Photo Credit to: Andre- Labrune

There is an artist out in the electronic dance music world who has been pushing boundaries on the deep house scene, and over the past few years he has been on a spree of releasing banging club hits, groovy festival tracks, and defining his unique sound. He has had multiple collaborations with other big deep house names and releases on big record labels like; This Ain’t Bristol Dirtybird, Ultra, and more! Kyle Watson, a South African producer, has been straight killing the house music scene around the world and he is bringing his worldly sound to the United States for a wild, wild west take over! He will be ending out the month of September in Arizona at Goldrush Festival, shortly followed by a unique headlining performance at the psychedelic adult fun-house, MeowWolf in Sante Fe, New Mexico. We are extremely excited and thankful that we got this golden opportunity, an exclusive interview with the South African deep house mastermind, Kyle Watson.

• When did you know that producing music was your calling? And how did you handle the ‘come up,’ the publicity, and the touring?

• • • Honestly I started writing music for fun when I was still a kid and never really dreamed that it’d get to be such an important part of my life once I’d grown up. It’s weird, I never really had a specific moment that other artists talk about that flicked the switch for them, for me the passion just grew when I realised that I could make music that other people actually like. The journey has been super exciting – difficult at times but that’s part of the business – and it’s not been too hard for me to get used to. The PR side of things can be a bit challenging for me sometimes but I’m getting better at that!
      

• What differs from the Clubs in Johannesburg and South Africa to the Clubs here in North America? Any constructive criticism to either party?

• • SA has a growing scene so we don’t necessarily have a ton of venues that can accommodate what clubs in North America can. It’s a little tougher for us to get international acts out here because of our weak economy. North American clubs are great to play, 9 times out of 10 there has been some proper thought and investment that has gone into the venues and that makes them super fun to play.
    

• Do you think 4 on the floor house music is a universal language?

• • • Without a doubt! At it’s core 4/4 is as basic a rhythm as you can get. Besides, look at how many markets there are for 4/4 across the world, and look at where the artists are touring. There’s a market for the music pretty much everywhere, I think that shows you how global it is.
      

• What is one of your favorite moments from 2019 so far?

• • Hitting Canada for some amazing shows earlier this year was pretty amazing, it had been a long time coming so was great to finally make it out there. The crowds were amazing and I’m looking forward to making plans to get back out there.
    
• You recently had a song come out on Parametric’, called “Safe,” can you go into a little detail about the collaboration? How did the collab with Stace Cadet come about? 
  
  • I’d recently done a remix of a record that Stace featured on, and I’ve loved the unique tone to his voice for a while. I wrote the instrumental and as soon as I locked the chords down I knew I needed a unique vocalist to do it justice, so I sent it over to Stace and he worked his magic on it. Safe was born!
    

• • According to your upcoming events, you’re coming to the Southwest for three unique events in one weekend (Goldrush, Meow Wolf and CRSSD). All of these are very different shows, do you prefer more intimate vibes with a crowd less than 500 or a crowd of 10,000+? Also, do you have different sets planned? Do you throw down harder for a bigger crowd, or are the levels the same even with smaller numbers?
    •  I definitely go harder at a festival than I do in a club atmosphere. I feel like there is more opportunity to take the crowd on a journey in an intimate setting, whereas at a festival pretty much everyone is out there to smash it and you’ve gotta make sure you maintain that level of energy in your set. There are pros and cons to both types of shows, there are only a few festivals I would choose over a club show, but generally intimate vibes are my favourite.
      

• If you could collaborate with one fellow house artist, who would it be?

• • • Tricky one! Chris Lake would be a great one, I’ve actually followed his music since about 2005 and I’m really feeling how he’s been approaching house music over the past 2 years.
      

• To the aspiring producers that are coming from every corner in the world, what is one piece of motivational knowledge would you share with them?

• • You have to be unique. There are so many people out there that are able to write a record using the tools that exist in this day and age, so you’ve gotta do something that sticks out from everyone else. And once you find that, keep going at it but remember to be aware that when things evolve around you, you have to keep up with that too.

Kyle Watson Facebook

Kyle Watson Soundcloud

Kyle Watson Website

Goldrush Festival Facebook

Goldrush Festival Website

MeowWolf Facebook

WeowWolf Website