a really enjoyable experience. I played with Lee Burridge a bit in the past too, in DC as well, but nothing with him recently.
Anything in the pipeline for label, Dig Deeper? You had the Russ Gabriel release earlier this summer. Anything else coming up?
I’m still trying to work out what to do with the label long term. I thought it was going to be stress-free but it’s been pretty much the opposite. And bloody expensive too. But there are some fabulous releases lined up which should start emerging really soon. A killer melodic techy EP from Eddie Niguel which has been getting amazing reactions. A brilliant deep house 3-tracker from MrCenzo. Two different releases from Andreas Saag, one a downtempo bomb and the other and cool disco-ish house monster…keep em peeled!
And finally, what’s what track that you’ve been playing for years and still love to break out?
There’s a few records that have never left my box for various reasons. “Acadian” by The Mole is one that gets played at least once every two months. The same goes for Shur-I-Khan’s mix of Robert Babicz from a few years back. It’s just so simple and beautiful, and utterly timeless. There’s a lot more tunes that I refuse to retire but these two leapt into my mind.