Dave Winnel's new CD Electro House Sessions 7 is out now. Picture: MY MEDIA SYDNEY
DAVE Winnel wouldn’t believe it until he saw it with his own eyes.
There it was, on the new releases rack at his local JB Hi-Fi — Ministry Of Sound’s Electro House Sessions 7.
Winnel had been there before when the dance music giant had dropped previous editions of its Electro Sessions series but this one was very different — his name was on the cover.
“I always doubt myself, even while mixing the compilation I was still thinking, what if they pull the pin?,” Winnel recalls.
“So when I walked in and saw it on the shelf I was very relieved and couldn’t stop smiling all the way home.”
Having already had his own productions spun to global audiences by superstar DJs such as Tiesto, Calvin Harris and Axwell, the former Border DJ’s career is on a sharp incline.
Rating his selection to mix Electro House Sessions 7 as a career highlight, Winnel made sure he made mention in the CD booklet of those who helped him along the way, including Albury DJ/turntablist Jase Evans.
“More than anything these guys have really shaped my career,” Winnel says.
“Jase Evans catapulted my production level back in 2007 by arming me with all the tools I needed to produce club music. Before then I didn’t really know what I was doing.
“Tommy (Trash), (Jimi) Frew and (Bass) Kleph were the first ones to notice my music outside of Albury and help me get started in Sydney.
"Brett (Allen, Rave Radio) is just an all round legend and has hooked me up with so many people and opportunities.”
So who gets to choose which songs go on a Ministry of Sound CD? The DJ or the record label?
“Honestly, it’s about 50-50,” Winnel explains.
“In saying that, all of the songs that feature I really like.
“There were a couple that Ministry asked if I could put on there and I declined as they weren’t my style and they were cool with that.”
“That one has a massive vocal from Mr Wilson and is one of the toughest drops I’ve made,” he says.
"The Great Valley is a song I'd been working on for about two years off and on.
"The title comes from my favourite childhood movie, The Land Before Time, this is a place where the characters are trying to get to their 'happy place' and 'a place they can be free' which were the exact emotions I was trying to convey while writing this song
"It was the perfect title."
An 2014 Andy Van remix of Madison Avenue's 1999 classic Don't Call Me Baby is delivered straight after Fires Of Gold. Winnel says he likes throwing in obscure tracks in the latter half of mixes but also had an ulterior motive for choosing that particular tune.
Van, of course, was one half of Madison Avenue with Cheyne Coates and is also the co-founder of Vicious Records, the seminal Aussie dance label to which Winnel is signed and has released several singles through.
"I didn't even tell him (Don't Call Me Baby was on the mix)," Winnel says.
"I guess more than anything it was to say thanks for all he has done for me in the past."
But he rates Tommy Trash and Killagraham’s The Little Death as his favourite moment on the disc.
“The sounds in the ‘drop’ of this track are so unique and crazy and juxtaposed against the uplifting breakdown,” he says.
“It’s just magic!”
Winnel and fellow compilation mixer Tom Piper will hit the road in support of EHS7 and are set to appear at Albury’s ONE nightclub on August 15.
"We have 20 shows locked in for the tour which kicks off May 16," he says.
"I'm so excited to see so many new clubs and faces around the country and I'm really looking forward to the show at ONE in Albury.
“It’s been a very long time since I’ve played there, I did my very first ever club gig there, can’t wait to smash it again."