James Zabiela is one our favourite and most respected artists and the awaiting for his gig in Poland seemed endless. Finally he came, played and tore the Sfinks club apart. If this interview was done after his performance, there wouldn’t be much to publish. Even journalists become speechless sometimes...

Thanks go to I&I Records for hooking us up with Jay Z.

Sound Revolt: Unfortunately we’ll have to make it quick as it’s high time you went behind the decks. It’s all because you overslept! (laughs)
James Zabiela: Yeah, I’ve been asleep all the time I’ve been here. Sorry

Sound Revolt: Lots of travelling or something?
James Zabiela: Yeah I’m just all over the place at the moment and I’ve also just finished the CD so I gotta do a lot of press, interviews.

Sound Revolt: How should we pronounce your name?
James Zabiela: You tell me.

Sound Revolt: We say Zabiela.
James Zabiela: Yeah, in England everyone says Zabiela.

Sound Revolt: Pete Tong says Zabelia. Don’t you mind that?
James Zabiela: No. People can call me what they want.

Sound Revolt: Do you have Slavic roots or something?
James Zabiela: A long, long, long way back, I think. Actually I was told there’s a village here called Zabiela.

Sound Revolt: In Polish Zabiela is what you do when you add cream to a soup. Then it gets white.
James Zabiela: That’s not very cool. When I went to Prague they told me that in Czech Zabiela means killer.

Sound Revolt: That is cool. I wanted to ask about Prague and the Reason residency.
James Zabiela: That was ace. For me it was a real learning experience. To play to a different type of crowd. I did that for over a year so I got very fond with the place.

Sound Revolt: Bastek: I saw you there for the first time three years ago. All I remembered were great technical skills and Depeche Mode tracks.
James Zabiela: Wow!

Sound Revolt: Why did the residency end?
James Zabiela: Because they had a big flood that destroyed everything and they lost a lot of money. They had a hard time. But I’ve been back a couple of times. And I played on a big event called The Roxy Festival.

Sound Revolt: We perfectly remember the flood as we were watching the pictures on their website and seeing how they are coping with it. We were hoping they would make it before New Year’s Eve.
James Zabiela: Yeah but it smells there though. (laughs)

Sound Revolt: What does your dad think about the fuzz around you?
James Zabiela: Oh, he’s obviously taking all the credit for it (laughs)

Sound Revolt: I haven’t seen him in the magazines though.
James Zabiela: No, you don’t see my dad. He’s obviously very proud.

Sound Revolt: Does the record store you worked for has a special plaque or something?
James Zabiela: No, no. It’s not even opened. It’s a tanning salon now.

Sound Revolt: Wow, have you been there since it changed.
James Zabiela: No.

Sound Revolt: Have you ever learned from turntablists?
James Zabiela: Yeah, all the time. I find it really fascinating and I try to employ a little bit of that into what I do.

Sound Revolt: Have you got any favourite artists?
James Zabiela: I don’t know. There’s lots of them. Everyone brings something different. I just look at everything.  

Sound Revolt: Would you take your chance in a DMC contest?
James Zabiela: Oh no. That’s too stressful. You got 5 minutes to show them what you’ve got. If you screw up - that’s it! You have to wait until next year. Anyway, I don’t think I’m that good to do anything like that. I have a lot of respect for those guys. It’s like going for a job interview. It’s pretty weird. Too much pressure. Have you seen the film „Scratch”?

Sound Revolt: Yeah we did. Loved it!
James Zabiela: Amazing.

Sound Revolt: Word! It has a special, very real feeling.
James Zabiela: Yeah, they’re very passionate about what they do.

Sound Revolt: I’ve always wondered. Do people complain about your long scratching? What are they doing on the dancefloor when you go crazy for 2 minutes?
James Zabiela: Oh, I don’t really go that crazy.

Sound Revolt: Nooo. 30 second backspins. We’ve heard that!
James Zabiela: I don’t know, I just play around. Just have fun.

Sound Revolt: OK, but do you see what people are doing when you’re “having fun”?
James Zabiela: Yeah, yeah. Sometimes

Sound Revolt: Sometimes (laughs). I’m not complaining but I was always curious about it, ‘cause you mostly play for people from a different (non-scratch) dance culture.
James Zabiela: Yes, I know what you mean. I think you just have to introduce it in a different way.

