Darius Syrossian Interview

Darius Syrossian is all about house and techno music. An exceptional DJ who has always been vocal about his craft, he has played at some of the finest clubs in the UK and Europe, and released on labels including VIVa Music, Monique Musique and Roots & Wings. Due to his relationship with legendary club, Sankeys, he will be taking part in their 20th birthday celebrations Down Under, with a set at The Greenwood Hotel in Sydney alongside fellow DJ, Yousef. To find out more about his history with the club, his passion for techno and what he’s got coming up, we had a quick chat with the man himself.

Hi Darius, how are you?
I’m great, thanks, just finally finished putting the final bits together to my new studio in my new home south of Manchester. It was a massive task as I use a lot of hardware but the feeling of satisfaction now that it is finished is great. Now I’m ready to hit Australia in the coming days.

You spent New Year’s doing not one but two shows in the UK; how is playing New Year’s at home? Did the night run smoothly?
Yes, both parties I did on New Year’s Eve were great and sold out shows. The first was with Matthias Tanzmann and the second in London at the Egg where I headlined. I’ve done New Year’s Eve in Europe, Canada and the UK and it’s the same everywhere, really.

So with the festive season over, you’re spending much of January away from home including a weekend in Australia for 20 years of Sankeys. What does the nightclub mean to you personally?
Yes, I start off in Dubai playing for Blue Marlin, then I head to Australia for shows in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney, and then head back to Europe for some shows, one of which is in Milan for Amnesia. Sankeys means so much to me; I used to go there as a clubber in the ‘90s and it really is a special place, both in Manchester and Ibiza. It was great to do the 20th anniversary album in the summer, the first disc being made purely of my own productions.

What can ticket-holders expect from the celebration of this milestone?
Unadulterated house & techno. This has been my passion and my life since my teens, and I give 110% to every show I do, and this will be no different.

Is it a strictly in-and-out visit to Oz or will you be able to do some exploring?
No I’m going to stay in Sydney until the Wednesday, spend some time with friends out there, also it’s the Asian Cup football and Australia are hosting it so I’ve got tickets for the semi final in Sydney on the Monday. Hopefully that will be the Australia vs Iran game.

What do you miss about home when playing abroad?
Well the UK has awesome energy wherever you play, but equally so do places like Italy or Serbia or Spain or South America. I love it all – I’ll play on Mars if anyone asks me!

Looking forward, what’s in the pipeline for you for 2015?
So much, a new project of mine, Our Rhythm! I can’t say much right now but keep your ears peeled, also my radio show starts up, Tribal Sessions is also back monthly in Manchester from March, and then in the summer I will be the main resident playing all 20 shows for Tribal Sessions at Sankeys Ibiza – we have some great artists booked to play. Plus I have a release coming out on DJ Sneak’s I’m A House Gangster label, Hector Couto’s Roush label, Sante’s Avotre label and loads more. Basically I’m a workaholic and that’s exactly how I like it.

You’ve been vocal recently about the notion that techno is “coming back”; if it does become saturated with bad tracks as a result, do you think this will be detrimental to high quality techno or could it even benefit from it?
[Laughs]  Yes, you mean the thread on my Facebook Artist page? I have always said this: from the 100% of people who go out to listen to music, I’d say there is about 30-40% of people who go along with whatever they are told is “cool” or the “in sound” and they will jump on the bandwagon of what they think they should like, and certain music press like to hype things up and then shoot things down – it creates news and stories for them to write about. We had minimal, garage, dubstep, breaks, deep house, but to me it all stems from house and techno. All these fads are just fads, but whatever the latest fad is, there are these people that jump on it and start trying to DJ it, produce it, and it saturates the market with not very good quality copies of the big tracks that are out. It’s just the way it is. But I can already see everyone shouting techno is back, but it never really went anywhere to me. Techno has always been relevant.

What were the best techno tracks to come out in 2014, in your opinion?
Ben Klock remix of Josh Wink, ‘Are You There’ is a belter, also, Recondite ‘Caldera’ on Scuba’s Hotflush label, and Skudge remix of ‘Trus’Me’ on Prime Numbers is ac. To be honest the list could go on and on. There was some great music coming out on labels such as Drumcode, and all the good labels, but if you dig hard enough there were some awesome releases on some very small independent labels, not just European but from the original home of techno in Detroit. Robert Hood as a DJ had a great year and it’s good to see him back on top of his game.

What were your favourite shows to play last year?
Ahhh, there were so many. The festivals I did for Global Gathering and Mint Festival were just amazing, but I did a few special shows in Italy, another one I did in Berlin at Watergate back in March was fantastic and one I won’t forget, but so many at Sankeys in Ibiza and also in Manchester. So many good nights at Sankeys, I can’t even begin to think of just one.

Besides music, what other passions or projects do you have?
I absolutely love cooking and cook quite often, any excuse to cook for friends. One bad thing about the job I do is that I’m always travelling on weekends so I don’t get to watch many football matches, which I love. And, this sounds cliché, but painting. I actually have a degree in illustration and have sold quite a few paintings. If I wasn’t DJing or producing I’d have followed that as a career, but music is my main passion.

Thanks, Darius!

Catch Darius Syrossian on his Australian tour

Friday 23rd January – No Tomorrow, Villa, Perth
Saturday 24th January – Darkbeat, Roxanne Parlour, Melbourne
Sunday 25th January – ‘T1000 presents Sankeys, Greenwood Hotel, Sydney