He’s here and he’s ready to storm the island up north this weekend at Club Asahi Miami. He’s got some tricks up his sleeves and more importantly, he’s ready to show Penang how to party. Of course, we’re talking about none other than DJ Henrix.
Miami-based DJ Henrix is a successful upcoming DJ with outrageous over the top talent who has been on a roll lately with his single “Let’s Rave”. The single has gained so much traction that it has been getting support from DJs far and wide including by Laidback Luke during his appearance on Pioneer DJ Sounds. Sure, everyone’s excited to see him play but first, we get to drill him a little bit during our exclusive interview with him late yesterday when he was in good ol’ Kuala Lumpur:
Hi Henrix! Good to be finally speaking to you. When did you get in? Have you seen much of Malaysia yet?
“I’m good, I’m enjoying Malaysia. This is my first time in Asia – I’ve been in Miami all along (laughs). I’m lovin’ Malaysia. Yesterday, we went to Batu Caves. That was amazing. With the monkeys just right next to you..I’ve never experienced that. They told me not to feed ’em (laughs). I’ve seen the Petronas Twin Towers but I haven’t been to the top – I really want to go to the top though. Hopefully next time!”
Tell us, what’s the party scene in Miami like? Is it really as crazy as they say?
“It’s insane! Miami is a party city – the clubs there are amazing. We’ve got LIV, Mansion, Space. Miami and Vegas, I think, has the biggest clubs. The New York scene is pretty good too but I think Miami has grown a lot. We have Ultra Music Festival as well – Ultra was amazing this year.”
What do you think is the biggest misconception about dance music? Are we still at a time where people automatically relate dance music to drugs?
“The drugs thing is a very big misconception. Personally, especially DJs and producers, I hardly know any DJs or producers who do drugs. I drink a lot but as far as drugs go..and if you talk to any DJs or producers, they’d be like nah. We can’t ignore that there are drugs in the scene but then again, there are drugs everywhere. Dance music is not all about drugs. In the beginning, years ago, yes..maybe. But there’s drugs in hip hop and stuff – they even sing/talk about it in their songs. These days, people come together at festivals to enjoy the music and you know, dance music is happy, it’s uplifting. It’s very sad that people think that dance music is all about drugs or say that it’s a drug-infused atmosphere.”
They say that electronic dance music (EDM) is getting a little out of control. By that, we mean getting airplay on radio, going mainstream, becoming saturated..what’s your take on that? Do you like/not like the term EDM?
“I think that a lot of DJs/producers don’t like the term EDM because it went mainstream and that’s the term the coined for mainstream..as the mainstream name. It’s really hard because..you want the music to go big, you want dance music to grow, because as a fan and an artiste you’re like..I want this to be big! But as soon as it gets big, people start hating on it. And then people are kinda like, oh it’s too mainstream now. I don’t understand it either sometimes. A lot of underground guys don’t get a lot of attention right now because of mainstream EDM. I don’t know – I just call it dance music. It’s dance music at the end of the day.”
What can Malaysians expect from your Club Asahi Miami gig in Penang this weekend?
“It’s going to be amazing so party hard. I have some music – I actually downloaded some new music yesterday. Exclusive stuff. I’m also making some new music. My sets, lately, I’ve been playing a lot of original stuff that aren’t out yet. I’ve been debuting those stuff in several places now but nobody has really heard it yet so nobody really know that it’s mine.”
Thank you, Henrix for speaking to us. Now go on and show Penang how to really party – Miami style!
Deets are as follows:
Date: 21st June 2013 (Friday)
Time: 8:30pm onwards
Venue: Soju Room, Georgetown Penang
* Passes to the event is by-invitation only. To obtain your passport to Miami, log on to their Facebook page.
