Sound art, experimental noise, video games and Dr. Dre. If any of the above excite you, you’re in luck: DJ Seph is coming direct from Buenos Aires to mix up an eclectic electronica storm at Lantern this Saturday. Before his arrival in China and exclusive set in Beijing, Seph tells tbj who his influences are, what kind of candy he likes, and how to fall in love with electronica …

the Beijinger: What's the electronic scene like in Buenos Aires?
DJ Seph: In Buenos Aires, there’s a huge electronic scene that revolves around many styles such as techno, electro, trance and progressive house, the latter being the main one. There are many clubs, underground and mainstream, and the listening and clubbing crowd is just enormous. The underground artists and clubs are great – many innovative ideas are being constantly developed and a lot of techno artists are involved in other musical arts such as sound art, noise … one of the best clubs is Cocoliche.

tbj: Will this be your first time in China, and are you playing any other cities besides Beijing?
Seph: It’s my first time in China and I’m only playing in Beijing. I’m looking forward to it like a kid … it’s a surreal dream come true!

tbj: What do you know/what have you heard about the electronic scene in China?
Seph: I’ve heard many things but I’m still clueless. I’ve seen videos from small clubs and the INTRO 2009 Festival, and I’ve been told weird stories. I’m sure it’s going to be amazing, not just to see the electronic scene but to also see the country and its people.

tbj: What kind of set will you be spinning?
Seph: I will be doing a live set. It will be a techno set, with hints of minimal and tech house, I guess.

tbj: Will you be using any records or doing a purely digital set?
Seph: My live set is composed of loops and ideas from my music only, and I will play it with my laptop, midi controller and sound card. I might also take a small piece of equipment such as a kick drum module …

tbj: What song or DJ will make anyone fall in love with electronica?
Seph: In terms of techno, Ricardo Villalobos. His productions are filled with wonderful musical ideas and the quality of his sounds is just top-notch (check out his Alcachofa album!) – and as a DJ he also rocks. Other electronica artists I have huge respect for are the artists from Warp Records, like Plaid and Aphex Twin ... these people make great music and some of their material is a bit easier to get into, so I guess they could work to “fall in love with electronica.” The thing is, electronic music is mixed so much with other types of music that it gets hard to separate and point out if something is purely electronica. Björk is an idol for me and she can be considered as an “electronica” artist.

tbj: If music were transformable into colors, what color would yours be and why?
Seph: Well, it’s difficult to say, although right from the get-go I can say it would be the darker shades like black, blues and greens, since my music is usually deep and obscure (though not evil!), and many people say that it makes them visualize caves, woods, streams and environments from fantasy tales.

tbj: What's your favorite color of Skittles?
Seph: I like all colors!

tbj: What's your favorite kind of candy?
Seph: Milk chocolate and dulce de leche, an Argentine traditional sweet syrup.

tbj: If you could have dinner and a conversation with anyone, living or dead, who would that be and why?
Seph: John Cage, one of the most important theorists and experimental sound artists of the last century. He is a major influence in the way I see music. His ideas, not only musical but about life and society, are very forward-looking in every sense. He passed away in the nineties, leaving behind very special messages about making and perceiving sounds. It is from him that I understood that sound doesn’t need to represent or mean anything. I don’t need a sound to be a special something or to carry a message. Sounds are what they are and we should enjoy them as such, and interpretation of any sound – and what’s more, of any art – is highly misleading, and even disrespectful to the sound and to the artist. I probably also inherited from him a good chunk of my love for noise …
I would also love to meet the guys from Radiohead, especially Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood … I just love that band, ever since I was a teenager. Another person I’d love to sit and chat with is Nobuo Uematsu, the wonderful soundtrack composer of the Japanese Final Fantasy video game series … highly influential in what I do.

Catch DJ Seph at Lantern on Saturday, Feb 27. 10pm start.