Bedrock-ing In The Free World

Former Top 100 DJs poll winner John Digweed has been talking to DJ Mag this month about his latest Bedrock compilation — 'Bedrock 14'. “This latest one took around six weeks,” he says, “and if it's a mixed comp I usually spend more time on them as I am a perfectionist.”

Digweed, a contributor to DJ Mag in its early years, seems to be perpetually on tour at the moment, so we wonder how he manages to whittle down the thousands of tracks he's sent each year into just 21 exclusive ones for a comp like this. “Well, I try to play them out as much as I can to totally road-test them to make sure they really do stand out,” he explains. “If I am bored with them after a few plays, so will the crowd be. I need to make sure they are all winners.”

It's this meticulous attention to detail – with his DJ sets, mix comps, Bedrock releases, label nights and so on and so forth – that has kept John at the top of his game for so many years. From his pioneering DJ sets with Sasha in the '90s, when between them and Danny Tenaglia they turned the US onto progressive house music, to his continuing comprehensive A&Ring for his label, Digweed is a DJ who never lets up.

The new acts coming through on Bedrock excite John as much as anything, he says. “Stelios Vassiloudis from Greece is making some great house music,” he says, “and from France, Electric Rescue has also been producing some futuristic tracks.” The Electric Rescue mix of Digweed & Nick Muir's 'Raise' has been creating a bit of a buzz on the forums and messageboards, and it's included here alongside tracks by Pig & Dan, Christian Smith, Quivver, Guy J, Marco Bailey, Robery Babicz and newer cats such as Jemmy from Liverpool, Kurtz & Bomber from Miami, Solee from Stuttgart, and Paneoh from Spain. “It's great to see so many international artists involved in the label now,” John says.

The comp begins with the beautiful, deep 'Kolleckt' by Eagles & Butterflies, a back to nature track complete with tweeting birdsong.

It's in DJ-friendly unmixed format, although John has done a couple of minimixes to help promote the comp. But are people still buying CDs?

“There are still people who want the physical version, and that's why we always try and make limited edition versions for the true fans out there,” he replies. “Sure, sales are less than they used to be, but all the time there is a demand we will supply.

The 'Bedrock 14' comp is launched at Fire in London this month on October 6th, with Digweed presenting a seven-hour set and other acts on the line-up including Apparat, Amirali (live), Edu Imbernon, Maxime Dangles, Electric Rescue, Mark Fanciulli, Rory Phillips, Al Tourettes and John Barber.  

Be quick, limited tickets are now remaining here...