Joel Fletcher gets everyone going loco.
In case you missed it, the prodigal son of Melbourne’s underground dance music, Joel Fletcher recently made his way to Kuala Lumpur for a one-night only gig at Zouk Club KL. Having released various tracks via labels including MinistryOfSound and Ones To Watch, the “Melbourne Bounce” superstar’s rise to the top has been a quick and well deserving one.
The 22-year-old DJ/producer who has come a long way since scoring his first club residency at the age of 16, released the triple platinum, chart topping record “Swing” featuring Savage. Apart from achieving triple platinum status, the track also won Joel a nomination for the 2014 ARIA’s “Song of the Year” and was aded to the airwaves of every mega radio network around Australia.
Definitely, someone to keep a look for, we sat down with Joel on Friday (24th April) night for a quick chat:
Hey Joel, welcome to Kuala Lumpur! This is your first time here yes?
Hey! Thank you and yes it is. I’m really excited to see what’s going to happen tonight. I’ve heard a lot of good things about KL and it’s a beautiful city.
Let’s talk a little about when you first started. You scored your first club residency at the age of 16, what was that like and how did it feel?
Yes, it was a pretty unreal experience. When I was 16, I was..well..I wasn’t this tall so people thought I was a little kid. But it was pretty crazy because I was 16, deejaying in a club, and I would get a pretty good reaction. It was surreal yeah, I was 16 and not many people have done that.
Was having to arrive at the club just 5 minutes before your set and leaving right after troublesome?
(laughs) Yeah, we were supposed to do that but I used to have friends who went to the club with me so I kinda stuck around every now and then. Don’t tell anyone though (laughs).
I won’t! 😉 What are you working on at the moment – collabs/originals?
Both. I just did a remix. One with FatMan Scoop and J-Trick and just a lot of singles as well.
Can we expect any to be released soon?
In May, I’m going to have the one with J-Track and FatMan Scoop released on Dim Mak. I’m not too sure of the date, but it’s in May.
You wrapped up 2014 with the bus tour, what did you enjoy most and least about it?
I guess just being on tour with friends. Being on tour can get kind of tiring and when you’re alone, it can get lonely so when you’re with your friends, it makes everything better. But the downside to it was that we did 46 shows so it was tiring, very tiring. But apart from that, it was really fun.
And what is it that you like most about performing in front of a massive crowd?
It gives me energy, it’s like a drug, you know what I mean? It gives me adrenaline and to see a crowd react positively to your music, it’s just out of this world. It’s such a good feeling so yeah, I love it.
I heard you’re a hip hop fan. If you could collaborate with one hip hop artiste, who would it be?
Yes! I’d love to work with a hip hop artiste but I guess it’s a hard thing because I’m not big enough yet. Erm…my dream collaboration would be with Dr. Dre.
You recently had a fan put peanut butter all over her face just by replying her message. Any other crazy things your fans have done?
(laughs) Yeah, I did. It was hilarious (laughs). I couldn’t believe it. I have a fan who is a rapper in Australia and a girl messaged him saying the same thing but it was nutella, so I showed him the message and he said I had to reply to her so I did and she did it. It was hilarious. But yeah, crazy things. Hmm…this one girl got a tattoo of me, Timmy, Tigerlily, and Will – all tattooed on her arm. I thought it was a bit weird but flattering at the same time (laughs).
What else is in the pipeline for you this 2015?
I want to start playing festivals internationally. I’m playing all the festivals back home so to start doing international ones would be great.
Last one, if you had to pick, would you rather immerse yourself in a bathtub of spiders or a bathtub of cockroaches?
I hate spiders. Spiders or cockroaches? (laughs). Hmm…cockroaches. Yeah, I hate spiders, they’re one of my worst fears so definitely cockroaches.
I would have expected spiders actually. People tend to fear roaches. Thanks so much for your time, Joel!
Nah, I hate spiders (laughs). Thank you, hope you enjoy the show tonight.
Big thanks to our friends at Zouk Club KL for arranging this interview for us.
Here’s “State Of Emergency” by Joel Fletcher. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/_2LJTII09F0
For more on Joel Fletcher, stalk him via these platforms: Website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
