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You've been described as everything from deranged to being a genius. Where do
you get your energy from?
Green Velvet: (laughs) Let's see, where DO I get my energy
from. Wow! That's a good question. Good question. Wow.
What do you do before you get on stage?
G: Ok see, I was gonna say the same thing but I've said it
before but this is different, and it's the truth. well actually what I do is, I
meditate a lot so... I do yoga... but before I go on I always meditate so that
always helps me to clear my head so that I'm not thinking about something else
that prevents me from focusing. And then when I go that's all I think
about. So when I go on to DJ, that's all. I'm thinking about DJ-ing, I'm not
thinking about my girlfriend or whatever (coy smile). But you know, I'm just
thinking about DJing you know. And sometimes something might happen. A record
might skip or whatever but I dont let that distract me. I just put that back and
stay present. It's all about staying present. Yeah but DJing and performing too.
How different are the two?
G: Well actually DJing is alot easier. I mean I don't want to
make it sound like it's simple but when you're DJing you're playing records and
erm it's.. you still have to be creative in order to you know play the records
in a way the crowd really gets into it and respond. But when you're performing
it's different because there are so many other variables that you have to think
about sometimes. You have to think about the other band members, is everybody
gonna make their cues? There's a lot of other variables and a lot more chance
for things to go wrong. And then you got the sound... the microphone... the oh,
gad it's something else.
What do you think of Fischerspooner and the whole
electroklash
phenomenon? Has it made dance music a little bit more
exciting?
G: Uhm I think to be honest, I dont... I think initially it
brought a lot of excitement to the dance scene but what I'm seeing now is the
aftermath of it you know, there is a like backlash, you know? You get a lot of
people who are really underground and they go "Oh, that's just commercial, glam,
whatever". Yeah so there's that side of it which is... you know, the bad side.
The good side is that is exposes more people to it. Like say Fischerspooner is
able to attract you know a wider range of... just more exposure. It's good and
bad.
A lot has been said about the dire state of American clubs
today. Do you think club culture is dead in America. And where are things
happening in America today?
G: Uhm, well it's not actually dead in the US, it's a lot
more underground. A lot more people are throwing private parties, that's just
because of the legality of it. They have this R.A.V.E bill. So you know it's
harder to have parties. It's not that scene is dead, it's just that the scene
can't happen cuz the police will come and shut down the parties you know.
(chuckle)
Has that affected lots of people in the industry? You're
making all
this music and there's no where to go?
G: Well see, I'm lucky that I'm not confined to just America,
I'm more the international type. But for the ones who are more local or
whatever, it has had an impact cos there aren't as many venues to play at. So
you can't just travel in America and support yourself just by DJing alone. So
it's different. And then also, the numbers in even the clubs are lower than what
they used to be. You know, like in a weekly club type thing.
Is green velvet your favourite fabric?
G: (chuckles) Actually ... no. what IS my favourite fabric? what do I like?
(ponders for few seconds) Cashmere (chuckles).
-Words: Kathia / Images: Joon, Jun Kit
-Thanks to Curtis and Key Associates! |
