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Danny Daze

Danny DazeThe Collective at Malt Supper Club gets back into the swing of things this week with a visit from the Berlin-based, US producer, Danny Daze on Thursday, January 23. He fills TOM KITSON in about life behind the decks.

Backing up a big New Year’s Eve show in Miami, Danny Daze aka Daniel Gomez is embarking on a five date Australian tour, before releasing his new classic rave and techno inspired Silicon EP.

“I have absolutely no clue how to describe the EP,” he says, which has been released on Jimmy Edgar’s Ultramajic label. “It’s definitely electro influenced and very rave. Lately I’ve been influenced by older record labels like Kombination Research and Spiel-Zeug.

“I’m not going as hard as the tracks that came out on those labels, but I have been listening to some of my older collection in order to remind myself what it was that I used to like about them. I’m really noticing how simple the music was back then, but how it worked so well on the dancefloor.”

In 2013 Gomez was selected for a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix, something he recognises as a career highlight.

“It was massive honour to be able to do one,” he says. “Listening to the series for more than 10 years, I’m still surprised my name is stamped to it!  The main goal of the mix was to show where I come from with lots of different vibes in the mix and it’s a pretty good indication of how I play at clubs.”

As a rare record-collecting teen, Gomez became obsessed by the music he was finding and was soon spinning them for his friends at house parties. A fan of using analogue equipment and hardware in the studio coupled with software programs, Gomez finds himself constantly returning to his roots and the beginnings of techno itself, for motivation and new ideas.

“I’ve produced drum’n’bass records, ambient records and even some trance-sounding crap that won’t ever come out,” he laughs. “It releases new ideas though and helps you constantly evolve, even if that means going back to what you were doing 10 years ago.”

A fast paced and energetic DJ, Gomez likes to use short versions of tracks as linking elements in his set and believes punters shouldn’t want to leave at the end of the night.

“According to pictures, I sweat like a pig behind those decks,” he says. “I feel when someone leaves the club they should be freaking out because they heard music they probably won’t hear again until next time they hear that particular DJ.”

Saying he tends to neglect the preparation side of performing in favour of going with flow of the crowd, Gomez has been dropping Italo-disco records from artists likes Alexander Robotnick.

“When it comes to knowing about the music, I’ve just always been obsessed with things that have deep roots,” he explains. “Techno is back to the core; simple, grime-y, DIY music. I think people are going back to the roots and staying simple.”

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