Our Live for 2014 continues with a set from Sub Focus. Nick Douwma launched his career in 2003, though he didn't release his first album till 2009, when Sub Focus reached No 51 on the album chart. Since then, though, he's gone from strength to strength, becoming a staple of the charts and of festival stages. He's said of his live show: "I get really involved with what the graphics and work with the company who design it. It's a very important part of how the show looks. People don't realise how much effort goes into it … There are mad amounts of technology I'm using on stage that's very unstable and needs to be programmed in the right way."
Below you can read a short interview withSub Focus – and watch the gig, the latest in our Live for 2014 series in partnership with Lovelive and Spotify.
1. If you could pick any dish from any restaurant to be added to your rider, what would it be?
Probably Vietnamese food from Sông Quê on Kingsland Road in London.
2. Kiss, famously, marketed branded coffins – Kiss Kaskets. What unlikely piece of merchandise would you most like to sell?
Not the most unlikely thing for a musician to sell but I would probably sell instruments. I have a couple of good ideas for new types of musical instrument and I've had a number of bespoke gadgets designed for when I play live. I’ve had these Midi motion sensors made that are a bit like a modern version of a theremin, that allow me to play notes and manipulate sounds by moving my hands in the air.
3. Which do you prefer to play live: your biggest hit or a song no one has heard yet?
I definitely prefer playing new material. My absolute favourite thing about doing music is testing a new track of mine that I’m excited about on a crowd for the first time.
4. Festivals or your own headline shows?
I enjoy both, but selling out Brixton Academy was a big milestone for me recently. Sometimes I think the type of places you play can affect the type of music you write, though. If you only play in stadiums you end up just trying to make big bombastic anthems that would work in that space. I always try and do more low-key small club shows as well as sometimes they feel like the best testing ground for new material.
5. What's the strangest untruth about yourself you've ever seen on the web?
Nothing particularly weird comes to mind. A lot of people seem to think I'm from Liverpool which is a bit strange.
6. When was the last time you cried?
Probably watching something on a flight, there's something about watching films on planes that makes you strangely emotional.
7. What one song changed your life?
Incredible by M-Beat and General Levy. I remember hearing it on cassette on a break at school and soon after I forgot about guitar music and started making rudimentary jungle on a old Acorn computer.
8. When was the last time you felt true fear?
This isn't really true fear but I had a long haul flight on Malaysia Airlines a couple of days after MH370 went missing that wasn’t the most fun.
9. What do you think about when you're performing?
I think about the crowd reaction a lot. Especially when DJing you are always trying to read the crowd, work out what they are responding to and adjust your set accordingly. With my live shows it's more improvising melodies or new rhythms and hoping that all the gear works properly. When I first started doing my live shows we had some fairly major gear fails during performances, due to the complex things we were trying to do with the equipment. Thankfully now it seems to be pretty rock solid!
10. What do you do first when you come offstage?
Nothing very rock'n'roll at the moment: I currently have a slipped disc in my back and standing up for long periods is agony, so as soon as I finish playing I lie flat on my back.
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