Deep Crates Cartel relaunches at The Q Underground, Al Barsha on April 11. Our friends at Hype spoke with Russian-born, London- and Berlin-based, DJ Vadim ahead of the event. Here he is in his own words..

“I’ve got about 8,000 or 9,000 records, which is quite a bit, but not compared to other people. I’m into all kinds of music. I love novelty records, spoken-word records, children’s records. I’ve got great spoken-word records here telling you how to tell the time, how to look after your kittens, how to recognise a vampire… I love those.”

“I’m not a reggae producer, but I’m very inspired by it so I borrow bass patterns but programme them in a more electronic way. I’m sure if I didn’t live in London, I would make very different music.”

“I think everyone should have to travel. In fact, I think the world would be a better place if we did because then we could all have a better understanding of our own life and our own society.”

“I travel round the world looking for stuff. What I do is take different sounds from different records and combine them in a way that no-one else will. The idea, for me, is to try to make a record that no-one else could do.”

“I have a love/hate affair with hip hop. There’s some great stuff now but it’s not on the radio. It will never be like it was in the ’80s and ’90s. It’s a corporate commodity – there’s more garbage now than ever before. But that’s music in general. Ninety per cent of music on the radio is garbage.”

“I always wanted to play in a club and be paid to play in a club as a DJ. That was my first dream because back then, in the late ’80s and early ’90s, I used to throw my own parties and the very thought of someone else hiring me was huge.”

“DJing is a bit like being a captain of a ship. You set the course, the speed, the direction, the navigation.”

The Q Underground, Holiday Inn, Al Barsha. Friday, 9pm to 3am. Dhs125, Dhs75 for members. Tel: (055) 4186265. Metro: Sharaf DG