WHO It’s going to be a big summer for Austin Leeds. The ex-Miami DJ has just relocated to Los Angeles and has a string of releases lined up for top labels including Ultra, Vandit, Nervous and Ministry of Sound. Getting his start 10 years ago, his sets never fit the norm in South Beach; after his breakthrough success in 2000 when John Digweed signed the talented producer to Digweed’s label Bedrock, Leeds was considered to be a progressive DJ while a movement in Miami began to build around the sunny city’s signature tribal sound. A fixture on today’s charts, Leeds first caught the attention of DJ heavyweights like Danny Tenaglia, Erick Morillo, Oscar G, Deep Dish and Superchumbo and, at one point, five of his tracks were in rotation on Pete Tong’s seminal BBC Radio 1 show Essential Mix. Leeds collaborated with Jimmy Van M, established his own label, Hamachi Records, and famously teamed up with his long-time friend Nick Terranova as Starkillers, producing the number one hit “Discoteka” in 2006. The duo have just released summer anthem material with their remix of the Binary Finary classic “1998,” as well as a CD-DVD called Nervous Nitelife and Leeds’ first mix-CD, Love Machine. Paul Van Dyke lists them as his faves, and shoppers at dance digital store Beatport have repeatedly pushed their tracks into the site’s top three.
WHAT A mixture of house, big nasty club tunes and “sexy dirty fun.”
WHERE July 5 with Baby Joel and The Junkies at Footwork (425 Adelaide W.)
FAVOURITE RECORD OF ALL TIME Slacker, “Scared.”
FAVOURITE RECORD RIGHT NOW Buy Now [Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello], “The Moon.”
FAVOURITE WEBSITE RIGHT NOW “I like Perezhilton.com — it’s always fun.”
DIGITAL OR ANALOG? “Analog sounds better, but digital rocks and is much easier and faster to work with.”
WHAT IS VITAL TO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE? “Exercise! I gotta move it at some point during the day.”
WHAT GLOBAL ISSUE CONCERNS YOU MOST RIGHT NOW? “Certainly any situations where genocides are happening are terrible, and it’s a shame there isn’t more of a call to stop them; the economy; and we must pursue other forms of power and electricity.”
WHAT IS YOUR RING TONE RIGHT NOW? “Just the standard out of the box iPhone, but when you call my number Bob Marley’s ‘Sun is Shining’ is playing.”
WHAT IS THE LAST GREAT FILM YOU SAW? “I watched Scent of a Woman for the first time a while back on a plane and it is great. I am disappointed with every movie I have seen for a while — can’t seem to find one I love.”
WHAT ACTOR WOULD PLAY YOU IN A BIOPIC? Jake Gyllenhaal.
WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW? “Rush drummer Neil Peart’s third book Traveling Music. I have always loved Rush and their music has had a huge influence on me. Neil’s lyrics have always been some of the best and he is an amazing writer. I feel I can relate to him since I am a travelling musician, as well as having a real love for art.”