Richard Earnshaw - the crowd in Kiev has been great!

Legendary DJ, producer and musician Richard Earnshaw visited Kiev on 29th of June and managed to host two amazing parties - pool party in Olmeca Plage and a night gig in Famous Restaurant and Dancing Terrace.

Inspite of very tense schedule, Richard agreed to answer the questions of Kiev based house head DJ Sinatra.

Hi Rich! We are so happy to see you in Kiev! Is it your first time in Ukraine? How is your trip going by far?

It’s been a great trip. The parties have been great. The crowd has been great. I’ve played here before a few years ago so it’s nice to be back. I’m looking forward to being able to return and do it all over again!

What can you say about the pool party we had today?

Loved it. The crowd at pool parties are often more open to flexing the dynamics more so I enjoy being able to work some tracks into the set that I probably wouldn’t be able to do so at a pure dancefloor venue. 

What have you been doing lately?

It’s been a really busy year so far, writing and producing new material. The next few weeks will see the result of all the work with a number of releases across Duffnote, One51, Guess and KMG coming out. Planning some new product brands and working with some fantastic new artists and writers. Exciting times at HQ at the moment.

How is Earnshaw Jazz Band project going? Had any concerts this year?

I’m lucky enough to also be playing piano for Natasha Watts and her band so we recently had a gig at Jazz Café in London which was off the hook. I played there with my band a couple of years ago when I was doing the promotion for my “In Time” album. I have plans for a new album for next year so will no doubt assemble the band again for some dates as well as continuing playing with Natasha Watts. I love the buzz of playing live, I guess that’s why I like to play keys when I’m DJing. Brings it altogether for me.

How has the house music scene changed in the 15 past years in your opinion?

Music trends and technological advances constantly evolving. When I started writing/producing in the 90s, House Music was at a high point in popularity, and for me, a great time to be embarking on my career. The last 15 years has been unbelievable change in so many ways. Internet, technology and the way in which we consume product. Gone have the days of spending hours in record shops, now we just click on our preferred download store and buy everything we want so easily without having to go anywhere. This evolution has presented some tough times and every component part from the song writer to distribution has had to reconfigure itself to a very new and challenging industry.

What are the artists that influenced you most?

Originally I was classically trained (piano) but always had a love for soul, jazz and electronic music. I would play in a jazz quartet or a big band at school and then go home and study synthesis, learning about the writing/producing process. So the music I listened to was hugely diverse. Anything from Chopin to Herbie Hancock.... Vangelis to Masters At Work...DJ Shadow to Pet Shop Boys. I’m open to anything and everything.

Your tracks are featured in this and other year’s Hed Kandi Beach House collection. It is a long lasting and honorable cooperation. How is this participation organized? You send them promos or maybe even record exclusive tracks for this collection? That’s interesting.

We’ve been very lucky to have had such a long running connection with the brand. I think our first license to Hed Kandi was back in 2003. We always keep them in the loop with new material and in the case of the new Beach House 2014 compilation, we had a number of tracks that were not yet scheduled in for release, so we were able to pitch them as upfront tracks.

Thank you so much for your interview, we hope to see you in Kiev soon!