It seems like Dave Seaman didn’t get a rest for decades now. From playing music at his friend’s birthday parties, to working as the editor of Mixmag, to running his own labels and working with some of the world’s biggest superstars – there’s not a lot of things he hasn’t done when it comes to his career. You don’t need special reason to talk to a man who’s this successful, but we did have a reason – his remix of Miss Melera‘s track „Magenta“ for Chapter 24 Records. Dave was playing at the BPM festival, and he found time to talk to us all the way from Mexico about the beginning of his career, his collaboration with Pet Shop Boys, his label Selador Recordings and some future releases.
You can read the whole interview below. Enjoy!
Hi Dave! First of all, thank you for your time! Happy holidays!
Let’s get back to the past a bit: you were a DJ, then you became a journalist and then editor of Mixmag. Did you ever think that it’s gonna go that way? What can you tell us about that part of your career?
I’d always wanted to be a DJ. I started doing the school disco and friend’s birthday parties aged 13. But I fell into the journalism when I got a job at DMC who were the owners and publishers of Mixmag at the time. I just started doing some reviews for them and after about 6 months the Editor suddenly left and I was thrown into the deep end trying to do that month’s issue while they quickly tried to find a replacement. Luckily, I managed not to sink the ship and in fact, they thought I did such a good job, they offered me the position full time. They were amazing times. We were making the rules up as we went along. The Electronic Dance Music revolution was really just on the cusp of breaking big time and through some stroke of fate, I was at the helm of the biggest magazine in that genre. I was very lucky to be there at the right time in the eye of the storm.
What made you want to get into electronic music in general? What was your biggest goal when you started and who was your biggest support?
I got into breakdancing when I was a teenager which really opened my ears to electronic music. I’d been into New Order as well so their work with Arthur Baker had a big impact on me. But when I started DJing it was my parents who gave me the most support. They bought me equipment and taxied me around to my gigs as I was too young to drive. I’ve got a lot to thank them for. I never thought I’d still be DJing as a career over 30 years later. At the time my biggest ambition was just to get a job in the local nightclub near where I lived in Leeds. I never dreamt I’d get to travel the World doing the job I love.
You have an impressive career – what would you say was a highlight?
I’m lucky to be able to say I’ve had a lot of highlights but I’m still most proud of my achievements with my partner in Brothers In Rhythm, Steve Anderson and particularly writing and producing ‘Confide In Me’ for Kylie Minogue. That song is over 20 years old now and to my ears, still sounds amazing. We did that 🙂
Can you compare the scene 20 years ago and now. What changed for better or worse? And was the scene better back then or now?
It really is like comparing football teams of the 80s against the teams that play now. They come from very different eras so it’s hard to compare. We all lived in a different world back then. But the obvious change of course has been the digital revolution. It’s brought many positives to our lives but has had many downsides too. People’s attention spans have diminished and so much culture now is so disposable as there’s so much more of everything to consume. But you can’t stand in the way of progress. You’ve just got to learn to adapt. I always think people that say things are not as good as they used to be are not as good as they used to be!
Your remix of Miss Melera’s track „Magenta“ has just been released on Chapter 24 Records. What can you tell us about this collaboration? How satisfied are you with how the track turned out?
It was the guys at Chapter 24 that approached me. I really like what they’re doing with their label and as soon as I heard the track I knew I could do a great remix. The original parts were really inspiring and I couldn’t be happier with the result. It’s been a big staple in my sets for a couple of months now.
What can you tell us about Selador Recordings (the idea behind it, the mission)? How did you and Steve come to an idea to found a label?
I’ve known Steve for a long time and when we were chatting one day he mentioned how it was still one of his ambitions to run a record label. At the time I’d just laid my last label Audio Therapy to rest as it was run on an old outdated business model and I felt it was time to do something new so our planets just seemed to align. We started talking about Selador just before Christmas 2012 and we launched in April 2013. We think we’ve achieved a lot in our short lifespan but really we’re only just getting started.
And what about future releases, both yours and releases on your label? What can we expect?
I’ve got several remixes coming out over the next few months. Firstly my mix for Cristoph which is on Selador has also just been released and then next is my mix for Marc Marzenit on Henry Saiz’s Natura Sonoris label which featured on my recent Beyond Borders: Berlin compilation. Then after that there’s a remix for Glenn Morrison and a collaboration with Acumen for his album both scheduled. On Selador we have releases from Habischman, Robert Babicz, Marc DePulse and Steve Parry and many more all lined up. It’s going to be a big year 🙂
You did collaborations with almost everybody – from working alongside some of the best DJs and producers to remixing some of the world’s biggest hits. Could you pick your favourite collaboration and what it is that made that one so special?
Working with the Pet Shop Boys will always be special. They were the ones who first gave us an opportunity and we learnt a lot from them. We’d only really made a couple of tracks before we found ourselves in a big studio co producing with them. Incredible really. That was a big gamble on their part and I’m eternally grateful.
When you start working on something, and you get stuck, what do you do to keep your inspiration moving?
Usually, I’ll go do something else. I’m usually juggling 5 things at once anyway so if ever something is not going well or becoming frustrating, it’s easy to just turn to another thing on my list for a while and be productive elsewhere.
And lastly, do you have a message for our readers and your fans?
Happy New Year!
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