For those of you that are yet to experience an intimate dance-floor with Danny behind the decks, you can’t fully comprehend the following that he has attracted. He is winning crowds over on a weekly basis and his current Global Underground Promotional Tour speaks for itself. The tour includes over 34 gigs in July and August alone, mostly through the USA and Europe, with an Australasian tour set for September. He plays at all types of events, from the massive festivals to the major clubs, to boat parties and smaller intimate venues all around the world.

Which of these does he enjoy the most? “It’s the small ones where you have the most crazy times, like Bed at the Miami Winter Music Conference, which had three or four hundred people and I was really in the thick of it. The vibe was bouncing off the crowd and it was just amazing.

Festivals are good to break things up but it’s a lot different as you don’t have the same connection with the crowd. And sometimes you think ‘Oh my god am I putting them to sleep, and you lose your confidence’. Some of the big clubs are good because you still get that connection. But I like to feel and smell the crowd. I did a really small gig in Atlanta [at The Crescent Room on July 10] on Wednesday or Thursday which held about 300 people. It was great because I was on the same level as the crowd and I could talk to people over the decks. It can be sometimes distracting when people are handing you things but it’s all about the connection with the crowd.”

While John Creamer (who was in Danny’s hotel room at the time of interview, causing trouble) proceeded to throw things at Danny… I wanted to find out more about Danny’s firm relationship with the US scene. In particular, as he is currently finishing his North American Tour (consisting of 20 events in only 30 days), I asked him how it had been going so far…

“I just did a 12 hour set in Montreal, which was like a new experience and I played a lot more techno. It gave me a chance to get some more interesting stuff out. The funny thing was I didn’t know it was a 12 hour set until I saw the flyer!!! But the last time I was there I told them I’d like to do a 20 hour set. The 12 hours worked out alright, I just wasn’t fully prepared.”

...and the toll taken by such an intensive tour. “The touring can take its toll unless there are some rest periods, and I have been lucky over the last few days... Late flights can really help and I didn’t really get tired at all last weekend where I did 4 gigs in a row.”

With the recent shake-up of the electronic music industry all over the world I asked Danny about his thoughts on the rapidly growing and potentially more volatile US club scene…
“ Alot of places in the US have a really healthy scene, but the industry has had to change. People are still going out but DJs have had to drop fees, and clubs have had to keep door prices low to keep the crowds coming. The DJs that are going to survive have to work a bit harder…. Other industries have also been really kicking. RnB is shit-hot right now, and rock, which saw a fairly boring period is starting to provide some amazing music as well. Dance really needs to come up with some new sounding stuff to stay in it.”

24/7
24/7 mixed by Danny Howells

With the feeling and expression coming from Danny, it was easy to tell that the recently completed 24/7 Global Underground compilation was more than just a few tracks mixed together in his usual style. 24/7 pushes the boundaries of the ‘compilation’ and really sets a new benchmark. After listening to it (over and over) you will see that both of the CDs, ‘Day’ and ‘Night’, cover a wide variety of sounds ranging from refreshing, relaxed and mellow to mood lifting and dance floor moving. In basic terms, it displays the life in music of someone who is drawn to it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What are Danny’s thoughts now that the compilation is in stores around the world: “Everyone made an extra effort to make things look and feel good with this release... we spent 3 months taking cameras to gigs to get some nice images for the CD and I spent a lot of time selecting the tracks. It was a great opportunity for me to create something that had much more feeling to it and was not already available in the market. ”

The Miami Winter Music Conference (WMC) was a huge influence on the 24/7 compilation. As Danny went on to explain... “I was fully aware I was doing the album months before the Winter Music Conference and I spent many months thinking about and planning the tracks I could use. So I was always listening to what was going on. A couple of the WMC gigs were totally inspirational... The night [a ‘MADE’ party] at Bed was amazing where everything gelled perfectly. The terrace at Space was phenomenal, as well as the strange after party I played at where Richie Hawtin was DJing and which also had a great vibe... It was Bed that I will never forget.”

Those that were at the WMC would have heard at least one or two stories of P Diddy’s antics. Whilst Danny was playing at Space by the pool, P Diddy turned up with Deep Dish... “we talked, danced and he left… it was a spontaneous thing and a totally good laugh. Some people were bitching about it saying he should stick to what he knows, which is the wrong way to go about it, as he is bringing more listeners [to dance music] and that can only be helpful.

“It’s an interesting time right now, and things have changed a lot. But people should be trying to think more about compilations and putting more feeling into it... being a little more self indulgent in the choice of music and playing some different stuff. ”

The DJ Doll...

Recently (you can read more about it in the news here) it was announced that some figurine manufacturers would kick off a ‘DJ Doll’ series with the first 7inch Vinyl figure of Danny. So I had to ask what his thoughts were on the subject… “It is a pretty funny thing, I thought it was a joke at first... and then found out it was serious... and it is a once in a lifetime thing, so it will be interesting to see the results. But I’m sure someone somewhere will be sticking pins in it!”

Danny will be playing a 6 hour set at Turnmills in London on Thursday, August 7 before heading off to Europe and a string of dates in Greece. He will then be on his way to Australia (and Asia). On commenting about his forthcoming October tour of Australia, Danny said… “ I always seem to get sun burnt on the first day and end up looking like a lobster. I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully this time I will be able to do some longer sets in some smaller clubs. I really enjoyed Two Tribes last time, but because of the way that big events are setup you just don’t get that same vibe.”

For more information on Global Underground’s latest series, 24/7, you can read the review on residentadvisor here. On a final note, Lee Burridge has been confirmed to be taking control of the second release in the 24/7 series, which is definitely something to be excited about.