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Interview with Oliver Leighs
Reported by Sharon B
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Submitted 25-11-03 11:33
Over the last 12 months club land has slowly but surely witnessed the infiltration of Trance music at more and more prominent Hard dance events, and with it a number of up-and-coming DJ’s have risen to the surface with their impressive talents and skills. One such DJ is New Zealand’s very own Oliver Leighs. Well-known in his native land, Oliver has stormed onto the London dance scene and captured the imagination of all who have heard his sets, and has played at events such as Heat, D:Pressure and Becomeone to name but a few. With his unique mixing skills and awesome tune selection, Mr Leighs has cornered a niche in the market and impressed clubbers, DJ’s and promoters alike throughout the Capital. Sharon B managed to catch up with him and ask him a few questions about his DJ’ing career, his move to London and up-coming ventures into producing his own tracks.
Sharon B: How old were you when you first got into Dance music and what drew you into DJing in the first place?
Oliver Leighs: was about 15/16 when I first started listening to what I would class as dance music (around 1990). I’d always been a big fan of music, but more of the band variety. One of my mates from school was right into his electronic music, and after being introduced to these sounds through another friend, I began to get a passion for it.
This friend was a DJ, he played and organised ‘raves’ and parties around the capital Wellington (NZ) and had a weekly radio show on the student radio on Saturday nights. This is basically how I got interested in DJing initially, just listening to these shows religiously and hanging out at the studio.
SB: Do you remember the first tune you bought on vinyl? What was it called and what genre were you initially drawn to as a DJ?
OL: The first dance record I bought on vinyl was Union Jack – Red Herring on Platipus Records. I had a reasonable collection of non dance stuff on vinyl at the time, and it was a huge decision to start buying records. I remember thinking long and hard about the step, as I knew it would be a huge financial investment in the future and I would get hooked! As soon as I bought this record my vinyl frenzy started and I immediately raided all the second hand vinyl shops in the North Island so I could build up my collection of classic tunes. It took a while but I built up a good collection of classics so my sets could include older stuff as well.
Initially my friend was playing early trance, goa trance, industrial techno, jazz and jungle. He played everything come to think of it! I bought loads of records in various genres when I was starting out as dance music wasn’t that big in Wellington and the shops didn’t really stock it. What I bought was dictated to large extent by what the record shops ordered in those days.
SB: How long was it since you first started mixing to playing out and where and when was your first ever set played?
OL: I practiced for years in my bedroom before even contemplating to play out. I also spent a few years sitting with DJs at events and clubs and seeing what records they played and also more importantly how they played their records. I would go out to clubs, but I would be there to learn and trainspot as well as have a good time out! The first set I ever played out was at a club called Tatou in Wellington. After I finished the set the next DJ cleared the floor and so I thought that was a good sign. I talked to the owner and he didn’t like what I played saying I played too hard!!
SB: What’s the most memorable set you have played?
OL: That’s a tricky one Sharon! I remember different sets for different reasons. I would have to say that the set I have been most proud of in the UK was my set at Twisted at the Fridge on the SHOKK party back in March. Mick from Twisted placed a great deal of faith in me booking me without even hearing me play and I thought that I played a technically perfect warm up set that night. I’ll always remember Ian’s (Betts) words to me when he came in the DJ box as he was playing after me. When you get great feedback from a co DJ you know that you’ve done a good job!
Back in New Zealand my most fondest memories were playing Steve Hill’s UK leaving party, being the first home town DJ to play for Fevah NZ in the main room in Wellington and also my last set in NZ – a 9 hour marathon which finished around midday on the Sunday. Having people left on the floor at that stage and getting a great response when I finished was special!
SB: Steve Hill was reportedly the best man at your recent wedding (many congratulations by the way!) and rumour has it that he was your tutor at University. Is this true? How did you meet Steve and what influence has he had on you with regards to you being a DJ and your music career?
OL: Thanks for that – yes, Steve held the rings and made my bride blush in his speech, everything a best man should do. I met Steve through the DJ friend who I mentioned in question 1 – rumour has it that Steve taught this guy to mix also. I think I was in a marketing tutorial he ran from memory, I only lasted one lesson and then changed classes though (nothing to do with his teaching though!)
Steve taught me how to play to a crowd which is a skill that is priceless in DJing in my opinion. It wasn’t about playing the biggest tunes at that time as all of the music he was playing no-one had ever heard of in NZ. It’s not like it is now there will be people in the crowd that know a proportion of the tracks that DJs are playing. Also, at the time DJs played to people in Wellington that were either straight or drunk which is quite different to playing to clubbers these days. Getting the programming right for sets was the key to keeping people in the club and making money for the club owner by drinking.
