Published 08.01.08 —
Bassline: Why did you decided to become a solo artist instead of continuing with the Driving Soul act?

Gabe Real: Mike Rhythm and I were kind of growing in different directions musically. I felt myself gravitating more toward techno and tech-house, and he's more of a straight up house guy. We still tried to make it work, but then he ended up moving to North Carolina so it made the decision easy for both of us. We're still great friends, and I'm sure there will be another time in the future when we share the decks together.

Bassline: You say you've started a new label and promotions company Detek. Can you tell me a little bit about it and what your plans are for it?

Gabe Real: Detek is my new effort out on my own since Souldega was a collaborative effort with Mike Rhythm. For now it's primarily known as the face of my event promotions, but it's in the process of growing into a label that will launch by the end of the year. I've signed a couple of great up and coming artists, and I'm working on some content myself as well.

Bassline: You've recently changed your sound. You used to play vocal house, what are you spinning now and why the change?

Gabe Real: I play all kinds of stuff depending on the event and my mood. I still play some deep house but tend to stay away from some of the big vocal tracks that Driving Soul was known for. I also play techno and tech-house. Producers and DJs that I'm feeling right now include: Justin Martin, Dubfire, Paco Osana, Claude VonStroke, Danton Eprom, Loco Dice, Riva Starr, Shlomi Aber and Dennis Ferrer. It's really a wide range of stuff.

Bassline: There has been a lot of change lately in your musical career including your DJ and studio platforms, why the change here? What are the advantages of Mac or PC?

Gabe Real: I've been a PC guy forever but have always loved Macs. My studio was PC-based, and then I bought a Mac laptop for DJing with Serato. I found it to be very solid, so I decided to switch my studio setup to Mac as well. I've been producing with Pro Tools and Cubase for years because they're better for live recording of vocals and sessionists for the house Driving Soul was doing. But my production now is more loop and VSTI-oriented, so I've been using Abelton, Native Instruments Komplete and a Kore 2. It's way different but much better suited for what I'm doing now. I'm also switching my Serato setup out for Traktor Scratch 3 because it offers way more in terms of features.

Bassline: Tell me a little bit about the Detroit Electronic Music Festival this year.

Gabe Real: The festival itself was the best one yet. My hats off to Paxahau for doing an excellent job. It was my third time DJing at the festival but my first time solo. I DJed the underground stage and had a great time!

Bassline: You said you promote some regular parties in Detroit, tell me about those and about your local scene for those who might want to come to Detroit and check it out.

Gabe Real: I do a monthly party at Oslo with Maximal and Disfresh called Glitch. It's been going for four months and is really starting to catch on. The format is techno and house, pretty much just good music. We've had artists like: Justin Martin, Worthy, Lawnchair Generals and Aaron Day play for us so far. I also do a weekly party in the summer called Summer Sessions on Thursdays. We collaborate with a bunch of other Detroit promoters and have a solid thing going. It's on an outdoor patio on a roof right in the middle of downtown Detroit, and there's always a packed crowd and a great vibe. I'm also a resident at Bleu and play there about once a month.