28/07/2010

Legendary live musician, DJ and Ibiza veteran Gordon Edge chats with Infusion about playing his instrument, playing to 25,000 people and achieving his goals.

Your music and live sets are renowned for their DJing mixed with trumpet playing. You’ve been DJing for 15 years, but how long have you been playing the trumpet?
I started playing at 10 years at school so a few years longer than DJing.

You’ve released around 170 12” records during your career, and were releasing records every 2 weeks for 7 years. How did you find the time to do anything else?
It was just my life at that time…running everything connected to the record label, producing records and DJing was just about all I did for those years!

A lot of DJs follow the scene in Germany and end up playing in clubs there; you yourself spent time there playing alongside Marc Spoon, Timo Mass and Hooligan. What do you make of the club scene over there?
That was a few years ago, the parties were all very big events: 4,000 up to 25,000 people… so it was always a good adventure usually being the only UK DJ!

Tell us about your break from the music scene in 1996 when you started doing Moto X?
I had completed a lot of my goals and just sat back and thought “what would I really like to do?”
Id’ always wanted to race motox…so I just started from scratch and ended up winning a few races ;)

By 1998 you were in Ibiza, and played for Space, Amnesia, Es Paradis, Manumission and Pacha. Which was your favourite?
The back room in Manumission after the famous live show was a pretty crazy place to play, I‘ll never forget some of those gigs!
You also released a track with Adam Routh, Itza a Trumpet Thing, whilst in Ibiza which soon became one of the island’s summer tracks. How did it feel to have your music played somewhere as influential as Ibiza?
Yes, that was amazing. It did feel like I was in the right place at the right time when I started hearing most of the big DJs playing the record.

You’ve also done some private parties for pop Queen Madonna – tell us how that came about?
I was resident at a club in South Beach Miami.. Madonna had some close friends there at that time and the club told me to get ready to play for her on New Years’ and it just happened!

You have a winter residency in Miami, on South Beach, and spend your summers canoodling in Ibiza’s best venues where you have held residencies with Subliminal at Pacha and at Bora Bora. What is your next challenge?
I’m enjoying things right now! I’m redesigning where I live in London at the moment so that’s my next step and another big record should be on the way ;)

Gordon Edge AKA Trumpet Man plays for Zinc PreZents on Thursday 29th July with Greg Stainer and Andy Swift in support. It’s free for FC all night, free for all before 11:30pm and 150Dhs thereafter. For more info go to gordonedge.com or zinc.ae

www.infusion.ae