III Points headliner Duke Dumont sat down with us before his set to talk about what's changed since his rise to fame.
Duke Dumont.
Grammy-nominated British DJ and producer Duke Dumont has had a breakthrough year with "I Got U" featuring vocals by Jax Jones. But just because his hit single has gone mainstream, the 32-year-old chart-topper assures us that he isn't in it for the fame or the money; he's playing it cool, even at 1 a.m. on Saturday morning before his set at Wynwood’s III Points festival when we chatted with him about embracing his success, performing in Miami, and his favorite cereal.
Your single “I Got U” has skyrocketed in popularity. How has the past year been for you?
DUKE DUMONT: The past year has probably cut off about 10 years of my life, but I’m happy to do that (laughs). I’m having fun. I’m happy to work to the pressure I’m under. In the UK, it’s the second No. 1 I’ve had on the Billboard charts, so that kind of took me to a different category. What’s funny is that I’ve got one on the club side and one on the real commercial side; it’s a bit schizophrenic, but I love my club music. I’ll never stop DJing or making club music. But ["I Got U"] is taking me to a different arena.
How does it feel to hear your music spread around the world so quickly like that?
DD: Right at this point in time it makes me really, really happy that as many people can hear it as possible. When it first started happening, it got me a little bit nervous because my ego was telling me that I’m this type of artist, I play in this type of club, but over time I started to appreciate everything else, too. It actually gives you more choices. You’re not just limited to that arena—there’s a whole other world out there with bigger festival shows. And I’m comfortable with that. As long as I do it on my own terms and don’t change my musical taste and style to chase the big dollar. I’m really embracing it.
What’s been one of your biggest influences in life, and in music?
DD: My biggest influence in life the older I get is the more relaxed I am about things. I have a record label called Blasé Boys Club, and the term blasé is kind of a shrug of the shoulders...It’s about having fun and not caring about the other things. On a musical level, I’m influenced in the studio by working with a good musician. That inspires me. The reason I got into the game was because of other people’s music—I loved it so much and wanted to try to do the same thing. Fifteen years of hard work in the studio started because of the music I loved.
Who are you listening to right now that you’re really enjoying?
DD: I just did a season in Ibiza, so it’s more like guys who don’t have a back catalog of albums, but they have one incredible track that I’ll play. There’s a guy I just signed to my label called Kiwi; he's the middle ground between Daniel Avery and myself. We’re all connected.
Is this your first time playing in Miami? What was the appeal for you about III Points?
DD: It’s probably the best lineup I’ve seen in the U.S. for a festival, for me, personally. I mean it’s egotistical and arrogant to say it for everyone else because everything’s relative, but for me, the best lineup I’ve seen or been on in North America.
It’s about my fourth time in Miami. [My first time was] Winter Music Conference in 2007. I played Slap & Tickle and that was great...I played a pool party after WMC. I tend to boycott [WMC] after my first experience, because back then obviously no one knew who I was, which is a good place to be because you get a true feeling of how it’s like. My feeling of it back then was just a bunch of DJs with their egos, saying "Oh, what hotel you staying at? What party you playing at?" It was all competition; it wasn’t actually fun. When I did it all those years ago, it wasn’t about music—it was about prestige and hierarchy and the lineup. So every time I come to Miami, it’s always been outside WMC, but I probably will be doing [it] next year. My attitude towards it has changed.
What was your favorite cereal as a kid?
DD: In the UK we used to have generic cereals, so it’d be a knockoff of Lucky Charms. That’s the most evil cereal—it’s not normal is it? It’s the worst thing you can give someone for breakfast. I grew up on fast food, but I haven’t had it for about 20 years.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF FACEBOOK.COM/DUKEDUMONT