1. From Dentist to world renouned Techno genius, do you still do any dental work on the side for friends at the afterparties or is it something that you have put the tools away for good?
Well, despite numerous attempts from inconsequent people trying to score free dental care from myself when they find out I was a dentist at some point, I’d always advise otherwise, even during moments of less sharpened thoughts – read afterparties. Even though I was a dentist for almost 10 years, had a master degree and all that, dentistry is something that requires constant updates to keep yourself current and able to perform, just like techno, in a way.
2. Brazil looks like a amazing place to party and the people really enjoy the music. It seems all about big open air festivals and lots of exotic beautful women so tell us more about the underground club scene and some of your recent memories.
Brazil has been getting a lot of big festivals with big line ups, and even though many great artists come to perform, the vast majority is related to EDM and mainstream-ultra-commercial music. The underground scene is still trying to bounce back after this massive commercial music “invasion”, since our electronic music culture isn’t so well established any major movement kind of shakes the whole structure, and it will take a while until everything is back on track. There’s a very limited number of great clubs in our country, and the crowd overall doesn’t seem to be that open to different sorts of music, but I think there is definitely some amazing crews and regional scenes that are making a difference, like Warung in Camboriu, D-Edge in Sao Paulo, Colours in Caxias do Sul, 5uinto in Brasilia, Deputamadre in Belo Horizonte, Vibe and Tribaltech in Curitiba, Anzu in Itu, not to mention some of the main festivals like Skol Sensation, XXXPerience, Tribe, Kaballah, Dreamvalley, Lollapalooza, all of which also have big EDM stages, but book a wide range of underground artists, different from the regular rave acts.
3. Have you been doing any special events for the World Cup?
I’m not a big fan of football, and I am against Brazil hosting the world cup due to political issues, so I actually tried to avoid being in Brazil during the world cup, I normally come to Europe during the summer time for tours, so this year I’ve came earlier just before the whole thing started, and I’ll only be going back to Brazil in mid-August.
4. Where else have you been touring lately? And is this your first time in Bali and what you plan to do in your time in between gigs this week?
I have been playing in many different countries since I left Brazil in early June, like South Africa, Spain, Netherlands, Lebanon and Israel so far. I have been in Bali last year, at Mint, and I loved it, not only being in the island was a great experience, but playing a long set of about 4 hours was a lot of fun as well!
5. You have worked with some amazing artists and labels throughout your career and something that most producers could only dream about. When you in the studio collaborating with a artist what do you normally start of with before working together? share some ideas of other music? Look at some past releases from each other?
It really depends, every artist I have collaborated with so far had a different workflow, and that’s what makes it all the more interesting. Sometimes we’d start off collecting samples from old records, sometimes we’d come up with a riff or a hook idea and then build up the track around it, sometimes we’d start with programming a groove, it really depends of the situation, the mood. My closest collaborator for the past years I can safely say is Christian Smith, and we normally take our ideas from listening to classics we love while we hang out, either at his place in Spain or mine in Brazil.
6. Your current set up on the road when performing consists of?
Being from a techno background we know you guys really love the vinyl and are true ambassadors to keeping the vinyl revolution alive. Do you see a current resurgence in vinyl on your travels? Are you new productions available to buy on vinyl?
I’ve been using only SD cards and USB sticks for the past 3 years, plus a delay effects pedal, and I have to say I’m pretty happy with this setup, I can get everything I need from it. I was never able to play with CDs per se, once I stopped using records I tried using Serato and Traktor for a while, but setting those systems up and the eventual crashes and instability took away all the fun of DJing for me. I still do love vinyls and support the industry by buying some every now and then, especially from the vinyl only releases, and I think even though a lot of people talk about a “vinyl revolution” and “the vinyl comeback”, in realuty sales and production of vinyl are still very small and complicated, it’s a niche market and as long as it stays that way it will keep being healthy and prosperous.
7. What’s your current top 5 and some tunes we should look out for in anticipation for this weekends party at Mint?
This is my chart for July, and it’s a perfect rundown of tracks that I have been playing in every gig
01. Dave Angel – Centre (Wehbba Remix) – Tronic
02. Chris Fortier – Music Makes The Body (Wehbba Remix) – Selador
03. Alex NIggemann – Materium – Poker Flat
04. DJ Anna – Slow Mind – Tronic
05. La Fleur – Arms Around (Carl Craig Remix) – Watergate
06. Dubfire feat. Miss Kittin – Exit – SCI+TEC
07. Kevin Over – Magik – Noir Music
08 &ME – Locust – Keinmusik
09. Gabe – Non Sense (Wehbba Remix) – Zero Eleven Music
10. Maceo Plex – ENTER.Space – M_nus
8. Whats next for Wehbba?
I’m now touring Europe, Asia and Middle East during the summer, so I have a pretty busy schedule, and I’ve just released a lot of tracks and remixes the past few months, and I still have a couple of things planned for Systematic in the next couple of months, so I’ll be taking a break now due to my travelling and will be back to Brazil in August for a heavy studio season, developing my new aliases ‘Rosco Sledge’ and ‘Edit Revenge’ (keep your ears tuned to these names), and I’ve just been invited to do a Boiler Room session in my hometown Sao Paulo together with my good friends Marc Romboy and Stephan Bodzin, something I’m really looking forward to.