Name: Gary Richards aka Destructo
Occupation: DJ, producer, promoter
Nationality: American
Recent release: Destructo's Future Funk EP is out via All My Friends.
Recommendations: Rick Rubin's new book The Creative Act; Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon

If you enjoyed this interview with Destructo and would like to stay up to date with his music and current live dates, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, Soundcloud, and twitter.

Can you talk a bit about your interest in or fascination for DJing? Which DJs, clubs or experiences captured your imagination in the beginning?

I grew up watching hip hop DJs and breakdancing. That was all it took and I was hooked.

What made it appealing to you to DJ yourself? What was it that you wanted to express and what did you feel, did you have to add artistically?

Nothing better than making people dance.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to DJing? Do you see yourself as part of a certain tradition or lineage?

I am more of an old school DJ. I like to let the records play and take people on a ride.

Clubs are still the natural home for DJing. What makes the club experience unique? Which clubs you've played or danced at are perfect for realising your vision – and why?

It is much more intimate than a festival. You really can build a vibe and work the room.

There is a long tradition of cross-pollination between DJing and producing. Can you talk a bit about how this manifests itself in your own work?

They go hand-in-hand because it's super exciting to play out new records you just made and see how the crowd reacts to it in real time.

What role does digging for music still play for your work as a DJ? Tell me a bit about what kind of music you will look for and the balance between picking material which a) excites you, b) which will please the audience and c) fulfill certain functions within your DJ set.   

I am always digging for new tunes. It just depends on where I am playing next and what vibe I am searching for.

I've always wondered: How is it possible for DJs to memorise so many tracks? How do you store tracks in your mind – traditionally as grooves + melodies + harmonies or as colours, energy levels, shapes?

I just know what tracks work over all these years and somehow link them together. If they are quality weapons you will not forget them.

Using your very latest DJ set as an example, what does your approach look like, from selecting the material and preparing for and opening a set? What were some of the transitions that really worked looking back?

Mostly my tunes go down the best in my set.

The last show I played I dropped my new one “Perfect Beat” and it was the track of the night. I knew I had something very special..

How does the decision making process work during a gig with regards to wanting to play certain records, the next transition and where you want the set to go? How far do you tend to plan ahead during a set?

I plan a majority of the set in advance but I am always going to take the crowd and the energy where it leads me.

I may have a perfect plan laid out and walk into the room and completely change the entire game plan. I just go on the feeling and what my gut tells me.

As a DJ, you can compose a set of many short tracks or play them out in full, get involved with mixing or keep the tunes as the producer intended them, create fluent seagues or tension. Tell me about your personal preferences in this regard, please.

I like to let the records play. If I need to switch quickly, that record goes bye bye …

Pieces can sound entirely different as part of a DJ set compared to playing them on their own. How do you explain this? Which tracks from your collection don't seem like much outside of a DJ set but are incredible effective and versatile on a gig?

Yeah, some tracks just build really nice or have minimal nuisance to them that really comes out in a DJ set.  Where maybe it would be boring or uneventful listening at home.

In terms of the overall architecture of a DJ set, how do you work with energy levels, peaks and troughs and the experience of time?

It's just a feeling. But you get higher highs when you come from really low lows … If that makes sense.

Online DJ mixes, created in the studio as a solitary event, have become ubiquitous. From your experience with the format, what changes when it comes to the way you DJ – and to the experience as a whole - when you subtract the audience?

It can be fun and you just have to rock out.

But nothing beats a real live audience.

Advances in AI-supported DJing look set to transform the trade. For the future, where do you see the role of humans in DJing versus that of technology?

I am human and always prefer the human touch to a perfect computer or AI.

Let's imagine you lost all your music for one night and all there is left at the venue is a crate of records containing a random selection of music. How would you approach this set?

Depends on what records were in the selection. But I would be up for the challenge and make it work somehow.

I never complain I just try and make the best of what I got and rock the house always.