Hot Since 82: From proper caner to proper superstar

Photo: Hot Since 82

Hot Since 82 seems to have conquered the world in the last couple of years.  After a series of successful releases on Jaymo & Andy George's Moda Black label, he went truly global with his remix of Green Velvet's 'Bigger Than Prince' in 2013 and a highly successful tour of the US.

With his new label Knee Deep In Sound a mere four releases old, he is currently embarking upon a tour to spotlight the new imprint and forthcoming album (full details here), one of which sees him play at The Laundry in London on Saturday October 25th.

That album will be released next month and is a mix made up almost entirely of Knee Deep tracks, and it is this that we start the conversation about, but the most important thing we got from the interview was just how down to earth, honest and enthusiastic he was about music and life in general.

Real name Daley Padley and originally from Barnsley (the interview took place in his converted farmhouse on the outskirts), it seems a bit cliched to talk about what a down-to-earth northern lad he is, but in his case it's absolutely true, and it's very relevant, because it is undoubtedly this that makes his offering so accessible to so many.

What a lot of people may not know about Hot Since 82 is that he's really done his time. It appears he may have come from nowhere in 2012, but he was actually producing and DJing under his own name for a few years in the last decade, and throughout that time and long before, he was partying very hard in Leeds at legendary messy night/morning spots like The Glasshouse as far back as the mid nineties.

Although he admits to being a bit of a geek at heart, he's certainly not some overnight sensation who left school and just locked himself away in a darkened room full of synthesisers, and as you'll see, you don't have to ask him much to get him going - he just loves it…

So what is the rationale behind the mix album - why do people need it in their life?

The label Knee Deep In Sound has grown so much… we're coming up to the fourth release but already we've stapled it as a good-quality label. The amount of demos I get sent every day is just absolutely insane, people are really feelin' it and lovin' it.

It's a nice natural-grown label. The artwork's amazing - we spent so much time on that side of things. I actually employed a photographer to go out to Scotland and set some smoke bombs off, and she did it with a particular camera that creates a honeycomb effect over the actual image itself.

It's little attentions to detail like that people can see - you know, you see the smoke and you see the trees and people can automatically recognise it's Knee Deep In Sound.

I think it's a nice compilation. It's a kinda peak-time mix. There's three new exclusives by me and there's a lot of stuff on there that's forthcoming on Knee Deep from new artists, so for anyone who's a fan of me or the label, it's really gonna hit home. And for anyone who doesn't know anything about us, it's a good explanation of what we're trying to put through.

So most of the stuff is original then? You've avoided the royal pain in the arse of licensing etc.

There's only one track on there that I've had to license, everything else is ours. Originally it was going to be 100% Knee Deep In Sound, but Traumer 'Hoodlum' is a track (hear below) that's huge in my sets and I really thought it'd sound nice in the mix, but other than that, everything's ours.

Well that makes it a lot better creatively because you don't have to shortlist 50 tracks or whatever, and then force yourself to do a mix with whatever random pile of them give you permission…

Yeah, exactly.

One thing that's really interesting with this mix, is that it's a joint release with Ultra Records. In the UK, for you to have a compilation that appeared in the same breath if you like, as Steve Aoki and Paul Van Dyk… that just wouldn't happen. So tell me about how it's different for you in the US?

Firstly, music's music. There are too many people shouting about what's crap and what's not. EDM is not my cup of tea at all but I think some of them get a bit of a hard time to be honest, when they're only doing what they love. They're obviously doing well because they're selling out stadiums!

Being under the umbrella of all of that makes no difference to me. The main thing is we're with a professional label who is willing to put money behind it, willing to spend on music videos and more than happy to push us in general.

They put out my first album, 'Little Black Book', in America and things are going extremely well out there. The clubs are good, the systems are good, I have a wicked team out there. It's kind of like I have another life out there, it's really good. I play at underground clubs a lot and I play what I want. It's not like I'm having to compromise for another market - it really isn't.

My take on it all is this; obviously the EDM thing helped introduce all these Yanks to the electronic music scene, but what's happened, especially this last 12 months, is they're kind of bored of it now. They're looking for other avenues in electronic music.

With Ultra putting 'Little Black Book' out there, I seem to be one of the faces for something more eclectic. And that's great man - you're talking North America, Canada, it's a huge market. Ultra have given me that opportunity to spread my music out there - there's no other label that has that power, that has that kind of financial clout to do what they've done for me.

Also, I've been to the Ultra office in New York 1001 times and some of the main people, like David Waxman… he's from a hardcore New York house background… Junior Vasquez, Danny Tenaglia, etc… and they really know their music.

