Nick Warren

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 August 2009 09:35 Written by Colleen Edwards Wednesday, 08 April 2009 09:38

Reeling In

It is 11.55 on a Thursday evening and Nick Warren is enjoying a night at home fielding interviews from Australia. The Bristol-based DJ is standing outside his country home, in the freezing cold, trailing mobile reception like a bloodhound.

“You're phoning me at my house actually. Normally I am in bed about three hours ago!” Warren laughs. “Tomorrow night I go to London and then I go over to Miami on Saturday. And I get over to Australia in a few weeks!” For a man who has become famous worldwide for being synonymous with house music, Warren is disarmingly charming and is willing to be a little bit cheeky when speaking about his fellow DJs. “I love touring, I really adore it,” Warren says of his upcoming sets across the world. “And if you ever speak to a DJ that moans about it, tell them that Nick Warren says you are a wanker! Nobody should complain about it. “We get to fly around the world and play music to people and make people dance. It's the best job in the world and no DJ should ever complain about what they do.”

Warren will be making his way to Brisbane over the Easter long weekend and by his calculations, the punters will need the extra day to recover.
“There is a different energy with the crowd depending on where you play. Brisbane is always a crazy town,” Warren laughs. “Brisbane is like a raver's paradise. So it is always lots of fun and they always want it slightly more banging than say, Melbourne. I always enjoy playing there.”
As part of the Bristol scene that has bred acts like Roni Size, Massive Attack and Tricky, Warren has made a name for himself playing at the world’s biggest clubs, including a residency at Liverpool's 'superclub' Cream.

But his spare time is spent playing the family man, looking after his 11-year-old daughter. He also takes part in more gentlemanly, and distinctly non-DJ-like, pursuits. I'm a keen fly fisherman; I love my fly fishing,” Warren enthuses. “I bought myself a river in England and I like to go fishing there occasionally.”

As well as showing off his wares as a DJ, Warren is also head A&R for house and breaks label Hope Recordings, a music producer and one half of electro-prog duo Way Out West with producer Jody Wisternoff. The pair have released three albums and have just put the finishing touches on their latest release. “The new Out West album, we finished that today so I am very excited. It's a slight change for us, but it's still very much of a club-based, electronica album. And 'Global Underground' has been out for a few months and that has been going well.”

'Global Underground' is 'GU35: Lima', the eighth in a series of club mixes that takes inspiration from cities around the world. His broad approach to his music and to his DJing demonstrates how he has been able to stay at the top of the game for so many years. “Music has meant everything to me from about the age of eight, so that is probably why I am so obsessive,” Warren explains. “I strive all the time to find music that one, I am really excited about and also that I think is really good. That is the kind of stuff I want to play. I don't want to play what's commercially acceptable this week, I don't want to play what's obvious - I want to play something the people can go have fun to, so that's what keeps me going as a DJ.
“It's my job not to play Deadmau5 or Deep Dish, but it is to find those exceptional records and share them and get people to dance like maniacs to stuff they have never heard before. It's a challenge but I love it.”

Nick Warren plays The Met Sunday April 12. 'GU35: Lima' is out now through Stomp Records.