By Garry Lu (@mrputneyswope)
DJ, producer, Lord of Snapchat, and Baron of Memes. Fresh from the release of his latest collaboration with G-Eazy, powerhouse of EDM Dillon Francis is set for a return here in Australia, headlining Groovin’ the Moo 2017. We sat down with him, not at all disappointed, to discuss name confusion with piñatas, his alias DJ Hanzel, seduction soundtracks, and throwing cow shit.
I actually requested an interview with DJ Hanzel. It’s totally fine. Not disappointed or anything. I mean, is it like that time mum promised everything was OK only to divorce dad later? Sure. But… let’s do this.
I hope it’s OK.
It’s fine. Professional face and… don’t cry this time, Garry, don’t cry.
[Laughs.]You just dropped a new track, Say Less with G-Eazy. How did that come to be?
That actually came to be from… it’s actually from a kid on Twitter four years ago, that hit both of us up… He hit up G and was like, “You should make a song with Dillon Francis.” And G was like, “I’m down.” And then I saw that and was like, “Of course I’m down, let’s do this.” It took us… four years, to finally get into the studio… Our schedules were so hectic, and when I was touring, he was off tour, and when he was on tour, I was off tour. So that’s why it’s taken so long, but in the beginning of this year, we got into the studio and that’s how that song came about.
Was there any confusion during the recording stage, G-Eazy’s name being Gerald, and you yourself with your own papier-mache life partner being named Gerald.
The thing that’s funny is that I didn’t know his name was Gerald until I got in the studio, and one of his friends was like, “Yo, Gerald.” And I was like, “Oh shit!” Now I get G-Eazy. His first name is Gerald… And then I never said anything about it because I’m assuming G doesn’t follow me… I didn’t even know what to say… I’m not going to say, “Hey man, I have a piñata named you.” And he’d be like, “What the fuck are you talking about dude?” [Laughs.] So there was no confusion in the studio whatsoever. I was just laughing to myself thinking, “Oh shit, I named my piñata after him.”
The dynamic between you and G-Eazy worked a treat. Do you have your sights set on any other collaborations with hip-hop artists?
The G one was really… I didn’t seek him out because he was a hip-hop artist or anything, I just sought him out because we’d been trying to make something for a long time, and we just never got into the studio. I knew what we were going to make was going to be really fun and interesting and unique… And that’s what happened. If hip-hop artists come to me, I’m down, but I’m not actively looking for more hip-hop artists. Like right now, I’m looking for more Spanish speaking artists, or like Latin, Spanish, or Spanglish… Kind of like Que Que, that record I did with Diplo.
(In reference to the Need You music video) Do you really have a CD titled ‘Music to get Pussy to’, and if so, what songs would be on there?
You got Kid Rock’s Bawitaba, you got Limp Bizkit, maybe the whole discography… a tonne of B.I.G, The Chronic, 2001, and… what else would be on that? I feel like some Whitesnakes. Maybe some Led Zepplin. And boom you’re set. You’ve got it all.
You’re actually set to play at Groovin’ the Moo. What can the groovers and cow people expect from your set?
I’m going to be throwing tonnes of cow shit at everybody. [Laughs.] No. [Laughs.]
You have to have a thing. Steve Aoki throws cake, you have to throw cow shit.
I’m going to start putting candles into cow shit before throwing it at people’s face…. But no, I just want to see the craziest party possible when I go on stage. And I think that’s going to be achieved at every stop in Groovin’ the Moo. For sure. Just because I have so much new music I’m going to be playing. I haven’t been back in Australia for a bit, it’s going to be really fun… I bought a new Fuji camera recently that takes amazing pictures, and I literally bought it because I knew I was going back to Australia. I wanted to have it for the whole tour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l-PjIqPOBw
You’re free to answer these final few questions, but I think Hanzel would be more suitable. First one, how would you sell deep house to someone that just can’t get into the genre?
Hold on, let me go get him. ‘Cos I can’t answer that question.
[DJ Hanzel enters.]Vus up, this is DJ Hanzel. So I heard the question from the room, because I am so deep, I can hear everything. I already knew you vanted to interview me, and I am sad you had to talk to Dillon Francis the entire time, because that is really shitty.
This is such an honour, thank you.
So the thing is, a person who is not a connoisseur of deep house—vhy vould you ever vant them to be a connoisseur of deep house? ‘Cos they’re not deep, ‘cos they never understood it. And they never vill. Next question.
And finally, a personal dilemma: what do you do when you’re with your girl, and she tells you to go one deeper, but you’re all out of conspiracy theories?
Vhut girl? Oh you mean sexual. I need no man, nor woman. I only need the deep house. So, can I go vun deeper? Yes. Will I? [Whispers.] Only for me.
Thank you so much DJ Hanzel, you’ve made my career. Dillon was OK too I guess.
Thank you so much. This vas very fun, I liked it… Next question.
Make sure you see Dillon & more awesome artist at the upcoming Groovin The Moo festival dates, which you can check out here and at dillonfrancis.com.
April 28 – Groovin the Moo, Adelaide, SA
April 29 – Groovin The Moo, Maitland, NSW (SOLD OUT)
April 30 – Groovin The Moo, Townsville, QLD
May 04 – The Metro, Sydney, NSW
May 05 – The Tivoli, Brisbane, QLD
May 06 – Groovin The Moo, Bendigo, VIC (SOLD OUT)
May 07 – Groovin The Moo, Canberra, ACT (SOLD OUT)
May 10 – Corner Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
May 12 – Villa Nightclub, Perth, WA
May 13 – Groovin The Moo, Bunbury, WA
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