Last night Seamus Haji saved my life :)

I'm not sure that everyone has heard his name, but I'm definitely sure that everyone has danced to his music. Seamus Haji is not just a name, he's a cult. Although he thinks of him like someone who has just followed the trail of the vets of the house scene, it's not only my personal opinion that he himself is one of them. It's a great honor to present you the producer of "Take Me Away" - one of the songs responsible for my falling in love with house music :)



E: Seamus, your track together with Mark Knight and Funkagenda “Good Times” enjoys a huuuge success all over the world. How long did it take you to get done with it? And do you have a special studio-work-mode?

S: That took some time to get the vocals right as it was such a classic to cover of course. I can't remember exactly how long it took but it was something that took a lot of tweaking and going back over to get the arrangement right in certain places. Plus everybody knows the Chic original so well so I wanted to give it a twist and accentuate the 80's vibe in the music with the electro synth hook and we carried on that theme in the video with the roller skates!


E: You’ve worked on so many projects together with Paul Emanuel. Do you prefer working on your own or in a duo?

S: I think it's good to do both. Paul doesn't DJ so I'm the one who's out there in the clubs and he's focused on the studio. Sometimes I like to do my own thing and sometimes our schedules don't permit us to work together. I like to do the odd collaboration which I've done with people like Mark Knight & Funkagenda, Kaskade or Romain Curtis for example and then when Paul and I get back together I think we usually come up with something special.


Take Me Away - HAJI & EMANUEL Feat. Erire (edit) by Erire



E: Tell me about your favourite gig over the years, which you’ll never forget.

S: The Week in Rio De Janeiro was pretty amazing! Every time I played one of my tracks or remixes they'd play the video on a massive screen at the same time. The crowd was amazing!


E: Which software do you use for your productions?

S: Logic and Live





E: How does a typical “Seamus Haji”-day look like?

S: If it's a week day - drop kids to school, then either in studio all day or working from home on the record label then usually catching up with my family in the evening or friends out socialising.


E: What can you tell me about “Big Love Music”?

S: Well Big Love is a record label and it all started 8 years ago. The label is still running but I have now been appointed as Head of A&R for legendary New York house label Strictly Rhythm. So now I'm exclusive A&R to them I can't sign any more music to Big love so maybe Big Love is something that I'll come back to in the future. Let's just say that Strictly made me a very good offer and I probably would have kicked myself if I turned the job down and then seen it go to one of my peers so I'm excited about the future! Saying that we are putting out our last release on Big Love this month Seamus Haji & Romain feat Awa "Just A Friend".


E: What can we expect from the newest compilation by “BLM”?

S: It's a look back at this years releases from Big Love so big vocal projects mixed with releases from our more underground imprint Big Love Digital with lots of exciting artists like Filthy Rich, Romain Curtis, Jason Chance, Jesse Voorn, Per QX, Nino Anthony, Dirty Harris, Whelan & Di Scala, Reza, Grant Nalder & Adam Asenjo.


E: What is the one place in the world where you would love to perform, but hasn’t had the chance yet?

S: I've always had a lot of studio/label and family commitments so I've never really liked to travel too far or gone away for too long. I was only just recently convinced by my agent to go to South America for some mini-tours for the last 2 years and I did have a brilliant time but I hate being away from my family. I always hear good things about Zouk in Singapore!


E: Are you nervous before a gig?

S: It depends on where & the size of the crowd really. If I'm on unknown ground then I can get a bit nervous yes! I find that I won’t notice I'm nervous before the gig but I may feel nervous as I start until I settle in and get the crowd on my side...well fingers crossed! :)


E: Seamus, looking back to the beginnings of your career, if someone had told you you’ll soon be working with Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Moby, Sugababes or Axwell, what would your reaction have been like?

S: I probably wouldn't have believed them. I remember when I was starting to make name for myself on the US House scene in London in the mid 90's and even though I'd play the more underground stuff from MK, Roger Sanchez & Masters At Work I'd also play the remixes they'd do for big artists on major labels so playing the David Morales remix of Mariah Carey's "Dream Lover" and seeing him go on to win a Grammy for it was very inspiring. As a DJ I thought "that's what I want to do" but didn't think I'd get anywhere close to it. People like David set the bar for the rest of us to follow.