If you have a name as cool as Troy Beetles, why would you bother getting another? If you were a Brit pop guitarist, you wouldn't, but a Canadian hip-hop and dubstep DJ and producer? Then you do. You change it to Datsik.
Datsik recently launched his own label, Firepower Records, and is touring with artists he's working with like Delta Heavy, Terravita, Bare Noize, XKore, Getter, and AFK. The trip around the country has been a fruitful one, and Datsik says that thanks to our "total laptop nation," these guys have been weaving new tracks in green rooms across America. "We can all just sit down with our computers and say 'Yo, look at this sound I made,' combine everything together, and make a cool track out of it," the DJ told us. We spoke with him about Ultra, Jonathan Davis, and his vortex DJ booth.
New Times: You had an album come out, Vitamin D, on Dim Mak. You have a good relationship with them, but you started Firepower Records. Is there any reason you started your own label?
Datsik: I always wanted to have my own record label. It was always a part of my plan and my agenda. It was really cool to link up with the Dim Mak people. They were super, super awesome people, and they did wonders for me and my album. Steve Aoki ended up being one of my best friends. I had the greatest time on tour with them.
I feel like where I'm at right now, I'm really trying to have my own imprint upon the EDM scene and the direction that it's going. I really want to have my own thing. After I put my first album out, I thought it'd be a great time. So far, it's been exactly what I hoped and dreamed for. I've got a whole slew of crazy young new talent. It's really exciting to watch them develop and be a part of it. And part of changing the sound.
