D.O.N.S. - In The Mix

German DJ/Producer and label owner D.O.N.S., former Warp Brother, has established himself as one of the most innovative, unique, and exciting figures in the dance music Industry. From his solo productions to his bootlegs and covers to his highly sought-after remixes, D.O.N.S. studio output is an ever impressive slew of crafted gems for the dancefloor. Kelly Dayus-Cook takes a few moments to learn a little more about his production process.

The first question has to be – What does D.O.N.S. stand for? Design(er) On Sound

I've read that it was due to you having an Uncle in radio that you got so heavily immersed in music and you were playing parties are an incredibly young age, is this always what you’ve wanted to do? Never wanted to be a fireman or a superhero over a musician? Yes of course. Music was always my first love. It literally guided me through my childhood. I started playing bass when I was 10 and already started collecting records 2 years later, influenced by my uncle... But I did have other dreams of different professions before I knew I could become a DJ or that this job even existed. Sea biologist was my biggest dream as I was and still am a big fan of Jacques Cousteau. I didn’t miss any of his documentaries, especially because I spent most of my childhood in South of France by the beach and never missed any occasion to be in or under the water. Later on I had the idea of becoming a pilot or a lawyer (that’s why I studied law until I had an exam and decided to become a full time DJ).

Did you ever have a back up plan in case it didn’t turn out as well as it has? I really trust in what I do. I studied, did my apprenticeship as a real estate agent for 2 years and was always self employed. So I was never worried about failing as I would immediately start building up a new business but frankly spoken, it never really crossed my mind to do anything besides running labels and doing music related business. I simply feel so happy with music that I don’t plan to change it. I simply made my passion my profession and I’m aware how lucky I am.

 

In 1999 you became the very famous partnership of The Warp Brothers with Jürgen Dohr, how did you meet each other? Actually, it was not that spectacular. I was and still am signed to Kontor Records and the owner told me that he knew a very talented guy living like 400km away from Hamburg, where I lived back in the days. So he simply connected us and we met. D.O.N.S. used to be an act with dancers back in the days. So I had the idea of doing a new project involving me personally (no dancers this time). And when I watched Blade, I immediately thought “let´s do this for the global dancefloors” especially after I had a very nice and extended chat with Wesley Snipes in my resident club in Hamburg some time before I watched the movie. So I presented this idea to Jürgen and I believe you know the rest…

You produced some classic hit records like We Will Survive and Phatt Bass, how did you two work together when putting productions together, what was the process? Did you expect Phatt Bass to become such a hit?  Phatt Bass wasn’t in the movie Blade. I got the rights to use it and we actually changed and adapted it. I never really like the version that became the hit version. We had much better mixes to my opinion but less commercial. I was still confident, that the track would work but didn’t expect such a storm. Workwise I always went to Jürgen’s studio and we literally worked day and night until we had our first version.

Now you’re a solo artist, how has that changed? Do you miss working with someone directly? Well I played 17 years as a DJ without a partner before we came up with the Warp Brothers and after 6 years as a DJ team I felt like it was about time to get back to it. I was a bit tired of this very hard and fast sound as I always loved house music and 6 years spending more time with Jürgen than you can usually spend with your wife or girlfriend, I believed that our development reached a certain point that no longer fit. I always did some D.O.N.S. singles even while playing as a Warp Brother so I decided to keep on solo. I actually enjoy travelling a lot and it definitely has some advantages to travel with someone but on the other hand, some things tend to be annoying too [Laughs] I´m really active and try to see as much of every country and city as I can even if that means no sleep, and I think that works better alone. The exception is of course a tour manager or my manager Noa. It is fantastic when we travel together.

What made you go back into House music and move away from the harder sounds? As I mentioned before, I was a bit tired of the hard sound and as I always loved house music I felt like I needed a change in my life on the musical side. The hard sound for me is more about the all over energy. House music is more versatile and leaves more creative space and I think and feel it has much more soul and that´s why I finally did this step and changed my musical style. Before Warp Brothers I already produced a lot of so called banging tracks under many different names/pseudonyms. I have recently updated my discography and I was surprised myself I have made close to 1000 productions in my career.

