We had an amazing time catching all the live music acts at Clockenflap this November, including a top lineup of regional and international artists representing the
Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) at the popular
YourMumStage by Red Bull.
As one of the most devoted supporters of the indie music scene worldwide, Red Bull aspires to give indie musicians the support and platform traditional music labels can no longer provide. Since it begun in 1998, the Academy has celebrated music, its culture, and the transformative minds behind it, applying the core principles that underlie its annual workshop and selected participants to events, lectures, and city-wide festivals throughout the year.
We were lucky enough to catch up with popular techno trailbrazer DJ and producer
Seth Troxler who has brought the genres of house and techno to the masses. Throughout his years spent touring the globe, Seth has climbed up the charts projecting him to popularity and being voted number three, two, and then one in the
Resident Advisor Top 100 DJs poll from 2009–2012.
A regular attendee of
Red Bull Music Academy Workshops, Troxler has performed on numerous Red Bull Music Academy Stages overseas, such as the Red Bull Music Academy Stage at Movement in Detroit back in 2014 and Ultra Music Festival in Cape Town in 2016. And now he can add Clockenflap 2017 to the list. We ask him about his debut Hong Kong experience following his epic performance.
This was your first Clockenflap performance, and your fist time playing in Hong Kong. How was the experience?
I love Hong Kong. There are some great restaurants and bars here. It has a really international underground music scene and I’m excited to be able to do something else. I was in China before I arrived in Hong Kong, and it was not so challenging. I guess here, I can be more artistic, so I was excited to be in the city.
You're now one of dance music's most recognisable characters, but how and when did your love affair with the genre begin?
I started listening to that style of music when I was a kid, listening to all the music my parents played. When we moved to the suburbs of Detroit, I went to this rave party and heard the music in a context that I'd never really imagined, and so I started making music in my home basement and started playing in clubs when I was sixteen. It wasn't until I had gone to Sónar when my mind was like, "Boom! Whoa, this is real. This can be real."
And how did your relationship with the Red Bull Music Academy come about?
I did a few lectures with them in New York and also joined their UK tour. I love Red Bull so much, as a company they give a lot to music and it’s actually very incredible to see a company that does a lot to promote music, especially underground music. They are also full of diversity and various cultures too which is great.
You've played at some huge clubs and festivals around the globe such as Fabric, ZoukOut, Glastonbury, Coachella, Wonderfruit, and Burning Man. Which do you prefer to play at and why?
I haven’t been to a lot of places yet. I just played at Kyo in Malaysia and it was the best stage in Asia. It has
the best sound system in the world! I was so surprised that the sound was just incredible and of course Clockenflap is cool too.
What is your advise for aspiring DJs who hope to one day play at festivals and clubs?
My “go-to” thing is you have to do it for the right reasons. You have to commit to your consistence - you have to do this to commit to your dream. I always tell people, if you really want to do this, you need to be totally committed to the fact that you may lose your friends or your life to be able to achieve your goal. Like, I don’t really have a life! (laughs)
Can we expect to see you perform again here in Hong Kong?
I'm not sure yet, but I’d love to come back and perform here. I love Hong Kong!
[su_youtube url="https://youtu.be/zgznLlRoC20"]
Find out more about Troxler here.
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