INTERVIEW WITH DJ SÉBASTIEN LÉGER

Where are you from?
I’m French, born and raised, even though I moved a lot in my life, and lived more than 10 years in Amsterdam.

When did you start DJing – and what or who were your early passions and influences?

I started DJing in my bedroom in 1994, so that’s 25 years ago, I got my first residency at the age of 16 in a gay club in France. My early loves were U.S. and U.K. garage house like Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Masters at Work, then Chicago House with Dj Sneak, Derrick Carter and Paul Johnson. Apart from that, Disco and Funk from early 80’s.
How would you describe your DJ performance/music style?
I like to play happy music rather than dark and depressing. I like groovy vibes. I balance between melodic vibe and dance floor friendly tracks to keep things moving. Overall I think it’s very colorful music.

Best gig ever?
My first Igloofest in Montreal was very epic in front of a sold out 10.000 people outdoor floor by -20 degrees outside. Lately I had an amazing time in Dubai with All Day I Dream.

You’ve been to Bali so many times, what do you love the most about being here?
I love riding a bike in the rice fields, to get some breakfast here and there, and enjoying the sun. That moment with myself with that very specific vibe, that is what I like about Bali.

What is the feeling you want to evoke when you DJ?
I want to make people dance it out to good music and stop them from being so picky when it comes to genre they wouldn’t expect me to play. A DJ set is not two or three hours of the same genre for me.

How would you define the job and describe the influence of the DJ? How are the experience and the music transformed through your work?
I’d need a full chapter for this answer, it is not necessarily what people think it is, it can be very hard physically and mentally. You need to be very stable in your head to handle some situation and the artist lifestyle. The DJ world has changed a lot in the past few years, not especially in the good way with all the fake attention on social media. I’ll stop here 😉

You have collaborated with Mixmag before, how was it?
Yes I did play at their headquarter in NYC at the Lab. It was fun to do, I’m happy to do that again in Bali with a different landscape!

You’ve been playing at Woobar for several times, what do you expect from the upcoming gig and the collaboration?
I’ll play outdoors this time rather than the Woobase, so it will be a different vibes, but I have no idea what to expect but a sunset and my music. Everytime I played at the W Bali, it was always really fun, I love it!

Fire questions:
1. Ibiza or Bali?
Bali, no doubt about it.
2. New York or LA?
Tokyo.
3. Burger or Pizza?
Burger, pizza is one of my last option on the menu…
4. Morning or night person?
Night obviously 🙂
5. Giving presents or getting presents?
I don’t celebrate Christmas or my birthday, so I barely got presents. So I guess I’m
more the one giving them.