WORLD´s ELECTRONIC MUSIC LEAGUE IN INTERVIEW:

Iman Gerowgan: Hello Butch, how are you doing?

Butch: I´m fine but still a bit tired after the last weekend.

 

Iman Geowgan: Especially 2010 was a big one for you. Winner of Pacha Ibiza DJ Awards for the Track of the season with „No worries“(Cecille) and numerous positions as „Best Track“, „Best Producer“ Best Necomer“, on GROOVE, Raveline, Resident Advisor, DJ Mag, Beatport, Underground Dance Magazine, top ten chart positions. How do you feel under the tag of "Man of the year 2010“ and "Everybodys darling“?

Butch: Of course it is an honour to to win awards or to be up there in all those lists and i´m thankful for all the support and recognition of my work. Its a nice feeling but i´m realistic enough to know that it needs hard work to maintain that status and a lot of the interest is just temporary.

 

Iman Gerowgan: Has it always been your dream to work as an international fulltime DJ? Which other goals do you have in your life?

Butch: Yes, its definitely me living my dream right now. I can do what i love to do for a living, travel to many places i otherwise would have never seen in my life and meet interessting people. Right know its hard to think about other goals since i´m fully focussed on what i do right know (which is producing, djing and my label bouq.)

 

Iman Gerowgan: Imagine you could turn back the time. What would you do differently?

Butch: Actually i´m pretty satisfied with the last big decisions i made. But of course there are quiete some things that i would rather left undone.

 

Iman Gerowgan: Have you ever had fear of failure and self-doubt?

Butch: I think everybody has these moments where he/she has the feeling to be on the wrong track. You will go through tough times, it's about getting through them.

 

Iman Gerowgan: Tell us about your musical background. Which artists or people have influenced you musically the most?

Butch: I was always involved with different kinds of music. In my youth I was fascinated by the early 90s Hip Hop culture, so I was doing breakdance and graffiti and started with DJing. Later I taught myself how to play the classical guitar because I love instrumental guitar-music. That’s why I have one guitar-track on each album I did (which is not typical for an electronic music artist I guess). The first electronic music artists that inspired me was my good friend and german techno-legend Thomas P. Heckmann as well as Emmanuel Top, Armand van Helden, Johnny D & Nicky P (aka Johnick), Thomas Bangalter and Kenny Dope.

 

Iman Gerowgan: How has your musical taste and your productions developed over the last few years?

Butch: I think my style always ranged from House over Tech-House to Techno,
sometimes a bit more to the right, sometimes more to the left. But one thing that always is important to me is the groove and the idea behind every track that needs to appeal to the people in a special way no matter if its a peak-timer, a warm-upper or something to listen to on your home-stereo. If i would have to describe my music in three words i´d say multilayered, subtile and groovy.

 

Iman Gerowgan: Do you have non-productiv moments in the studio? What are you doing in such moments? What is your medicine of the mind?

Butch: Yeah, of course there are these moments. Then its better to do something completely different. Making music is a process of creativity and there is no way you can constrain creativity. Let your mind be free and creativity will come back after a while.

 

Iman Gerowgan: How much time do you spend daily on social networks, such as facebook? How important is facebook for you?

Butch: I´m on facebook & skype a lot every day. It is perfect to stay in contact with my friends all around the world. Same goes for the contact with the fans of my music. I check facebook.com/cometobutch every day, try to answer all questions and let my fans take part of my life a bit. Its really important for me to stay open-minded, to get feedback wether its good or bad and to „keep my ear to the streets“.

 

Iman Gerowgan: Looking at the music industry and the scene.. what makes you worry about nowadays?

Butch: Well, one thing thats worrying a bit is the massive amount of new releases every day since netlables and digital releases became more and more relevant. I feel like its more about mass production and less about quality.

 

Iman Gerowgan: „Music can change the world, because music can change people“ (Bono, U2) What is your opinion?

Butch: Thats a very idealistic and optimistic point of view. I won´t say its wrong
and if someone like Bono says this it might be true in a certain way but i think its
not that easy. It needs more to change the world, music can be a part of it but the
seed of change needs to be planted in the brains of our children. That means you
have to take care of them and not let the tv & internet do the education.

 

Iman gerowgan: Which projects are you working on at the moment? What can we expact from you in the near future?

Butch: Next week my new Cecille record will be released. Its a three-track ep called Avantgarde and i´m a bit excited about it. Its different from my last Cecille (including No Worries) but the feedback was great so far. The next big thing will be another ep on Radioslaves Rekids imprint. It will feature the tracks Drummers Drama & Release the Evil.

 

Iman gerowgan: What is the phylosophy behind your label Bouq? ..and which releases do you have lined up in the next time?

Butch: The philosophy behind bouq. is easy to describe with the slogan “by friends for friends”. A positive, family-like relationship with artists, partners, media and fans is as fundamental to us as is the love for creative work. Since we started bouq. more than two years ago it developed in more than just a label. We organize quite a lot of events over the year, most of them with free entry, to give something back to our friends and supporters. Apart from that we have our own merchandise unit with creative people doing the artwork and designs for t-shirts, bags, slipmats, stickers etc. The next release on bouq will be part 4 of our friends and family series coming out at the beginning of july and featuring tracks by Obando, Sante, Amir and the Jack Project.

 

Iman Gerowgan: We see your tight touring shedult with dates in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Usa, Spain, France.. can you enjoy all the places you´re visiting? ..or is it just jeting from one show to the next show?

Butch: It depends...most of the time the only things i see are the airport, the hotel and the club but sometimes the flight-schedules allow me to see more of a certain city. Especially after long oversee flights to Asia, Australia or America there often is half a day or even more included to acclimate and do some sight-seeing.

 

Iman gerowgan: How will you spend your summer? Which events are you looking forward to?

Butch: The summer season is pretty busy for me. I have a residency at Sankeys, Ibiza and will play there alone 9-10 times over the summer. Apart from that there are quite a lot of festivals/Open Airs i will play with highlights like Loveland (Amsterdam), M-NUS Pollerwiesen alongside Richie Hawtin and Marco Carola (Cologne), Way out West Festival (Göteborg), Nature One, Day&Night and Sea of Love.

 

Iman Gerowgan: Thank you for the interview and your time. We wish you all the best!