Made his mark on 2022 with panache: Fred Gibson, the 29-year-old DJ andproducer you can call Fred Again.. His ‘Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)’ wasalready a lockdown hit, last year the last part of his Current Life trilogywas received with cheers and dancing, and he gave a five-star concert atPukkelpop. Moreover, the Briton was one of the first headliners to beannounced for Rock Werchter 2023. About Belgian regional beers, Brian Eno andasthma puffers: Humo spoke to the breakthrough of the year.
Matthew MintenJanuary 6, 20233:00 PM
A viral TikTok video showed how a fan bumped into your turntable, causing thesound to cut out in the room. You did not scold the man, but gave him a hug.That was the most heartwarming thing I’ve seen this year.
Fred Gibson ( laughs ): “ fucking Rodney! He was dancing so hard he bumpedhis beer belly into my table. You could see the fear in his eyes when themusic stopped. But I can’t be angry because someone gives everything? Everyoneshould have that much energy on the dance floor.
”In the meantime I met him again: a sympathetic man. And he just sent me amessage: if I can’t put him on the guest list for a concert. So a true friend_grins_ ).”
You have made three records in a year and a half, performed almost fifty timesin recent months and also work as a producer for Ed Sheeran and Stormzy, amongothers. Don’t you run the risk of colliding with a burnout?
Gibson: “Ask me again in a year when I’m on the couch recovering ( laughs ).No, at the moment I’m happy with how everything is going, I’ll see what thefuture brings. You have a point, but when you put it like that it soundsheavier than it is.
“The blessing of my job is that it never really feels like work. Plus: thereare plenty of moments to relax. During a tour there are also evenings withouta show. Well, then chances are you’ll find me dead drunk in the city center (smile ).”
Remarkable: almost all the photos I find of you seem to have been taken eitherin a car or on public transport.
Gibson: “I like to travel. I also like to work and write in vehicles. Theinspiration then comes more smoothly, it’s my best state of mind. Muchbetter than waking up and rushing straight to a studio where it has to happen.
“By the way, the train to Brussels was one of the best I’ve taken.”
I will pass it on to the NMBS. What’s the craziest place you’ve ever made asong?
Gibson: “The smoking room of a club in Berlin, while there was plenty ofdancing around me. Well, I don’t need much more than a laptop: I can workanywhere. I don’t need to drag a cello or anything ( laughs ).”
‘The train to Brussels is one of the best I’ve ever taken.’Image rv
Do you sometimes drink before or during a show?
Gibson: “No! If I make it a habit to drink two beers before a show, one day itwill be three. And then four and five and seventeen, until things getcompletely out of hand. I know myself.
“Even if I only drink two beers, I’m less focused and my voice soundsdifferent. People don’t pay for that. I want to give them the best possibleperformance.”
Recently you had to bring out your asthma inhaler during a performance.
Gibson: “I always give my all during a show and sweat like crazy. It’sexhausting. But I smoke, so it’s entirely my own fault if I get out of breath.Don’t write it as if I’m fishing for pity.”
You played everywhere this year: from small venues to Coachella. What suitsyou best?
Gibson: “I recently played in the velodrome in Berlin in front of 12,000people, the night after in Hamburg with an audience of barely 600 people.Well, both shows are among my favorites of 2022.”
Does your next record have a track called ‘Rodney’? Every song of yours_Current Life_ trilogy is named after the person you sampled.
Gibson (vague) : “Often I just run into someone online who lives on theother side of the world. I send them a message to ask if I can use theirvoices for my music, and get almost nothing but positive responses. Kyle,Sabrina, Angie… They were so much fun!”
Cards on the table: you have become a world star this year. Is that alreadyreflected in your rider?
Gibson: “Absolutely not. I only ask for scented candles. I used to have morewishes: Kinder Bueno and Guinness, especially. But you quickly get tired ofthe same food and drink every day. Henceforth I will be content with what isavailable. In the AB that was a good selection of regional beers ( laughs).”
What is your favorite meeting of the past years?
Gibson: “I got to know Jay-Z thanks to Stormzy. Special: Jay speaks non-stopin quotes, like a kind of prophet. I filmed my first conversation with him onmy iPhone, which later became the intro to Stormzy’s set at Glastonbury.”
You have been aspiring to a music career since you were 6.
Gibson: “I already played the piano then, yes, and thought it was fantastic.(Fast) I was not a prodigy, because I turned out to be untalented in almostevery other way. I wrote my first song when I was 9 and by my 10th birthday myfirst album was ready. There were surprisingly many power ballads on it (laughs ).”
Will we ever hear it again? Whether or not mixed with newer work?
Gibson: “ Mate, that ‘s brilliant! (Makes note in his cell phone) I willimmediately look for those songs at home and see what I can do with them.”
Brian Eno became your mentor at 16. What did he see in you?
Gibson: “No idea. But recently my mom sent me an interview in which Brian saidthat I’m his mentor as well, and that he’s even started listening to musicdifferently because of me. To hear that from someone like Brian is… crazy.”
Did you know who he was when you met him?
Gibson: “He was the neighbor of a friend of the house, and I knew he was doingsomething in music. I hoped to learn something from him, so I courted him bymaking tea every week with the singing group he met with. I had no idea howbig Roxy Music had been, nor did I know he had collaborated with David Bowieand Talking Heads. Perhaps better this way: if I had known all that, I wouldhave been terrified and intimidated.”
What’s the best advice he’s ever given you?
Gibson (thinks) : “Brian told me about his postman in Norfolk not long ago.Perhaps a job that doesn’t seem exciting to everyone, but that man did saythis fantastic sentence: ‘Someone’s existence is just as interesting as whatyou make of it in your head’. Verily: words to live by.”
How interesting is your own life?
Gibson ( laughs ): “Very fascinating! And I will always find that. Even if Iever become a postman.”