We had the pleasure of speaking with Thomas Gold on top of the Empire State Building before his sold out show at Roseland Ballroom on January 26. His passion for music and utter affability shined through during yesterdays fleeting discussion of the New York City atmosphere, Gold’s insane world tour and his favorite current tracks.
Gold has taken the globe by storm with his explosive original productions and hard-hitting remixes, not only heard in his live performances but also in his weekly podcast, Fanfare Radio Show. We would call his sounds “danceable,” but that would imply the option to dance while listening to his sets. Try not to move…we dare you.
WRR: We hear you love coming to New York. Why is that?
TG: I just like to hang out, and the restaurants…last night for example I just ran into a small place called Lucky Strike, it’s one of these little bistros, maybe like, seats for 40 people. I love how much stuff is going on here in Manhattan because it’s all so close together, and the variety of things, and how open people are to anything. The river, and the views…it’s the whole thing! I can’t really pick this or that thing, but I can just kind of feel it when I go to the studio here, it’s always this kind of energy that’s around me, and it’s very inspiring, actually.
WRR: We feel the energy too. Is there anything you haven’t done yet in New York that you’d really like to try?
TG: I’d like to do a helicopter thing, to see it from above. I heard they do that, and one day I want to do that.
WRR: So you’ve been on your world tour right now. Are you enjoying yourself?
TG: Yes, yes. It’s amazing; it has been great so far. I’ve been in Australia for the second half of December, and then flew to Los Angeles where I started my North American part of the tour, and I must say it’s just amazing how the shows went so far, and how crazy people go, to see all the love and to see how big the scene is right now. I’m just proud to be part of that.
WRR: What are your favorite parts of the tour so far?
TG: There’s so many surprises. Of course I like to be in Miami, I played LIV a couple days ago, but then I was in Ottawa last weekend and that was my first time, and it was so great. It was packed and completely sold out, and people were freaking out. It was like a little festival in a club, people were sitting on each other’s shoulders and raving from beginning to end. I’m always adding favorite places to my list, it’s hard to pick.
WRR: What sorts of things are on your rider for this tour? Anything weird?
TG: I have the normal drink thing, like vodka, Red Bull, like, Patrón, Jägermeister, beers, water… so it’s kind of a range, and I don’t drink at all, so…
WRR: You have some crazy mashups in your live sets. How do you go about picking what songs work the best together?
TG: You know, I just try it out. I love to play around a lot. Whenever I get a new track, I put it in my library, and when I sit down and play with these things I put together the tracks. Of course, they have to key match, but sometimes you can pitch them up or down to make them match. And sometimes I just take a beat track and mash it up with the baseline of another one. So, I don’t really think too much about it, I just do it and I see how it feels. Sometimes I try out an edit and it doesn’t work that well, so I skip it, or I tweak it until it works. But it’s kind of a daily process I’m in, it’s part of the whole thing.
WRR: Are there any new tracks or dance albums right now that you are really passionate about right now? What about older music?
TG: Yeah! I’m a big fan of the new Arno Cost track, it’s called “Head Up.” And I’m very excited about this new one coming out called Wakanda, it’s Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike. It’s a great track and I think those 2 is what’s defining what’s coming next sound wise. I do listen to Jamiroquai sometimes and Coldplay, or sometimes I just listen to chill out, or whatever comes on the radio when I’m sitting in a car, so just to look beyond the border of electronic music.
WRR: Who are you looking to collaborate with in 2013?
TG: I can’t tell too much, there is some stuff going on right now. There’s lot of guys…but Axwell is one of my favorites, and we did this remix together that it blew up, that was one of a kind. Of course Steve Angello, and guys like Tiesto, but let’s see!
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