Pedro Winter is without a doubt one of the most influential people in electronic music today. As an artist manager and head of Ed Banger Records, he’s been the driving force behind the careers of Daft Punk, Justice, Cassius, SebastiAn, Breakbot and so many others. Not only this, but he’s carved out a career for himself as a selector. Anyone who’s ever seen a Busy P set will know that he’s no lousy Jack of all trades.

There are almost too many things to ask the Frenchman. So, with a little shitloads of excitement, our writer Sandro Dallarmi embarked on that quest and got on the phone to Pedro himself. However, Busy P lived up to his name – he had a ridiculous amount of stuff going on and wanted to postpone the interview for later that evening. While he is busy, the man also lives up to his promises, so read on to hear his thoughts on American festivals, the 90s house and garage revival, and a sneaky party that Ed Banger are throwing down in Australia very soon.

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Sandro: It seems like a lot of the Ed Banger crew has been absent from the major US festivals lately. Is this intentional?

Busy P: Justice did a 1 year world tour, they deserved to rest. We are doing a big Ed Banger stage at HARD Summer in august in L.A with Mr Oizo, Justice, Breakbot, So Me and me as Busy P. We did Coachella, Lolapalooza, Ultra, etc. Sometimes it’s good to take some time off and come back stronger. Also, electronic festivals need to re-think their vision. This whole EDM thing is scary. I prefer to play a smaller room with kids who know who we are rather than a 10,000 capacity tent with kids who don’t know who Romanthony is!

Sandro: Did you see what Wolfgang Gartner had to say about mainstage DJs playing nothing but Beatport top 10 hits? Any thoughts on the topic?

Busy P: Nope I did not see, but I think we agree on this.

Sandro: Regardless of your feelings about America, it’s fair to say that Australia is never lacking some Ed Banger love. Do you remember Adelaide Parklife 2010? You had a conga line on the stage with some really special people like Mehdi and Ajax.

Busy P: You are talking about magic moment, especially since we lost those 2 amazing people. This is the only reason why i am doing all this. Ed Banger is about conga line, having fun and bring the nicest people together. Ajax and Mehdi were guys with big smile on their face, this is why we need to continue what we started. I wanted to stop Ed Banger when Mehdi passed away. I continue thinking of him everyday.

Sandro: There will be good times Down Under again soon, with the Australian Ed Banger 10th Anniversary party approaching. What have you got planned?

Busy P: We are working on it…But YES OZ is def part of my plan for this celebration. Our history is linked with the electronic invasion in OZ. I think we grew up at the same time. I remember the first Parkilfe, now it’s one of the hottest fest in the game

Sandro: I was reading an interview with you from 2007, when the French touch sound really hit its stride. You said that you didn’t have a plan and you were just concentrating on the present. Now we’re in 2013 and many genre fads have come and gone. Has your attitude about how you run Ed Banger changed?

Busy P: Nope and that’s the secret. I do things, I don’t plan things. I never wanted Ed Banger to be stuck in one sound. If people are still thinking we are doing noisy banger, then I can’t do anything for them. Mr Flash, DJ Mehdi or Krazy Baldhead are not doing the same music as Mr Oizo or Justice!

Sandro: Speaking of genre fads, 90s UK garage and house is having a huge revival at the moment thanks to guys like Disclosure, plus we’re hearing really warm, soulful sounds at slower tempos from artists like Bondax and Flume. What do you think about those guys?

Busy P: I am coming from this, I discovered house music with Kenny Dope, Louie Vega or Kerri Chandler. So I am very happy I can play my old records. It’s good to see kids really “dance” in clubs rather than stage diving (I had fun doing it) but it’s good to change.