Mon, Sep 14, 2009

A chat with DJ Limão

DJ LIMAO – Date: 24/08/09

1. Were you a DJ in Brazil before coming to UK? Why did you choose London to work and live in?

Absolutely a DJ! Actually I’ve been Djing since I was very young, as I first enjoyed spinning records at home, alongside a friend who also became a professional DJ, Juan Piero, well known in São Paulo. We were 13 when we got used to connect both our parent’s home vinyl decks into a mixer he had “borrowed” from a cousin, and never got back. Then we started running some parties around the neighborhood and it was my first contact with the job.

After that I’ve been through a lot, even at University, a really good one that allowed me to try some other jobs, but I never lasted too long because I knew what I liked, and was already doing it. Now I’m 32 and I can tell that in the past 10 years I have never earned a single penny from any other than djing, hiring sound systems or sound engineering.

And I didn’t choose London, London chose me! My first gigs in Europe were in Paris and Barcelona, where I had more contacts. But the only contact I had in London offered something much more solid. She owned a successful Brazilian magazine here and introduced me a promoter of a certain 6 months-old Brazilian club which I believed from first sight. And still believe! At least twice a week!

2. For you, which aspects of Brazilian music are unique and what can we expect from you as a DJ?

Brazilian music is a massive field to be explored. We’re talking about a country with continental proportions. Brazil is absolutely vast and mixed – In the same country you get tribal beats from Amazon, the biggest forest in the globe, and urban hip-hop from Sao Paulo – 4th most populated city in the world, with 18 million people – and 3000 kilometers far away from the forest.

So to talk about Brazilian music, we need to keep that in mind. We’re talking about an endless musical universe. Samba is way more internationally explored, and I love Samba, play a lot of it, but that’s much more of this universe to be appreciated. And my duty as a DJ is to mix all this together and use it as a spice, over stuff I know people like.

3. How is your backstage routine? Which kind of survey do you do and how do you try to understand and translate your audience needs?

I work quite a lot before the gigs. I was always told that a DJ that doesn’t work during the day doesn’t work at night either. My routine is an endless cycle that basically goes like this – Research – Filter – Edit – Fit in the set – Try – Feedback from dance floor – back to the beginning. When you play many nights weekly like I’ve been doing for years, you’re short of time and ears to train some technical skills, to try some mixes, but I still do it a bit. You don’t train in a gig, is completely different. Producing music is a better training than a gig. Once Mr. Norman Cook (aka Fat Boy Slim) said in an interview that he never trained his sets – And I didn’t believe him.

4. Where do you think Brazilian music is going to and how do you think it is recognized abroad?

Samba and Bossa-Nova have always been the more recognized Brazilian music genres abroad for ages. However, I think that nowadays, when the “product music” consists in a file and when it can be easily stored and shared for free, the world can get in touch with other aspects of Brazilian music. More electronically based, but always with at least a hint of percussion.

Artists such as DJ Marky on drum n’ bass and CSS on electro-rock are playing a huge hole in the international musical scene nowadays. You can listen to Brazil’s baile-funk in most of the big clubs in Europe, and it has inspired successful artists such as MIA.

5. Who is your favourite international DJ??

DJ Marky. Hard to tell that because we’re both Brazilian from Sao Paulo, but he’s definitely the best. His techniques are unbelievable. He has the skills of a proper turntablist, but he plays music. He has extremely good-taste, deep research skills and high charisma. The best DJ I’ve seen playing. Even if you hate drum n’ bass, don’t miss the opportunity. In the same interview mentioned above, Norman Cook was asked about his favorite DJ, and answered Marky, with no more words. And I finally agreed.

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