SB: How did your career progress over in New Zealand before coming over here to the UK? Have you always been a trance DJ or did you encompass other genres as well?
OL: My first big break came when I secured a residency at Tatou in Wellington. To start with, I used to DJ a Saturday or Friday night with Steve and we used to split the night up into sections (6 hours in total). I would usually do the warm up, then he would play peak set and I would finish off the night. I held residencies at bars in Wellington as well as Tatou which was a club. These bars were a good laugh and it was great for DJing purposes as I got to play a variety of music styles, be it house, disco, trance, hard house and what I would class as cheesy house!
Trance has always been my love, but in order to keep people on the floor over a whole night you had to play different styles. I got quite into my hard house for a few years, especially before I left NZ, and I would generally by 50/50 trance and hard house.
With the advent of Fevah to New Zealand, we started getting some new DJs to the town from London, like Matt Clarke, Owen B, Eamonn Fevah, Steve Blake, Ian Mac, Craig Jon, Lab 4, Skol, Roosta etc and so that sound became quite big. When I left NZ the DJing was completely mad, I was working all week at a normal job, doing a radio show from 7-9pm on a Friday night, working 11pm – 4am at Bars, then doing Tatou from 6am-close (which could be anything up to 11am or noon).
On Saturday nights I would guest at another club in Welly, and do a few hours at Bars and 3-4 hours at Tatou to finish off the weekend…… it was tiring!
SB: How important is it, do you think, for a DJ to play as many genres as possible? Do you think a DJ should become accomplished at more than one style or stick to what they know best when it comes to mixing and playing out?
OL: As I’ve mentioned it was necessary to have a diverse array of styles in Wellington, but now it makes sense to focus on one style you really love and do it well in my opinion.
SB: What was it like when you first came over to the UK? What did you think of “The Scene” at the time and what was it that got you involved in the London dance scene?
OL: I’d been on a few holidays already to London so I knew what to expect to a certain extent. I was a little disappointed with the lack of trance nights in the capital, but I started going regularly to places like Godskitchen in Birmingham to get the dose I wanted! I didn’t mind going to the hard dance clubs, but I found as if I was hearing the same tunes over and over again and it wasn’t really inspiring my musical taste. The scene was healthy though a most nights were always packed which was good to see.
SB: How did you first get involved in the club scene over in the UK? Moving from one side of the world must have been hard in itself, but how did you manage to successfully bring your DJ career with you?
OL: It was really hard to come over here and go from 12 hours of gigs per weekend to none, which I had been doing for about 5 years! I started out just going to the different parties and after a while I found the ones I liked and the ones that didn’t appeal too much. I don’t really go out to hear a certain promotion, I’ll go to an event if there are DJ(s) that I want to hear.
That’s how I started, just going out and seeing where my sound would be acceptable. I quickly realised that there weren’t many parties that I felt comfortable approaching – I just didn’t play hard enough!
SB: How would you describe your sound over here in the UK and what was it about Progressive and Trance that drew you to those genres as a UK DJ?
OL: I would class my sound as a mixture of Dutch and UK trance and progressive. It’s quite hard to define a sound, but something on Nukluez or Tidy is generally too hard for me. I think my sound can best be described by checking the percussion and baseline patterns on a record. If the baseline is loopy and groovy I’m probably into it but if it’s straight and driving it’s probably not me! I like all kinds of trance from very bare progressive to lite hard trance, with or without vocals. If it’s got a good hook / chord progression and it’s well produced with a groovy feel I’ll generally like it!
SB: What is the difference between Progressive and Trance? How would you describe the different styles to those people who are not aware of the differences in the two genres?
OL: In my mind, true progressive is quite minimal Bedrock stuff – this stuff I’m not generally into. The progressive I play is lite trance. I would class it as progressive if the melodies are quite subtle and the track relies on baselines and percussions to create effect rather than melodies. This kind of stuff can be typified by producers like Harry Lemon (Lemon8). The trance I play is anything from Push stylee, through the Dutch funky stuff (like Katana for example). Trance generally has more lush pads, effects and riffs than progressive, but still with that ‘swingy or groovy’ feel to it.
