Wolfgang Gartner Interview: SXSW 2010

DJ Wolfgang Gartner (nee Joey Youngman) may be based out of Austin, TX but he is less of local favorite than a global powerhouse. Since 2003, he has traveled worldwide to DJ at clubs of different sizes. His influences are equally worldly as he draws from anything from popular DJs to classical music. Additionally, he's expressed wanting to bring an arena rock energy into his music and has even released a "Hot for Teacher" EP on his label, Kindergarten Records. Although Gartner has played many major international events, and is currently slotted for both Coachella and Lollapalooza, this will be his first SXSW appearance.

Can you describe your sound for me in your own words?

It's kind of a cross-breed of house, electro-house and, right now, kind of what I'm trying to do is work in, as weird as it sounds, kind of a classic rock vibe or energy but into the house format. The same attitude as arena rock or even hair rock stuff from early 70s and bringing it into house. It's just a lot of different influences of stuff from all over the place like Wolfgang's Fifth and Fire Power have classical influences, we take that stuff and incorporate it into house music and see what happens.

Are there any eras of classical music that you find particularly inspiring?

I don't really listen to classical music casually and I never really have but Wolfgang's Fifth was a beat track and I had the idea to sample Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and with Fire Power, I don't know where I got that idea but I wanted to take a Baroque type of idea and that was actually something that I wrote. I didn't sample it from anywhere. But, I think the fact that those two tracks came out relatively close to each other kind of gave people the idea that classical music was going to be a reoccurring theme for me. I don't think that necessarily is. There were a few projects where I was playing around and that's what happened.

Who would you say are some of your influences?

Other dance music producers. I go through Beatport, I go through blogs, I obviously DJ. I play gigs every weekend so I'm constantly searching for new music to play and while on the process of on that hunt for music I discover all kinds of new sounds and new kind of forms like that mashup of inspiration that drives me in the studio.

You actually live in Austin. How do the locals actually feel about the entire music industry descending upon their city for that one week in March?

I'm probably not the best person to ask about this because I don't really get out much in my own city. Part of the problem is that I have to play clubs every weekend in other cities, so at home another club or a bar is kind of the last place I want to be. So, I'm not too clued in to what other people think. I think it's obviously great. It brings a ton of people there, it's all for music, all for a good thing. It brings people to Austin to spend money and create the economy and stuff.

Are there any cities where you particularly love to DJ?

Every city really varies. I can say unequivocally that North America, America and Canada are, in my opinion, the best places to play in the world. I've played every continent on the planet and none of it compares to the crowds here and in Canada. If I had to pick a favorite, Canada would probably be my favorite. There's just something about the crowds up there that they get really into it. And it doesn't matter what city you go to: Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Calgary, Nova Scotia, it doesn't even matter. It's all just so good up there. North America, we really have it made up here and I realize it every time I travel overseas, how good I have it here at home.

Who would you say that you're most excited to see and play with at the festival?

I have to say that I don't know a single other person who's playing SXSW because I haven't managed to look at the lineup. So, I don't know anybody that's playing. All I know is that my management manages a bunch of other guys and I think a few of them are coming to play, too, so I'm kind of looking forward to meeting some of the other guys on the same roster as me that I've never met before. But aside from that, I have no clue who is coming to town.

How many SXSWs have you played?

I have never played SXSW and I think the only other time that I've been to SXSW, I think I went to a club one night when it was happening many years ago.

Do you have a survival pack ready for the whole week?

Since I live in Austin, if I need a supply, I'm probably just going to drive back to my house and go back. I'm probably not going to camp out downtown or anything like that. I'm sort of immune to the need for a survival pack.

How long have you been DJing?

I played in a club for the first time when I was sixteen at my hometown in California. My mom had to drive me to the gig. And I started doing it professionally at the end of 2003. So I guess I've been touring and making music for a living for about seven years now.

Having played to clubs and audiences of different sizes, do you have a preference?

I play big ones, I play small ones, I play anything from 300 person capacity to as big as a giant festival like Coachella or something like that and honestly I have more fun at the really small shows because you're close to the audience. You're not elevated on a big podium. You're not thirty feet out. You're just right there and the crowd is right there, you can vibe on them more and feel everything more. So, I just have more fun at the smaller shows. The bigger shows have their own draw in that you get the adrenaline boost of being up on that stage in front of however many thousand people and that's a cool feeling, too. But for my soul and for enjoying what I do, the smaller shows really do it for me.


Valerie Paschall is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.