House legend Robbie Rivera sat down with DJOYbeat after his triumphant return to Electric Zoo. The house producer has seen the scene change in massive ways since he first started spinning as a teen in the ’90s. From his sweet house sounds of his Juicy Music label to his infamous Juicy Beach party in Miami, the well-respected spinner lets us in on the direction of house.
Robbie, as a veteran of house music, where do you see the genre going?
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It’s confusing right now because the EDM tracks that all sound the same are still popular and growing and playing on radio. Then, there’s the wave of house producers that keep attacking and attacking and it’s working. There’s a lot of deep house, very slow BPM, that’s getting played on the radio a lot. It’s a big push, bug wave.
Do you see that continuing with house?
I don’t see it being the new flavor. If radio supports it more, maybe. I know in Europe they play a lot more house. It might still stay underground, which is kind of cool.
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You see that at some clubs around NYC.
There’s a lot of people that like house. For me to get booked on these festivals it’s tough, you know. They want the easy EDM that sells tickets the fastest. But they take their risks like they did with Sunday School.
What do you think of the Beatport and Sunday School venues?
I think it’s great. I played [Electric Zoo] two times before and both were at Hilltop. The last time I played they only had the one main stage too.
As a veteran of the scene, is there still anywhere that you haven’t been able to play just yet?
I love to play in Ibiza a lot in the summer. Ibiza, Space. The places are cool because they love house music and respect the artist a lot. Brazil and Argentina too. They like it dark and hard. They start at 4 a.m.
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How do you get prepared for that?
I don’t know. I hate it [laughs]. Then they close at 7 a.m. Then you’re with this energy like, “Okay…” In the States it’s a little easier.
What do you see as the future of house?
With tech and house producers, a lot of them are still around and producing. It’s maintained its base underground. Now that it’s more mainstream, a lot of the deep and house tracks are starting to sound the same—much like EDM. Now there’s so many people that want to be a DJ, producer, famous or in this industry. There’s too much music.
Do you see now as a bottleneck?
It’s a good question. I just like that more house music is being played. I don’t like that when’s there too much either.
What else can we expect from Robbie Rivera?
I’m working on the whole fall/winter tour right now. I’m working on a new track, “The Thing,” that will probably be out at the end of October. It was inspired by a funny thing my friend said [laughs].
Check out Robbie Rivera’s latest video, “That Summer (Kiss the Rain),” below!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37x3hfYJxcs]
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