Howard Donald - Croatian Club Cruising - Interview in Zadar

It’s alright for some! Ian Pooley and Friends have spent the end of July and early August making their way along Croatia’s stunning Adriatic Coast and the islands for the Electronic Beats Clubtour. Kicking off the tour was the club Crossroads on the island of Krk. Fans were waiting for Ian at the unique indoor and outdoor location and at 3am Tonka joined his longtime friend to keep the crowds dancing and cheering until sunrise.

Enthusiastic locals (many of whom had travelled from nearby islands) and suntanned tourists mingled together and the party was agreed to be one of the best in a long time! Novalja, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Brac and Prosika were next in line. In Dubrovnik the legendary ruins of the Hotel Belvedere by the sea were an atmospheric location – they only open for special parties in the summer period, and the Electronic Beats party was just one of four exclusive parties to be held this year. In Zadar an extra special guest joined Ian Pooley to entertain the crowds: Howard Donald – better known to many as one member of reformed pop group Take That and now known to all who saw him in Zadar as one hell of a good DJ. We grabbed a few minutes with him before the event and talked music, touring and his passion for DJing.   

HOWARD DONALD INTERVIEWED ON LOCATION IN ZADAR

IS THIS YOUR FIRST TRIP TO CROATIA? HOW DO YOU LIKE IT? Yeah, first time ever. I’m really excited about coming. It’s always exciting to come to a place that you’ve never been to.

MOST PEOPLE KNOW YOU AS A VOCALIST. TODAY I AM MEETING YOU AS A DJ. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST? The category you would put it in would probably be a pop star (laughs). But it sounds a little stupid. I don’t know. I was DJing before - since ’87. That’s when I first started getting interested in club music. So I’m both really. The problem is that the DJing and production side of it, it’s really hard to get the time to do it as much as I want to, now that this has happened again. For the 10 years since we split up in 1996, I was DJing pretty much three times a week.

I HEARD THAT YOUR ROOTS ARE IN HIP HOP. IS THAT TRUE AND HOW DOES THAT INFLUENCE YOUR SETS?  Old school hip hop, yeah, not the new style, and more breaks and beats; and electro, what was then classed as electro and Chicago house. That’s what I was into. I think obviously the music that I play today is influenced from the early days but it’s all progressed. Without the early music it would never be what it is today.

SO HOW THEN WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC? More electro style. Sometimes it depends on the night. I can go a little bit tougher or keep it more funky electro.

AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TONIGHT? I don’t know. We’ll see... Depends on the crowd and how many people are there. The crowd can influence you and make you more daring I suppose. Sometimes they can make you play a better set, and encourage you to go in other directions than you first wanted it to.

YOU ARE ON THE ROAD ALL THE TIME. IS THE TRAVELLING STILL FUN OR MORE A NECESSARY HASSLE TO YOU? AND HOW DO YOU KEEP IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE? I don’t know how I do it (laughs). It is a necessary evil. I have two daughters in two different countries, I have the Take That thing going, I have DJing and production as well. I’ve just finished a house track production with two other guys in Germany, and you gotta find the time to gain interest in the track and also one day get it released. It’s a bit of a juggling act.

AS A DJ YOU SEE A LOT OF CLUBS WORLDWIDE. WHICH ONE IN PARTICULAR WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AND WHY? One of my favourite clubs that I have ever been to but I haven’t played at is Fabric in London. Maybe it was just a good night out. The feeling was good - I had consumed enough alcohol but not too much (laughs). Yeah, and the music was fantastic. In Germany I have been playing in a club called Creme21 in Heilbronn, which was a fantastic night. I mean you come to some clubs and there’s just people drinking at the bar but the people there are just really interested in the music.

ISN’T IT GENERALLY THE WAY THAT IN THE BIG CITIES PEOPLE TEND TO BE BORED OF THINGS AND IN THE SMALLER CITIES THEY FREAK OUT JUST BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING GOING ON? Yes, I mean I like smaller more intimate clubs better! I find playing in front of 500 people is better than playing in front of 1500 people. More packed and more close together and the DJ box kind of on the same level with the people. Sometimes you can play for a crowd and you kind of stand on the first floor. And when you’re looking down on them, there’s no feeling really - no connection.

T-MOBILE WILL SOON LAUNCH A NEW SERVICE IN GERMANY WHICH OFFERS A DISCOUNT ON FIVE NUMBERS THAT YOU CAN PUT ON YOUR ‘MY FAVES’ LIST. WHAT FIVE DJS WOULD YOU PUT ON YOUR LIST? Jochen Pasch, who is from Heilbronn - because he is a friend; Joey Negro - a great producer and DJ; Richard F; and Dave Spoon. And there’s an up-and-coming guy who is a resident at El Divino called Filthy Rich - an English guy. He gave me a CD with all of his remixes and I listened to them and they’re so good. And this guy is only in his twenties.

WHAT ARE THE THREE TRACKS THAT YOU WOULD DOWNLOAD ON YOUR WALKMAN PHONE THIS WEEK? 1: ‘The Trombone Track’ by U&K; 2: ‘Space’ by Micha Moor (Klass club remix); 3: ‘Pick Up’ by Beckers.