After stops in Singapore and Indonesia, British-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer Ed Davenport is bringing his music to Saigon as part of his Asian tour. He took some time to chat with the organisers of his upcoming gig at The Observatory.
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When did your love affair with Electronic Music begin?
When I was 10 or 11, listening to cassette tapes like 'Rave Generation vol.2, 'Fantasia' party recordings from these huge UK raves, and stuff on the UK charts like Underworld, Chemical Brothers, Faithless, etc. Pretty standard stuff, but it was enough to get me hooked.
What was your biggest motivation to move to Berlin?
The amazing music scene and my frustration with being an artist living in London!
What is your favourite place on earth you have visited or lived so far?
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. I was lucky enough to visit it with my family about 10 years ago – it is one of the strangest and most beautiful places. The whole park is sitting on top of a giant dormant volcano.
What was one of your best gigs over the last 12 months and how many gigs do you actually play per year?
I played a five hour set at Berghain on my 30th Birthday in April, and then five weeks later I played there again for the release party of 'Berghain 07', which I have a track on. So, these two gigs are equally my highlight of the year so far. Last year I played around 50 shows all together.
What are your expectations for Vietnam and is there something you want to see, eat or try when you’re here?
I have been told the food is amazing, so I will have to try to get as much in me as possible in the 24 hours I'm there…! But in general I'm just open minded and curious to see how people respond to my music there, and what the city is like.
Can you tell us a bit more about your motivation to create your guise Inland.
Inland is my techno alter ego. It is supposed to be as pure as possible, and in many ways that means it’s not for everyone. I just follow my heart and make stuff that I want to play out and hear in the club. It should be tough, funky and weirdly hypnotic. It is not about following any trends or modern fashion techno. I think it is much more rooted in classic, old school techno, but with up-to-date production value.
We read you will make a remix of Andre Kronert’s C.O.D.E.2. Andre is a very good friend of ours and was here about one year ago. Could you tell us when we can hear your interpretation, since we are very anxious to hear this production?
It should be coming out this summer on Par Grindvik's label -Stockholm LTD. There will be an Efdemin remix on the other side too!
Would you be willing to share one or some of your favourite productions you are listening to at the moment and your favourite techno productions of all time?
I just bought a beautiful remix of Ambiq by Tobias on Arjuna Music. It is totally avant-garde acoustic and modular based stuff, with lots of loosely syncopated tonal sounds, but it's all underpinned by Tobias' classic 808 drums. I love what those guys are all doing - Tobias, Atom ™, Max Loderbauer, Moritz Von Oswald Trio…I'm also addicted to the classic 70s recording by The Rhythm Devils - 'The Apocalypse Now Sessions' - far out, jungle river drums and live percussion, man!
When was your breakthrough?
My first signing was in 2006 and there was a little buzz around those first records, on Gumption and Liebe*Detail. Since then, I have moved on in my sound and I think it is fair to say there’s been a resurgence in interest in what I do over the last few years. The Inland records seemed to make an impact - COUNTER001 and the Figure SPC record ('Nightfall') in particular, and now since last year's collaboration with Function 'Odeon/Rhyl' on Infrastructure, I feel like the emphasis is on this side of my work.
Pulse#8 – Heart Beat Presents: Ed Davenport @ The Observatory (5 Nguyễn Tất Thành, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City) - Friday 17 July 2015, 9pm.
[Photo via Soundwall]
