Ivan Smagghe is the crème de la crème of Anglo-French dance music, taking leftfield electronica to scary new places. With mixes under his belt like 'Suck My Deck', and a long term involvement in the 'Kill the DJ' night, Ivan isn't going to be shedding an ounce of credibility any day soon. Between being a rocker, a journalist, a DJ and a mix artist Ivan has kept himself busy over the years. Having quit the band Black Strobe, he's still booked out for six months in advance to DJ venues across Europe. Leftlion talked to him about drugs, Jesus and the sin of apathy in the modern music industry.

People say that you look a bit like Jesus...
Well firstly nobody knows what Jesus looked like really, and he probably looked a lot more like a black person or a Northern African, than a white kid. And I've cut my hair. The Jesus thing was a very handy tag, but it won't work any more.

So is God a DJ?
No, God is certainly not a DJ, and more importantly DJs are not God. That is absolute and complete bollocks. Do you think DJs would want to be God?

They like to be in charge don't they?
The DJ isn't in charge is he? I don't believe in God anyway. It's an ego thing isn't it. As far as any artist has got that narcissistic thing, being an artist or a DJ is just thinking that something that you've got in you can be appreciated by other people, so there can be egomania in that sense. In a way the DJ is the last person in charge because he is only playing other people's records. I don't think there's a direct and permanent link between DJs and egomania. Well, look at me, I hope not.

Where did the name 'Kill the DJ' come from? Are you into Jockicide?
You know, I can't remember. It's not me fronting that night, it's my partner. It was at a time when I was a house DJ. It was a time when there were loads of really non descript house DJs who really weren't making an effort. It wasn't really a statement, it just sounded good.

How do you choose where you play, seeing as you're getting gigs all over Europe?
It's not really a matter of country, it's more a matter of clubs mostly. I don't think some countries are bad and some are good, they've all got differences and different sorts of night life, but I think more in terms of the place that I'm actually going to play. It's not 'I'm going to play in this country, but not this country'- that doesn't make any sense really. It's more like 'I really want to play that club.' You pick where you pick in the long term, I don't think on Monday 'Hmmm, what shall I do this weekend?' I run on a schedule that's set about four to six months in advance. Sometimes I decide to go somewhere and the day comes, and that's not what I feel like at the moment.

Is there anywhere that you still want to play?
Clubs I haven't played? There's probably loads. That I know, and that I'd like to play? No. I'm sure that there's loads that I don't know about. Same thing with countries I haven't played. I'm sure there's still a lot of things I haven't discovered. I've been playing for about fifteen years, so there aren't any places where I really want to play.

When was the last time you had a rubbish crowd? I imagine it can't have been in a while... Just because you're a widely known name doesn't mean you don't get shit. It wouldn't be very nice to mention a night like that, would it? Like when you have a crowd that you don't like and that can be OK on that day, but on another day... You always get shit. I've got this name, and I play this kind of music, but sometimes you get promoters into more commercial stuff who only want to use the name, but know nothing about the music I play, they just want my name on the posters even though my music isn't going to cater for their crowd. It's not that the crowd is crap, it's that the promoter's an idiot. He wants the name blah, blah, blah, but wants Saturday night music. It's the promoter's fault, it's not my fault, it's not the crowds fault.

Is there anything you particularly regret having done?
Very few. I'm not a person who regrets, it's a fucking waste of time. If you've made a mistake you might as well move and not dwell on it. I have made mistakes, but I don't really show them off. You learn, and sometimes out of something you thought was bad, later you realised it's showed you something. Just don't do it again.

Do you work with vinyl or digital?
I play CDs for things that are not released yet. People use digital technology to do stuff that you just could not do with vinyl, they're using a digital programme to be creative. What I do not endorse is people using vinyl scratch just so they don't have to carry their record box. DJs who make a living who are now only using digital do not realise that they're destroying the branches. I love records, and I buy records to re-inject the money I make back into the system that lets me live. There are DJs who make a decent living, who think 'Why should I bother buying records? Digital is cheaper, I don't have to carry the records.' It's not enough, and they're not paying the label enough, and a lot of people are thinking 'Why the fuck should I have a label?' In the end there won't be any records to play, anymore. It's always the creativity thing- are you sincere or are you doing that just because you're fucking lazy?

Where do you get your sounds from?
Well a record shop a lot, obviously. It's very diverse. I look for records a lot. It's actually kind of hard work. 

What's your relationship with Black Strobe at the moment?
Well that's a bit of a tense situation. Of course, I was. When we started there were two of us, the others were musicians. We've basically finished the album, and I'm now doing things on my own.

