Sauce

He’s DJ for Aussie hip-hop stalwarts Koolism, and now Danielsan is heading south with Macromantics for a show at Hobart’s Halo. He spoke to me about Koolism’s forthcoming fifth LP, why he thinks its their best work yet, and what he’d play to get Barbara Streisand on the dancefloor.

I hear you have some pretty outrageous rider requirements. What kind of things must DJ Danielsan have?
You heard that I had an outrageous rider? Well, jeez … I don’t think there’s anything outrageous. Let me see … if it’s outrageous, it’s just because it’s not as flamboyant as some people get. My personal rider? There might be … because I didn’t write it, there might be some sake; there might be peanut butter and bread! [Laughs] That’d be about it, man!

Aside from the Koolism shows, it’s said that you put on a pretty interesting DJ set. I’m going to give you a list of people, and you have to answer with what song you would play to get them on the dancefloor. Is that cool?
Ok, alright. Interesting …

Pete Rock?
What would I play to get Pete Rock on the dancefloor? Bum Bum by Sister Nancy.

Quest Love?
Quest Love? Melting Pot by Booker T & The MG’s.

Barbara Streisand?
Um … let me see … I might play … that’s a tricky one … I wouldn’t play anything, because I wouldn’t want her on the dancefloor! [Laughs]

So tell us a little bit about the new Koolism album. This is your fifth album, yeah?
Yeah, it is … if you look at actual things that we released, then it would be the fifth. Even though we shelved one – there was at least one that was pressed up and released that most people don’t know about, so it’s pretty much the fifth album.

So how long did you work on it?
Well, that’s not so easy to say too. It’ll be, like, nearly two years since the last one was released … then again, a lot of that time was sort of spent catching up on things … I guess we sort of just let it simmer for a while; ideas and things like that. And then the past few months, because, in between, we’ve had all sorts of regular life stuff going on – people getting married and those sorts of things – and then just, in the past few months, we’ve been getting together and recording and recording and recording, you know? Getting the ball rolling. The past two months has just been solid recording, and we’ve got about another month’s worth of recording and stuffing around, and by the end of August I should have the master in my hand. I’m not going to do a long lead time on the release. I just really want to rush it out there, as opposed to doing a long lead like we usually do. So I’m shooting to have it out here in October.

How do you think it compares to your previous work?
I don’t think any of our previous work compares to it at all. I can’t even compare it. If you just wanted to measure it on all-round production value and effort and grade of sonic quality and things like that – which I suppose is the only way you can really evaluate it – then it would far outweigh any of the things we’ve done before … It’s totally a matter of taste, but I personally think that, ideas-wise, and in terms of musicality and everything, that it’s our best work.

Danielsan plays with Macromantics at Hobart’s Halo on the 10th of August.

Listen To Audio Interview: