This week, France’s Norman Doray goes west, at least figuratively speaking, with the release of his new Strictly Rhythm single ”Kalifornia."
Hi Norman, thanks for talking to us. So how have your gigs in Ibiza been this year?
It has been the biggest year so far for me. This season I started by playing for Erick Morillo at Pacha for the first time. The vibe was insane in June and I really liked it. I could play more house tracks, I could play loads of golden, old house tracks which I always love to play. Then I played with the Swedes, who are obviously the biggest on the island this year, and that was amazing too. But the best thing ever was discovering Ushuaia. I have played there before, but this time it was another vibe, it was just on another level. To be honest, I love Pacha more than ever, but Ushuaia was even better than that. It had 10,000 people there, all outside and everyone is just crazy about the music. The stage is amazing, the dancers, everything is just so cool. So it’s definitely been the biggest this year and I’ve even still got two shows to do. Next week I will be with the Swedes again in Pacha, then I’ve got the closing with David Guetta, which I think will be amazing.
You also supported Moby this summer, what was that like?
It was a bit strange, to be honest. I played with him in Mykonos and also in Ushuaia. I really like him, I’m a big fan of Moby and have all his albums, but in set it was quite different. He plays really hard, full-on techno so I was a little bit shocked at this, but obviously the people of course loved it.
Can you tell us a little about your forthcoming single on Strictly Rhythm?
Of course. Well, it’s called “Kalifornia” and man, it was hard to release this single. Basically I did this one and a half years ago. I tested the track at WMC 2010 and the reaction was amazing. On the net now you can find two free videos with around 30,000 views each, just of the single, which was crazy. So I wanted to put it out straight out after the conference in 2010. But we had problems and certain issues with the sample. So it has taken me around a year and a half to finally have the final product. It’s an honor for me to release it on Strictly Rhythm. I have all the vinyl from the last ten years, so when they said, “Yeah we love the track and we want to release it,” I was like, “Aah, yeah, for sure it’s my dream to do that, so let’s do it!”
It’s such a classic label, isn’t it?
Yeah it’s a classic label and to be honest I wanted to come back with a more of a classic track as well. I love everything from house to progressive, and nowadays there’s a lot of trance vibe-ish tracks, a lot of chords and everything. I’m doing that as well, you know, but I wanted to do something different as a single, just a little bit. And for this label, Strictly Rhythm, it was really important for me to come back with more of a classic, disco feel. Like the old Kid Crème and Junior Jack guys - they are my example!
Then you have a compilation for Strictly too. What did you set out to do with that?
So at the same time as the single, they asked me to do the compilation. They said, “Why don’t you do the single for the compilation?” so everything came together. When they asked me to do it, they said, “It would be a Strictly Rhythm Ibiza compilation, so what do you want to do?” I said it would be fun to find the biggest tunes in Ibiza this summer and to mix them with old classics from the strictly catalogue. So what I’ve done is two CDs called “Day” and “Night.” “Day” has more classic Strictly tracks with a disco vibe which you can listen to in the car, in your house or around the pool, etc., and the second CD, “Night,” which is more club oriented, is stronger with a lot of big tracks from this summer in Ibiza, like the new Dirty South single and things like this.
To be honest with you, I am so excited, it’s the most exciting thing for me. I have done a lot of good gigs this summer, but all of summer I’ve had this tour in my mind. I’m just so excited, I want to get out there and play. Its completely different from what I’ve done, it’s a new big tour with big clubs and key clubs every time so it’s really important for me. Plus the US crowd is so crazy. I’m so, so excited!
That seems to be something that all the DJs are saying. Everyone is really excited by the scene over there at the moment. How have you found your gigs over that and what is it that makes them so good?
It’s just at another level. A lot of people are just discovering house music and they are crazy for it. Every single track you play, whether it’s with chords, voices, or with something, they are shouting, hands in the air and you can see that their expectations are high. A lot of people are waiting for you, waiting for your gigs. it’s something that disappeared a bit in Europe I think.
This year you have had so many gigs, how do you approach your studio work when you have so many gigs all over the world?
It’s something completely new for me, because I used to have a lot of time to be in the studio and work. But yes, it’s harder now as I spend all my time on the road, but I think it’s a different way to do it. Before, I used to spend every day in the studio, but now I’ll just book one month only for the studio, and I work more then ever to finish everything to go back on the road with more tracks. This is what I’ve done during May and June. I’ve just been locked in the studio doing remixes and singles, then it was really nice testing playing them all out in the summer tour, so it’s perfect.
Woah, yeah! Amazing, man! When I did the remix I wanted to do something different but still keep the vibe from the original, because it’s a really big track and I love it. So I was testing it and the direction was cool, and one day I got a call from the Swedish House Mafia and they said we really love the remix, so we did a bootleg with it with a special voice like the one from Fragma’s “I Need a Miracle” vocal. Since that day I have been playing this bootleg, and it’s buzzing everywhere. I played Creamfields two days ago and the whole tent was hands in the air and singing… It was wicked!
Amazing! Finally, I’ve heard that you met a fan with a Norman Doray tattoo. That must have been crazy?
Woah… yeah, man, that was amazing. I was in Ibiza and I saw this guy from Argentina that said “Ooh, I really love your stuff and your tracks and I want to have a tattoo for you.” I said “You’re joking,” to which he replied, “No, I’ve already got Axwell, Dirty South, Sebastian Ingrosso, and Steve Angello tattoos, and now I want yours too.”
Was it a tattoo of your logo or of your face?
Yeah, the logo, but he said, “Can you promise me that you won’t change the logo? Because then I’m stuck.” I said, “Well, if you want to, do it, and I won’t change it too much!”
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