Garage producer Huxleys reach through the dance world could be easily defined as seismic, with a never ending output of ground shaking dubby originals and remixes he’s doing things his own at times unpredictable way.

Ahead of Huxley’s Australian tour this month, we got to sit him down and ask him a few questions on where he’s heading with his music and hopefully not piss off his manager.

SR: You’re sound has evolved a lot recently, going forward into a darker, more techno direction. Do you get itchy sticking to the one sound or is it just a natural progression for you?

H: It’s a bit of both for me. I get bored writing the same kind of thing and I had fallen into a trap of writing to a bit of a formula so it was time to move on. Some people don’t like that I’m not still making the UK house stuff, and some people can’t understand it, but as an artist you have to move on or you just stagnate and die. There’s no harm in having a sound, of course, but it’s always got to evolve, just as you go through life and get influenced by different things.

SR: In your interview with Spin, you spoke about your, we’ll call it ‘disdain’ for people who refer to controllers, especially Traktor as just pressing play. I totally agree with you, give any average joe Traktor and they wouldn’t know how to use it, I mean give the average DJ Joe and he wouldn’t know. But also it kind of takes away from talent, song selection and a whole list of things I don’t have to explain to you. Why do you think it is that DJs cop so much criticism for things like using Traktor?

H: Because it’s new and it has lowered the entry level into DJ-ing. A lot of the people who don’t like it are old-school guys who can’t move on from two 1210s and a mixer. I still love that vibe, but new technology will always come along and change things. Also, it’s just another excuse to publicly air your views, it’s so boring listening to the same debates all the time. Just do your thing and be you, don’t worry about what everyone else is using. Whatever works for you is best.

SR: I found your Spin interview really refreshing actually. I could tell it was you and not your manager answering the questions plus you had some interesting views, including “I’m so f**king bored with the typical deep house sound”. Do you have any other gripes with dance music that you’d like to air?

H: Haha, there’s a lot but I still want to have a career, so until something really gets to me I think it’s best for all involved (and my managers sanity) that I keep it to that. If anything comes up though, I’ll give you a call.

SR: Besides electronic music, what do you listen to? Do you ever get electronic music fatigue?

H: I listen to a lot of other music to be honest. I think that’s important. Listening to one thing can definitely hold you back as far as inspiration goes. I listen to a lot of different stuff, a lot of hip hop, real soul music and also a bit of pop. I would say music, for me, has to have soul. I wish I could write a soul record as I love it, but I just don’t know if I have it in me. Maybe one day. I’m really into someone called Pearl Gates at the moment, he’s making proper New York style hip hop, he’s great.

SR: Congratulations on your Widow EP being released on Aus Music recently. It’s already received rave reviews and it’s the perfect balance of dark and light and I can’t wait to hear it in the club. How long did you work on this EP and how do you feel about the reception so far?

H: Well, I didn’t actually release any original music last year until September and I had started working on a new vibe all last year so, by the time it was time to pick the tracks for the 2.0 EP, there were a lot of tracks and demos there anyway. When I got to making the ‘Widow’ EP I only had a few months to deliver it. ‘Tailwind’ was taken from the old demos as both Will and I loved it, but Hopeless and Widow came along quite quickly. I think I made both within about a week of each other, and then finished them over the next month or something. The reception has been great. It’s great to see people like Sasha playing it. The whole thing for me, after ‘Blurred’, was to reconnect with the underground house and techno DJs again, something I think my more ‘UK’ based music didn’t do. So to see it doing just that is awesome. It never gets old seeing people you admire and respect playing your music.

SR: It’s pretty early in the year to be asking this, but hey why not – what are your plans for 2016? Do you have any goals you want to kick this year?

H: There’s a lot in the bag at the moment, but up first are some remixes for Rejected, Moda Black, Viva, Classic, Tricky and my own label NIO. Loads of new music planned too, next up is a track for the 10 years of AUS compilation. Also, we have some great stuff coming on No Idea’s Original too. some super hot up-and-comers and also some legends. So it’s all good!

SR: Let’s go back now, what do you think was your proudest moment from 2015? Any regrets? Or are you a no regrets kind of guy?

H: God knows really, my memory isn’t very good and also once one thing is done I’m onto the next, I try not to dwell on things that have happened in the past. I’m more focused on what’s to come in the future.

Huxley’s ‘Widow’ EP is now out, grab your copy here

Huxley Australian Tour Dates

Thursday 18th February: W Hotel, Bali
Friday 19th February: XL Factory, Perth
Saturday 20th February: The Met, Brisbane
Saturday 21st February: Revolver Upstairs, Melbourne
Tuesday 23rd February: Hullabaloo Festival, Dunedin
Wednesday 24th February: Hullabaloo Festival, Christchurch
Thursday 25th February: Hullabaloo Festival, Auckland
Saturday 27th February: Chinese Laundry, Sydney