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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
3:42 PM 23rd January 2015
arts

Interview With Joey Negro On The New Compilation: Joey Negro - House Masters (Defected Records)

 
Joey Negro
Joey Negro
The name Joey Negro may not be a name that you are familiar with but under the guise of his DJ name Dave Lee AKA Joey Negro has re-mixed tracks from everyone from Take That to Roxy Music.

Defected records have just released a new compilation under their House Masters series that is a retrospective of some of the best remixes Joey Negro has done over the years. From the jazz tinged Masters At Work track, Backfired to the soulful Blaze track, Wishing You Were Here the album brings some summer sunshine into these cold winter days.

I asked him if it had been hard coming up with a selection of tracks for the album
"We came up with a selection of 50 tracks and then had to shorten it down from there" he explains
"We tried to keep the compilation a mix between successful tracks and also tried to include some soulful and up-tempo tracks too".

With a long successful DJ career as well as a respected remixer it was no surprise to learn now many records are in his record collection
"I have anything from 10,000 to 12,000 records" Joey enthuses
"I tried to have a bit of a clear out last year and clear out some tracks I will never play again. In the mid 1990's I was on so many mailing lists and got so many tracks sent to me"

Joey records under several guises such as Doug Willis and also his live band project, The Sunburst Band. How does he decide which name to release a track under, I asked
"It depends on the track" he explains
"If it is a live sound it tends to go out under The Sunburst Band whilst if the track is more of a disco number then that would probably be under Doug Willis"

Dance music has changed so much over the last few years, notably with the arrival of the Electronic Dance Music revolution; did he think there was still a market for soulful house music?
"Yes I do, it will always be there, it is just that it has gone out of vogue at the moment, also it is expensive to make and from a financial point of view, it is not always viable"

He still gets asked to remix more than his fair share of tracks
"I do turn down a lot of tracks these days" he shares
"there has to be a good vocal on the track and it has to be something where I feel I can improve the track"

He also has his own record label - Z Records. I asked Joey what he has coming up in the future
"I have just remixed a new act for the label who are called Soul Persona, the track is called Keep it Working, they sound like a soulful jazzy version of Madonna"

If you like your dance music with a balance of soul, a touch of jazz and with some disco beats then this compilation is definitely worthy of your attention.