Interview Series | Sean Kerman, Johannesburg, SA | Exist in Sound Tranceplayer Tranceplayer Digital FM & First-Person Media Player
Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of?
Well there are a few to mention but if we go back to 95 phew that's way back!. Anyhow I had a company with 2 friends called Dusk 2 Dawn productions, we organized a warehouse party and had flown Andy Passman (UK) & Malcom Duffy(UK) out and set up the event in the harbor area in Durban South Africa in a shed. We had done flyer drops and promoted the event for a month before at various venues. Come the day of the event and we were a little concerned as to whether we'd done enough? Needless to say people started to arrive at 5pm for a 9pm gate opening! We had 5500 people attend the event and wow what a party that was! It was my first gig opening to a massive crowd and the nerves were on fire before my set, definitely one of the highlights of my DJ career!
What’s the biggest misconception about DJing?
It's not always glamorous and exciting if you're a resident you have to work hard to keep your sets original but at the same time can't push the musical boundaries like a guest DJ would! Familiarity in your sound is essential to keep the punters coming back, As a dj you are always 4 steps ahead of the punters because you're always looking for music and sometimes it's boring playing the same tracks each week but it's your responsibility to create your sound that separates you from other dj's.
How would you describe your style?
I'm a multi genre dj but i've always had a certain progressive sound my particular nuance is with the sound of the High hat and bassline, I'm currently focussing on Drum & Bass as it's one of my favourite styles of music so i'm pushing that style quite a bit at the moment!
What type of music do you usually DJ?
Up until a few months back i was playing mainly progressive and Techno but have seen an amazing energy building in the D&B scene!
Analog or digital and why?
I started playing on records at the young age of 15 at a under18 nightclub in Durban South Africa so i'm very comfortable with turntables but started the digital route back in 2006 i quickly realised there's so much more you can accomplish with a digital setup as far as playing with and manipulating tracks on the fly it's really given me more creativity.
What do you like most about DJing?
The story is about weaving a set together and letting the dancer hear your expression of passion through music. I feel as a DJ we have a responsibility to infuse the dancefloor with positive energy! if you're not in the zone you influence everyone with your music selection and energy and can negatively impact the floor.
How long have you been DJing?
As i mentioned i started playing when i was 15 so that makes it 37yrs this year.
What’s your typical work process?
Currently I have scaled down to suit an easy pack up and go, I use a very powerful gaming laptop as my workhorse with a pioneer ddj Ergo controller. I have a 15' active subwoofer and 2 15' active tops for gigs that I get booked for and produce on Bitwig when inspiration hits me. I like to keep things simple!
Tell us about your studio setup.
Get to know your music! know how to build the energy up and when to give the dancers a break on the floor it's not always about keeping the energy thumping and probably most important use mixed in key software you'll find your sets will flow better and sound a lot more harmonious.
Can you share one DJ tip?
There's a very poignant story of a young Drum & Bass producer that inspired me called Oliver 'IBOT' Phillips. He started playing with logic at the age of 6 and produced and released his first track at 11yrs old he's 15 now and headlining festivals in the UK. I played one of his tracks in my live stream but there's so much energy gathering in the D&B scene at the moment! producers like Alix Perez,Hybris, Theoretical and many others are pushing the boundaries at the moment! but my all time favourite would have to be Quivver and Sasha.
What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
My influences as young child came from listening to Rick Wakeman, pink floyd, ultravox and a lot of synth driven music in my early years definitely Depeche mode was a huge band back then as they were way ahead of their time and later Aphex twin blew my mind as far as the sounds being used around that time with the explosion of the Ambient genre coming out of the UK at that time.
ARTIST BIO Sean Kerman is a genre fluid DJ. Through his understanding
of music as a universal language Sean takes an audience on
an unimaginable musical journey. Sometimes, starting with
deep melodic landscapes which traverse the tougher
terrains of deep bass-filled house and tech-house, he
explores the deeper side of progressive and techno-esque
landscapes at altitude, with intermittent bouts of
break-beat turbulence. Smoothing down with atmospheric
and melodic transient techno, the destination is not always
construed.
Genre-fluid >>
Deep House
Dirty ‘n Funky House
Progressive
Intelligent Techno
Breakbeat
Soundcloud >>
https://soundcloud.com/user-132169792
Mixcloud >>
https://www.mixcloud.com/djsean8080/
