Stereoboard Speaks To Swedish DJ Basshunter Ahead Of His Show At York University (Interview)
Wednesday, 06 July 2011
Written by Nick Duquemin
There are three things that keep Swedish DJ Basshunter sane: video games, women and alcohol. That's what he told the crowd at his York University show, anyway - and that wasn't even close to the oddest thing he discussed with us during our backstage interview.
Stereoboard caught up with him in his dressing room just before midnight, drinking Jagermeister and chewing Swedish tobacco. Basshunter was chatty and hyperactive, and composed the set list two minutes before the show on the back of a Krispy Kreme box. Sitting in were an impromptu entourage of friends and admirers--including Hannah and Steph, two hairdressers from York. They'd been drafted in for the day to do Basshunter's hair, and had stayed on for the ride. "It's been surreal", Hannah told us. We can only agree...
Stereoboard: How have you spent the summer?
Basshunter: So far I've been in Shagaluf (sic) and in Sunny Beach...
Stereoboard: What's that been like?
Basshunter: What do you think it's been like? It's been ridiculous amounts of alcohol, partying and sex.
Stereoboard: And you're working on new material as well?
Basshunter: I am - I've been at home for three months during the spring, and I wanted to have proper, quality time in the studio. I've produced 70 tracks, well, demos, and the singles are done, and the album's almost finished.
Stereoboard: What sort of response are you getting when you play your new stuff?
Basshunter: Great. I mean, in my show I require a lot of energy. Playing a new track, you can feel the energy might go down a little bit, because people don't know it, so they spend their energy actually listening to the track instead of just jumping around and getting fucking mental... People are really happy that I'm back to my old sound. And I'm very happy that I'm back to my own sound as well. I'm tired of this cheesy fucking slow, 130 bpm shit.
Stereoboard: You seem to have a lot of presence on the internet, you talk to your fans a lot and you're on Twitter, do you like to have that personal connection?
Basshunter: I love it, and I think it's important. Thirty years ago, if you were a big artist you would take as much distance from the people as you possibly can. But now, people want to know what you're doing, they want to know what kind of shampoo you're using in the shower - conditioner as well - they want to know everything about you. We're living in a world of information, with Twitter, I mean, I know when Christina Aguilera is having a bath, so I think it's important to stay close to the fans. 80% of the comments over the past year have been 'Go back to your old style, give us the high tempo, the high bpm, the hands-up music'. And that's what I do, I satisfy my fans.
Stereoboard: Do you calculate what you're doing so it sounds good in clubs, or sounds good on the radio? Or do you just say 'screw it, I'll do what I want to do'?
Basshunter: When it comes to music, I'm very spontaneous. If I get a good feeling I just sit down and sometimes I want to produce something really non-melodic, just proper hard that would basically blow any speaker up in the air, sometimes I want to write a good sensitive lyric about love, and all that kind of stuff that involves love and sensitive materials, you know 'her hair is dancing in the wind, and her ass is moving beautifully on the dancefloor' [giggling from the hairdressers], so I kind of see myself as spontaneous. It's like spontaneous poetry, from my own imagination. Does that make sense?
Stereoboard: Um..
Basshunter: I have a very sensitive side. But I do have other sides as well.
Stereoboard: Is that going to come out in your new stuff?
Basshunter: I have a dark side. [Slides into Darth Vader voice] Luke, I am your father. [Luke Skywalker impression] No! No! It's impossible! [Vader] And you made out with your sister. [Luke] No, that's fucking sick! [Snaps back into normal voice] On the new album it's going to be a mixture of everything, trance music and it's going to be the classic Basshunter sound like vocal, melodic, catchy choruses. I like to mix the electro-house sound we have today with the energy from hard dance, it's a new thing I'm working on for a couple of tracks.
Stereoboard: Obviously you do this all the time, is it still the same rush that it used to be?
Basshunter: You know, it's quite funny, there's a good friend of mine... his name is Dangerous Dave, the reason his name's 'Dangerous' I don't think I should mention...
Stereoboard: Why's he dangerous?
Basshunter: He has a very good reputation in Magaluf - sorry, Shagaluf...
Stereoboard: He lives up to the name?
Basshunter: He lives up to the name, yeah... we sat down, and I've known him for a couple of years and been with me on all the major tours and stuff, he's a very very good DJ. And he said, 'Do you still think everything [on tour] is so exciting'? And you know what? I still get nervous before I go up onstage. When the time comes when I'm not nervous before I go up onstage, that's when I know I'm getting used to it - and I've done it a thousand times in five years and I'm still getting nervous. So yeah, I still love what I do.
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