Gareth Emery Interview: Drive really is an album about travel

Photo by Steven Cunniffe

Gareth Emery remains one of the trance elite, a hit on both sides of the Atlantic and a genuine superstars of the genre. His latest album Drive continued that ascent (read what we thought about it here), and he's all set to hit Ministry of sound in London on Friday 16th May and Digital Society in Leeds alongside Eddie Halliwell on Sunday 25th May.

Before that though he kicks off the tour in grandstand fashion at Manchester's Albert Hall on Saturday 10th May, supported by the likes of Danny Howard, Bryan Kearney and Craig Connelly for an epic showcase of the sounds that informed the release (check out our preview of the event here) Ahead of the show we talked the album, football and finding the perfcet home at the Albert Hall.

Firstly, congratulations on the new album! How does it feel to finally have it released?

Pretty fucking amazing. It was a long year of writing and producing, then a hellish promotional campaign – we released the album (stream below on Spotify) on my own label with no major label involvement, and that meant a massive workload.

There were lots of touch and go moments, where I wondered if we really knew what we were doing, as none of us had worked on a project like this before… so on day of release it was a massive weight off my shoulders. I think we hit Top 10 iTunes Dance in over 25 countries including a US #1 spot, so the results were incredible, but I definitely feel like I need a holiday.

It’s been three years since your last artist album. In that time you have travelled, performed in so many more countries and even gotten married. Has your music writing process changed much since then?

My writing process is still essentially the same, but I’ve had to get a lot better at writing on the move. My 2010 album Northern Lights was produced entirely in my Manchester studio… but I was doing a lot less gigs then, so I had more time to produce. After that album my schedule changed a lot, and I went from doing 50-60 gigs a year to 125 and all of a sudden studio time became very scarce, so these days I have to be a lot more versatile.

Drive really is an album about travel in every way, because it was written on trains, planes, the back of cars: basically anywhere where I would pull my laptop out became my studio, and then to do the final mixes, I’d usually book into a studio whenever I had a few days off whether it was London, Manchester, Los Angeles, Sydney. It was a very global effort.

For people who have listened to the new album but haven’t been to your live shows before, what can they expect?

I think people who like the album will be blown away by the new show. I really wanted to do something more than just turn up and play a DJ set, so we’ve spent the best part of a year working on the production to make it as mind-blowing as possible visually as well as audio wise.

I was quite influenced by shows like Eric Prydz’s EP/IC (watch above)and deadmau5’s cube – they really showed me how much spending extra time on the production since could enhance a show, so we spent a year working on different concepts, a lot of trial and error, before ending up where we are now. Manchester is the first show we’ve rolled it out in full and I couldn’t think of better place to do it.

Your UK tour kicks off on 10th May at the majestic Albert Hall venue in Manchester. What can you tell us about this special venue and the format of the official launch event?

The venue is basically the room I’ve wanted to have in Manchester for years… as people know we’ve done a lot of shows at Sankeys, almost always sold out, and Sankeys is very close to my heart, but at around 1000 it’s reasonably small, and due to the low ceilings there isn’t really the scope to bring in extra production - although we certainly have done our best!

So whilst it’s amazing for the more underground nights, I’ve never been able to do full production in Manchester, except Warehouse Project which is obviously seasonal. Albert Hall is the perfect size, a beautiful space, and I think Manchester has been calling out for a venue where you can watch a proper stage production with plenty of room to dance.

Finally, we know you’re a Southampton FC fan but what do you think of the recent controversy surrounding Manchester United?

Ha, well we’re right next to each other in the table right now, and I can’t remember the last time that’s happened. It’s been a good season for us. I don’t like to gloat at anyone’s misfortunate, but I am glad the United fans are finally experiencing what its like for the rest of us every season… haha. Not so much the proper fans from the North West mind you, but the glory supporters you find all over the South of England who have never been North of Birmingham…. support your local team!

Gareth Emery brings the Drive album live to Manchester on Saturday 10th May.

Can't make the show? Check out all Gareth's gigs here.

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