| housefloor.de: |
how did the success of your single „break“ in 1992 which hit even the american billboard dance charts change your life? |
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michel de hey: |
it just happened, to be honest it changed nothing. at that time i had no idea what was going on. i was more interested in djíng so that took up all my time. 1 year after the success i went on a tour through america, but i was very disappointed with the whole scene there. funny thing was that i met joey beltram, jeff mills, josh wink, onionz, armand van helden and a lot of other guys who are still around. so for the experience it was great. to make it an even better experience i never got any money for the record! |
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| housefloor.de: |
in your early years when you started mixing your reputation improved not only because of competing in various tournaments but even more because of your regular club night ‚future‘ in nighttown rotterdam which you had to stop after seven successful years. how important do you think was this club night for your own development? |
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michel de hey: |
between the competitions and the future night lies a gap of 6 or 7 years. after the tournaments i played at every gig i could get my hands on. no matter where, no matter how, no matter what :-)
when i started “future” i had played for a while in nighttown on different nights. they demanded i would take on the problematic friday. i never regretted it. i played many nights for 4 to 6 hours and at a certain point i did a radioshow before it as well. it really shaped my sound at that time; it also gave me a following in holland which i am still thankful for. |
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| housefloor.de: |
at the moment you don’t have any club residencies. why is it important to you to be flexible and play all around the world? some djs appreciate to often play for a home-audience. |
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michel de hey: |
it was a choice at that time to do things different after 7,5 years of doing a weekly thing. but since a few months i do miss a regular residency. what i do know is play certain clubs twice a year; 4 times i play in my hometown and 4 times in amsterdam so in that way i am creating a more residency feel to it. whenever i am tired of travelling i will start a weekly thing again, but at the moment i still love to go to different places so the residency has to wait. |
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| housefloor.de: |
in 2005 you released a compilation called ‚two faces‘. there you show two sets, one when you are playing in a small club and the second mix is like you would play on festival or in a big room. can you describe the differences between the various locations how a dj feels them? |
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michel de hey: |
a club gives you more room to experiment and create an intimate vibe. at a festival you need to entertain a lot of people and that leaves less room for certain records which sound great in a club. but which will not have the same effect on a festival. although the last festivals i played this summer the vibe is more intimate. so i am happy they are getting closer to each other. |
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| housefloor.de: |
you play all around the globe quite often. can you please tell a funny or scary dj-travelling-story? |
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michel de hey: |
the one where i enter the club a week to early?
or the one that i was playing for circo loco in italy and i was travelling for 3 days while it was normally 3 hours! the hotel forgot to return my passport and all other flights were overbooked. after a 400 kilometres drive i missed another flight so i had to sleep one more night in a hotel.
or the party i was playing in israel where i was playing in a superman costume all night!
that is a long story... |
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| housefloor.de: |
you come from rotterdam and also dedicated your new compilation to your hometown. what do you think makes rotterdam special in comparison to other metropoles? |
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michel de hey: |
the way the city is built and the way it is working on its identity. logically people will visit the capital first. if you want to attract people to your city you have to be different. i like the vibe in some cities on holland but rotterdam suits me better. the mentality of the people and the modern way of thinking gives me a feeling of being at home. |
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| housefloor.de: |
your label immaculate music has several sublabels. why did you decide to have many different imprints for your musical output? |
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michel de hey: |
ec records is my main label with more than 70 releases by now. i am very happy with the artists involved, secret cinema, grooveyard, literon, biological etc etc.
i started out hey! records to have a label with only tracks from myself. i did not want to interfere with the releases and artists on ec records. so hey! is there to release my own music whenever i want. |
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| housefloor.de: |
what inspires you to make a new track? is it mostly other music or also a sound you happen to hear in everyday life? |
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michel de hey: |
everything can inspire me from the weather, art, architecture, tv to daily life experiences. a lot of inspiration i get as well when i hear certain records that i think sound great and i try to reply to them with my music. it is a way of communicating through music. there are so many good records out, that is a big stimulation to make music as well.
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housefloor.de: |
you often work together with other artists, for example literon or secret cinema. which differences are there for you in the way you work together with the different personalities? |
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michel de hey: |
secret cinema and literon i know for a very long time. it has always been fun to make music with them as they really understand the music that i want to produce. nowadays i also work a lot with mirko van dommelen. the way we do it is that i make the track at home and afterwards i go to his studio and there we mix and fine-tune it so we can release it. there is a lot of stuff finished and i am very happy with the stuff that we are making at the moment.
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housefloor.de: |
what can we expect from you in the near future? |
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michel de hey: |
the cd "recorded in rotterdam" ››› is out now and the new hey! (number6) is out as well. the response to this record is amazing; it gets plays from john digweed to adam beyer to josh wink to the guys from circo loco so that makes me happy. i will be releasing a few other records over the coming months and than i want to start on a full artist lp. so there is enough to do!
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››› michel de hey online |
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