Simon Dunmore

IS MIAMI JUST IBIZA IN THE STATES? Miami is a snapshot of Ibiza. Ibiza lasts for three and a half months, there are a multitude of clubs, as there are in Miami. Miami condenses itself into 5 days Miami is a good showcase for what is going to happen in Ibiza later in the year. Ibiza's been going strong for 20 years and it has a greater heritage for clubbing than Miami does. Ibiza was the catalyst in Europe for the acid house movement. We know that it started in the States before coming to Europe but Ibiza was where it all made sense to the clubbers and they been going there ever since. FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T BEEN TO MIAMI BEFORE, WHAT'S THE EXPERIENCE, WHY IS THE WMC SO LEGENDARY? Back in the day it was the meeting point for Labels, Producers and DJ's. It was held at a hotel with a massive pool. In the day we would all meet up and exchange music, experiences and business. There was one focal point for everyone. It's changed somewhat now. Before there were three parties in one night, now there are 70. The whole conference is spread across South Beach and it’s massively diluted now. It's still important, it still showcases up and coming DJ's and artists, showcases records that are going to be out later in the year, it showcases DJ's and their nights. It's a huge shop window but it doesn't have that focus that it used to have. IF A RECORD IS BIG IN MIAMI, IS THAT AUTOMATICALLY TRANSLATED OVER HERE? If a record is championed in Miami, it normally acts as a springboard for a lot of action. It will gain a lot of attention from the media and internet sites. Normally, that will be the pre cursor for a record being a success over the summer. Not always, though, there have been some flops. And DJ's can't be fooled easily, the tracks that are successful in Miami tend to be huge club tracks. CAN YOU NAME A FEW OF YOUR SUCCESSES? Previously, I worked at AM: PM, and we had several records. Ultra Nate 'Free' in conjunction with Strictly rhythm. The first time that played was in The Magic sessions in Miami, by Louie Vega. One Play and the crowd went nuts. we launched Mousse T 'Horny' at the WMC's the Maxi party , which at first was an instrumental, it was big as an instrumental, but then they put the vocals on it. 'Shakedown' was another big one for us. Roger Sanchez, 'Another Chance', it just goes back to what I was saying about there being fewer parties and more focus on the records. This was all from that era. We used it as effectively as we could and it was an important part of our promotional process. These days it more about promoting what’s already in the market place rather than promoting brand new records. WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THE PARTY DEFECTED IS HOLDING THIS YEAR AND WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BE SHOWCASING? Whenever we do a party we showcase what we represent as a label, and we try to incorporate DJ's that have releases relevant to this year. Anybody coming to the parties they'll understand what we're about. I know its cliché, but it's a journey through the night. We'll start of very soulful, very disco but as the night progresses we get a bit tougher. The music evolves as the night does. This year we're highlighting the fact we have Dimtri from Paris and he'll be returning to the Playboy mansion. Our first two releases with Dimtri were extremely successful so we're happy about that. Junior Jack has a new album coming out , so we'll be showcasing him alongside DJ Gregory, DJ Spen and all the people we'll be working with. WHERE WILL IT BE HELD? It'll be at a club called SET on March 25th. WHY DID YOU MISS A YEAR AT WMC? For several years, the politics and the running of some of the clubs we're getting out of hand. Some of the people who we put on the guest list, we're coming down for our night and getting treated badly. They were more interested in getting money on the door and the experience wasn't good. So we declined last year, but I do acknowledge how big Miami is for the dance music industry. With what the record industry is going through at the moment, we have to maximise everything we do and it's important that we are in Miami. DO YOU THINK IT'S GOING BE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR? I hope its going to be different this year, but you never know until you get there! WHATS YOUR IDEA BEHIND THE MIAMI COMPILATION AND WHO IS IT AIMED AT? I think it's important that a compilation has more meaning than being just a collection of 30 club tunes. So if you can tie them in with an event or an experience it legitimises the release. Doing a Miami conference signals that we're there, there is a dance music event and this is what we stand for at that event. WHO IS DOING THE MIXES AND WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CD'S? On this compilation we try to highlight the new producers and the talent that we're working with. Last year we had Copyright on the compilation, this year I will be doing CD 2, CD 1 will be done by Aaron Ross, who does A+R here and produces under the Fanatics moniker, that's someone we want to see grow in stature and we want people to know not only is a great DJ but he works here and we want people to bring him the tunes we'll be signing in the future. ATFC is compiling a mix for CD3, we've worked with Aidan right from the very beginning, and he produced a couple of our biggest hits in 1999 and 2000. Recently he's done a couple of mixes for our new EP. It's good to work with people from your past after a period of time, there's only so much you can do by yourself and he recognises that working with us can put him out there a bit more. As with a lot of DJ's, He had moved away from our sound and was producing tunes a bit harder than what, musically, we were comfortable with at Defected. But now he's got his mojo back. So it's good to be working with him again. HOW DO YOU THINK YOU CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF THE CONFERENCE WITH THIS ALBUM? I'm more interested in capturing the spirit of Defected and showcasing it at the Conference. I think the 3 CD'S will undoubtedly capture the spirit of Defected. FINALLY TELL US A MIAMI STORY? A particular producer went to an exotic bar and had one to many and spent too much money. He ended up leaving with one of the women from the bar took her home and that. He woke up; only to discover that she was bald with tattoos all over her body and he thought it was great. He ended up spending the day with her, there was a French journalist following them around, he was doing an expose on the French in Miami, and they all thought it was going to be a cool piece. The next day he had phone call saying 'Dude you're all over the front page, the national newspapers are saying , ‘French People go crazy in Miami, drug fuelled orgies, going to exotic bars, taking hookers home and staying with them all night' and his picture was on the front cover with this girl. But he still hasn't learnt he'll probably do it again.