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British DJ Pete Gooding, known for his killer sets at the renowned Café Mambo in Ibiza, was in India last month to play at the Budweiser Clubbing events in Mumbai and Bangalore. The Record has him in the hot seat this month on DJ Speak.
The Record: Take us back to when you first became a DJ ~ how did you start out?
Pete: I was a glass collector in a nightclub when I was 17 years old and me and a DJ friend started a party and got 500 people into the club. When no one knows who you are, you have to start your own party, so that’s what we did and that’s how I began!
TR: You’ve played in Ibiza for years ~ is there any particular experience that sums up the vibe of the place?
Pete: It’s a great island with beautiful weather and you get so many people from all over the world there, visiting the nightclubs. It really is a clubbing paradise. I remember playing in the biggest club there, one called Privilege, and there were thousands of people and I was playing with Moby and Coldcut. It was a great night! I also remember playing the Sunset, a gig that took place while the sun was setting in Café Mambo. 3,000 to 4,000 people come out to watch you play and it’s great.
TR: What is your most prized record?
Pete: I’d say Your Love by Frankie Knuckles. I remember when I was at school I missed one of my final exams because the record was coming out on the same day and I thought it was more important to get the record than to go for my exam. (Laughs) I met Frankie Knuckles years later and he signed it for me so it worked out well and besides it’s one of the greatest house music records of all time! It’s a classic.
TR: Since you get sent a lot of records to listen to ~ what is your advice on what a new artist should do to make their record stand out?
Pete: There are always popular sounds in music, trends around the world, like right now it’s electro. So you will have hundreds of people trying to make the same kind of record. When someone has a good idea a lot of others try and make similar sounding tracks and they just end up doing weaker versions of the same record. So I think you should be true to yourself, be honest and make something with feeling. Don’t make the same tired record that everyone else is making because it won’t stand out.
TR: Share with us the most memorable venue that you have played at.
Pete: Playing at Pacha in Ibiza or on the terrace at Space in Ibiza was great. You can be in a very nice natural situation like a beach and it can be really beautiful.
TR: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen in the crowd from on stage?
Pete: I have an answer but you can’t print that! (Laughs) Let’s see, what else… There was a party in Pacha where the brother of the owner ~ he’s about 70 now ~ he DJs on a night called Flower Power that they’ve had since 1973. He plays 60s, 70s and 80s music and when they played The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, there was someone taking a giant papier-mâché yellow submarine through the room. That was pretty wild!
You can read the rest of our feature DJ Speak: DJ Pete Gooding in the December 2007 issue of The Record Music Magazine available at your local newsagent.
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