Australian DJ/Producer Kaz James follows up a string of huge releases with his new EP ‘Life In Purple’, out on Yousef’s Circus Recordings. A huge, emotionally-charged house track, Kaz continues to set the bar incredibly high. Title track ‘Life In Purple’ is a smooth and melodic track, built around slowly evolving melodies and synth lines. With a propulsive groove that never lets up, it’s a rare and emotionally engaging house track that encompasses all aspects of a strong floor filler. This killer original receives further elevation with remixes from both Ben Pearce and fellow circus affiliate, Ki Creighton. As support from industry tastemakers including Radio 1’s Annie Mac, Pete Tong and Danny Howard rolls in, Kaz James ‘Life In Purple’ EP is poised to make its mark. We caught up with Ben Pearce ahead of the release. You can read the full interview below while listening to the full premiere of his remix exclusively on When We Dip. Enjoy !

WWD: I’d like to talk to you about your home city of Manchester. It’s no secret that the city holds a rich musical heritage but, is there a particular genre that has an emerging scene that people outside of the city may be unaware of?
Genre wise I’m not totally sure, there are so many fantastic up and coming artists at all times in Manchester across so many genres. It’s a really wonderful place and I sort of get the full benefit by going back once a month to do my radio show.

WWD: Manchester’s always had a huge connection with Electronic Music. Do you feel with the recent resurgence of it over the last 5 or so years, that it’s negatively impacted other musical pockets in the city?
I don’t feel like it has to be honest. When there’s a huge brand or club doing such numbers in any city it’ll affect things but the scene in Manchester has always been so strong I think the negatives have only been occasional and isolated.

WWD: What in your opinion is the biggest threat to the growth and development of UK dance music?
Money. Essentially, the companies who are looking to invest in artists, festivals and culture in general because they see a chance. As soon as anyone starts doing it for the money and not for the love of it then it’s bad. That being said there will always be a fantastic culture for dance music in the UK and I don’t think that can be stopped, it’ll just change with the times.

WWD: Each year we see new and emerging party destinations, Croatia being a prime example over the years. Can you tell us about any perhaps surprising destinations that have a thriving scene?
I’ve not been touring as much as I have in years before. I did recently play in Johannesburg and Skopje. Both were amazing parties with really passionate people doing something interesting. I’m fairly sure a lot of Europe will be opened up in a similar way to Croatia.

WWD: Your remix of Kaz James ‘Life In Purple’ is coming out on Circus Recordings, how did this collaboration come about? What was it about the song that made you want to remix it?
Every time I get a remix request, it’s always about the track. This one I immediately wanted to play out. There were so many elements I loved, the sort of meandering vocals and effects over a rhythmed synth element… I wanted to keep that when I remixed it.

WWD: When starting the remix, did you have a clear direction of where you wanted to take the track?
I did but it took a couple of false starts then the idea as you hear it came together super quickly. Usually, all my remixes do (when they’re on the right track)

WWD: You run the Sextape series, which sees you move away from house and techno and play more disco, funk and soul. What inspired you to start this series? What is the vision behind it?
I played a night in Leicester a long time ago called one fifteen, it was designed to be slower, sleazier music. When I was a resident and ran my own party in Manchester there was a lot of that and of course disco. It felt like a natural thing to start doing the mixes, they’re so much fun. It’s expanded to sort of include all levels of disco and house. Essentially just no pretension, love to hear the classics. Some really exciting stuff happening next year with that in the UK

Release date : November 23rd, 2018. Buy Here

Follow: Ben Pearce // Kaz James // Circus Recordings