Home > Interviews > Gareth Emery

Gareth Emery was tipped by Mixmag in 2002.  Since then he has established himself as a prolific producer and dj popular with the crowds at Godskitchen, Slinky, Passion, and The Gallery in London.  The exciting thing about him is you get the impression there is so much more to come from this talented artist.  I caught up with him to find out his latest news.

 

1. How did you first get into the music scene?

I was always involved in music in some capacity, whether it was from learning piano from the age of 4 or playing in bands in sixth form college. Up until the age of 18 it was all about bands for me until I was dragged along to Ibiza in 1998, which showed me there was a side to dance music I actually liked. Later that year I started at Warwick University and trance was really starting to kick off. At the time I was going to a wicked night called Quench which led on to clubs like Godskitchen and Gatecrasher. The music and the vibe were just so good back then that it was pretty hard not to get into it.

2. The track Mistral, which you produced under the alias GTR, was only your fourth track. It has become legendary. How did the track come about?

A little known fact is that Mistral actually started out as a remix, but the guy I was doing it for didn’t like it much. However, I was sure it had potential, so I turned it into an original track, and made most of it on my laptop in Provence, France, in summer 2002. The first thing I did was send it to Paul van Dyk. It was totally unlabelled and I just chucked it in with some vinyl. About two weeks later there was a huge thread on one of the Message Boards trying to find out the name of the track after he had played it at the Nature One festival. After that I signed it to Five AM and the rest is pretty much history.

3. What are you working on at the moment?

A remix for Darude, new singles under my real name and GTR, plus a slightly more commercial house project.

4. You also dj regularly at places like Godskitchen, Slinky, Passion and The Gallery and have a residency in Vancouver. How did you negotiate that?

Godskitchen was the first. I was a regular at the club for years and knew a lot of people there so when things started happening for me they were quick off the mark and got in touch about wanting me to play there. I am also fortunate to have a great agent who helped to alert a lot of international clubs in the early days. The Vancouver residency came about as I had played a lot for the same promoters over there. We got on great so it was natural to hook up a residency.

5. Where can we catch you djing over the next few months?

Godskitchen, Passion, Escape, Vancouver, and a few other tasty international destinations.

6. As well as djing and producing your also own the very cool Five AM record label. Why did you decide to start your own label?

I didn’t so much start Five Am but take it over. The label has been about since 1999 and I was signed to it as an artist. However, the company that originally owned Five AM went bust in 2003 so me and a guy called Alexis Hooper (who had run the label from the start) bought it from the liquidators. It was really tough at the start but then things all started falling into place and now we are not far off our 50th release.

7. What should we look out for on the label over the next few months?

Our next release is Lange vs. Mike Koglin – Bermuda/Radar, which is very cool. After that, there is the new Gareth Emery and Jon O’Bir – No Way Back, which is set to be the best track by us so far. Also, if you are more into the techno side of things, the forthcoming MIDOR release – In-novate EP is brilliant. Finally, a young guy from Demark, Edin Brosnjak, who we have recently signed, is going to be a real name to watch in 2006. We are all very excited to have him on board.

8. How do we keep up-to-date with you and the label?

Visit my website – www.garethemery.com – and sign up for the newsletter. That is where samples of all the new tunes get sent first. Also, do the same for the label – www.fiveamrecords.co.uk. And, if you are one for chat, come and join us at the forums at www.galexmusic.com/forums. A lot of the Five AM artists are always about chatting on the forums and I spend some time on there as well.

9. Random question: what is your favourite holiday destination and why?

Anywhere hot and lazy where I don’t have to do much except swim and read books. I have had great holidays in Dubai, Singapore, Sydney, and Southern France. I also went snowboarding for the first time over Christmas in Canada and really enjoyed that. In the future I will probably be dividing my time more equally between hot and cold climates.

10. What advice would you give to people who want to follow in your footsteps?

All the usual stuff! Keep at it, shamelessly self-promote, all that jazz! But most importantly, keep believing in what you are doing because you are nothing without that.