DJ Gary Beck Q & A

1 What are your best memories of RockNess and how did you go about choosing your set for last year that was also your Essential Mix debut?

RockNess has been great over the last couple of years, and it was extra special doing the Essential Mix for Radio 1. The exposure was massive, so I decided to fill up the mix with lots of my own original productions.

2 If you go back to the beginning of getting DJing and producing as a career off the ground, is there one pivotal moment where you thought to yourself ‘This is it, it’s really started!’?

I must say when Richie Hawtin picked up on my Consumed track, things began to really start moving. All of a sudden I was getting lots of people writing to me about my productions. The gig requests also started to flow which was really cool.

3 Where did the idea come from to have your own imprint Bek Audio and what – after the success of Over To You have you got planned for the way it will develop?

It was around two years ago when I set up Bek Audio. I wanted to have a base to release whatever I wanted, whenever I felt like it. I initially wanted to release only original productions by myself, however things have changed slightly, as now we have artists like Mark Broom, Speedy J, Mr G and Slam onboard.

4 If you could be in the head of one of your top-rated DJs/favourite producers for a day, who would it be – and what would you want to find out?!

It would be interesting to be in Richie Hawtin’s napper for a day. He always seems to come up with such great ideas. Also Hans Bouffmyhre would be an interesting one. He does so much work with his label and productions, I’m pretty sure there’s three clones of him.

5 You are doing a bit of globe-trotting these days, so where are some of your favourite new places?

Tokyo is always a wonderful experience. It’s such an inspirational place and the people are just great. Also Colombia. The crowds there are always huge and they really know how to have a good party.

6 It’s a nightmare scenario, you’ve woken up on a desert island, and you’re going to have to survive till rescue with three tracks and one luxury, what would they be?!

All By Myself Celine Dion, Lonely Akon and Stuck Stacie Orrico. My luxury would be a box of Jacob’s Creek Chardonnay.

7 What would be your Gary Beck brand mission statement to persuade a swithering dance fan to come and see you when you hit Inverness?

Come along to hear this new brand of techno that everyone is talking about ;).

RoboTone and Audiolife present Gary Beck (Soma) on Saturday at Cake, Inverness, from 10pm to 3am. Also with Alan MacPherson, Brian Mackenzie, Steven Flynn. Room 2: The Boomshank Redemption Ross Lyall (Filth). Tickets £8 in advance.

Gary Beck: The Background

ONE of Scotland’s leading young techno producers burst onto the worldwide underground dance scene with his first release on Philadelphia’s Worship Recordings label in 2005.

His deep but fresh quirky style and the party atmosphere he creates has taken him from Glasgow, to Asia and South America and Berlin’s Berghain.

Some of the biggest names in techno are fans, including Josh Wink, Dubfire, Chris Liebing, Len Faki, Slam and Richie Hawtin.

Gary has remixed for Christian Smith, Audio Soul Project and Mark Broom. And his solo work includes massive tracks like Say What on Nic Fanciulli’s Saved imprint and Enough Talk on his hometown label, Soma Records.

Gary is also working on new material for his own imprint Bek Audio after first release Bek001, Over To You was immediately picked up by Hawtin & Dubfire, to name but a few.

Gary also made his Radio 1 Essential Mix debut in June 2010 – recorded live from RockNess – returning this year.