Was there a falling out?
In a bad way you mean? No, it's just the need of doing other needs. Some people love being in a band, for some people it's a lot harder. For me it was quite hard, playing in a community. There were things I wanted to do, that would not fit on Black Strobe and we got a point to where Black Strobe needed a hundred percent of everyone's time, so I had to make a choice, though I wouldn't call it fall out. I'm not going to start getting into nasty, gory details. 

What kind of things did you want to do?
It's not a precise thing that I wanted to do, but I wanted to do things without having to think 'Are they going to fit in Black Strobe?'

Do you prefer to work alone then?
No, not at all. I've always liked working with other people, I'm not working on my, on my own, I'm working with other people. This precise formula was getting a bit old. Doing an album was very hard. I don't want to sound like I'm saying anyone was horrible, or it was a nightmare, because it wasn't. It just comes to a point that you really want to do things on your own. Next there's going to be tours, and that's really not me. I really, really, really hate playing live. I love DJing, but playing live I really hate. There's no war though, I just needed to do things outside of this formula. I do confirm that I am no longer part of Black Strobe any more.

So why do you hate playing live?
When you DJ you're not playing your own music, there's a lot of freedom. There's a comedy thing of being really into it. I love watching other people, but it's so not me. You're behind your keyboard or your guitar and you pull faces, it's all fake. I love watching it, but it just doesn't work. 

Where do you think dance music is going?
God, if I knew. Obviously the digital thing is a major thing that's going to bring changes. After that, how should I know? I can't read the future. I wish I could, I wouldn't be a DJ, I'd be sitting in my main room watching movies, and going to the corner shop and filling out my lottery ticket once a week.

What have you got lined up for the near future?
I want to focus on doing my own stuff, obviously. I'll also focus on Kill the DJ, because we've got a lot of dates lined up. Kill the DJ might also become a publishing house, we might start publishing books, which is something that I've always wanted. I used to be a journalist myself, a long time ago, and I'd like to get back to writing, for myself though. I'm probably going to get back to writing songs for other people. I keep myself busy.

You've lived in London for quite some time now, so how do London and Paris compare?
Oh, God. They're so different. London is night life. You could say Berlin is night life, but not for the same reasons. In London, life is so hard and expensive that night life is compulsory- you have to go out at the weekends otherwise you'd just shoot yourself in the head. That's why you've got this edge, this range, this creativity. Berlin is the complete opposite, it's so cheap that people have got the time to do things. Paris is completely different. They don't care about night life, in Paris most people don't care about music a lot. France is more about books and cinema than music, generally speaking. You get a small scene, which is very active, but you do not have a big cheesey night life. About two years ago Oakenfold played in a club in Paris and sold about seventy two tickets. That kind of scene does not exist. Paris is very cyclical, every two years it's bad, then it's good again. It's annoying that people can be blasé. I love London, I just wish it was cheaper.

It was nearly twenty years ago that the rave scene arrived on the book of ecstasy. Is there going to be another drugs revolution?
How should I know? Do you want me to say, I wish? Do you think I'd tell if you if I knew? I wouldn't be a DJ, I'd be a billionaire selling new drugs. I know what you mean. The ecstasy thing was so important for people like me, because it was completely linked to a musical thing. I can see that the younger crowd does not see it like that, it is undeniable that house music, electrical music is linked to ecstasy. I'm not saying that you can't listen to house music with taking ecstasy or the other way around but there is a definite link. If you take a pill and listen to heavy metal, you are not going to have the same feeling as if you listen to house music. I can see that it's dying out, it's not a massive thing like when I was twenty. What else is there? Ketamine? Ketamine has given us minimalist German music and a lot of zombies in clubs. I'm not the type to say there was a revolution, a social music, a summer of love, all that was a lot of bollocks, but it was lovely. But there's no new drugs, no, no, no, give me a call if you find a new one.

Is coke making a comeback?
When you get older you don't want to do pills or that sort of thing. They make you look ugly, you make a fool out of yourself. Basically there are two types of people, people who accept to lose control on drugs, and those who don't. Sadly, there are a lot more people who don't. Hence coke is bigger. It makes you feel even more in control, you think. Coke is definitely bad for night life. I've always said that for a DJ the perfect audience would be trainspotters on pills. That is where you can do something as a DJ. If you get girls with high heels on cocaine, you're not going to have a good night.

Ivan Smagghe plays Firefly at the Garvey on Saturday 28 April 2007.

Ivan Smagghe Interview