How was 2017 for you?
Don Rimini: Excellent! After releasing my debut album All In, last year, a bunch of producers and label managers like Dirtybird’s Claude Von Stroke contacted me to release EPs on their labels. He was excited when he has been listening to the album: “Nobody has made a record like this in ages. I just haven’t heard anything new that sounds like this it’s always digging through old stuff with bad sound quality.” So he proposed that I join the Dirtybird family. And the Freaky City EP was born on Dirtybird Select.
During this year, I started BSMT, which is my bi-monthly house and techno party residency in Paris. I can’t explain why, but it’s a pretty cool success every time. I invite friends and a guest who has never come to play in France. Hard Challenge, they are not big headliners but I do love to make people discover them, and the crowd turn crazy each time. Mad Villains (UK), Dinamix (ITA) & Ryme (CAN), Rich Pinder (UK) and Gettoblaster (USA) were the first to come. And It was a blast. I created my own label too this year. But it’s another story. 😉
Highlights?
Dirtybird Campout 2017! I met so many great people, producers, partygoers, big Dance Mania legends, etc. This festival is heavy! And the line-up this year was off the hook. I’m also so proud of all the remixes from my album. The Street Parade in Paris in June was a highlight. Approximately 500,000 peeps during this event. And I played on a truck for a good cause.
The Hot Haus party with Mall Grab DJ Haus organized by Karoussel in Paris in April had a magic atmosphere. I can’t explain why it was so dope. But we all were smiling DJs, promoters, peeps… Mall Grab and I sang lyrics from old-school house records and we did a B2B with all the DJs at the end. Loads of fun on this special night.
There was also the remix I did for legendary US label Nervous records. A kind of dream to release something on this famous label.
Lowlights?
We lost a lot of great people this year: Hugh Hefner, I remember I did a mix for Playboy on the Christmas issue back in the day, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Simone Veil, Fats Domino, Roger Moore, John Hillerman (Higgins in Magnum P.I.), George Romero, Pierre Henry, Chuck Berry…
Planet Earth is still in danger, and politicians or lobbies don’t care. I’m watching Z-Nation, The Walking Dead, and Last Man On Earth, just to prepare myself for that eventuality so I could maybe help my friends after that.
Song of the year?
Waze & Odyssey’s “Down With Tha”
Songs I played the most this year:
The Deyna Family – “Monkey Business” (Instrumental) (Black Butter)
Hi 2 Hat – “Get Yo Down” (Bunkaball Rec)
Solardo – “Strobe Light” (Relief Rec)
Song to finish every set:
Tee Mango – “This is Where I’ll Stay (With You)” (Aus Music)
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
1. I started some collabs at the end of this year with Gettoblaster and Kry Wolf. I’m excited to see what will happen with this. It’s been a long time I wanted to do collabs.
- To make BSMT and my label bigger.
-
Have a cat, share pics of him on Instagram and get more followers. [Laughs].
