Interview: Sonny Wharton

Since being spotted by Renaissance in their DJ Mag mix-tape competition, three deck wizard Sonny Wharton has risen through the ranks to join the DJ elite. Abbas Ali catches up with him ahead of his appearance at next month's Wickerman Festival. 

An innovator and workaholic, Sonny Wharton has developed, tweaked and honed his three deck wizardry - resulting in industry leaders Ecler and Ortofon signing him up as a UK Ambassador to showcase just what their technology is capable of in the right pair of hands. 

Sonny's major breakthrough came when he was spotted by Renaissance in their mix-tape competition with DJ Mag. This led to a weekly Ibiza residency with Manumission and sets at Amnesia for Renaissance.

Since then Sonny’s racked up slots at the World's best loved clubbing institutions; Pacha, Ministry Of Sound, Godskitchen and Space, as well as rocking clubs and festivals all over the world. Sonny has held down a monthly residency in Barcelona, completed two solo world tours and played to over 1 million people at The Love Parade in Berlin, Germany. 

Next month he'll play at the Bass Camp dance tent at The Wickerman Festival. Skiddle catches a slot in Sonny's jectic schedule to talk decks, glamour and Summer tunes. 

How did you start out DJing? When did you discover you had what it took?

I got into DJing after hearing a Carl Cox tape in early high-school and got my first decks at about 14. By 18 i was playing pretty heavily on the local underground and free party scene, which kind of cemented it for me to follow that direction a bit further. I've always tried to push boundaries with my sets even in the early days by using three or four decks with acapellas etc., whilst most DJs around me just stuck to using two. As for 'what it took', i dont know if you can be specific about what it takes other than persistence and not giving up - I'm very driven as a person so maybe that helped with my progression more than anything.

You’ve travelled to the likes of Australia, Brazil, China, France, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, Sweden, Spain and Korea. Which place outside of the UK is your favourite?

 I really liked Australia when I was over there, but for me my favourite is Barcelona as I have a lot of friends there and it's somewhere i've DJ'd a lot. Everyone is very open minded and friendly - it's a great culture to be in!

Are you looking forward to the Wickerman Festival?

I can't wait for this year's Wickerman - this is my 5th year now and it just gets better and better every year! I'm really looking forward to seeing 808 State, Vanya Live and Unicorn Kid this year. It's definately one of the friendliest and most fun places to play over the Summer, so im really excited!

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What are your top five records at the moment?

1. Dennis Ferrer - Hey Hey

Shaping up to be THE tune of the Summer - this has been slowly gathering momentum since the beginning of the year and now absolutely destroys everywhere its dropped!

2. Afrojack - Pacha On Acid

Perfect festival material - big builds and drops laden with 303 madness from start to finish.

3. Sonny Wharton - Mi Casa, No Sofa

Brand new track from me written specifically with Summer season in mind - big drums and a strong groove is the order of the day on this little beast.

4. Samuel L Session - Can You Relate (Joris Voorn Remix)

A great groover - this just works everywhere! I love it!

5. Underworld - Scribble

The first release from their new album, this is pure brilliance and a perfect track for festivals. Underworld are well and truly back with a bang!

How glamorous is your life? Are there models, Champagne and yachts? Or is the reality not like that?

Obviously the upside is getting to play my music to a room full of people, but that aside I wouldnt really say the lifestyle that goes with it is very glamorous at all to be honest - lots of hotels, airports, delays and hours on the motorways is what most weekends consist of for a DJ... if there were yachts and models going around i definitely think I must have missed them?!

Dance music doesn’t hold the major place it used to in popular culture in the late 90s / early 2000s. Do you think those times will ever come again?

Yeh definitely - things go around in circles and it's coming back strong again - you can see it in the charts and on the radio right now.

House culture has clearly been dominated by the old guard for a long time, and you’re part of something new. Who do you rate as your most talented contemporaries, both in DJing and production?

There's loads of awesome people about at the moment and its great to see things getting shaken up a bit - it's made the old timers step their game up a lot too which is a good thing! For me, people like Ant Brooks and Ted Nilsson are blowing up on the production tip and as for DJs my good friend Paul Thomas is definitely one of the best I've come across over the last couple of years... his ability to programme a set is second to none.

Was doing your first Mix for Radio 1 a special moment? Other than that, are there any other breakthrough moments in your DJing or production career where you thought “I’ve made it”, and it felt special?

Its was all a bit surreal as my first mix came straight off the back of an unbelievably lucky Summer - I'd just won DJMag comp and playing Amnesia and Manumission and suddenly was doing a guestmix for Radio1 - it was alot more nerve-wracking than anything as it had to be 200% perfect! As for making it i dont think you ever really do make it - there's always something you want more out of it and I think that's part of the lure to keep going... Just to be able to do this for a job is special enough for me and something I'll never take for granted.

What setup do you use/ prefer, for the record? And what’s your take on using software such as Serato and digital formats versus vinyl?

Personally I like three CDJs and lately I've been incorporating a new DJ device called Nextbeat into my shows which is a touch sensitive, wireless unit thats pretty cool. As for the digital vs vinyl war - I don't care personally... I think it's more important what you do with it.

What does the immediate future (e.g. the next 3-6 months) hold for you? Beyond that, do you have any major ambitions?

This Summer is pretty busy to be honest - I've just come back from Isle Of Wight Festival and a festival in Morocco. Next week im playing Nozstock Festival and then come up for The Wickerman again before finshing the month off at Global Gathering for Godskitchen. Production wise there's new tracks coming out on Size and Toolroom and I've been focussing massively on my label this year so a lot of the next few months involve that - we're gonna be touring "The Sound Of Whartone Records" after the Summer along with a monthly radio show to coincide with it. Beyond all of that, a Radio 1 show would be nice!! 

Watch Sonny in action at the Isle of Wight Festival here: 

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