Reading lists, life on the road and what’s in store for 2012 were all touched upon when we chatted with DJ, producer, remixer and published author Ewan Pearson. Ewan has been a fixture in the dance music world for over 15 years. His remix credits include Moby, The Chemical Brothers, Freeform Five and Depeche Mode. He has produced albums for the likes of Tracy Thorn, The Rapture and most recently Footprintz. Not to mention most of his weekends are still spent playing records in clubs all around the world. 40 is around the corner, but he admittedly has no plans to slow down anytime soon.
Blisspop will be hosting Ewan at U Street Music Hall tomorrow night, Feb 22, along with Protect-U of Future Times. Doors are at 9 pm and it’s free for 21+ ($5 for 18-20).  RSVP here.
So…how’s 2012 treating Ewan Pearson?
It’s been great so far – I’ve been hidden away in the studio mixing the debut album from Footprintz for Visionquest. It’s turned out well I think – chock full of songs and melodies and loads of atmosphere. I hope people will like it. I’ve also done a single for my friend Jono Ma ex of the Lost Valentinos which has been picked up by a new sub-label from XL and getting lots of radio play in the UK. So I think we’re going to be working on an album for that. Plus I will be back in the studio with Tracey Thorn soon too. And then quite a lot of DJing and wandering about too. All good.
Between DJ’ing, producing for others and creating original work you’ve got your hands in quite a few pots. While all related to music these seem like vastly different experiences. Is there one that you find more fulfilling or pleasurable than the others? Do you see yourself doing all three activities for the foreseeable future?
I kind of think of them all as facets of the same thing to be honest; they’re all about introducing people to and enthusing about great new stuff, whether it’s DJing, writing, remixing or production. In terms of sheer satisfaction making music has got to be the most rewarding thing, but it’s also the hardest and sometimes the most frustrating. But I still love my DJing too – I’m turning 40 soon and I have no desire to give it up yet.
As a self proclaimed “recalcitrant airport tweeter,” how do you manage spending so much time on the road? The inherent loneliness of being a touring DJ isn’t something discussed very often (not a very sexy topic, is it?). What do you do to stay productive (read: sane) while traveling?
Despite my Twitter habit, I have a fairly well-developed anti-social streak and I actually enjoy being on the road quite a bit – the travelling side of things gives you time to yourself, time to read, to catch up on stuff – I listen to a lot of speech stuff, podcasts and audiobooks too and I do some writing. And then it’s interspersed with meeting people and some enforced bursts of social activity at gigs so it’s not like it’s lonely. I think the only time it can feel vaguely anti-climactic is that asynchronicity that sometimes happens after you’ve played – everyone is dispersing after they’ve partied and you’ve just got yourself into the mood for a party yourself. Mind you many of my colleagues seem to be expert at finding the people who want to carry on! I do too from time to time.
You’re a published author and regular contributor for Groove. What magazines, blogs, etc. do you read on a regular basis to stay abreast of everything going on in the dance music world? Anything you particularly enjoy that isn’t music related? And what books would you recommend to someone in the same vein as Discographies?
I read a lot of different stuff; much (if not all) of it isn’t really about music to be honest. But for music writing I think the UK site The Quietus is very good at the moment although it doesn’t do that much on dance music – they have really good long pieces by smart writers and I’m a fan of their editor John Doran’s own column Menk too. I tend to use Twitter as a kind of RSS reader on steroids and take referrals for things from lots of the people I follow. I subscribe to a few different magazines; Tape Op and Sound on Sound for gear-sluttery, the London Review of Books which is my favourite magazine by quite a ways – apart from very fine in-depth reviews it has very good politics and analysis pieces, the New York Review of Books too and then Sight and Sound, the British film magazine I love too.
As for academic stuff about dance, I haven’t kept up with it particularly. Or rather I’m not sure what there has been in the same vein to be honest – Jeremy my co-author on that who’s a proper full-time academic tells me that he’s a bit surprised more hasn’t been written in it’s wake. We thought we were kicking something off really. But there’s still lots of good stuff written about music – at the moment I’m massively enjoying Will Hermes’ book Love Goes to Buildings on Fire which is a musical memoir of New York from 1973-78. And I loved Dorian Lynskey’s book 331/3 Revolutions Per Minute which came out last year on protest and politics in pop music.
Just have to ask — are there any producers who have piqued your interest in the past few months? Any labels you find yourself getting excited about?
The biggest killers in my sets at the moment are coming from Rebolledo and Superpitcher in their Pachanga Boys incarnation – they’ve only released a handful of tracks so far but a couple of them are instant classics as far as I’m concerned. I love the Kindness album that’s coming out in March – I’ve been playing a couple of tracks from that a lot in my DJ sets. Studio Barnhaus from Stockholm are doing great stuff, Oliver Ho has lots of brilliant music out from his Raudive things to a new band project called the Eyes in the Heat for Kill the DJ which I really like. Psychemagik’s balearic crossover things sound great and they have a major label album coming this year I’m told. There are lots of different people really.
You’ve been doing this whole music thing for quite some time with no signs of slowing down. What it is about the, for lack of a better term, electronic music experience that keeps you coming back?
Erm, it’s just a love of music in general and a surprise and gratitude really that I am allowed to do this for a living. I don’t want that to stop so I have to keep working hard.