Danny Russell – Urban Rebel PR Interview
Graduating from the dance floors of Manchester nightlife, British DJ/Producer Danny Russell has a long-standing love for the sound we call house music. With a style that covers everything from upfront disco edits to jacked-up house grooves and a slew of top-tier label signings under his belt with the likes of Defected Records and Paper Recordings, the now Berlin-based groove selector is on the rise. We caught up with Danny to get his 10 Questions.
1.You’re a Manchester lad, regularly attending iconic venues like The Music Box, Sankeys Soap and The Attic. However, since 2012, Berlin has been your adopted home. How is life in Berlin, and how was the transition from the UK’s nightlife to the well-documented nightlife of Berlin?
Well, firstly I kind of moved to Berlin by accident, I only came here for 5 weeks in the summer and ended up staying. Even though Berlin is a Techno focused city, there are such a vast amount of venues open every night of the week here that are also interested in having more Eclectic House or Disco DJs like myself, in fact at one point, I think I was playing at 11 different places in those early years. Also the main difference is they aren’t restricted to strict opening times, so it is possible to still be listening to a great DJ play at 8 am on a Monday morning. On the whole, I’ve found Berlin very accepting of my style of music, and have been extremely lucky to play some iconic venues and parties; that’s not to say there aren’t many venues I’d love to play here also.
2.One of the most iconic party cities in the world is also your home, so we expect you’ve had your fair share of unforgettable nights on the dancefloor. Can you walk us through your dream Berlin party schedule starting with your top daytime party of choice, favourite bar/location and the club that keeps you dancing from open until close?
During the summer months, clubs like Else and Sage Beach can put on great open-air parties; there’s also Club Der Visionaere that does some nice things during the day. It all depends on who’s playing, though, as I’m not such a big fan of that stripped-down techy thing that can happen a lot here; I’m from more of a musical background, having grown up going to nights like The Electric Chair and Aficionado in Manchester. As for night time bars I’m very lucky to have been the first DJ to play the opening for Georgia Bar, it’s owned by a couple of Berlin nightlife heads and I still enjoy playing there as regularly as I can. I was also taken to a great new bar called Troya recently, which was playing some amazing house music that reminded me of that downtown New York vibe. Club wise, well, a friend of mine has a new spot in the west called Studio 1111, although I think it might be invite-only, however they have a fantastic Sound and Lighting system and Hazy Pockets that does the DJ booking always has a solid roster of local and international talent.
3.‘Watchin Out’ is a single of yours, alongside Dirty Channels, released on Defected, and it led to a slew of strong support from the likes of Dan Shake, Josh Wink, Giles Peterson, Spiller, amd Kevin Saunderson even claiming one of Mixmag’s Tune’s of the Month and Year in 2018. That’s quite the achievement! Given the success of the single, would you say this was a turning point in your career? Any plans for a follow up collaboration with Simone & Leme. T, aka Dirty Channels in the future?
I’m always open to collaborations, although it has been extremely difficult to find time to get into the studio recently as I have had a baby. Also Simone has just become a father this year, so I can imagine he’s in a similar situation. However, after the summer and when my son settles into Kita (German Nursery) here, the plan is to focus on getting creative again. As for it being a turning point in my career, well, I’d been DJing for around 20 years at that point and had already played the 50th Anniversary of Pride in New York the year before, however having a release with well over 4 million, Spotify plays doesn’t hurt, it also doesn’t really define what I do week in week out.
4.Your sound is expansive in sonic grooves merging old school and modern flavours of house, funk, electro and nu disco. What would you say is the inspiration behind your style as a producer and DJ?
I’m extremely lucky as my Uncle – Billy Caldwell, was a DJ at the legendary Hacienda club, who also toured with the likes of New Order, Run DMC and Moby, so from a very young age, I was exposed to some fantastic music. Growing up, I used to go out to many different places one night I’d be at an experimental Electro and Wonky Techno night, the next, I’d be in an Indie Rock club, which certainly gave me a very diverse musical taste, so when it comes to playing different clubs and bars, I can draw on those experiences to craft a sound to suit the audience.
