Erratic Discourse

Switch crams the world into a turntable.

By Jack Oatmon

Dave Taylor, AKA Switch, of Chester, England is a tough guy to get a hold of, and with good reason. Aside from applying his signature, genre-garbling house style to remixes for the upper crust of the dance music scene, from Lady Sovereign to Futureheads and Chemical Brothers to Spank Rock, and a residency at London's infamous Fabric nightclub, he's also holding down production duties on M.I.A.'s awaited new album, Power Power, as well as a hectic touring roster. Before he flew off to Austin, Texas to DJ Diplo's SXSW party, The Mirror tracked Switch down for a highway-side phone conversation about working with M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam), partying and jumping around like a loon.

"I actually got involved right at the end of Maya's last album and worked on 'Bucky Done Gun' and 'Pull up the People'," says Taylor. "I kept in touch with her and when she decided to do this new album, she had the idea to go and source underground music from far flung corners of the world. She grew up in a place called Chennai in India, so we went out there and met all these amazing musicians. We formed the basis of the album there and then we basically just went to all these mad crazy places to hear different underground club sounds. Then we took it all back to New York and worked on it there."

The idea of Dave Taylor compressing club sounds from multiple continents shouldn't come as a surprise to those who have heard his recent tracks, which jam elements of just about any genre you can bother to name on top of a dance beat to form jilted, staccato club ragers that command attention.

"I suppose that's why (M.I.A. and I) managed to find a good working relationship, because I like to switch from genre to genre and I incorporate different styles into a club sound." Which is a formula that Taylor says is quickly gaining momentum.

"There are more people whose ears have opened up to it. At the clubs and gigs I play, it feels really fresh, the reaction. It's not the traditional house club where the beat stays the same for six hours and everyone plods along. Mix it up a little bit, you know?"

Taylor explains that the ability to combine many styles is largely related to the availability of modern equipment.

"It's just a result of the technology really. I'm currently switching from Ableton to Serato because you get all of the advantages that a laptop setup can add, but you still have that physical presence as a DJ. I found using a laptop sort of awkward because I'd always end up setting the computer to one side of the decks or under a monitor. Also, using MIDI controllers can sometimes be a bit fiddly when you're jumping around like a loon to house music."

Taylor refers to behaviour which is reputedly a regular feature of his DJ sets.

"I just did a tour of the States where I managed to miss eleven flights, because I like to get involved. If people are coming out for a night out, I like to come out for a night out as well. I'm definitely not one of these studious DJs who show up, play their records and orders a cab for five minutes after their set. That's definitely not me."