Tiësto Q&A: AIDS Awareness, David Guetta Vs. EDM & Loving Sigur Ros

Continuing to contribute to the fight against AIDS, world-famous DJ Tiësto has partnered with the RED organization to release a new compilation album, DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES, which hit shelves Tuesday, Nov. 27.

The album, which includes selections by U2 alongside EDM stalwarts like Calvin Harris, Diplo and Avicii, will be followed by a global YouTube livestream from Melbourne's Stereosonic Festival over World AIDS Day weekend (Dec. 1-2), featuring performances by the artists on the compilation.

A longtime AIDS-awareness advocate and perhaps the world's best-known DJ, Spinner RPM spoke with Tiësto about his partnership with RED, Obama's reelection, the distinction between David Guetta's pop-minded dance productions and EDM, and much more.

You've been involved with HIV and AIDS awareness for a while now. How did that start?

I got involved in 2003, 2004, with a company called Dance4Life out of Holland. I wouldn't say they're similar because RED is quite bigger -- it was more like we, also through dance music, tried to get people more involved, to get the generation and schools involved, to help in Africa and stuff. So that's how it started.

What changed for you? Why did want to get the dance community contribute to these causes?

The main reason I got involved is because I get almost everything I wanted in my life. I feel it's time to give back, and it gives me fulfillment that I can, through my music and my community, get everybody involved.

You're playing an event in Melbourne, the World AIDS Day event. How do you feel about that? How long are you playing?

It's going to be a live stream that day from Melbourne, and it's the biggest festival in Australia. We will also live stream Calvin Harris and Avicii and a lot of other DJs. The plan is to get all the other DJs more and more involved in the RED project. We have the streaming and then we have the compilation of all the artists that collaborated that day. It's going to be for sale and the charity goes to RED.

Did you pay attention to the U.S. election?

Yeah, yeah of course. I'm not from America, so I can't vote, but I think the election is very important for the whole world, since America has such a big impact. Of course, everybody paid a lot of attention to what is going to happen, and I think everybody is really happy Obama won.



Going back to the beginning of your career, is there a particularly memorable DJ set you saw or an experience you had that made you want to be a DJ?

I saw a DJ from Germany called Sven Väth. I saw him in the club, he played for six hours and I was just just totally intrigued, because everything he played I'd never heard before and everything he did I'd never seen before. I was so blown away by what he did. And then I started getting into it and became a member of the DMC club, the disco mix club, and I really started to get interested in DJing and meanwhile also producing. That was definitely the moment in time that I was like "This is really awesome to do."

Being familiar and being a part of the new beat scene for so long, how did you feel when you first heard this American term EDM?

The name EDM is pretty new, I think, right?

Right.

Electronic dance music, that's the name. I'm glad we finally found a short name to explain what it's about. It's interesting, it's really nice, and its name comes from America, as well. [America] is where dance music started, in the '80s. Nobody knows that, but then it came to Europe, and now it's back here and you created a new name for it, so, it's great. I love the word EDM.

Do you think the dance scene is more united now that there's a description for the genre? Do you like the way things are going?

I haven't toured much this year in the U.S., to be honest. I don't really know, but what I've seen so far in big festivals like Electric Daisy, I see that people are very united and you can put Skrillex and Afrojack in one room, and people will go crazy on all of those, you know?

Totally.

I think that's the cool thing about the scene in America. It's very open-minded. It's very nice to play for because whatever you play, they suck it in. It's really nice to do.

There's a lot of hip-hop influence, especially in David Guetta and some of these guys' music. What do you think about hip-hop's role in EDM? Is that something you're into?

I think it's a different world. That's not really EDM. I think David Guetta opened a lot of doors for the EDM world but the music he's releasing in general is not really EDM. It's more pop music. It's great for what it is, but I think EDM is more like what Calvin Harris does and Afrojack. It's more underground and not necessarily on the radio. I think the difference is, if it's a track that's born on the dance floor or at a festival, that to me is EDM. If it gets born on the radio first, and the video, to me it's just pop music. I have respect for it, but it's a different world.

But Calvin Harris and Afrojack work with rappers a lot. Is that something that you're into?

You know what, I tried it once with a rapper and it sounded cool, but it's just not my thing. I think it would be different to work with a guy like Kanye West or Jay-Z, those guys are so phenomenal, but just to work with a rapper, I don't think is really my thing. I really like songs, like true songs. Like indie songs.

Can you tell us a bit about what you're working on as far as your own production?

Yeah, I'm just working on a lot of new stuff. I'm actually experimenting a lot with new sounds, so it's basically a bit of everything. I just see what's coming down my path and try to create great new tracks for my DJ sets. That's basically it.

Is there a new sound you're inspired by that you're looking forward to playing out or producing?

Well, I actually really like the new deep house generation sound. I discovered it this summer in Ibiza and I really like it. It's very soft, so I'm not sure if I can really incorporate it in my DJ sets because people are expecting me to play full-energy and I find it hard, but I really like to listen to it. I really enjoy it and I think I would enjoy producing that kind of stuff as well, so it might just make a little sideway scene and try to do some deep house. It's really nice music. It's very sexy, warm.

That's cool. Who is your favorite all-time artist?

My favorite all-time artist ... I would say, I think that must be Sigur Rós, I love that band. It's like going to the stars for me. When I put the music from Jónsi or Sigur Rós on, it's so relaxing, it's warm and it never gets boring to listen to, you always hear new things. Yeah, that must be my favorite band.

That's awesome.

Was that a trick question? [laughs]

No, I mean that's the best answer. They're a great band.

Tiësto's DANCE (RED), SAVE LIVES is available on iTunes now. Visit www.joinred.com for more info on the album, and watch the livestream from Melbourne's Stereosonic Festival here.