Q&A: Seth Troxler

In the last eight years, Seth Troxler has gone from being a talked-about newcomer, keeping Detroit's techno and house fires burning, to becoming arguably the most important and spoken about underground DJ of a generation. And while the 29-year-old's larger than life personality, and willingness to speak out on subjects others remain coy on, gets him plenty of attention from the media, he's got where he is today because of a steely drive that's seen him sometimes take in nearly 200 gigs each year (including his famously captivating sets at clubs like DC10, Trouw and Fabric) alongside running several record labels. As he gears up for another summer that includes a residency at DC10, countless festivals and his very own party, Acid Future in London, we caught up to find out if he thinks acid house could ever happen again, why you should never trust journalists and why he's scared of spending the summer in Ibiza.

You're throwing a party called Acid Future in London this August. What's the idea behind it?

Well, everyone seems to think it's going to be some kind of acid house heritage party, but that's not it really. We had a chance to work with London Warehouse Events on something and use the Tobacco Dock space, so we thought it would be cool to throw a proper underground rave, something that would really suit the space. Everyone who's seen me play knows I play an eclectic mix of old acid house and 90s New York or Chicago house. I can't claim to be an acid house DJ. I was born in the 80s, so certainly wasn't going to raves then, but a lot of the music we stand for – the Martinez Brothers and I – stems from that scene. It's about taking that idea and trying to push it forward and add more layers to it.

Acid house was a huge countercultural movement that went beyond just the music. Do you think a similar seismic change could take place today?

There is a sense that rave culture might have been the last big youth countercultural movement. Is there actually space in the future, with how governments and technology work now, to have a big countercultural movement again? I'm not sure. Right now there's an explosion in people getting turned on to dance music culture so there could be a kind of second coming of mass raving, but it wouldn't really be underground. Current technological trends and social media won't allow anything to truly stay underground.

Do you think music might get more radical with the election of a majority Tory government in the UK?

There does seem to be a thing where when the socio-economic scale is at the lowest and things are really bad for the poorest in society, the most radical ideas and music come out. Like punk coming out of the UK in the 70s. People seem to have been stuck in such a commercial trend with music that kids are hungry for something with a bit more depth.