Bedrock with John Digweed

With regular nights at top clubs such as Heaven (London) and Twilo (New York), a weekly slot on KISS 100, a killer label (Bedrock Records) under his belt, headline sets at festivals and 27 compilation discs, the chances are that even if you aren’t a house or techno fan, the ubiquitous John Digweed sound will have reached your ears.

Digweed has been DJing since before some of you were born, but it wasn’t until he was 26 and behind the decks at the Renaissance Club, Mansfield, that he started to build his empire. Fellow DJ Sasha heard his demo there and the rest, as the saying goes, is history – they’ve since played together countless times, dominating the progressive house scene in the UK and across Europe.

Back in the day, Digweed collaborated with Nick Muir on tracks including 'For What You Dream Of' (you will have heard it during cult Brit flick Trainspotting) and 'Heaven Scent', which became mainstream dancefloor favourites. But these days the producer is pushing a sound that runs more along techno lines. "I feel that the progressive sound became tired and didn’t move in the right direction for me,” he explains. “I love the techno and house sounds being made now as the vibe and mood of them is fantastic.”

At 44 years old, Digweed has been around the proverbial block – several times – and knows the music industry inside and out; and his failsafe method is to "never plan... just push yourself as a DJ with new mixes every night." He’s constantly signing up emerging artists (like Steve Lawler, way back when he was still considered a newbie to the scene) to his Bedrock Records label as well as chopping and changing his own sound to evolve with the scene.

While Digweed may feel more accustomed to big stadiums and mega clubs, when he lands on Aussie shores in February he'll be heading for the leafy courtyard of North Sydney's Greenwood Hotel with Butch. It’s a more intimate locale, but one that we think both die-hard Digweed fans and newcomer clubbers will enjoy.