I’ve known Kill! Club Music for many years now, and had the chance to see him live a few years back in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We’ve stayed in touch over the years and I am obsessed with his podcast titled Shattered Dreams. The podcast honestly gets better with every episode and I highly recommend checking it out.
If you like house, deep house, then Kill! Club Music is someone you need to pay attention to. I am listening to him right now… Dancing in my chair. Was excited to get the chance to interview him and it is my pleasure to introduce you to Kill! Club Music. This is going to be fun!
Where did the name come from?
Hey, first let me say I’m flattered to be interviewed… You and I have known each other for a minute and you normally interview much bigger names than me and I appreciate you taking interest in smaller artists and guys out here grinding as residents.
I created the Kill! Club identity at the end of 2015. Coming up with a good artist name is hard in this day and age when everyone is a DJ… I took the name from a Charlize Theron film called Dark Places… The movie was crap but I came out with a cool name. I had been ghost producing and playing progressive house for the past 4 years under the old identity and I wanted something a little darker and catchier as I went back to my roots in deep house.
I love your podcast. Every episode is better than the last. Where does all this music come from and how long does it take you to produce an episode?
Thanks for the love! I have about 3,500 subscribers on the Shattered Dreams podcast and average about 7,000 downloads an episode so I’m super happy with the success so far. Since my podcast is actually recorded live at a gig the length of time to decide what I am going to include varies but usually it’s a couple of weeks. In every live show I do I am trying to take you on a trip and tell you a story whether it’s lyrically, sonically, or melodically, and how far you let me take you on this trip is where I’m trying to push the boundaries. Where after you listen you do some research and check track lists and that sort of thing… Curating the music which I think is really important as that is what defines your sound… I do it in several ways: I get promos sent to me weekly from several labels…I keep an eye on what DJs that I like are playing out with 1001 Tracklist (which is a great resource) … I listen to a few podcasts of people I dig and then the obvious Beatport for what’s charting in deep house and indie dance.
You currently live in Cabo San Lucas. What is the nightlife like in Cabo?
Cabo San Lucas, as the saying goes, was built on two things… Fishing and drinking. So we are known as a party town. I tell people I live in a town where the circus is in town any night you want it to be. We have iconic tourist places like El Squid Roe, a couple of big Vegas style clubs, and of course Cabo Wabo Tequila is here. I mostly play on the beach or some of the smaller venues which fits my vibe far better.
Las Vegas has become an epicenter for electronic dance music. What are some of your favorite clubs in Sin City?
Vegas Baby… My friend Chris Garcia is the director of music for Drai’s Beachclub & Nightclub so I hang there a bunch… I always go to Rehab at least once when I’m in town (I know that’s not a club) and I have some friends that work at Hakkasan Nightclub Las Vegas.
Thoughts on Avicii retiring at such a young age?
I don’t know, retiring? I’m a little skeptical about it…
What headphones do you use?
I have been using Reloop RHP-20 for the past year and I can’t say enough good things about them… Sonically they sound great and they are built like a tank. I’m hard on equipment so it’s nice not to have to buy new earphones every three months.
From techno to house to trance and electro, there are so many different genres of electric dance music. What style do you consider your sound and how has that changed over the years?
One of the great things that I see now that we are on the back end of this EDM thing is that it brought a lot of new kids that have drilled deeper to find the types of music that they identify with which has led to the growth in almost all the genres of electronic music which is a great thing… I’m a deep house and indie dance guy now but in the past I produced and played progressive house because that was the only way you could make a living so the growth in the audience has been exciting.
There are a lot of big festivals out there from Electric Zoo to Ultra Music Festival. Do you prefer playing to big festival crowds or smaller clubs?
When I first got into this thing I had aspirations to be a big festival guy, but the reality of it is that to get to that level you have to be willing to go on the road for a relentless amount of time and after getting a small taste of that it was obvious that wasn’t really what I wanted so I’m for sure a smaller venue type of guy…
I love Armin van Burren. But Hardwell has been No. 1 for 2 years now. How serious do you take the DJ MAG Top 100?
I could take it less seriously but I don’t know how… That list is crap; those guys spend millions of dollars to be at the top of that list because it’s tied to the revenue that they can get for gigs.
What is the best concert you’ve been to?
Best festival or best show? I’ll give you both and you can decide
As far as festivals go, Ultra Music Festival will always do it for me. Eric Prydz was the best show I’ve seen.
Who is your favorite DJ?
Really hard because I don’t think of them as DJs per se, but as producers but I do love what Nora En Pure has been doing for the past year for sure.
Like I said, I love your podcast. What podcasts do you listen to?
Obviously I listen to Nora En Pure Purified, The Anjunadeep Edition by Anjunadeep is great. They have a different artist every week and most of them are also recorded live which I love.
I always listen to Above & Beyond Group Therapy.
Tell me a story.
I was at the gym and my towel had Cheetos dust on it…
There are so many big nightclubs out there. What are some rooms you hope to play before it’s said and done?
Like I said I’m not really a guy with big room aspirations anymore; my goals right now are to play The BPM Festival over in Playa del Carmen and the Amsterdam Dance Event.
Where do you find inspiration for a new track?
Lately I’ve been working on doing originals that are more reflective of where I live… I mean I live in a resort town with a place right on the water so I am really trying to capture that vibe right now.
You’ve been a good friend over the years. I have to be honest… I don’t know how we first met. But that’s okay. Keep making good music. Do you remember how we first met?
I think we got to know each other on the Twitter and then you and Sheryl came down to Cabo for a visit and we hung out… I believe ya’ll came to a gig, too.
We did! If you could only listen to 1 DJ for the rest of your life, who would you pick?
Oh, wow, that’s super difficult… Probably Above & Beyond. I guess just because they do so many genres so well.
What is your favorite restaurant in Cabo?
Whoa, these are tough questions… See, I’m a local so we don’t really eat on the reg where the tourists eat but I will split the difference and say my friend Maro’s Shrimp House.
Any DJ you haven’t seen that you are itching to see live?
I would really like to see some of these young kids coming up like Throttle, ZHU, Duke Dumont, Bontan, Theo Kottis… These type of guys that are great producers but also learning the craft of being a Live DJ. Trust me, these festivals ain’t going to last forever and I think the club is going to make a big return and you better not show up with some prerecorded set…
What’s next for Kill! Club?
We are just starting our season. I have a couple of new residencies coming online here next month… I am going to spend a big portion of next year in Europe primarily in Berlin and Amsterdam and try to broaden my perspective.
In all of the interviews I do, I always give the artist the last word. Go.
I appreciate you reaching out and I would just encourage anyone reading this to reach a little deeper into whatever genre you dig and just because something has a name brand on it doesn’t mean the name brand made it so always be looking out for artist that you can turn your circle on to…
Connect with Kill! Club Music:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/killclubmusic/
hearthis.at: https://hearthis.at/killclub/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KillClubMusic
