G-Sounds 09: David Garfit

future disco infused house sound and a deep darker house side…

David Garfit is a musical obsessive. He’s also one of the new wave of DJ’s and Producers making waves in his home city. Not bad considering that city is Leeds – a place with a rich rave and party heritage going back to the dawn of electronic music. Moved by his early love of Hip Hop, David cut his musical teeth cooking up underground hip hop beats, with impressive results.

David’s style explores a deep house sound that takes in lo-slung grooves, rolling percussion and plenty of late night warmth on labels like Nocturnal, SLiCK, Crossworld, Love Not Money, Agora Audio, Fontek and LS City records. The likes of Miguel Campbell, Darius Syrossian and Miguel Puente have all gotten behind said records and with his Debut Solo album due for release this year, he’s sure to make his presence felt in the underground house scene.

Producing such charming sounds it’s no wonder David is an equally well informed DJ, weaving his way through all things house, disco and everything in between when spinning around the country. So far he’s played with names like Joris Voorn, Matt Tolfrey, James Zabiela, Clockwork and more.
The coming months will see David’s profile continue to go from strength to strength with his monthly residence at Leeds hottest underground Night, Nest, and playing alongside DJs like ViVA’s Darius Syrossian and Dutch analogue hero Gerd.

After hearing David’s recent release “The Trouble With This“ on ‘Love Not Money’, Guerilla Sounds just had to land an interview with him and he kindly agree to mix G-Sounds 09

Interview

Firstly, tell us a bit about your musical background and how you first got into music and DJing?
Music has always been a massive part of my life. I started making music several years ago and back then I was really into hip hop. Its only in recent years that I have fallen in love with house music. I remember when I first got a computer and I wanted to start making music so I got a few programs and started making simple loops and putting ideas together. It was a trip to Ibiza several years ago when I knew I wanted to start making house music. I got myself some decks and DJing naturally followed. Some of my good friends started throwing parties around Leeds and I was lucky enough to be asked to DJ for them. This night went on to evolve into one of Leeds finest underground house nights (Nest) which I became resident for.

What were your very first musical influences?
My earliest musical influences came when I was very young. My mother was a real big music fan and she always had old records playing round the house. She was a big fan of Motown and disco music which I later went on to sample heavily and use as inspiration for my music.

Your G-Sounds mix seems to initially explore that future disco infused house sound as well as a deep darker house side of things. This is also something that can be noticed in your productions, sometimes being one or the other and in some cases seeing those two areas merged together. Would you agree and where did the influences come from for your choice in music and also style of productions?
Yeah that’s pretty much it. I’m not the kind of DJ who sticks to one style. I tried to explore different styles with this mix and hopefully it has worked nicely. As I mentioned before, disco has always been a massive influence for me and is a sound I adore, but recently I have looked to diversify a little. Ultimately I want to play music that makes you want to dance… simple!

Were these also the same influences that helped shape the big sound of “The Trouble With This”?
Not so much… this track was more of an experimental thing for me. It started with me just working on an old school drum break and I wanted to make something that sounded very distinctive. I wanted to take some elements of progressive and almost trance style music but work it into something slower and more dramatic.

Would you say that your ‘sound’ has always been like it is today or has there been some radical developments over time?
Yes there has definitely been some radical changes over time and I am sure it will continue to change as I develop as an artist over time. I think it is important to be open minded when it comes to music and leave the door open to all kinds of musical influence.

Your recent release on Love Not Money, “The Trouble With This” wasn’t only a good release for the original track, but also the varied and interesting remixes by Darius Syrossian, Bubba and Jonny Cade. How did their involvement come about and how did you feel when you first heard the remixes?
Well ‘Love Not Money’ is a really great label run by a good friend of mine. When Luke picked up on the original we got together to think about who we would like to remix the tracks. Darius is a good friend of mine and I really wanted him to do the remix. What I love about Darius’ productions is the fact he makes music strictly for the dance floor. I knew it was going to be good when Darius called me up after finishing the track and he was really excited about the outcome. Sure enough when I first heard it my head was bouncing like crazy.

What record are you rinsing out recently?
Tom Demac – Dirty Money…

What record labels really stand out for you and why?
I think it’s fair to say Crosstown is an amazing label and has been responsible for shaping the sound of the dancefloor all across the world. I am really happy for Luke and the work he has done with Love Not Money which I am sure will go on to be an amazing label. We recently held a ‘My Love is Underground’ party at Nest in Leeds and the music on this label is truly amazing. House music in its purest form

You have a couple of new releases coming soon on ‘Love Not Money’, what can you tell us about them?
As a follow up to my last EP I have a couple of tracks on the ‘Love Not Money’ compilations. One is a track called “Do4Me”, which is out on the Miami sampler which is a real summer track and another more raw underground track called “Destruction” which is due out in a few months on the ‘New Love’ compilation.

What else do you have planned for the near future?
I have lots of cool stuff coming up in the next few months, the biggest of which being my debut solo album due out on ‘Nocturnal Recordings’. I have also been working on a compilation EP with ‘Art Is A Consequence’ which I am really happy with. I have some really cool gigs coming up over the next couple of months with several festivals and gigs in Ibiza planned over the summer.

David Garfit’s Networks:
Facebook | RA | Soundcloud |