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With a list of internationally acclaimed recording artists under his producer’s hat, the electrifying Sam La More’s no slouch on the recording front either. With bases out of Sydney, Los Angeles, and London, this Australian-born DJ has always been ahead of the groove, whether he’s getting the wind up American radio with his aggressive basslines, or just playing nasty, grimy tunes – Mr. La More is living la vida loco…

Is there a signature sound for Sam La More? Is there something that makes your work sound distinctive from a DJ playing in parties or clubs?
Well I basically try to get away with as much as I can. [Laughs] I do have a distinctive sound – I like quite aggressive electronic stuff, and I always have, from a very young age. And although the name of the sound has changed, it’s pretty much the same one song in different incarnations, which I play over and over again!

What are some of the titles that it’s been given?
Well … the first name I came across for it was “hardcore industrial techno”. But now it’s just called “electro”, and that’s just what kids know as being club music. It’s ironic, but it’s the same genre, basically – the same tempo, the same sound. Now it’s just done on laptops, and back then it was done using samples and clips and stuff. But, amazing, the same ideas, the same … everything! And I suppose we’ve been through a few different styles since then.

What about your own personal production work? Would you say there’s a “hard, aggressive electro sound” to that? Because I can’t really hear that on, say, What You Waiting For?
[Laughs] Really? Well, it was certainly in that vein, but, you know, I didn’t want to push it too hard, just because Americans are pretty conservative – this radio’s very conservative. I’d just done this track with The Potbelleez, and radio came back and said, “Oh, we’re not going to play it, because the synthesiser is too aggressive!” [Laughs] Or the bassline! You just think, “You guys are so dull! What the hell is wrong with an aggressive bassline when you’ve got these aggressive, distorted guitars all over the radio, but you can’t handle an aggressive, distorted bassline?” It’s double-standards, you know?

I find that really with the States – it’s completely twisted. You’re right – it’s got that whole conservative edge to it. But then, I’ve been looking at some of the posters for some of the DJ nights, and DJs on Myspace, and they’re so outrageous … like strip club posters.
Oh, look, let’s not start with Americans! [Laughs] I could really criticise them until the cows come home.

What about what you’ve done on this one-of-three Pacha discs? What were you going for? Did it sort of evolve as you were going on?
Look, it’s like a remix. It’s one of the greatest compliments someone can pay you – to say, “Hey, make a CD of your favourite tracks and we’ll put it out, and we’ll publicise it, and we’ll sell it, and help make you famous.” So, I just said, “Well, fuck! That’s just such a great opportunity for me to take the piss! I’m seriously going to put on my favourite kind of records – some really tough, nasty, grimy tunes that make the kids dance, but, nonetheless, just see how far we can push it.” So I picked up records … really twisted things, and tried to make them fit in a way that might shock the hell out of people. And hopefully it does. I’ve been playing [the] records in clubs and … [laughs] it’s pretty different, you know? It’s a lot different to the Gwen Stefani pop stuff I was doing a couple of years back.

What I think the world can be thankful to America for is for the dancing style there. There’s such a massive difference with how people dance in the States compared with, say, how people dance in the UK and Australia. Like, in the States you’ve got that whole “hip-thrust” thing going on, whereas in the UK and Australia it’s the “running man” sort of thing. I’m just imagining people going mad to some really hard electro. Is that how it’s looking for you on the dancefloors these days?
Where, in America?
Yeah.
Well, America is still so RNB-influenced, that their tempos are anywhere from eighty to a hundred-and-ten. We don’t even start in that range! We start at a hundred-and-twenty and go to a hundred-and-thirty-five! So that’s why we have a different dance style; you can’t run at a-hundred-and-ten BPM, you know? It’s half the speed. And you can’t sway your hips at a-hundred-and-thirty, you know? Basically, it’s the tempo that’s dictating their dance style, and it’s the RNB crowd that’s dictating the tempo in the States, you know? Because they can’t get their kind of groove working at a-hundred-and-twenty. As soon as they hit that tempo, it changes at different times. With a

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