Get to know: Doorly

As an artist who doesn’t take himself too seriously in the DJ booth but maintains a clear-cut approach in the studio, Doorly is one of the most loved selectors in the UK house music scene and more recently, the evolving soundscape of the U.S. With roots stemming from the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield, Doorly’s introduction to dance music was an organic process.

Observing the lack of electronic-fuelled nights on offer, the then-burgeoning DJ started his own event series, booking the likes of Armand Van Helden, Annie Mac, Fatboy Slim and eventually, Pete Tong - no mean feat for a town lacking a strong dance music environment - all while crafting his own versatile sound of bass, house and disco. After catching the attention Tong himself, Doorly earned his big break via a Live BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix and since then, Doorly’s sonic career mushroomed with a heavy touring schedule and a plethora of releases on Cajual, Dirtybird, Moonharbour, Toolroom and lots more over the last decade.

Taking the plunge further afield, Doorly relocated to L.A in 2012, subsequently boosting his profile on American soil with gigs covering secret warehouses in L.A to disco-infused rooftop sets at SXSW.

Now based in UK and Ibiza, the Reptile Dysfunction boss is in the midst of building a studio to primarily focus on a strong body of releases for his own imprint. Showing no signs of slowing down with stints at Pacha, Pikes Hotel and Ibiza Rocks amongst others, Doorly returns to Egg LDN accompanied by ‘2 old pals’ 2manydjs on Friday 23rd March. We caught up with him ahead of the show to find out about upcoming projects over the year and to delve into the culture shock of L.A and more…

What was the rave scene like in Huddersfield when your first started running parties?

There was no scene as such in Huddersfield when I arrived there to go to uni. There had been before with the likes of ‘Hard Times’ etc. but there was only a couple of small places that would play decent music so that's why it was so important to me to create a scene and get things moving.

Is there a particular record you associate with the early days of partying there?

Our end of the night anthem for our parties was Justice Vs Simian - We Are Your Friends, a sign of the times and what was happening musically around that time and that track used to really sum up the vibe of our parties at that moment. 

You’ve remixed and reworked quite a varied amount of tracks from The Prodigy to Dizzee Rascal, what’s your approach to remixing in the studio?

I've done way too many remixes in my career when I should definitely have been spending more time making my own original stuff but I’ve toured so hard the last 20 years as a DJ that it’s often easier to do a remix than an original whilst working on a laptop on a plane.  But it’s been a really nice gentle way to improve my production skills using other people’s extremely well-made vocals and musical ideas to put my spin on them.

Every remix I attack in a different way depending on the track - I think I have the musical equivalent of ADHD. I can’t stay still on one sound for too long or I lose interest, it’s a blessing and a curse and I'm a man that loves a theme so if I hear something, I think I can transform the track into a fun new realm then I'm all over it.

I'm still trying to discipline myself not to say yes to every remix and actually focus on making more of my own stuff that other people can remix.  

From Huddersfield to Los Angeles, how did you manage such a big change in culture and location back in 2012 as your career was beginning to take off?

Ha yeah, that was a culture shock for sure, a small-town boy in Hollywood! Luckily I have a really wicked group of mates in L.A that eased me into it gently whilst laughing at me getting over excited about silly things like going to an afterparty and everyone was drinking out of red cups so I think I'm in a scene from American pie!  

You’ve been known to scratch with a shoe in the past, what else have you used to scratch on CDJ’s in your own unique way?

Haha oh god yeah my old party trick, this will haunt me until the end of time! I love a bit of turntablism in a set and when the vibe is right and the crowd is in the palm of your hand, it’s fun to throw in a wildcard for a giggle.

Sometimes it gets a bit messy, it’s not something I'd do on like a Boiler Room or whatever because it’s obviously just a load of nonsense. It’s basically me jamming live and having a bit of fun interacting with the crowd but people always record and post it when doing it, so I get to certain gigs now and people are like ‘Scratch with your face!’. People hand me their flip flops, I use their hands etc. and it’s all just a laugh for the right time and place. This is always at the more intimate gigs where the crowd is right on top of you, it’s not something that you want to be seeing - someone DJing with his shoe at a festival haha when you can’t see what’s going on.  

Tell us what’s in store for you over the next few months?

I've just moved into my new villa in Ibiza where I'm building my dream studio so that's exciting. We have some ridiculously good music coming on my label Reptile Dysfunction and I’ve just somehow managed to re-license a stone cold paradise garage classic and assemble the most amazing team of remixers for a vinyl release in June.

Also, I'm working very closely with Dolby on their Atmos Sound System which allows DJ's to produce and perform in surround sound there will be some very big developments with that in the next couple of months. And also this summer, Reptile Dysfunction will launch its first festival and you will hear more about that very soon!

I'm over the moon to have helped put together this show in London at Egg LDN with my very good friends David and Steph Dewaele (2ManyDJs). These guys inspired me to think outside of the box musically and their disregard for genre boundaries and mixing the impossible literally changed my life. It most definitely shaped who I am today as an artist. I'm lucky enough to have toured the world with them, they even came to play in my hometown of Huddersfield once for a few hundred people, which is mental now that I look back. I've learned so much from them as producers, DJ’s and just being wonderful human beings and they continue to push the envelope all the time.

I thought ahead of the show I'd pick a few of my favourite things about 2manydjs to share with you:

Tame Impala (Soulwax Remix) -

My god that Tame Impala remix they did! Quite possibly my favourite record of all time, it’s just a masterpiece.

Belgia Soundtrack

I honestly feel that Soulwax are technically the most gifted producers of our time, their reach and imagination is incredible and if you haven’t heard about this movie soundtrack they did then you need to whack it on your playlist asap! To create this album they invented 16 fictional bands and made a track as each artist. From k- pop to punk-disco, it’s all in there!

Waffles

And finally, you should be aware of this edit series which may or may not be produced by the boys, who knows? ; ) Called Waffles, vinyl only and 100% gold every time - check this out.