“So who else have you interviewed then?,” suspiciously enquires the bouncer at a popular Melbourne nightclub as I try and prove that I really do write for Melbourne street press "Inpress" and my name was meant to be on the door. “Dave Seaman? You’ve interviewed Dave Seaman?,” he interrupts me mid-list, his eyes lighting up at the mention of this particular name. “He’s one of my favourites. Dave loves Melbourne. He’s even bought an apartment here,” continues Mr Doorman, pointing in a vague direction no doubt to protect Seaman’s privacy from the likes of me.

This kind of reaction is not uncommon among Melbournian dance music fans when the subject of Dave Seaman is raised. The symbiotic relationship is evident: Seaman loves Melbourne and Melbourne loves Seaman, the packed venues no matter how often he tours lay testament to this. So what is it about Melbourne and Australia in general that this DJ of international repute is so crazy about? “I think you’ve got the best country in the world,” he enthusiastically replies. “The cost of living, quality of life, pace, people; everything I miss about England is there but done ten times better. Everyone is so responsive and warm. It’s one place that I’d like to settle down when I stop doing so much touring. In fact, I‘d be there now if it didn’t then take eight hours to get to another country every weekend. I’ve been there so many times that I’ve got a great rapport with the crowd and love coming back.”

Not a man to make empty statements, Seaman put his money where is mouth is a couple of years ago when his last Global Underground Compilation, ‘GU Melbourne’ was released. While his name in the industry is linked to production, magazine editorships, A & R and label management, it is his role as ‘Dave Seaman the DJ’ that has seen him become a household name to anyone with even a passing interest in dance music. The reputation that comes after three Global Underground and two Renaissance mix compilations and a prolific touring schedule ensured the flow-on effect that ‘Global Underground Melbourne’ had to the Australian producers featured can not be viewed lightly. “When Global Underground asked where I wanted to base the compilation, Melbourne was the obvious choice as it holds so much talent,” explains Seaman. “A lot of the Global Underground compilations are based in a certain city but have nothing really to do with the city other than having a night there. Whereas with ‘Melbourne GU’ I wanted to showcase a lot of Australian talent and there were about seven or eight tracks on there that were from Australia. Per capita I think Melbourne is the most talented city in the world.” I know a lot of the Melbourne guys quite well including Infusion, Highland, Phil K, Gab Oliver, Sean Quinn and Kasey Taylor. Anthony Pappa is a very good friend.”

As alluded to earlier, while a globetrotting DJ lifestyle with the occasional compilation is enough to keep many happy, Seaman’s workaholic nature ensures that other projects are a necessity. Although previous dalliances in the label world saw a long and successful relationship with Stress Records, time waits for no man and thus Therapy was born. Encompassing a DJ management agency and the record label Audiotherapy, Seaman explains why it was necessary to leave Stress. “Nick Gordon Brown and I left to start our own thing. It was a great label and I loved working there and learnt a lot while at the same time giving a lot people a lot of breaks, but we weren’t pulling the purse strings. It became a bit difficult as we wanted to take on projects and our backers weren’t as interested so it was time for us to move forward. We did really well out of Infusion’s "Legacy" and the Junkie XL mix on Audiotherapy. I’ve just finished my own first single that will be coming out on the label next year.”

And he changes hats once again with the same ease as you’d imagine Jesse James would have in drawing a gun. Any interviewer not able to keep up is left dead in the water and stumbling for words. So now I’m talking to ‘Dave Seaman the Producer’. Now when you think of him in this guise it’s almost always linked to Brothers in Rhythm, the highly fruitful production partnership formed with Steve Anderson in 1988. While Seaman is always the first to talk up others achievements, any production team who’s remix credits include M People, Sasha, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Seal, Sting, Placebo, Garbage, The Eurythmics, New Order, Blur and Pulp has to be doing something very right themselves. The fact that his next production does not include Anderson marks a turning point in Seaman’s development as a producer. “It will be released as ‘Dave Seaman’s Grouptherapy’. This project was meant to be a Brothers in Rhythm album but Anderson is very busy doing a lot of pop stuff at the moment with the likes of Holly Valance and Kylie. So we decided that rather than do a Brothers in Rhythm album that could take over a year, we’d continue working together when convenient but I’d work with others as well. And it will all be under the banner of Grouptherapy which captures the concept nicely, keeping in mind that our company is called Therapy and I’ll draft in different people to do different things. There are a couple more tracks that I’ve written and will be the two follow-ups, ensuring quite a lot of Grouptherapy product coming out in the next year.”

As the interview winds up, I realise that something is missing. Production and touring is all well and good, but this isn’t the same work-junkie I’ve heard so much about if a new compilation isn’t just around the corner as well. Spill Mr! “It will be called ‘Therapy Sessions’ and I’m just beginning to work on it at the moment,” he admits. “But it won’t be out until March. Phil K is actually going to mix one CD and I’ll do the other with possibility a third mixed by someone else depending on the cost for a three CD set.”

Seaman cannot hide his excitement about the upcoming Australian tour and far from being jaded he couldn’t be more happy with the current state of dance music. “I think it’s really gone a full circle,” he asserts. “The Balearic sound has come back meaning that anything goes. People became one-track minded, specialising in only one sound. These days I’ve got records from Kenny Dope and Slam in my box as people don’t want to hear the same kind of music every night. Currently there are good records in every genre which I think it’s very exciting and gives the scene a bit of spice again. Some producers and DJs are giving it the doom and gloom at the moment saying ‘it’s not as good as it used to be’. Well it’s probably because they’re not as good as they used to be.