Since becoming D.O.N.S. you’ve turned into an extremely in demand remixer, what would you say has been your most successful to date? Definitely John Dahlback’s “Everywhere”

You have a radio show of your own, where can we listen to that and what exclusives have you got coming up over the next few months on the show? My radio show D.O.N.S. In The Mix is being broadcasted on over 60 stations and I actually don’t even know all of them due to the viral power of the internet. I always discover new stations broadcasting my show. I just started with a new format. One time a month I will have a guest DJ with whom I will do a real Back2Back set. I always try and invent new ways to create and get out of a certain routine. My first guest was Peter Gelderblom and so far the feedback is amazing and it was really fun to do it. Just talking to the next DJs and I already have some great names coming up. With D.O.N.S. In The Mix Back2Back I started a bit of moderation again. That is what I did with my monthly Warp Brothers show back in the days. Generally spoken I try never to play a same song in more than 2 shows. Exception is my own productions but I then vary the mixes. I also bootleg or edit the tracks especially for the purpose of the show, so sometimes people ask me for the version of the track itself, which actually does not exist. My aim is to present new music and not necessarily become a Top 40 radio show playing all the music you can hear every night in the clubs and on dance or mainstream radios.

If we want to catch you playing somewhere soon, where do we need to be? You need to be in my studio!!! [Laughs] I just took a little break from touring as I´m about to finish my 2nd artist album which needed some time. Creating magic necessarily implies some good recipe and cooking. Next gigs will be in France, Russia, Germany, Poland, North Africa and more.
 

And now for a quick fire round! Most memorable gig you’ve ever played: Warp Brothers - Sydney NYC 2005 at the Harbor Bridge D.O.N.S. - Noche Del Fuego in Valencia with an impressive 300,000 people crowd in front of me

Favourite junk food: If I were Asian I would say Sushi. I´m not into burgers and stuff like that at all.

Thing you’re most likely to do in your free time: As it´s so rare I try to be with my family and girlfriend. When my girlfriend and I have time we play some Golf or simply relax, have dinner and watch a movie or simply go on a short trip. We have enough travelling and work to do so we need that chillax time!

Mac or Windows: My last PC was thrown out the Windows 13 years ago[Laughs]

Vinyl or CDs: USB with a selection of CDs

Remixes or Originals: The version that fits best

You’ve got endless money to send on a holiday, where do you go: Roundtrip to Kauai, Maldives, Seychelles & Mauritius

5 tracks that are currently on your iPod:I don’t have any single tracks on my iPhone. I only upload my Radio Shows just to keep the music into my head. There is so much music out there, and doing a weekly radio show is the best way to have a great overview and to know the music for your sets as I don´t have a prepared and fixed set. Besides this I mainly have language programs and yes, one single track I actually have. Just checked it. It´s Rammstein´s “Blatschuss”. Great to release tension

Last track you heard and thought “WOW”: The 9Five Remix of my upcoming single “Searching For Love”

Website you visit most – Twitter www.twitter.com/donsdj

Where you see yourself in 10 years: Behind the decks, in the studio somewhere it´s nice and warm with ocean view and all this with my then wife, kids and pets

Finally, you have 60 seconds to promote anything you like… go! D.O.N.S. with 4 dots please! People tend to forget the last one. Kingdom Kome Cuts aka KKC, my label always up for signing great upcoming talents! I wish I could keep them for myself but sharing is caring ;-) Searching For Love, my upcoming single which seems to create some buzz: www.youtube.com/donsdjtv .
MY Artist Management www.myam.am . My website coming soon www.dons.dj

Thank you D.O.N.S. and we look forward to hearing more productions from you soon! Thank YOU, I enjoyed the interview.  

Listen to D.O.N.S. on Pulse Radio