It's not like these guys are just businessmen, they came from the New York and Chicago scene. Patrick, one of the other owners, used to manage Wu-Tang Clan, so they've got this proper historical background. It's not like I'm flogging my music just for some money - they are on the ball. And if they want to push me in America, great!

It's pleasantly surprising that in the gigs you get off the back of Ultra, you actually get more creative license as a DJ than you do in Europe - no one could have guessed that.

Yeah, and also, originally some people were saying I'd sold out by signing to Ultra, but remember, I didn't sign to Ultra. The album came out on Moda Black, which is London-based and owned by Jaymo & Andy George. Ultra just licensed it.

The story that really needs to be told is what you were about before it all blew up. You spent a lot of time getting twatted in Leeds, didn't you?!?

Ha ha, yeah. I'm from Barnsley originally, but I've lived in Leeds and I always went out in Leeds, so it's a very special place to me.

I'm 32 now and I took my first E when I was 14 and dropped my first Acid when I was 15, so I've always been somewhat of a raver. I was going to Gatecrasher since I was 15. So if you push away all this music stuff I'm doing now, I'm a raver at heart. I paid my dues!

I had a bit of success in 2004-2008 doing more main room stuff, but my heart wasn't really in it. I'm the kind of person that if I can't give 110%, I might as well just pack it in. I had three years off from it and as you say, spent a bit of time getting twatted!

At that time people like Jamie Jones were pushing through. And what did it for me was that when Jamie and his Hot Creations crew started to blow up, vocals were getting played in clubs again. I come from a northern soul, motown kinda background so this was great.

It basically wiped out minimal in Ibiza, and the UK always seems to follow after the season.

Yes, it needed it. I love a good old vocal! And what vocals bring to the clubs is women. Come on man, we like to go to a club to see sexy women getting down! And if there's more women, there's more guys and you've got a better atmosphere.

So I was raving again, going to Back To Basics, The Warehouse, The Faversham, and I was thinking, 'this is wicked man!'. Then I got a studio set up again, and just started getting involved in it all. I did a record called 'Let It Ride' (hear below), and I already had a good relationship with Noir Music previously, so naturally I picked them to send the promo and it got signed and got to number three on Beatport.

Then people wanted remixes, and I chose them wisely, but really, I never had a master plan. You know, I've got to pinch myself every weekend that I'm playing these shows with my peers and I'm getting paid a bloody good salary. I see the world for free, I meet some amazing people, I could go to every major city in the world and call someone for dinner. You know, that is amazing - I'm just living my dream for now and I don't take any of it for granted! Let's just see how long it lasts.

The main thing I think was that I kept the momentum up, that each track was better than the last. And also, purely by accident, I think the kids can relate to me as well. I rave on the dancefloor when I finish my sets… I'm just a normal guy, smashing some tunes out.

Must be good fun right now, being you. But it must be tiring?

Super tiring, but what else would I be doing? I'm very lucky to land on my feet with something that comes from the heart.

Definitely. But in all seriousness, what would you be doing?

Well this is the thing - it's a scary thought. As I said before I was raving a lot, like Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday… too much really. This whole thing came at the right time to take me away from all that. I'd dread to think where I'd be career-wise and financially, it upsets me to even think about it!

You've clearly got some craic beyond just music - most of your life has not been spent in solitude - so tell us, what other things are you in to?

Firstly, I'm massively into collecting vintage games consoles, like shit that you've never ever heard of. I'm fascinated by it.

Have you got a Commodore Vic 20?

I haven't, but I've got Neo Geos, Atari Lynxes, Jaguars, weird stuff like one-offs from Japan, Sega Saturns from Japan, Gameboys, Atari 2600…

Yes! A nice game of Rampage! (reminisce above)

And also what I'm in to at the minute, I'm collecting all the old toys from when I was a kid. I send them all off for grading, so there's this company called ASA who grade them and put them in this perspex case with a hologram inside and it rates them as a percentage - I'm getting some high percentages!

So I've now got 74 original Star Wars figures with the weapons all in sets, all boxed and immaculate. I've got all Centurions, Visionaries; I've even got the most rare Star Wars figure ever in the world and it's called Snaggletooth - it's the blue one with the dint in the boots - you're looking at £1,500, and I've got him in the case and sealed, and immaculate.

If I showed you pictures of all this stuff you'd freak out. I'm a bit of a geek at heart, I just think it's all amazing!

There's another interview in this!

And we thoroughly look forward to it. But before then, you can get your Hot Since 82 fix on his Knee Deep In Sound tour at The Marcus Garvey Ballroom in Nottingham (October 18th), The Concorde 2 in Brighton (October 23rd), Mojive in Southampton (October 24th), The Laundry in London (October 25th), and The Savoy in Cork (October 26th).

Tickets are no longer available for this event