DJ Sugarstarr

SH: It's great to have you in Shanghai as we definitely need more quality electronic dance music parties these days. Please describe your sound to us in one sentence.

DS: Funky-Electronic-Techhouse-With-Vocals-And-Soul....The widest range of the hottest new Housemusic...

SH: Have you played in Shanghai before? What's your impression of the city?

DS: Nope. It's my very first time and I'm really excited to rock the crowd in your colorful city.

SH: Your DJ name is Sugarstarr with two 'r', right? Though it's often misspelled as 'Sugarstar'. Is there any story behind it?

DS: When I started DJing in the late 80s several of my favorite artists came up with a RR in the end of their names: Gangstarr, Atlantic Starr or Edwin Starr. But also the Beatles' Ringo Starr gave me this inspiration.

SH: You will be DJing alone in Shanghai. Will the energy and style be any different from when you're playing as a duo?

DS: I'm definitely more in action when DJing solo, what I definitely love to do. When we perform as a duo it's more like back-to-back which offers lots of space to animate the crowd while the other half is preparing for the next transition. The selection of tracks varies just slightly, as we always try to mix our own productions in combination with the hottest new tunes.

SH: 2011 is coming to an end. Have you had a satisfactory year of 2011? What are your plans for the New Year?

DS: 2011 was special in every kind of way. While only releasing one single per year in the past, we already had four in this year. And all of them gathered excellent response with several top-positions in international Charts. For 2012 we already have five new singles in petto as well as big plans for a huge album release. By the way, three of our upcoming singles will have their world premiere which I will play at Zeal. I'm so curious as to how the audience will react... ;-)

Jay Sebag

SH: Is this your first time in Shanghai? What are your expectations?
JS: First time indeed. Huge expectations since it's THE city of the future, one of the few destinations i was dreaming to go to. Everything's brand new, fresh, super modern.

I can't wait to see how the audience will respond here; i know people are gonna be fashionable and classy; I'm curious to see if they will let themselves go crazy or if they will act posh and precious.....we'll see....very excited to go to Shanghai.

SH: Do you know how long your performance will be at the Shanghai show?
JS: The live PA is always much shorter than a DJ set, but it is meant to be intense, and filled with high energy!! It's around 25 to 35 minutes.

SH: You've lent your voice to many big name DJs. Who did you enjoy working with the most?
JS: Tough question; can't offend nobody!! My answer might sound politically correct in a coward way but.......I did enjoy all of them for real!

Martin for how worldwide big it's been, DJ Yass for our long time friendship and his soulful and sophisticated taste in music, the Syke for the funk-electro super energetic production they come up with. Also my buddy Rodney Hunter from Vienna, with a hybrid hiphopish electro-funk. I like it when it's funky, in case you didn't get that!!!!!

SH: Where did you learn music? What is your own music like, when you're not working with international DJs?
JS: I started with 10years of classical piano, followed by many years of piano bar, which is for modern music, the best school possible!

The stuff I do beside dance is way more down tempo, like soulful singer-songwriter type of songs. U can check my writings for other artists such as Amel Bent from France (''Où je vais', 'Tu n'es plus là') or Exile from Japan ('Forever Love', 'Negai'), it gives an idea of what i do for my own projects as well.

SH: What's the most bizarre behavior/reaction from the audience you've ever seen?
JS: Good ones would be girls getting crazy, trying to touch my feet on stage or offering to follow me after the show....Bad ones would be guys showing jealousy by trying to mess the show up, being noisy or even trying to get on stage.......Of course both situations are pretty rare....Unfortunately for one of them. Guess which one!!!

DJ Sugarstarr & Jay Sebag @ Zeal, 10pm November 25.