Sound Revolt: So you don’t want to change you’re music...
James Zabiela: No, I’m not gonna start playing hip hop, don’t worry (laughs) The real Jay Z.

Sound Revolt: One is too many.
James Zabiela: Yeah.

Sound Revolt: Do you often meet envious people? People who think you got way to high in your career?
James Zabiela: Sometimes, I guess. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion and they have their opinion for different reasons. It’s fine.

Sound Revolt: Has anyone tried to make it harder for you?
James Zabiela: No, no. No one ever tried that. In the industry most people have been very nice. I’ve been very lucky.

Sound Revolt: Have you noticed many imitators? People trying to do exactly what you did to become famous?
James Zabiela: Sometimes. But it’s the best form of flattery I guess so I don’t mind. It’s nice to have some sort influence on another DJ.

Sound Revolt: And are there other DJs that you want to help like Lee Burridge and Sasha helped you?
James Zabiela: Yeah, there’s a lot. I have some friends in Southampton, where I grew up. They are my good friends who play great music but they do that only in Southampton.

Sound Revolt: Dan Goodal...
James Zabiela: Yes, he makes music. Dave Robertson – he makes music and DJs. PJ Davy...

Sound Revolt: Well, in two weeks we’re doing two parties with Dave Robertson.
James Zabiela: Oh, I know!

Sound Revolt: Really?
James Zabiela: Yeah, I knew that, he told me. And Jeff Bennett.

Sound Revolt: Correct!
James Zabiela: See? I know. Jeff Bennett is a next release on my label Hearing Aid.

Sound Revolt: I wanted to ask you about Jeff as I took a glimpse on the tracklisting of your “Alive” album...
James Zabiela: Yeah, it’s the last track on CD1.

Sound Revolt: Did you remix it?
James Zabiela: Well, I’ve just done like an edit of it. It’s kind of a strange record. It’s melodic but there’s hardly any beats. It’s almost like an ambient record. The beats come in for a little bit and then they go away. Then the beats come again for a little bit. So I took almost all the beats so it’s even more like an ambient track.

Sound Revolt: (laughs) I expected you’d do something completely the opposite!
James Zabiela: No, it’s almost like a film score music.

Sound Revolt: Did you know that Jeff is Polish?
James Zabiela: I didn’t! I heard that he lived in Norway but then someone said he lives in Sweden.

Sound Revolt: He’s Polish. He moved to Sweden when he was six. We’re not sure where he lives now though.
James Zabiela: I don’t know. Have you heard of Nils Noa?

Sound Revolt: Yeah, I know him personally. I interviewed him and we spoke about you few times.
James Zabiela: Yeah, I played at his night in Norway. We’re pretty good friends. How was it when he played in Poland?

Sound Revolt: Excellent! For me that was one the best parties last year.
James Zabiela: Yeah, he’s good. He gave me a new record I’ll play tonight – Nils Noa & Tronso.

Sound Revolt: You and Nils have a lot in common. Dirty sounds...
James Zabiela: Yes.

Sound Revolt: On the editing side, you and Phil K are very similar, don’t you think?
James Zabiela: Yeah, I guess. We played back to back three weeks ago.

Sound Revolt: You did?! One of our questions was: “would you play back to back with Phil K?”!
James Zabiela: Yeah we did! It was amazing. We played one CD each for 4 thousand people in Juarez in Mexico. It was really good. We’re gonna do something else together I think. I’m going to Melbourne in a few weeks time and I’m gonna stay at his house. It’s a lot of fun to DJ with him.

Sound Revolt: Do you play tracks that other DJs play?
James Zabiela: Yeah sure, if the record is good. It’s nice not to just play the same everyone plays, ‘cause people have already heard that. There’s lots of great music out there that people haven’t heard.

