DJ Fresh gives the lowdown on the 2014 Ultra Music Festival coming to SA for the 1st time in February

DJ Fresh (Credit: 5FM)

In a mere few weeks the 2014 Ultra Music Festival will be in South Africa for the very first time. The festival is the world's premier electronic music festival featuring the cream of the crop in the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) industry. The South African version of the annual dance music extravaganza will see local stars like Mi Casa, Goldfish, Euphonik and 5FM’s DJ Fresh (aka Big Dawg), to name a few, sharing the stage with international acts such as Blasterjaxx, Claude VonStroke, Martin Garrix and Tiësto. The Beat caught up with DJ Fresh to tell us more about this event.

You must be pretty stoked that this festival is coming to South Africa? Oh yes, indeed! It’s super cool. I’ve had the privilege to attend most of this annual festival around the world and now it’s finally coming to South Africa. Wow man, that is so cool!

What is the festival all about? If you like EDM (Electronic Dance Music) you’ll love this festival. EDM has grown so much over the past few years that it has evolved in EDM festivals being held around the world. And I think the South African market is ready for something like this. Local musicians gets the chance to share the stage with the international artists and music producers. It’s basically an orgy of EDM! (Laughs).

Martin Garrix (Credit: DJ Martin Garrix via Twitter)

There are really some big names playing at the festival, but which one are you excited about? Man, there are so many. I’ve shared the stage with most of them, but if I should choose someone, it would have to be Martin Garrix. This guy, or kid,  is only 17-years-old and he has already set the EDM scene ablaze with his amazing skills and tunes. He released some awesome tunes like Animals, Trojan, Gamer, Helicopter, Tremor and Wizard. Just a few that pops into my head. I really want to see his set at the festival.

Talking about sets, how do you prepare your set for such an event? I don’t. Some believe in pre-prepping your music for an event, and others don’t. I’m with the latter. I think it’s safe to say that pre-prepping is a bit lazy. I just go with the flow. I’ll feel the vibe from the audience and play according to that. It’s a thrill for me. You know, well-known DJ Armin van Buuren has proven my point by playing un-prepped shows while syncing it with visuals. Man, that’s amazing!

Besides the festivals, when will we see another The Fresh Drive Presents...Cheese Of The Day CD? I loved the tunes on the CD as it’s music I grew up listening to. Ha ha ha – me to man. Well, we’ve put forward a proposal to management for another one, so we are just waiting. In March I’m releasing Fresh Goes Electro and then I’m also in studio working on Fresh House Flavours Volume 8, that should hopefully be out by August/September.

*The Ultra Music Festival will take place in Cape Town at the Ostrich Farm on Friday 14 February and in Johannesburg on Saturday 15 February at the Nasrec Showgrounds.