SB: You play at many venues around London and are regularly seen at Becomeone and Heat, both prestigious events in their own rights, how did you manage to get such successful bookings so quickly in London and what or who do you contribute your success in the UK to? Word of mouth? Successful management? Lady Luck?
OL: All my bookings so far have come through word of mouth and recommendations from other DJs and clubbers, or my demos which I pass to a selected few promoters and DJs. I was contacted by BecomeOne a few days after playing a set at the Spotted Dog in Willesdon, apparently they had heard good things about the performance even though they weren’t even there! They booked me for their re-launch party at Sub-Logic even though they had already finalised the line-up, which was flattering.
SB: Your demo CD’s are renown as being some of the best demo’s heard in London – how does it feel to have such positive feedback from so many people, DJ’s and clubbers alike?
OL: To tell you the truth, I don’t get an awful lot of feedback on the demos I do. When people do, however, I’m very grateful and I always welcome people to get in contact with me and let me know their views. It makes me glad to hear that people enjoy them. I have had people who have obtained a demo sending a text message or PM, which makes the hard work worthwhile.
SB: How do you approach a demo? Your style has been referred to more than once as more akin to “blending” than mixing? How long did it take for you to perfect your style and how long does it usually take you to get a demo done, from choosing the tunes to having the finished product in your hand and ready to give out?
OL: My demos are generally done to showcase a promoter what styles of music I play and also how I program a set. I do one a month. The real hard work in making a good demo in my opinion is sourcing the tracks. Lots of clubbers don’t realise the immense preparation work that goes into preparing a DJ set. The constant surfing of record shop websites and reading of buzz charts. I’m sure people just think DJs turn up and play!
I would find my 15 tracks for the CD and then I would do the actual mix at home. I never do more than one take – all my demos are mixed once only. I never plan mixing points or any of that, but I will have listened to all the tracks previous to that and I will have in my head where the mix points are etc. After I’ve mixed the demo, it’s a matter of cutting it up into individual tracks on ProTools or something similar and then burning the disc. So, in answer to the question, it takes 74 minutes to mix, 74 minutes to load it into ProTools, 10 minutes to put the markers in and then 10 minutes to burn – so about 3 hours in all from start to finish.
It’s taken me 8/9 years to perfect my demo style, so I’ve had a lot of practice!
I think that my mixing style has changed a great deal over the last 2/3 years. When I used to play the harder stuff the mixing points are a little more defined by the records and you generally mix breakdown to breakdown, where as with the stuff I play now, you have a little more free range with the mixes and you can mix in and out where you see fit. Obviously with trance, you have to be a little careful with riffs and melodies as tracks can be perfectly beat matched by the mix can still sound awful it its not programmed properly.
I’m a big believer in long DJ sets and creating a ‘journey’. I guess that trance allows you to do this a little more than the harder stuff where DJs just bang out the 12 biggest tunes in there box on the night. I’ve done many 5-9 hour sets in the past so I would love nothing more to doing one of these in the UK and progress the floor through the night….
SB: How do you approach your sets as a DJ? Your sound is very unique and helps you stand out from the crowd when you play out. Knowing this do you ever construct your sets or do you play by ear, from reading the crowd etc?
OL: To me a great DJ is one where you don’t need to look up to see who it is. You can stand in the crowd and hear a few tracks and know who’s playing. I hope that this is how I am perceived as this is my goal as a DJ. I never construct my sets before I play – I might have a pretty good idea of 70% of the records I am going to play but the order, and the rest of the set is dictated by the atmosphere and feel on the night.
I’m very fortunate to have this experience of how to read crowds etched into me due to playing bars, clubs, weddings and events back in NZ – I think it’s a good skill to have!
SB: Are there any record’s that don’t leave your box?
OL: There’s probably two or three tunes that I never take out – let’s call them my ‘Get Out of Jail Free Cards!’ Letting you know them wouldn’t be fair but Markus and Dom have cottoned onto one of them - much to my displeasure! 
Three other records which I would take with me to a desert island are ORN – ‘Snow’, Quivver – ‘Twist & Shout’ as well as ‘Space Cowboy’ by Jamiroquai. All three hold special memories and I don’t believe have dated at all since they were released.
SB: Where have you yet to play that you would love to have a set at? Venue wise and event wise?
OL: In London, venue wise, I want to play Camden Palace, the Coronet and Brixton Academy main stage. I am striving to play at a venue like this where there is a stage and the venue is a large size.
The event I am desperate to play in London that I haven’t already played it Peach. It will be great to play Knowwhere in March for the first time and to continue to play for Heat in 2004 as well as BecomeOne.