Sound Revolt: And you’re laughing at trainspotters who are scratching they’re heads.
James Zabiela: No, it’s great. But it’s funny when I get e-mails: “what’s the record that goes eek, eek, krkr, boom”? Umm, let me think... (laughs)

Sound Revolt: I’ve heard that there’s more DJs in England than regular clubbers.
James Zabiela: I think it’s a lot better than it was but yeah - there was a while when it was really bad. It was good for me, ‘cause I’m not a massive superstar DJ like Tiesto, Sasha or even Nick Warren and Steve Lawler. I was a lot cheaper and when there was some sort of clubbing recession in England they never played there, ‘cause no one could afford to book them and have enough people. I was flying all around England playing, ‘cause I was cheaper (laughs)

Sound Revolt: You cheap bastard! (laughs)
Would you perform if it occurred that CDJs are broken and you’re left only with decks?
James Zabiela: Yeah I would but I wouldn’t enjoy it as much. Once upon a time I said “I’m never playing a CD”. I used to just play records.

Sound Revolt: I understand but you are at some stage in your career. That’s your job and you need the best conditions to do it.
James Zabiela: Yeah, exactly. To perform to my best ability but I’d play if there was just one turntable.

Sound Revolt: What?!
James Zabiela: Yeah (laughs). You can make feedback loops with the effects unit. If you got a DJM 600 you can move a feedback loop from one channel to another. You can move it there and mix a record back in. So you can do that on one turntable. I’ve done that once.

Sound Revolt: It is possible... technically. What do you think your career will look like in 5 years? Are you planning to implant another hand or something? What else there is to do.
James Zabiela: (laughs) I don’t know. I’ve got this DVJ thing at home which is a lot of fun.

Sound Revolt: DVD?
James Zabiela: Yeah. You can scratch with DVDs and stuff. It’s really cool

Sound Revolt: (laughs)
James Zabiela: It’s pretty mad you know. You can loop up people moving around and make them walk backwards. If you put Blade Runner in you can start scratching with it. Hot cues, hot loops – it works exactly like the CDJ 1000.

Sound Revolt: Daleks dancing.
James Zabiela: Yeah I’ve got scratch samples with robots and stuff.

Sound Revolt: As for samples. Do you like Vanilla Sky a lot? Which Cruz/Cruise do you prefer? Tom or Penelope?
James Zabiela: Oh, Penelope! (laughs)

Sound Revolt: Phew. And how’s Hearing Aid doing?
James Zabiela: Good. Hernan Cattaneo has put “Can It Happen” as number one in his chart - the PJ Davy remix which never came out. So we decided to put an unreleased remix on beatport.com every time we’re doing a release. The next thing is to get a contract with them.

Sound Revolt: Do you know how many people buy tracks this way?
James Zabiela: I guess quite a lot. Outside of iTunes, Beatport is the most popular on the dance music scene.

Sound Revolt: What about EDM Digital?
James Zabiela: They are cool as well but they are mostly progressive, whereas beatport is for all areas of dance music. I like the variety about it. It also has a nice interface.

Sound Revolt: We’re running out of time so last few words. The “Alive” album. When is it out?
James Zabiela: End of July. At the moment we’ve just mastered it. We’re producing it now and the artworks are being done.

Sound Revolt: I’m really looking forward to it. Was it done the same way as “Sound In Motion” - in one take?
James Zabiela: Yeah. All in my room, three CDJs and the effects unit. But I don’t like “Sound In Motion” anymore.

Sound Revolt: What about “Airdrawndagger”. Do you like it?
James Zabiela: I like “Airdrawndagger”. There are couple of tracks there that I really like. Like “Magnetic North”

Sound Revolt: “Bloodlock”?
James Zabiela: Correct.

Sound Revolt: We feel the same way and we were surprised by the criticism it triggered off.
James Zabiela: Maybe a lot of people were expecting something different. Something like “Xpander”. A whole album of big trance records. It was nice he surprised a lot of people.

Sound Revolt: And what about “Involver”. Have you heard it?
James Zabiela: I’ve heard a sampler.

Sound Revolt: And?
James Zabiela: And it’s good. It’s really good.

Sound Revolt: And do you think the cover is gay?
James Zabiela: Yeah. (overwhelming laughter)

Sound Revolt: James was interviewed by Lucas and Sebastian Napora

The End