Confessions of a DJ James Zabiela
Simon O'Hare talks to house DJ/producer James Zabiela
Confessions of a DJ: James Zabiela
Other Recent Confessions of a DJ Articles
James Zabiela kindly took time out of a busy schedule to tell Leeds Guide why he’s so looking forward to his upcoming appearance at the Academy - and gives us the lowdown on his new Masters Series compilation.
Did you enjoy working on your new Masters Series compilation?
Yes, it was a challenge and an experiment - the first disc in particular, which is more of a composition in places than it is a mix CD. There’s tons of things I went out and recorded on the streets and at airports and layered them with the tracks, which are all heavily re-edited and chopped up to fit together. I also employed Joel Einhorn, a friend of mine who happens to be an actor, to provide some thought-provoking dialogue to add to the cinematic feel of it. Disc 2 was my comfort zone club mix, which is a peak time club mix with a few of my usual tricks thrown in spontaneously.
Do you prefer the production side of things or doing live DJing?
Well, I miss having time to produce, due to the heavy DJ schedule. Things will even out eventually I think though, I can’t travel like this forever.
Do you have any other new releases in the pipeline?
Yes, but I need to sit down for five minutes and finish them. Although if I did them in five minutes they probably wouldn’t be as good. Maybe they would be better! Who knows?
Have you played Leeds before?
Yes, and I always love it - such a passionate crowd and a clued-up one too. I have fun and feel I can really do my own thing whenever I play here.
What can we expect from your set?
A mixture of acid and tech house, with some breaks and melodic stuff in there too. I’ll be using a few widgets in the DJ booth to help me be creative with the music as well. I’m a bit of a tech nerd in the booth, but I’m having fun and I think that translates.
When did you first start DJing?
When I was 15 I did the school disco. Does that count, even though I couldn’t mix a cake?
So how’s your style evolved since then?
Vastly I’d hope! I no longer drop Take That in my sets. Haha!
What are the highlights of your career so far?
Holding a residency at Space in Ibiza, playing at Exit Festival in Serbia in 2006 until 9am with Goldie MCing over the set as I dropped ‘Inner City Life’ as my last record, remixing Ladytron recently was a thrill, and doing this CD could be a highlight as well. If people like it as much as I enjoyed putting it together we can tick that box too.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a DJ?
Graphic design, which was my previous “real” job before I got lucky.
Where would you like to be in a few years’ time?
I’d like to have a few more releases of my own under my belt which I can be proud of, and be doing a few key choice gigs here and there in order to make this achievable, yet still live the DJing dream. Maybe a proper musical LP would be finished, although that’s optimistic I know.
6 March, Academy
Posted on Wednesday 4th March 2009
SO'H
Sending you to Twitter, hold on... 
