Daley Padley, the British house DJ and producer who performs under the moniker Hot Since 82 (no prizes for guessing his birth year) has been earning kudos for his work in the studio, but his true origins are in club DJing.

With his Knee Deep Australian tour launching this month, Padley talks over breakfast about his plans for the year.

“It’s the story of my life, I never finish anything. I just enjoy the draft side of things,” he says. “I enjoy jamming. When it comes to actually getting serious, to laying down the tracks and finishing them, that’s when I buckle. I’ve got 1001 projects that need finishing. I’m committed for the next two months to just get them all done.”

Most recently Padley signed a track to Matthias Tanzmann’s label, Moon Harbour. “The track’s called ‘Evolve Or Die’. I’ve been playing it for about the past two weeks. I literally just finished it over Christmas. I’ve also just finished a remix for Tanzmann from his album, Mirage.”

For the past 17 years, Padley has worked as a club DJ, making a name for himself with afterparty gigs. It has only been in the past five years that Padley’s studio work has taken a prominent role.

“I mix live,” he says. “I always have done and I always will do. It’s something I like to do; it keeps me on my toes when I’m playing in the club and stuff. I don’t have anything against people who play with a laptop and sync and do whatever they do in the club. But, for me, before I started making records I was just a club DJ. I’ve got no aspiration of doing mega live stuff, I just like to play records one after each other.

“It’s that spur-of-the-moment thing where anything can happen,” he adds. “You know, I’ll have four decks running at the same time, loops on one thing, two tracks for mixing, and maybe an a capella on the other. I’m actually insanely into studio work at the moment though, I’m really enjoying it. Sometimes you can fall out of love with it, but I seem to be finding the groove again, which is nice.”

One of the big goals Padley has for this year is to work with more vocal artists. Primarily known for his dub mixes, Padley says he’s getting tired of the instrumental tracks he’s been making. In particular, he says he wants to find undiscovered talent for his new tracks, rather than established names.

“I mean, it’s so easy to just go into the studio and make a dub, but that doesn’t really inspire me any more. Don’t get me wrong, some tracks are destined to be a dub, but I want to spend some more time on the records and make something that’s going to be around for some time, rather than just a month.”

Padley has already asked his management team, the London-based Anglo Management, to start looking for prospective vocalists. He’s not sure who he will wind up working with, or how he will manage if it’s a new artist not used to making electronic music, but he seems excited to experiment with off-kilter sounds.

“I’d like to work with a Nordic kind of voice, something like Björk,” he says. “That certain tone that Nordic people have, I really like that. That’s something I’m looking for at the moment. I listen to a lot of music in my spare time, a lot of really slow stuff. I’m trying to incorporate that into what I do. I’m looking to create something with a bit more melody and a bit more soul, I guess.”

The conversation turns away from music towards another of his great hobbies. Padley’s a huge Star Wars fan – he’s been an avid follower since the original trilogy, and says he has a collection of mint condition Star Wars collectibles on display in his studio.

“All my family are Star Wars fans. I guess when you’re on the road all the time you’ve got a lot of time to kill, so unfortunately I’m on eBay a lot. I have a lot of figures now. When I buy them, you know, they have to be untouched and immaculate. It’s all really geeky stuff. Really expensive stuff as well. It’s nice to have a few hobbies outside the studio though, because the studio can really suck you in.”

Padley has some big demands for his Australian performances, including an exacting list of equipment. He recently worked alongside the sound technology brand Pioneer to create the NXS2 CDJs, and they form a crucial part of his show.

“If you really get to know the CDJs and the mixer well, you can turn them into an instrument,” he says. “You can really make them sing and dance, and I helped develop them so I reckon I’m pretty good on them.

“I mean, there’s a QWERTY keyboard on there now as well. So suppose you can’t find a song, you can just type it in. I suppose that’s the way Pioneer have gone – they’re trying to eliminate people needing to use a laptop.”

Hot Since 82 Presents Knee Deep in Sydney atRandwick Racecourse onSunday February 12, with Butch, Cristoph, Emanuel Satie and Jackmaster.

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