Richie Hawtin: “DJing is much easier than it ever was”

Richie Hawtin opened up about why he embarked on his new CLOSE live show, explaining that “DJing is much easier than it ever was”.

Known for his love of pioneering new technology, Hawtin launched his new live show at Coachella last month (April).

Speaking in an interview with InTheMix about why he chose to work on CLOSE, he said, “To get into DJing is much easier than it ever was.

“You can even point the finger at me and some of my friends who helped develop Final Scratch, bringing digital DJing into the world with beat mapping and auto syncing.”

Going on to open up about the live show, Hawtin explained that he feels people have more of a connection with live music.

“People understand what’s going on with live music,” he said.

“They understand the hitting of a drum makes a certain sound, and they feel connected. Electronic music has always had a hard time making that connection – even for the pure dancers who are quite happy, as I am too, to close their eyes and just lose themselves on the dancefloor.

“I’m doing so much up there beyond what most people think a DJ does these days, which is pressing start on a CDJ.

“That was the beginning of opening up the stage, turning the tables around, and making sure people could see my whole body. It’s about feeling more connected to the human in front of them, rather than some nerdy guy looking into a computer behind a table.”

Hawtin has a busy summer ahead with his CLOSE live show, as well as dates as Cocoon Ibiza through the summer and a slot at elrow’s first festival in July.