A storm brews

When did Ville Virtanen become Darude?
When I was in my first year at Turku Polytechnic, we had a party at my classmate’s apartment. We were eating, drinking and playing records and I guess I was feeling really happy as I played one of my favourite track, Rudeboys by Leila K, several times in a row.

My friends started calling me Rudeboy. And I started using that as a nickname online and as my artist name when I started making music. Later on it got shortened to da Rude, which was then put together by the graphic artist when the single cover for my first single, Sandstorm, was made. 

Coming to India — have you done your homework on music and trends brewing here?
Homework... No, I didn’t know there would be a quiz waiting for me! Jokes apart, I know of the strong musical traditions in India, Bollywood music and that there is a longstanding trance calling and a big upcoming EDM scene. I don’t know much about the instruments and musical scales that are used here, but I like the sounds and it would be interesting to put some of that in my own productions, too. 

Various artistes and DJs have been touring India. Have any of them mentioned anything about the country that has made you wanting to perform here?
I’ve been to India a couple of times earlier and between those visits and what I’ve heard from others, Indians seem to appreciate artistes and visiting international DJs and they’re very enthusiastic. 

People say Sandstorm is what defines Darude. How comfortable are you, being synonymous with just one of your tracks? Is there any other track that you think is underrated?
Sandstorm is the biggest thing that has  happened to me so far; it started my professional career and it’s because of that release, I became known. To a lot of people, it is what defines me. But I don’t see it that way. I’ve made a lot of other music, performed live for several years, and those sets never consisted of only Sandstorm.

But even in 2013 if people come to the club or event because of Sandstorm, that’s only a good thing; I’ll get to update them about the music I play and make now, which is not exactly the same I made in 2000. As for ‘underrated’ tracks, I suppose that depends on your/my meaning of the word. Comparing any of my music to Sandstorm is a little silly. Tracks such as Selfless and In The Darkness are perhaps a few, which people, who only know of Sandstorm, are yet to discover. 

Sandstorm has become a favourite track for various mashups. How do you react to remixes of your own mixes?
I don’t like mash-ups at all. The production quality and inventiveness, often, is not very good. I know there’s a huge new young mash-up generation that doesn’t know or care about rules or respect and I know I’ll be getting sh*t for even saying this out loud — I’ll be called a bitter old fart — but it should be understood that I’m not against creativity.

Whether bootlegs or mash-ups or originals or commissioned remixes, I’m against the free-for-all attitude of taking someone’s work and using it for your own benefit without permission. If you want to make a bootleg or live remix for your own use at your gigs, that’s fine by me, but if you proceed to upload it on SoundCloud or YouTube and promote it using my name, then it becomes a moral question to me. There have been several occasions when they never asked for my record company’s or my permission and when approached, I got something like “hey bro, were doin ya a favor bro, you should of be hapy wer’e promoting you’re tune bro” (typos and grammar mistakes intended). 

What do you prefer playing —  remixes or original productions?
Both; it doesn’t matter, whatever fits my taste and set. As a producer I always listen to the original mix; I’m interested where the piece of music came from, but I go through remixes as well. Sometimes I might play the original, sometimes remix depending on the event and mood. 

How do you think trance music has evolved over the years? What has been the biggest change?
Trance has been one of the dominating genres in the electronic scene for almost 20 years. But for a while now the scene has been in a state of change, and for the better. The standard of music being released right now is really impressive and trance is slowly returning to a more underground approach and the so-called EDM. The last few years have seen a flurry of new and young stars emerge who will dominate the scene for years to come. It’s refreshing to see the present evolution our scene is going through as the focus is finally coming back to the music as opposed to poll placing and DJ awards. 

Taking from that, are there any artistes that you personally want to work with?
Weirdness, Joonas Hahmo, K-System, HeavyWeight DJs, Maison & Dragen, Randy Boyer, Jonas Hornblad, Beltek. 

Do you think EDM is a bubble about to burst?
On the contrary, I think dance music has a long way to go. The recent global explosion in electronic music is amazing and I’m proud of what we have achieved. The entire world is finally taking note and everyone wants a piece of it, in some cases for the wrong reasons. But even so, what’s going on around the world is a youth movement like never before. One negative thing that I have noticed is the continued growth in artistes copying other artistes, which isn’t new and has been happening for years, but in order for electronic music to prosper we need to cull this blatant copycatting business. 

A lot of importance is given to being on the DJ Mag list. Have you ever made it to the top 100 and how important do you think it is, as an artiste, to be on that list?
I’ve been on that chart a couple of times, but I’m not really that interested in it anymore. There has been too much rigging over the years; also, it’s become more of a brilliant marketing campaign for DJ Mag itself. They of course have the right to do it, but it doesn’t really do much for me and apparently for many other DJs either. The sad part is that some promoters still blindly read that list as their holy book and won’t book anyone, say, outside of Top 40, which of course is ludicrous. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice to be on a chart like that, but it’s just not worth the campaigning and hustling. 

Darude will perform at DNA Networks’ Sound Awake fest. Head to Supernova Arena & Convention Centre, Yelahanka, 11am to 11pm, on August 4. For tickets log on to www.soundawakeindia.com or www.ticketgenie.in