SB: Do you or have you ever played back to back as a DJ? What do you think of back-to-back sets in general?
OL: I’ve played back to back with other DJs quite a bit over the years, namely Quamay from New Zealand (which we did B2B for 1.5 years) as well as Steve.
I’m not a great fan of B2B as you have to really know and trust the other DJs musical style and skill to be successful in my opinion. Saying that, with DJs like Steve and Quamay, I knew their styles very well and the sets always went down well.
SB: Many people look to you as an inspiration for their own DJing careers – who do you admire most and what is it about them that inspires you as an artist?
OL: Without a doubt, the DJ that most inspires me is Armin van Buuren. His programming and energy behind the decks is amazing and I consider myself as a DJ to be quite similar in styles and presence.
SB: What is your opinion on the current dance scene in the UK? What are the best and worst attributes of clubbing and DJing in London?
OL: The Club Scene in the UK is one of or if not the best in the world. You flick through you clubbing pages every week and you can go and see an exorbitant amount of top class hard dance DJs regularly, the best of UK trance DJs, the best of Europe’s Trance DJs, a multitude of UK and international House DJs etc – all in the same weekend in most cases! You can pop along and hear Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten on Friday at the Gallery, you can pop into Frantic the next day to hear Phil Reynolds, Lab 4, Paul Glazby, Nick Sentience and BK and then that night you can go to the End to hear Jeff Mills. Now I consider that to be quite a selection. I think people take the scene for granted in this country on occasions. Back home we had one international per two months in one genre!
The best thing about DJing in London is the amount of productions and venues, The worst I would say is the in-tolerance of clubbers for the lighter trance sound at big events. A good example of this was the recent Wildchild party where the main floor was empty for Lange and Pulser and people only started to get in there for JFK et al. To me that is a great shame. These are Britain’s two biggest trance producers and they were playing to nobody…. That doesn’t seem right to me!
SB: Do you think that dance sites such as HarderFaster.Net contribute much to the dance world or detract from it?
OL: I think that sites such as Harder Faster are a good thing for clubbers to share views about the parties they go to and music related topics. It also helps DJs and promoters to gather feedback on their parties and performances.
SB: What’s your opinion on the hard dance vs trance debate that is always a topic of conversation on sites such as HarderFaster?
OL: There aren’t many types of music that I don’t appreciate. While I wouldn’t play or buy a lot of the harder music out there, I still appreciate the production and energy that it creates. I don’t really understand some people’s views on different genres of music – if they don’t like it then they shouldn’t subject themselves to it!
SB: You’re now moving into production as well. How is that going and what are your long term goals with regards to production?
OL: I’ve been interested in production ever since I started listening to music. With the advances in technology that we have experienced in the production field in recent years, it has meant that the cost of production has fallen a considerable extent. To me, this is a great thing, as more and more people are now able to start producing their own music, even in a home studio setting.
I’ve been tinkering around and researching the whole thing for about a year and a half now, and over the last few months I have started writing some new bits and pieces. It’s a great deal of fun and I enjoy the creative side to it.
My goals are to have a few singles released my mid next year. My first remix I co-produced with Steve – “Zander – Divine”, is due to come out next year, and has been well received by the DJs and clubbers that have been exposed to it.
SB: What style/genre are you aiming for as a production artist? Who do you look to in terms of influence as a producer? Who do you admire most as a producer and why?
OL: I’m producing tracks that would fit in a set that I would play out. I don’t see any point in producing a track that wouldn’t fit in a set that I would play. My production influences are extremely varied, but if I had to pick a few it would be M.I.K.E, Armin Van Buuren and Katana. I’m constantly amazed with all three producers, especially the first two as they write records in various boundaries and never stick to the same sound which I think is an important thing.
In terms of Hard Dance, BK would be the producer I most respect, as I find his sound very well polished and when you look back at some of his early Hard-Beat Eps you can still play them – which is a sign of a wicked record.
SB: Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years time with regards to your music career?
OL: I hope to be writing records that I am proud of and that people are enjoying. DJing wise, I would hope to be providing performances that people would remember when they got home in the morning after a club.
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Other Features By Sharon B:
What's it all about? Alfie! - Getting Technikal with Alf Bamford
Heat UK presents....SW4!!! - Interview with Damian Gelle
Interview with TWIST promoter Steve Darragh
Interview with Innovate Resident Nick Sentience
Interview with Ferry Corsten
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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