TF Archives

Seb Fontaine: DJs Were Never Pop Stars…

Author: Jonty Skrufff
Monday, June 23, 2003
"There are probably a few DJs who would like to believe they are pop stars, but DJs are just people who watch plastic go round. If you turned us into pop stars we wouldn't be DJs anymore.

With an upcoming headline slot at Glastonbury Festival and his ultra high profile Radio 1 show, Seb Fontaine is one of the most likely candidates to be routinely dubbed a superstar DJ, though chatting from his West London home, he's keen to stress his down-to-Earth credentials.

"DJs were born out of warehouses and grotty, seedy little clubs, that's where we come from and that's what we do and if you take that element away from us, we won't be DJs anymore," he insists.

"It's nice to be recognised and for people to be into what you do, but certainly egos have become too big in this business."

In recent months, in fact, Seb's high status appears to have prompted a vicious campaign of abuse from the overblown egos of certain, presumably jealous, journalists, prompting a curious article by Pete Tong in a recent issue of London's Standard newspaper

"Type is the home of Seb Fontaine, also a Radio 1 colleague and someone who has overcome his critics in recent months following a spate of attacks from dance magazines keen to have the power to sway public opinion," Tong wrote in a preview of Seb's Kings Cross monthly.

"Well it didn't work, and Seb's show on Radio 1 is still an integral part of the UK's radio weekend, and Type is still one of London's most vibrant clubs."

Seb, himself, is keen to move on; preferring to discuss his new compilation CD Perfecto presents Seb Fontaine (out now on Paul Oakenfold's label Perfecto).

Designed to reflect the kind of sets he plays these days ('it would be unfair to the punter, to come up with something completely different and unexpected'), the CD includes tracks from Salt Pervert, Agent Orange and David Guetta mixed together in a style he's calling 'electronic house music'.

"It's tougher that house, it's not progressive and it's certainly way ahead of trance," says Seb.

"It has more energy, it's more electronic and typifies the new sound coming up. It's an emerging genre." It's also the style of music he'll be spinning at this year's Glastonbury Festival as the headline act in the dance tent.

"I loved Glastonbury last year, people were dancing with absolutely no clue of who was playing, just for the sheer pleasure of listening to the music. They were really cool people, really open-minded, who could be hanging at one place for hours. That's what festivals should be like."

Skrufff: How was the whole Glastonbury Festival experience last year in general-

Seb Fontaine: "It was absolutely amazing, it was my first time there and it was a real eye opener, definitely one of my best weekends ever. It was what festivals were always promised to me should be like, and it was just amazing. So much so, that I went back to the BBC and I asked to do a four hour special, creating a really good show with lots of things happening including live bands. It's taken a lot of preparation for this year, but I think it's going to be really worth it."

Skrufff: When you were in Glastonbury, did you stay in a luxury campervan or a tent-

Seb Fontaine: "No, it was a caravan. The hardest thing was getting absolutely shit faced (drunk) after work and not realising that I should have put some sign or symbol on the caravan door before hand; there were thousands of identical caravans everywhere. It was like looking for one particular penguin in the Antarctic, they're all the same. But somehow I managed to find my bearings, eventually… I'll take my missus (wife) this year, she couldn't come last year because she was expecting our baby."

Skrufff: Are you planning to catch Radiohead and Moby-

Seb Fontaine: "Ummm, I'm not sure about Radiohead, I find them a little bit too depressing, I have a love/hate relationship with them, I absolutely love a couple of their tracks, but not eno
Tags