Dave Ralph is one of the world’s most renowned and embraced DJs. His diverse style cannot be categorized as simply trance, house or even progressive; he prefers to cross the electronic music genres rather than be restricted by them. If he had to describe his style he would call himself an electronic dance DJ. There could not be a more suited self-classification for this turntable veteran, since people can not help but dance while listening to his music.
When spinning a set, Ralph is performing for the people.
“My main concern [while spinning] would be the audience really, making sure that they’re enjoying themselves,” said Ralph.
He likes to keep his crowd happy, and in order to do so he believes that he has to keep them guessing by switching genre styles. Behind the decks, Ralph is already three or four songs ahead of himself. By watching the reaction of the crowd, he always knows what record he is going to mix in next. If the people are getting a little too wild, he might slow the set down with trance-like repetition. If the people do not look wild enough, he might integrate a hypnotic pause into the set and then hit the crowd hard with a house-y progressive climax. If the people enjoy themselves during his set, then Ralph feels that he has done his job as a DJ. As he put it, it’s the people who pay his bills at the end of the month.
| “My main concern [while spinning] would be the audience really, making sure that they’re enjoying themselves” — Dave Ralph |
A native of Liverpool who has performed around the world, Ralph is the definition of a worldly individual. Despite all the countries he has seen and enjoyed, he feels that America is his true home. He enjoys anything that is diverse, and the melting pot of America is just that. Another reason for his love of the country is his American wife, Kristi Ralph, who he now lives with in Massachusetts.
Not only does Ralph love living in America, he loves performing here as well. Some of his favorite venues are in America. His favorite performance was during the closing set of Woodstock ’99 in Rome, N.Y. He feels as if he did something that night that he didn’t know he could. He had an effect on thousands of people, whom he believes were there for all the “rockers” and not for electronic music, “but they still had the most amazing time… and there was a good energy… fantastic!” Ralph exclaimed. “America’s just probably the most diverse and probably one of the best places to play on the planet right now.”
Keep a look out for Ralph’s newest two-disc mix CD that will keep you dancing with tracks by artists like Laurent Garnier, Junkie XL and Fatboy Slim.
Dave Ralph spins at club Evolution (1517 N. Delaware Ave.) on Oct. 19. Call 215-634-0100 for more information, or check out www.daveralph.com.
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