Joey Youngman, better known as Wolfgang Gartner, took to Reddit’s Ask Me Anything for the second time last night to answer some of his fans most pressing questions – everything from production tips, his lifestyle as a prominent DJ, his thoughts on Paris Hilton, what inspires him, and his feelings about the EDM craze and the Beatport Top 10 chart. We’ve selected some of the questions and answers that were the most interesting. Check them out below!
On his favorite track to produce
"my fav track to make? probably Anaconda, because it all just came to me really naturally and instantly, i never had to sit and think or take breaks, it was just a case of, the first noise i made was the right noise every time. sometimes that happens. studio magic."
On Paris Hilton claiming to be a Top 5 DJ
"i think it's pretty much in line with everything else going on in "EDM" right now."
On his decision to stay away from the party scene when he’s touring
"I don't understand how other DJ's can go out and party and drink and wake up the next morning, get on the plane and make it to the next gig and play a good set. I tried it for a bit, . . . it didn't work out so well. Traveling takes so much out of you already, there's no room for any more battering of your immune system!"
On the new big room house trend
"to me it's a joke. it's a lot of marketing and back scratching and publicly traded conglomerates buying festivals and music sites. . . . it all goes hand in hand."
On where he draws inspiration for his tracks
"rap. i pretty much just listen to rap and then translate that attitude into house music i guess. for recent tracks at least."
On the Beatport Top 10 chart
"I can't even listen to it anymore. Like, it will make me fear for the future of humanity if I listen to that top 10 these days."
On Avicii
"I think he took a big chance and did something nobody else was doing, and no matter what you think about the music you have to respect him for doing that. I personally think he is helping play a role in moving away from this generic big room stuff and I hope he continues on the path he's on."
On his dream collaboration, dead or alive
"I'd produce a track with Quincy Jones and resurrect Freddie Mercury for the lead vocals."
On how he makes his tracks sound so full
"compression, mixdown, mastering, it's a combination of all the factors, there aren't really specific tricks. i do use a lot of very low volume / subliminal hi-hat / percussive noises to fill up the treble space organically though. maybe that's a tip."
On the positives and negatives of being a DJ
"best - being able to make and play the music that i love and getting paid for it. worst - air travel, and everything related to air travel."
On his favorite breakfast cereal
"CHEERIOS. multigrain, chocolate, with strawberries, plain, muhfckin CHEEEEERIOS."
On what his music means to him
"It creates a certain emotion that only happens when I make music, so there could even be some kind of name for what that emotion is: it's like nostalgia and euphoria and sex drive all sort of coming together and once my neck starts jerking and i'm bouncing in my seat is when that emotion fully sets in. A lot of it is remembering parties I went to in the 90's and parties I've played in the 00's and 10's, and the nostalgia of being there again."
On why he shifted away from deep house
"with the old school house thing it was just a matter of it shrinking - the industry, the attendance at shows, record sales, people were getting old and growing out of it, and new young kids were listening to more commercial stuff like electro at the time. i wanted to make an impact and that meant having my music heard by a lot of people - it was never going to happen with that old house sound, i changed styles mainly because i wanted to play some kind of a role in music / music history, shaping its direction, and in order to do that I had to find where the broader audience was. Then I applied MY ideas and tastes to that niche of the market and eventually accomplished what i set out to accomplish"
On his favorite producer to collaborate with
"mau5 was my favorite i think because we worked in such a similar way / used so many similar tools already that it was very symbiotic and good for creativity."
On how he found his sound
"no tutorials, no books, just trial and error from 1993 to now, in a room with a bunch of gear. i took piano for 8 or 10 yrs when i was a little kid. music theory / all that."
On using CDJs
"every DJ is different. I am doing a lot of technical stuff when I mix. with the CDJ's (looping, sampling, etc) and with the mixer with certain effects. It's important (IMO) to have a good balance of doing live technical artistry and crowd interaction, not just one or the other."
His buddy deadmau5 makes an appearance
Check out the full AMA here.