Name: Diamond Dealer
Occupation: DJ, producer
Nationality: South African
Recent release: Diamond Dealer teams up with Roland Clark for "Shine", out via Connected.  
Recommendations: Immersive audio is taking music to another level, I've started to explore this form of art in my own music recently.  

If you enjoyed this Diamond Dealer interview and would like to stay up to date with his music and current live dates, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.



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?  

DJing is my way of sharing the music that I love and taking people on a journey with a beginning, middle and end. I enjoy interacting with the crowd and sharing the journey with them.

The art of a DJ is the live experience for me.  

Which other DJs were important for your development and what did you learn from them?  

There are so many great DJs, to mention a few: John Digweed, Louie Vega, Dixon ...

[Read our John Digweed interview]
[Read our Louie Vega interview]

The main thing I learnt is to keep a balance between moving the crowd and keeping the set creative, telling a story and weaving different sounds together. Not being stuck on one genre only.  

There is an ongoing debate about "fake DJs", but I literally had great night just by putting on a CD of "Trance 100” at a private party and letting it playthrough. What does a great DJ add to the clubbing experience?  

A great DJ can work the crowd and go beyond his / her playlist creating special moments and letting the music come in waves.  

Tell me a bit about the clubs you've played or danced at which were important and influential to you, please.  

Sea Lounge in Porto-Vecchio, Corsica, was a great experience with 1000 people on the beach. Nigeria has its own afro house event in Lagos called Spektrum which was a great experience in West Africa.

I've been playing in South Africa for over 15 years and I've also played in Paris, Jakarta, Bali and Seoul. House music is a global language!  

I would listen to DJ mixes the same way I would listen to artist albums. Do you think that DJing creates a new form that can take on qualities of a composition in its own right? Is this something you strive for?  

I think live DJ sets can tell a real story because each venue and event is different and you can create something unique with it.

I also try to find alink between each song I play, one track will talk to the next and it's a journey. So DJing with creativity and vision can definitely make it a work of art ...  

What role does digging for music still play for your work as a DJ? What do you listen for and where/how do you find the best music for your sets?  

I like to find tracks that stand out from the usual and try to find tracks that are not just the flavour of the moment.

I find a lot of good music on streaming services and it's helped so many new artists get their music out there, there are no distribution barriers anymore!  It's great to discover new and unknown artists doing great work.  

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?  

Eyes open and I guess it's a gut feeling thing for me - trust the gut!!  

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 like to play a variety of sounds and link records together, build anticipation and go on journeys.

There must be a logical flow between records I play, managing the energy and emotional levels of songs, and to steer your set into different directions.  

When you're DJing, does it actually feel like you're inventing something on the spot or are you inventively re-arranging patterns from preparations, practise or previous performances?  

Djing for me is about great music. I want to go out there and play the best records I can find and present it in a way that's fun and creative. The essential part of djing for me is to let the music speak for itself.  

During a party in Frankfurt, an anonymous DJ played "Acperience 1" and it changed my life. But so did a Michael Meyer set at Berghain and I can't remember a single track he played that night – it was one fluent gesture. How do you see the relative importance of "great mixing" vs "mixing great tracks" - and how do they compete/complement each other? 

I think it's a balance of the two, great mixing AND mixing great tracks. The timing of the set is also very important as you need to lead your crowd from where the previous DJ ended and considering who's playing after you. It's important to adapt the set to the type of event and time of DJ set.  

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?  

I like to work on a DJ set with a beginning, middle and end. The beginning would be similar to the energy level where the previous DJ had it and then 15 minutes in, I start to take the vibe into a new direction, from the 3rd or 4th track and onwards.

Energy is important because if you play too high you can tire out a crowd. So I try to use in-between tracks that really help to steer the set!  

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?  

I think it was a great way, during the COVID pandemic, to keep going and do live shows for your audience. The internet allows you to reach more people in different locations and it is a great way of getting your music out there.

I do prefer however playing in front of audiences at events, as it's something you can't really replace, being present in the same room as your audience instead of being in front of a camera in an isolated room.  

Technology has continually taken on more steps of DJing, producing and other "creative" tasks. From your point of view, where does "technology" end and "creativity" begin? Where do you see the role of humans in DJing versus that of technology?  

Technology does allow us to do more things in a set and be more creative but I don't think it should overpower the performance. How many times have you heard a DJ kill a great record because it's drowning in FX?? Less is more for me, have fun with the crowd and play great music.

Technology is a tool and DJing after all is about creating an experience, playing great music and entertaining your audience.  

DJing requires empathy, focus, time management, patience, and vision, among others. Are you finding that the way you play influences the way your life your life and vice versa?  

Yes it's all about balance for me. When I play live I try to make space for special records and building up towards them. Keeping the energy and flow of the set is very important and not playing high records all along, there's a fine balance in Djing for me ...

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?  

I would start grouping similar sounds together and play records in a flow that leads to somewhere interesting.