On 20th April Dusted @ The Whitehouse plays host to the
charismatic electro trio My Digital Enemy. Based near the beautiful and
laid-back coastal city of Brighton, all three have music in their blood, all
having been involved in dance music for over a decade now. Made up of Harry
Diamond, Sergei Hall and Kieron McTernan they all started their musical careers
in hard dance. Sergei and Kieron had been producing together as Project Mayhem
and, living in the same area, it was only natural that they would get together with
Harry and they have been producing under numerous aliases since. They enjoyed
huge commercial success as The Lost Brothers with Cry Little Sister and also
stormed the charts with Sunset Strippers – Waiting For A Star To Fall and their
music has featured in film, TV and computer games – often in the most unlikely
of places!
However, under the My Digital Enemy guise is where they make the music
they truly love – cutting edge, driving electro with a twist of trance. Proving
their production prowess, they have released critically acclaimed tracks and
the remix offers are flooding in from the likes of Judge Jules, Darren Tate and
Pink and labels like Maelstrom, Renaissance and Warners. We caught up with
Harry Diamond to find out what the guys have been up to and what they have
planned for 2007.
Hi guys, how are you? What are you up to at the moment?
Hi There! Yes we are fine thank you, how are you? Just
finishing off the tracks to our next E.P at the moment but it's hard to work
when it's sunny outside!!!
I’m fine thanks for asking! All three of you are Brighton born and bred,
from my own experience I know it breeds its fair share of nutters, is this a
category you guys fall into?
Well it's hard to say, depends on who you have met in
Brighton I suppose. There are so many larger than life characters down here.
Brighton has always had a reputation of anything goes especially in the summer
when no one seems to work and gets pissed continuously on the beach!! We all do
our fair share of getting smashed, you have to, to keep sane!!
Have all three of you always had a passion for dance music?
Always, ever since the hardcore days in the 90's, was
very young then but the first record I ever bought was '6 Days On The Run',
remember that?
You all have roots in hard dance, what made you move away from it?
I think it was just a natural progression, at the time
hard dance was big and that was when we first started to write music so I
suppose the big sound at the time influenced what we wrote. As time went on and
we got older our tastes changed. Also as producers we always want to better
ourselves and see if we could do other stuff as well.
How did you three get together?
We all come from the same area just outside of
Brighton, two places actually called Hurstpierpoint and Hassocks. Kieron and
Sergei had been working together for a while, I was doing my own thing. One day
we were all in the same pub and they invited me into their studio. Seeing as we
all come from the same area and all wrote dance music it seemed stupid not to.
We had a laugh and decided to do another track together. We seemed to gel with
each other so from then on we all invested in a new studio and worked together
all the time.
After some degree of commercial success, now you seem to have found your
niche with My Digital Enemy, how would you describe the MDE sound for clubbers
who are coming to see you play at the Whitehouse?
Well I would describe it as electro but with a trancy
twist. Having all come from that background it still influences the way we
write music.
You seem to have a canny knack for having the right sound at the right
time, what made you decide to move in a more electro direction?
Like I said before for us it’s about bettering
ourselves and seeing if we can write something different to what we normally
do. At the end of the day we just love writing music of all descriptions. If
you want to stay in the game you have to move with the times. You can still
have influences of the stuff that you did before but to move forward have to be
open to new ideas and sounds.
Following on the heels of your ‘Believe It’ EP what new material and
remixes do you have planned?
Erm let me think... ok there are a few remixes coming
out, there's the MDE mix of Damien J. Carter's single, 'What World' for Loaded,
MDE mix of Pink's new single for Sony / BMG called ‘Leave Me Alone (I'm
Lonely)’, MDE mix of Rogue Traders new single called 'Way It Goes' for Sony /
BMG, MDE mix of a band called Kharma 45 with a track called 'Where's Your
Spirit Man' for Warners (wicked band
and song, check them out!!) and an awesome track called 'The Sound' by Control
One for Fat Fox.
New track wise just getting our next E.P. together,
nearly there!
Are there any producers you particularly admire at the moment?
Well for me it's Eric Prydz, no other producer writes
music like him and gets tracks to sound the way he does, he truly is a proper
artist and as a producer someone to aspire to. Also a guy called Richie Kayvan,
like Eric is an amazing talent! Sergei really likes a guy called D- Nox who
does like tech trance stuff and Kieron is really into a guy called Fonzerelli
who also goes under the name Aaron McClelland (hope I have spelt his name
right). All amazing producers doing it at the moment.
Are there any DJ talents you can tip for greater things?
There are a few people in Brighton who are doing
really well at the moment playing everywhere out and about town. Every time I
see them I am really impressed. Their names are Jamie Wadman, Tim Priestley,
David Godding, Yusuf Sebati, and a double act called Prok & Fitch. All
really shit hot DJs who should definitely go somewhere!!!
And your top five tracks right now?
The Cookey 'Blue Monday'
My Digital Enemy 'Live The Life You Love'
Arno Costa 'Magenta'
Snap 'The Power' Eric Prydz Mix
Shlomi Aber - Crop Duster
What is your chemistry like the studio… do you ever have arguments or is
there some kind of telepathic understanding between the three of you? What role
does each of the three of you play?
We do have rows but nothing that can't be solved, if
someone doesn't like something then we will do it until we are all in
agreement, though if someone really believes they are right then it normally
gets let through. There are three studios here now, one main studio and two
project studios so we can all be working on different stuff all the time and
then swap over. That way you don't get bored, get to have a breather and get
someone else’s viewpoint on the track.
Are you dance music through and through or do you listen to other
styles?
No not at all, we all listen to all types and
varieties of music, rock, classical, commercial stuff, 80's, everything, I
firmly believe that in order to become a better musician you have to have an
open mind to all styles of music. At the end of the month we are going to a
massive rock festival in the Nevada Desert called Coachella. Can't wait to hear
all the different bands and styles!
One word you can definitely be described of as producers is ‘versatile’
– alongside your edgier MDE stuff you’re not adverse to the odd commercial
anthem – is this just for fun or does money come into it??
No doubt about it commercial stuff does pay out and I
would be lying to say that when we do stuff like that money isn't a factor, you
have to pay the bills somehow. However we like commercial music, everyone does
whether they admit to it or not. Maybe not if you’re into death metal so I
suppose there are exceptions!! Ha ha! I'm proud of the commercial stuff we have
done and have liked doing it and we are continuing to do it under various
guises. Just because a record goes into the charts does not mean to say it's
bad, people should remember that.
What has been the highlight of your musical careers so far?
Whenever your tracks get played on the radio or by DJs
and you weren't expecting it is always a good feeling, shows you are doing
something right and makes you strive to do it again. Being on Top Of The Pops
was pretty fucking awesome and mad as well!
And your worst experience since getting involved in music?
Well when the music industry is good it's amazing but
when it's bad and you’re not doing so well it's really disheartening. For us
it's always been these two extremes, sometimes you worry when the next remix or
single will come out, getting paid is notoriously difficult as well but
eventually it all comes through, you just have to keep your wits about you.
Thanks for your time guys and we look forward to seeing you at the
Whitehouse on 20th April!
Ahh, no problem, our pleasure, see you down there....!!
