Interview With Seth Troxler
Between the Beats
His is a household name – in electronic music households. If you were out in Berlin in the early ’00s – particularly Club der Visionaire or Panorama Bar – there’s a good chance you met him, and a better chance that you heard him. Seth Troxler is an international superstar, equally at home in the mega-clubs on Ibiza as in the Berlin underground.
DJ, Producer and restaurateur, Seth Troxler has a lot of irons in the fire. The latest is the Pro Model ST, a DJ case for DJs, designed in collaboration with Horizn Studios. We caught up with the Detroit-born, London-based star DJ in his Berlin apartment.
You’re from Michigan but you’ve moved around quite a bit?
Right, I’m from Detroit, and I moved from there to Berlin and stayed here for five years, actually. Back in 2007. I lived in Friedrichshain. I left, because I was engaged to this incredible woman who is now an actress. She was in La la Land, big movies like that. But she left me to become an actress. So it worked out for everyone. Ha!
What was it that drew you to Berlin?
I had been going to Club der Visionäre a lot because it was really the kind of golden age of hedonism and bohemia, being in Berlin from 2004. Everyone was just broke. It was really happening. I ended up moving to Berlin when I was 21, in 2007 and it was an incredible time to be a part of everything. It’s kind of funny how life presents you with different things: I would never think I would be creating a DJ bag on the Spree in Berlin.
And Berlin hasn’t been your only pitstop over the years – is it fair to say you’re a pretty seasoned commuter?
Yeah, 150 shows last year, and I took like a month off… it’s 10 years I’ve been in Europe travelling with that kind of travel schedule.
What’s important for you on your trips, given this hectic travel schedule?
You need to have travel options or travel accessories to fit your lifestyle; to fit your needs. As a constant traveller, at some point you figure out what’s the most streamlined: life products are better than style products, for example. Products made for everyday use to make my everyday a lot easier.
Aside from DJ-ing, you’re known as quite the chef.
I mean I’ve had some incredible, incredible meals at restaurants I’ve been taken to around the world but yeah, I’ve got my restaurant. And pop-up – both in London.
How did the idea start?
My mom was adopted by two Native Americans, Charles was this old Native American man who created this Barbecue sauce when I was a child. And then he gave it to no one and he was dying of cancer. He gave me his sauce recipe on his deathbed. Seems like a movie, but that’s my real life.
I’d imagine having an interest outside of the DJ lifestyle like cooking is a welcome break from the hectic travel schedule?
Well unwinding is not a thing I’m familiar with because I’m on the road for 200 days a year, but when I don’t have a set I try to do normal things as much as possible and not go to parties. What’s really interesting to me is artistic curation, whether it’s doing the art and food design for my restaurant or coming up with things like the bag or finding new music from people.
And then you gotta start all over again – is there a travelling essential that saves the day on the road?
Socks are definitely the most important.
Do you consider yourself more than artist?
I think I’m more of an artist and a creator. To work on projects and build ideas, where art and commerce and ideas meet at one point: for me, this idea of creation is really the essence of life.