Riva Starr Interview: London is always good fun for me

A mainstay on the electronic music circuit for over a decade, Riva Starr achieved chart success this year when his huge Fatboy Slim collaboration ‘Eat Sleep Rave Repeat’ took over the airwaves and dancefloors earlier in the year (it made our end of year playlist too).

He’s on headline duties for Nightowl’s sojourn to Ministry of Sound on Friday 27th December, joined by Andrea Olivia, Wildkats and Gotsome. We caught up with him ahead of the bash to see how 20-13 had treated him and what to expect next year.

How has 2013 been for you then overall, and what have been your highlights?

2013 has been a rocking year, I got my second album finally released and the Eat Sleep Rave Repeat track with Fatboy Slim reached #2 in the UK chart and #1 in Scotland. Happy Riva!

The Eat Sleep Rave Repeat collaboration has been huge. Did you always envisage this success?

Not at all, we made it in a couple of hours in Norman's studio with Beardyman, just having fun really, then word of mouth and hype all around. I guess it's also because of the catchy slogan and the weird lyrics ha.

Are there any further plans to work with him?

Not for now as we are both super busy travelling and working on new project... let's see in the future.

What music has been a key component of your sets this year?

I don't like to jump on the bandwagon.. so I’m not a deep house dj although I like to play some deep tunes here and there. My style has always been between house and tech house, but I'm finding myself exploring more techno territories these days as well. I just did a track on Green Velvet's new album called 'Robots' (listen below) which is very much what I'm feeling at the moment.

You’re playing for Nightowl at ministry of Sound, on the 27th December. What have your previous gigs in London been like?

London is always good fun for me, I have been playing at pretty much in every big club in town, and the vibe is absolutely amazing. So I'm really looking forward to play again at Ministry in a few days. 

What have you got planned for New Year?

Like last year I'm going to play again at PACHA in Ibiza. They are good friends and we had so much fun last year! Ibiza is wonderful in winter time, so chilled.

And finally; any plans you can let slip for 2014?

Well, there's a remix album called CLUB IN HAND with 25 remixes from some of my favourite producers around who took over in re-interpreting my Hand in Hand album.. from Hosh to Technasia, Uner to Timo Maas and a few others too.

It will drop early February, then I'll be working on new things already and pushing more than ever my labels SNATCH! And SNATCH! OFF that are going strong lately with releases from Astin, Mandolini etc hitting the Beatport charts all the time.

Riva Starr headlines Nightowl at Ministry of Sound Friday 27th December - full listing here.

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