In a career spanning an impressive two decades, UK tech trance producer John Askew could best be described as one of the most successful quiet achievers in the business. Without bombarding the market with salvo after salvo of promos and utilising the in your face marketing tactics some of the more mainstream DJs use he has forged a career by just concentrating on the most important aspect of all, making the music he wants to make. GLEN CANNING had an insightful chat with Askew as he prepares to hit our shores with Godskitchen 3D. Askew reminisces fondly on his last big tour to Australia with Trance Energy in 2009 and like most people is really disappointed that some second rate journalism was to blame for ID & T's decision not to bring it back.
"These were journalists from the main newspapers that just want to ruin everyone's fun just for the sake of a story. It was such a great event and such a well put together tour and just everything about it was fantastic, it's just a shame that people are sort of waiting for bad things to happen."
"The repercussions in stopping something like that means that instead of having something like 20 000 people being at an event, loaded on ecstasy all loving each other, they're all gonna be in the town centre loaded on testosterone beating the fuck out of each other so it's a shame really!"
Askew's musical journey has taken him across the globe for the best part of 20 years and he's had front row tickets to its ever changing evolution and as he concedes, it has been a journey of both the good and the bad.
"Well the internet has been the main point of evolution – obviously the music has progressed, the production quality has got better, the early days of needing to spend £20 000 to get a basic studio together to make music have gone down to needing a laptop and access to the internet where you can download every cracked software going you know and if Peter Gabriel can make his album in hotel rooms on a laptop then that speaks volumes."
"One of the negatives was obviously file sharing which meant the death of vinyl but I certainly don't miss vinyl, you become a far better DJ mixing on CDJs then you ever could be on vinyl but at the same time, the file sharing while your income from selling records dramatically dropped, it also bred this new breed of music / dance music fan that started to resent them being put into a situation where they had to part with money for music."
"When that mentality became the norm, it started to become quite frustrating from the perspective of running record labels cause got people who are putting so much effort and time into making records and getting nothing back that you see them as fast as they come they drop like flies if they don't get the success' and the gigs which is a real shame."
As the conservation descended into the current over use of cheesy vocals in trance productions Askew fired up several notches, "If you make that decision to start making more money and you can live with yourself for it despite the fact that when you're in the club and you play it and you fuckin' hate it then there's something wrong but if you're proud of it and you absolutely love it then that's fine."
Just to make sure there was no confusion as to where he stood on the matter he added "each to their own, everyone's got their own opinions and mine are just mine and nothing else but it's just my distorted view of where everything is at but you'll never, ever catch me doing that shit!"
The interview was about to reach warp speed intensity at this point so changing the direction to power down we moved onto the current state of the DJs filling the clubs each weekend.
"I call them Wedding DJs, they drop a song that everyone knows and can sing along to and that's kind of where it's at right now."
"People who mix the last 16 beats of one record into the first 16 of the next then spend the seven minutes in between standing there with their arms outstretched like Jesus, that doesn't really appeal to me."
As the interview came to a close it was a sense of disappointment as many artists don't speak so candidly about the negative aspects of the scene but determined to go out with the task fresh in mind, Askew offers a vision for Godskitchen in three weeks time.
"Perth like it hard and well, it's going to be really hard. That's what I can assure you. Get ready for a violation of mammoth proportions!"
Strap yourselves in Perth – this is going to get messy!
Godskitchen in 3D:
Friday 30 September, 9pm – 5am, Metro City
Tickets on sale now through www.ticketmaster.com.au (136 100), 78 Records, Mills Records, Live Clothing and Planet Video.
Read more of Glen's work through Teknoscape.
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