Hear the cannon roar

British DJ Sam Cannon and percussionist Dean Oram will be packing treats for fans of house at Q Bar tonight.
Cannon experimented with every instrument under the sun before becoming a specialist in the vinyl shimmy in the ’90s, jumping from hardcore to hard house to trance and finally settling on house proper. His work with Ministry of Sound led him to join the Hed Kandi DJ team in 2005, where he’s in charge of tours and events.
With Dean Oram providing the live rhythms, Cannon treks the world with a fantastic set of delightful, uplifting sound. Here’s what he sounds like on e-mail.

Is music being created amid all the touring?
We have a lot of our artists going into the studio right now, so we’re gearing up for a big 2012 single. We really feel we need to add that extra dimension to what we do, so 2012 will be the year of Hed Kandi artists.
Oh, and I’m learning Spanish!

How did you get to where you are now?
Various clubs and people really. In the mid-’90s I was massively into the rave scene in the UK, so I used to travel up and down the country to various warehouses for Helter Skelters and Dreamscapes. All the guys came through that scene, really – Slipmatt, Vibes, Brisk and all.
Then I moved on to the harder side of house nights such as Fever, Frantic, Sunnyside Up and Strawberry Sundaze in London. God, I used to go out a lot!

What kind of music did you grow up with?
My first real dance music, aside from buying “Now That’s What I Call Dance” when I was 12, was hardcore and drum-and-bass. I always more swayed to the happier hardcore sound though travelling to various raves around the country and Club Labrynth in London.
I then went through all the stages that most kids go through, moving through all the tougher genres, then ending up where everyone does, just [fornicating] good house music. It doesn’t matter what genre it is now – as long as it’s good, I love it.

How did you first team up with Dean?
I was in London on a night out with some friends and a homeless guy was playing some pots and pans and sounded pretty good. We cleaned him up, got him a real set of bongos and here he is today!

How does live percussion enhance your music?
Whether it’s funky, deep, tech or electro, live percussion can enhance it all. Dean is fantastic at knowing when to play and knows the records. We really connect with each other, so if I kill the music, he knows to play a drum solo, then – whack! – the music is back in. All adds to the show.

Have you performed with other instruments?
We have a number of musicians who play for us who have also played in Thailand before. The Lovely Laura on sax is simply amazing. Chris Budd on percussion has played at Q Bar, as has Steve Lewis. We play with these guys a lot, and the more you play with them the better it is.

What instrument suits your DJ style best?
Percussion or sax, I’m not fussy. The musician needs to know how to play over the music, though. I’ve played at gigs where the promoter has booked a different live musician to one of ours, and it’s not a pleasant experience. Stick to what you know, and our guys all know how to rock it!

You were in Bangkok in 2010. How did you like it at Q Bar?
Loved it! Denis and Matt, who look after us, are amazing guys. The people that work there, the people that go there, the atmosphere – everything about it is spot-on. And they’ve just had it refurbished, so I’m really looking forward to see what the new place looks like.

And what will you do once you’ve seen it?
You can definitely expect some strange goings-on – and house music all night long!

FUSE LIT
Catch Sam Cannon and Dean Oram at Q Bar on Sukhumvit Soi 11 tonight. Dress code and ID rules apply.
Entry with two drinks costs Bt800. Call (02) 252 3274 or see www.QBarBangkok.com.