Jamie Stevens is one of the founding members of the 2 time ARIA award winning electronic band - Infusion. Along with touring with Infusion he has been getting down and dirty behind the decks and in the studio with his solo work.  Liz Sheehan caught up with him after his Big Day Out tour….

Firstly to start with the important question – What is your favourite type of chocolate and why?
I'm actually not much of a chocolate lover to be honest. Though I have been rather obsessed with sucking milk through Tim Tams in the past.

How would you describe the style of music you play and produce?
For someone who is a great lover of words and poetry of sorts, it's kind of ironic that I've always had a problem describing sound in words. Without trying to sound like a twat, the music I seek out and fits into what I want to play is just music that hits me in the gut and provokes a reaction. For me, there is an awful lot of music that is relatively banal, has no heart or creativity. It means that the music I like to play out can vary a lot as my choices of music stem from more of an emotional/head-nodding reaction regardless of genre. If I had to look at simplistically, my taste ranges from pulsing techno beats, smooth and deep house to euphoric but dark synth-laden music. 

I like to play music that I think people may not have heard but feel they should and I spend a lot of time actively finding music which I think most other DJs might not have found. Probably for the simple fact that this is exactly what got me excited about underground club music when I started going to see DJs play. It was the surprise element, the hypnotic basis and the imagination of the sound that got me hooked and for me was never about hearing the same tunes week in, week out. I guess that I would like, in my own small way, to help that continue. The same could basically be said about the music I produce- trying to make something new and exciting each time I go into the studio. Well, that and my desire to bring Balkan folk back to it's Rotterdam Gabba roots.

Tell me – How did it come about that your track “Keep Her Space” featured on John Digweed’s album Transitions 4?
He emailed me asking if I had any new tracks for the mix so I sent him that track being the first release on Dieb Audio, my label. I also sent him a few other remixes of which 2 appeared as well. It's not a particularly exciting story as it's a standard process that happens when all compilations are being put together. Having said that, I was absolutely over the moon when he told me he wanted to include them! Particularly because he is one of only a handful of DJs that I hold in super high regard doing something great through their art of DJing.

It must have also been a great honour to be asked to remix for him as well as Booka Shade. Which tracks did you remix?
Yeh, just a little. Over the years, John Digweed and I have been in contact and we see each other around at different events all over the place so it wasn't totally out of the blue that he contacted me but it was a huge shock that he not only asked me to remix a tune for Bedrock but his own tune at that! The track was "Warung Beach". It was extremely exciting and, as you said, a big honour but at the same time completely nerve-wracking. I was absolutely rapt that he was into the mix.

I remixed Booka Shade's "Sweet Lies" and that came about through the Australian licensees (Bandroom Recordings) of their last album. Bandroom were looking for Australian remixes for the local release but after I did it, the Booka guys came here for their tour and they were given the remixes to see what they thought. They liked mine and Mic's remixes enough to take to DJ T and get an actual Get Physical release worldwide. Again, I was pretty shocked and couldn't wipe the smile off my face for quite some time!

Are you enjoying your residency at Roxanne Parlour in Melbourne?
There has been some time off over the past few months but looks like we'll be getting back into the sing of it in the next couple of weeks. I love playing there and it definitely helped me grow as a DJ, trying different things, experiment more with different tunes each week and helped my technique because I don't have any DJ equipment at home (donations graciously accepted).

Having been to Perth to play before, How does the crowd differ from Melbourne? (you have to say we’re better by the way)
In the past I have made no secret that Perth crowds are some of the most enthusiastic in Australia. I know it sounds like I'm saying this because I'm coming to play there but it's the truth. I only really DJ because I'm addicted to seeing people visibly enjoying and reacting to the music played and I love providing that. A good Perth crowd doesn't hold back so I'm in heaven. Obviously there are parties in Melbourne with this definitely happens, no doubt, but in my experience the ratio is a lot higher in Perth. I love it. And the friends I've made there are absolutely the bee's knees.

With all this great success with your productions, are there any plans to release a solo album?
Nope. My focus is now on the new Infusion album release and all it entails with touring, remixing etc. I honestly haven't even considered it. Hmmm... could be interesting to do but I definitely couldn't do it because of the huge amount of effort and focus needed. The closest I've gotten to that as far as creating a large body of work as opposed to a single remix is when I do a film soundtrack and right now, that's enough.

What are the big plans for Jamie Stevens this year?
As I say, getting out there with this new Infusion album over the next couple of months, working on remixing the entire thing which will be a challenge and extremely exciting. Hopefully a few more DJ gigs overseas, perhaps when we're over there with Infusion shows. Basically doing what you do when you release an album, really.

Had any embarrassing moments whilst on tour with Infusion?
No. Never. Nope.

Who is the one DJ/artist that you have met that you have turned into a giggling school girl over and why?
I can't say anyone in this field has prompted that kind of reaction. I mean, I have met some incredible artists that I've admired and stammered my way through drunken conversation but I've never battered my eyelids at them. Having said that, I did go a little nuts after an excellent DJ/producer said some rather lovely things about my work which I won't share because those things always come across as conceited but yes, that's about as close as I've gotten to giggling school girl antics.

The one artist that I definitely turned into a blubbering mess over was Martin Gore of Depeche Mode. I was in the line going into an awards night at Fabric and he was standing in front of me but I was so paralyzed that I couldn't say a word. Depeche Mode were THE band for me and when i was 16-18, I was deliriously obsessed. I couldn't even say hello to him. DJs don't provoke that kind of giddiness in me.

Lastly – do you have anything you want to say to the Perth techno crowd?
How good was Chris Liebing?!!

Catch Jamie Stevens on Friday February 20th at Bar Open