IN THE HOT SEAT: HOT SINCE 82

This issue we coax Hot Since 82 into the Hot Seat. Genial Yorkshireman Daley Padley, aka Hot Since 82, has hit pay-dirt since adopting the HS82 moniker a few years ago, although he's been DJing since the turn of the century. 

Now with his Taken parties, his Knee Deep In Sound label, big Ibiza gigs, Essential New Tunes and Essential Mixes, back-to-back sets with Pete Tong, and a plethora of adoring fans, he's super-hot right now. DJ Mag calls him up on his way down to Bestival...

Hello, Mr Hot Since 82 — you're pretty hot right now, aren't you? Riding a bit of a wave...
“Yeah, it's been crazy from the word go really, I've been very lucky and quite fortunate to be successful with this Hot Since 82 thing from the off. I'm still riding the wave, I just need to continue to put 110% in, gig-wise and music-wise. I feel like we've got the full package now, with the Taken parties and the Knee Deep In Sound label. And it's all been natural as well — it's not as if we've had a game plan to take over the world.”

You've got your hot new comp coming on your Knee Deep In Sound label soon — tell us a bit about it...
“It's the first compilation that we've done for the label, so it's pretty exciting and challenging. I'm just trying to put together a nice compilation, I've signed some really good exciting new music. There's 11 or 12 tracks on there, three brand-new Hot Since 82 records — 'Time Out', 'The Core' and 'Restless' — which I think people are gonna get pretty excited about. There's also a few tracks by a New Yorker called Exacta, a track by Ross Evans, a track by a Portuguese guy who's based in Berlin called Joel, there's a track which I licensed from Desolat called 'Trauma', which is pretty bad-ass, and my 'Somebody Everybody' too, which wasn't on there at first but is now. I think I've nailed it — I'm excited, man.”

Is it true that you cooled towards DJing a few years ago, and almost felt like giving up?
“Yeah, I'm kinda one of those people where if I'm not feeling it, I'll just kinda wash my hands of it. That's where I got to in the late 2000s, when I was making music and playing shows just to pay rent. I was in the frame of mind where there was no passion anymore, I wasn't loving it anymore so I just jacked it in for a little while. When it felt right for me again, I got back in the studio and started DJing again. And we're here now, so it's all good.”

You weren't even born in 1982, were you?
“Yeah I was, that's my year of birth — 1982, yeah. It's my birthday in a few days — you'd better send me a card...”

I will, don't worry. So why did you choose the Hot Since 82 name?
“I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I was just in the studio and I just wanted a fresh new name, I guess. I never intended to try and build a new empire, I just said 'Hot Since 82' to myself and the boys were like, 'Ah, that's wicked'. So then I did this track 'Let It Ride' and I called myself Hot Since 82, and it just kind of worked. People kept saying to me, 'This is great, I love this name, who is this guy?' It just happened naturally.”

You're still based up in Leeds, but have you been tempted to move anywhere hotter like Ibiza?
“No, a lot of people ask me this all the time, and I'm still pretty much living where I was born. The thing is, I'm travelling so much right now that it's very important for me to stay grounded, and I'm only gonna do that if I'm close to my friends and family — it's nice to have them on your doorstep. In this industry, if you have some success it's nice to be grounded.”

How did your hot, secret location party Taken go the other week?
“It was an absolute massive success, it was great teamwork from all the people I work with. I actually got Taken myself, I wasn't exactly sure where... obviously I'm behind the whole concept and the theme of it all, but the actual venue itself I wasn't quite sure about. I told my manager that I wanted to be Taken as well, I wanted to be part of it, I wanted to be on the coach with all the punters — I wanted to get deep in it, so that's exactly what happened. I was on the coach and got blindfolded along with everyone else. I think it's nice for the punters to see that I'm just a regular kid from Yorkshire who just wants to get amongst it all as well, just as much as everyone else. Being part of it all was quite important for me. I had no idea where it was either.

“It was a huge success, we sold out within minutes of going on sale, and everyone had such a wicked time — the after-video is online now on my Facebook, it gave me goosebumps watching it, and I was there as well. Where was it in the end? I still don't know!”

What's the hottest chilli that you've ever eaten?
“Oh man, a couple of years ago I was out with the boys in Barnsley, where I'm originally from, and you know when you get the hot lime chutney... anyway, I got dared twenty quid to eat one of the full hot lime chillies, and it was the worst thing I ever did. I was done for the rest of the night — I couldn't even eat anything else. And we're not getting involved in what happened the next day — we'll leave that one there.”

Have you ever had a ride in a hot air balloon?
“It's funny you should mention this, I was in Switzerland two weeks ago and on the way back to the hotel there was about 50 million hot air balloons in the air. Back in the day... [Tells story about how a hot air balloon crashed into the woods near his home when he was about 10-years-old]. So no, I've never flown in a hot air balloon — and I don't want to either.”

Do you like hot chocolate?
“I like hot Horlicks, you know that kinda malt thing? I like that. [Tells story about sniffing a big tub of organic Colombian cacao in Marks & Spencer recently, and then seeing it on Dragons' Den soon after]. It's still in t'cupboard at home, I still haven't tried it yet.”

Jennifer Lawrence — hot or not?
“Mate, are you serious? Have you seen Silver Linings Play Book ? I've seen Hunger Games, she was alright in that, but you wanna watch her in Silver Linings. I don't know what it is about her, I've just got this thing about Jessica Lawrence.”

Tell us a bit of hot gossip...
“Normally I've got loads of gossip, but I don't see anyone anymore... oh, cracking little story this, I was playing at Coachella, banging it out, and back-stage we had a little caravan, and I'm waltzing back there to score some vodka, open the door and Paris Hilton's in there with a bottle of vodka. She was trespassing in my caravan — with my vodka. What did I do? I drank it with her, mate. We got pissed together. She was alright — she was thick as shit, to be honest, but she was alright. She gets a lot of flak, but she was actually a bit of a good sport, to be honest.

“Did she try to get some DJing tips off me? She didn't really get involved — to be honest, I don't think she knew who I was. I think she was just on the hunt for some free Grey Goose. But she was alright — she gave me her card and said, 'When you're in Ibiza, come round'. I've not taken up her offer — I'll leave her to it, I think.

“Do you know what, though — some people hate too much. She's doing what she enjoys, and people are obviously going out to see her cos she's packing out Amnesia on a bloody Wednesday or whatever it is. These people who sit on their arse all day on their computers and do nothing all day but hate... at least she's getting off her arse and doing something.”