Gareth Emery

Writing and playing music is fundamental to Gareth Emery. His first gigs were at the age of 4, when despite never having lessons he turned out to be so handy on the piano that his teachers insisted on him taking over the duties in school assembly.

At 15, he found himself neglecting classical music training to sneak out to play guitar in a local indie band so ahead of their years that they found themselves headlining Southampton’s music pubs despite all being underage. And at 22, whilst on holiday in France, fiddling with a £500 laptop and wondering what he was going to do with his recent politics degree, he wrote his first electronic classic: the seminal ‘Mistral’. Plenty more were to come.

This Boxing Day, Gareth will make his debut appearance at The Arches and he’s got a lot in store for the Scottish crowd! Read on to find out what he’s got to say…..

How are you today and where in the world do we find you?
Sitting in my flat after just returning from a stacked three-date weekend in Ireland, Helsinki and Rome. Actually I feel quite grateful to have made it – I was still really laid low with flu last week and at one point thought I’d need to cancel all three gigs. Fortunately that didn’t happen.

Where do you play your last gig and how was it?
Rome, yesterday. Italy isn’t the biggest scene for trance music so it’s all small clubs there, but it’s got this great burgeoning scene and the fans are amazing.  I’d never played there until October, but have been twice now, in Milan and Rome, and the crowds there really are off the hook.

2009 has been a great year for you, what’s been your personal highlight?
Hard to choose, there have been a lot! Obviously some of the big festivals like Dance Valley and Global Gathering are in the running, but there were also some wicked club gigs at some of my favourite venues like Zouk in Singapore and Guvernment in Toronto. But overall, probably our own Garuda nights at Sankeys in Manchester. When we launched in January, a lot of people warned us that we’d struggle, starting in the middle of a recession – but every party we did in 2009 ended up totally sold out. The support we’ve had from the crowds in the North West and beyond has been quite amazing.

How did it feel to enter the top 10 in the DJ Mag Top 100 poll this year?
It was just a huge shock. I mean, I did expect to do OK. I was 23 last year, and 2009 was just an amazing year both in the studio and behind the decks, so I suppose I was hoping to go up a bit, but I never saw the top 10 as being achievable at this point, so to sneak in was just massively surprising and very humbling. No complaints, but I just totally didn’t expect it.

Artists like Armin, Tiësto and PvD have stayed in the top 10 for years, what do you think is the secret to their longevity?
Do you think you’ll achieve the same?I think those that stay at the top for a long time have to change with the times, and keep evolving their sound so it remains current. There’s also an incredible amount of hard work involved, so those guys must be a bit superhuman to handle that sort of tour schedule for so long. With me, it’s hard to predict the future, so I wouldn’t like to make any predictions about longevity. I just plan to keep doing what I love, making and playing music that excites me, whilst keeping my feet on the ground and remaining down-to-earth and connected with people along the way.

You’ve recently released your recent compilation album ‘The Sound of Garuda’.  How long did it take to create the track listing?
It was fast, but frenetic. A few months back, we had to decide whether we wanted to aim for a November release, or a February one. Once we’d decided we were going for November, I had to move very fast indeed to put the CDs together.

What was the selection process involved in picking the tracks?
The second CD, which is a retrospective of 2009, basically picked itself. It’s just the biggest and best Emery records from the year just gone, mixed in a roughly similar manner to how I’d construct a set in a club, so that CD didn’t present too many problems. The first CD, ‘2010’ which is all about new material, was more challenging. We had a fair amount of material signed and ready to go anyway, but for the rest I was literally grabbing the phone to some of my favourite producers and asking them to get into the studio to produce some exclusive tracks for me. Fortunately, quite a few helped me out, and I couldn’t be happier with the final tracklist, which I think provides a great blend between amazing upfront stuff, and tried and tested weapons.

Who is your harshest critic?
I’m probably the harshest, followed by my girlfriend who’s very good at giving me constructive criticism when I’m failing to adequately critique myself.

You’re playing The Arches on Boxing Day for the very first time, are you looking forward to it?
Can’t wait! I’ve always enjoyed playing for the insane Scottish crowds and there seems to be a lot of buzz about this party already. 

Have you heard about the amazing venue from fellow DJs?
Definitely – I’ve heard loads about it but having never been, I can’t wait to check it out. I think it’s pretty much the only one of the UK’s really highly regarded venues that I haven’t yet played at, so it’s safe to say I can’t wait to pop my Arches cherry.

You’ve played in Scotland quite a few times, always good experiences?
Without a doubt. HERE WE, HERE WE, HERE WE…. er, I’d better not go on, but you know what I mean. Crowds in Scotland are proper good. 

Who were your musical inspirations whilst growing up?
Incredibly varied – classical music, bands like the Beatles, plus I loved a lot of jazz and blues style stuff when I was growing up. Then when I got older, like 14-15, it was all about Britpop / indie, because that sort of music was so exciting around that time. Until I got into dance music aged 18 or 19, I was all about playing guitar in bands and was pretty sure that’s where my music career would be.

Who was the first DJ you ever heard in a nightclub?
That’s a hard one – in terms of “proper” DJs, it would’ve either been Judge Jules in Southampton, or someone I saw in Ibiza like Tall Paul, John Kelly, Brandon Block, someone like that. Around 1997-1998 either way.

Who are your hot tips for 2010?
Jerome Isma-ae, Wippenberg, and Ashley Wallbridge will both get a lot bigger in ’10 I reckon… they’ve all nailed that crossover sound that sits neatly between trance and house.

Finally, what can the crowd expect from you on Boxing Day?
A blend of trance and progressive, with some new stuff by me, some cheeky bootlegs, and maybe one or two classics.