“It’s the nature of the beast, I’m used to it. It’s a good problem to have,” he says with a chuckle. This Friday he will have his eyes set on Billboard, as he celebrates the Aussie launch of his latest release Night & Day, with support from Dibby Dougherty. “I’m very happy the album has an opportunity to come out properly in Australia,” he reveals. The DJ-producer has a long history with Australia, one that he is excited to revisit. “It’s one of my favourite places. The first time I came was like ’98, I got to spend a couple of weeks there and I basically got to see the whole country and get the different feelings, from the east coast down to the west coast. It left a very lasting impression, so I look forward to coming back.” One of his latest musical journeys saw him perform a 10-hour set at Warung Beach Club in Brazil, something he is no stranger to. “I seem to do that a lot in Brazil. At some clubs, particularly Warung, you get to play as long as you want and the crowd stays with you.” The set was later broadcast on BBC 1xtra radio and was so heralded that it was culled into a compilation album, titled Sharam Live at Warung Beach Brasil. “I’ve played like 12-hour sets before,” he explains. “I love playing long sets, it takes people, including me, on a musical journey, if you will.” When all the elements are there Sharam can easily create an atmosphere where time melts away and all that matters is the music. “It all goes by really fast. I get so entrenched in it and the energy. If you have a great crowd that follows where you go musically time has no meaning, you just keep going and you don’t feel tired. As soon as you go back to the hotel and you hit the bed you go ‘oh my god I’m tired’.”
No matter how many times Sharam experiences the grind he always keeps it positive and is driven by his goal to bring quality dance music to as many people as possible. “Usually when I play Warung I have to get up the next morning to hit the next city, so it’s always an interesting situation. Getting up and getting into a car and moving on to the next city, it’s rough but it’s always worth it.” As both a producer with his own extensive catalogue and as a DJ steeped in the EDM scene he believes it is his mission to give the fans what they want as well as showcasing some tunes that they may not have heard before. “When people come to see you they have certain expectations, they know you from the music you produce and the stuff you put out. So you have to play some of that stuff for them but at the same time I believe it’s important, not only for myself but also for the crowd, that you also give them all the new stuff as well. It’s a balancing act between entertainment and education.” Beyond his desire to educate his audience, the choice to mix things up is also one he makes for his own sake and for the sake of keeping his live sets fresh. “If I don’t play the new stuff in my set I myself bored and if I get bored I don’t play as well. It’s all about creating a vibe, so you’re not only surprising the crowd you’re surprising yourself as well. I might do something and go ‘wow that sounded really good’ and the crowd reacts to it, then it comes something that you want to repeat.”
This approach was extended to his last compilation release, Night & Day, which features two-discs of club tested, audience approved anthems. “It’s a collection of records that over the past six months to a year have worked for me in my sets. I put them all together in an album format on two discs, so it’s like I’m telling two stories under one roof.” The fact that Sharam works with many of the top record labels means that he gets the chance to hear new tracks before they are officially released and gives him the opportunity to include them in his live sets and releases. “It puts you in a good position where you get to use a lot of unreleased tracks and re-edits and stuff like that on the album that people many not have heard before. It’s their first time to hear it, obviously I’ve heard them many times because I’ve tested them. I want to make sure there’s something unique and different that they haven’t heard.” Like being exposed to any form of music on a regular basis you would think that Sharam would grow tired of playing the same anthems live night after night, however that is not the case.
“The stuff that makes it to the album is stuff that’s tried and tested.” His last two releases have both been born out of the same ideology, while also having some unique differences in how they came together. “The Warung album was a live album so basically whatever I played that night ended being on the album, whereas Night & Day is more manufactured. I knew exactly what records I wanted to put in and it was programmed. The live album was different because I’ve never really done it before. It was very different because I didn’t know it would become an album. I just played and it happened to become an album and it all worked out really well.” Regardless of the differing processes there is an underlying theme to all of his work. “The whole idea behind all of these albums is that you’ve got to make it timeless and each record has to speak for itself.” This philosophy of timeless music has followed Sharam throughout his career, dating back to his time with Ali ‘Dubfire’ Shirazinia as part of Deep Dish.
“The philosophy never changes, it’s always about showcasing timeless music regardless of genre. I feel like it’s important nowadays because there is such great divide and so many different directions in music. So I felt it was important for me to make a statement that it doesn’t need to be segregated, it can co-exist. It’s up to the DJ to seamlessly play this stuff to the crowd, they don’t know whether it’s this group or that group they’re just there to enjoy themselves, that’s the whole point. You’ve got to enjoy yourself, if you can’t do that regardless of musical genre then I feel you shouldn’t be a DJ.” As part of his commitment to musical openness he has extended the olive branch and worked with a range of artists. From hip hop mogul/casual rapper Diddy and stoner rap hero Kid Cudi to pop vocalist Daniel Bedingfield and fellow Iranian-American artist Anousheh Khalili, there has been no limit to his experimentation so far. “I’ve been fortunate and had the opportunity but part of it is that I seek out these opportunities. It’s important for me to do different things and not keep doing the same things over and over. I feel that if I get bored with what I’m doing that will translate in a negative way to the DJ sets so I try to keep it fresh for myself. It also gives you more options to do different things. It comes with a certain risk because people normally are used to knowing what they’re getting. They want to go to a certain DJ because they sound a certain way or because they play a certain kind of music. A lot people can’t figure out what it is I do and I prefer it that way but it becomes a harder sell because people don’t know what to expect. The true fans and the people are open-minded. It’s more like the clubs and promoters are saying ‘what do we do with this guy?’ I like being in that position because the element of surprise is always there.”
BY ANDREW ‘HAZARD’ HICKEY
