Doorly is quite undoubtedly one of the success stories of the bustling underground UK Electro/Dubstep scene in 2009. He’s risen pretty fast from staging the infamous ‘Afterparty’ series in Huddersfield, to playing in Ibiza and all over the UK with some of the UK’s heaviest hitters, and releasing some absolute dancefloor destroying remixes of the likes of Dizzee Rascal and Groove Armada. 2010 looks even bigger, an album on the way, US tours and another stint taking control of Ibiza Rocks and it’s sister party ‘Reclaim the dancefloor’. I caught up with Doorly right as he was about to smash up Newcastle’s finest club night, the locally celebrated ‘Rub A Dub Dub’, here’s what he had to say…..
Hey How you doing, you alright?
Yep, yeah good.
So obviously, you came up in huddersfield as a student, is that right?
Yeah, that’s right
Obviously Huddersfield has a very small, if any, electro and dubstep scene, especially when compared to its closest cities Manchester and Leeds which have relatively large ones, how difficult is it to make it as a DJ coming from this scene and background?
It was a nightmare as there was literally nobody. I used to play at Vodka Revolution, and at the time that was the only place that payed house music, so everyone went there. Then I used to go off and play in Leeds and Manchester, but it meant I’d never see my mates, so I decided to set up this ‘Afterhours’ party, which became kind of a community thing, and just kinda went from there. But we had to build the scene from scratch, which was difficult as anybody who was remotely into music went to Leeds or Manchester for nights out. I think I’ve kind of built it with my career, called in favours here and there, and its also helped me in my career, but yeah its tough.
Do you think that as a region, as the North, its more difficult to get recognised as a DJ, with it not being London or the south, and not the high media impact scene there is down there?
Not at all, I think its an advantage. People in London kinda see me as a gimmick, but they kind of like that Northern swagger, as most DJs in London are kinda the same, so people from the North doing good things stand out to them. The scene here though is better than London, I’ve never had a good gig in London, most are full of tourists and pretentious people. Not all people in London are like that, but I’ve had a lot of gigs like that and it just seems Northern clubbing is a lot stronger, and a better crowd.
You curated the line-up for Ibiza Rocks last year, and with that in mind how did this come about and what have you got lined up on the white isle for 2010?
Erm, same again really. We’re moving ‘Reclaim the dancefloor’, the sister night which is Dubstep and Techno to it’s own night because it smashed it last year, going to give it its own legs this year. The line ups for Ibiza rocks are fucking massive this year too, I cant really say much just yet but we’ve got the biggest dance act in the world playing for us, and the biggest band in the world playing for us.
Would that dance act be an elusive French duo by any chance?
I’m not going to say but we’ve got some pretty big things happening. Same with the bands, there’s no filler bands this year, just all out festival headliners, so thats good. Then at reclaim the dancefloor we’ve got every single DJ that we went for, the line ups are going to blow people away this year, you know, it’s all really good!
So you programmed Ibiza Rocks last year, do you have the same amount of impute this year, still as much control?
Well yeah, theres a collection of us, myself, Mark from Metropolis, Dan from Wax:On, and then the guys that run the band line ups. They tend to leave the dance programming to us however as they know we have our ears a little more to the ground when it comes to that, they handle more the band side of things, cos its not really our field. But, we all have meetings and discuss it all between us and work it all out. However I have done less this year than I have before because i’m a lot busier this year.
So whats happening with you this year? You had a massive year in 2009, so what’s next in 2010?
Well, just go international really. I’ve just literally just got back from my New Zealand and Australia tour, then I’m off on two American tours before the summer, then there’s things like Snowbombing in Austria, and I’m playing in Paris in two weeks. I’m just kinda doing europe, so my UK gigs are gunna be a bit sparse for a bit, and then you know, I’ll be in Ibiza. Then production-wise, I’ve done my last remix, which was of Marina and the Diamonds, which I’ve just submitted, then I’m going to do away with remixes for a while and concentrate on the 11 or 12 tracks I have ready to go towards an album. So I’m just working with loads of different vocalists at the moment and have just finished a track with Lady Chann.
So we’re looking at a Doorly album in 2010?
Hopefully, but probably not because it’s got to be good. I need to make sure it’s really good, I’m not going to rush it, there’s no point.
So how did the Mishka thing come about? That’s quite a huge deal as they’re an awesome NY based brand. Is it good to share the same roster as Jack Beats and Crookers?
Yeah mate, it’s not a big a thing as you imagine. As your profile raises people just want you to wear their stuff, and there’s a few companies that I’m going to be working with like Trainer Spotter, who you know, just want to give you some clothes. But the Miska thing, its all chilled and a bit blase, I just met them in London, got some clothes and I’ll do a mix for them at some point, it’s good.
You got any last words? Like, 2010 is going to be epic for Doorly?
Ha ha, yeah, fingers crossed!
Have you heard good things about Rub A Dub Dub?
Yeah of course, I wouldn’t have done it otherwise, traditionally I’ve always been exclusive to Digital, with Wax:On et al, and to come do this is a quite a big deal, I wouldn’t normally do this in a city, but we agreed it was a good thing for me to do and we talked about it for a while, and it helps that everybody who plays here comes away with really good things to say. It’s great, I’m looking forward to it, looks like it’s gunna be a hype!
Thanks a lot appreciate it!
No worries, thanks!
Related Links:
Doorly on Myspace