5. What is the best DJ/artist set you’ve seen and why was it so memorable?
There have been many over the years, but a great party here was when some friends of mine had the 5th Birthday of Buena Onda and Marco Gallerani brought Café Del Mar legend Phil Mison to play in the basement at Arkaoda, with support from Marco’s brother Matteo ‘Gallo”, and Jona Jefferies. It was a crazy night of bumping into people I hadn’t seen in a long time, and they were all on the dance floor. I remember just after 5 am going to check on Phil in the DJ booth, he was worried he might miss his flight back as there was no sign of the party slowing down, I just turned to him and said “you’ll be lucky if you get out of here at all, ha ha ha.” Phil was playing a bunch of remixes of rare Balearic records that I own, some of which I thought I was the only one in Berlin to know, and he was blowing the doors off. It was a super special night; I just hope the lads put on more parties in future.
6.It’s the last party on earth; the crowd are shouting, “One more tune.” What track do you play as your encore finale?
That’s a difficult one to answer as it would totally depend on what party I was playing and the music before it; I can, however, tell you about a time when I had to play 3 encores. I was DJing on The Workmans Club roof deck in Dublin, and for the final record, I played Average White Band & Ben E King - A Star In the Ghetto; it was bringing the house down apart from a young Jamaican lad that asked me what the record was, I got as far as telling him it was “The Average White Band” before he turned and walked straight out of the club.
7.You’ve DJed internationally playing destinations like New York, Ibiza, Dublin and even rooftop clubs in Havana, Cuba, as well as being a familiar face at Berlin venues like Neue Odessa, Georgia Bar, and Crackers. But which venues are on your bucket list to DJ at? And what makes them so special to you?
Probably the number 1 spot I’d love to play at is the Dance Village in Glastonbury. I’ve not been to the festival since 2008, but the baby’s been watching it on TV with me, and I’d love to take him; I mean, it’s the biggest party in the world with a legacy spanning decades. Also, Freddies Bar at Pikes Hotel has to be up there; I saw DJ Harvey play there a few years ago for the closing of his first season of Mercury Rising Parties, what a great spot, I also ended up bumping into a load of old music industry heads that night, as well as being fortunate enough to hang out with Tony Pike himself before his passing. I’m also hearing amazing things about Harveys new club in Bali – Klymax Discotheque the sound systems supposed to be amazing, plus I’d love to head out to tour some of Asia.
8.Can you tell us about any upcoming releases or collaborations you are working on right now?
Sure, I have a vinyl release scheduled for sometime before the end of the year on a new label called Many Hands, which is Jona Jefferies and Kava Nator’s project. It will be a Multi-Artist Edit release alongside awesome Artists – Trujillo, Maarten, Tom Bolas and Jona Jefferies. I’m hoping to be back in the studio working on new material with a possible collaboration with Jamie Anderson, but as we both seem to be super busy right now it’s hard to say when that will be.
9.Any words of wisdom for those looking to start their own journey into DJ/production?
Yeah.. don’t do it; there are easier ways to make money. Joking aside, it’s a tough industry, so you have to love it; I recommend listening to as much music outside of their genre as possible; inspiration for Production can come from the most unlikely sources. Also just because the technology exists to make DJing easier, that shouldn’t stop you really digging for music; there’s no real fast track to creating an interesting set, mixing records together is only a small part of what a DJ does. I know its such a cliché but it really is about taking people on a journey, and it’s always nice if there’s a few twists to the plot along the way.
10.What are you most excited for in the second half of 2024?
I’ve been approached about working with an Underground Collective of artists in San Francisco, New York, London, and Berlin, so I’m looking forward to exploring what that might offer. I am also looking forward to playing some new spots in the city and getting the opportunity to get back on tour after summer. So promoters, if you’re reading this, get in touch.
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