{"id":447,"date":"2024-11-29T15:08:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-29T16:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/?p=447"},"modified":"2024-12-11T14:06:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T14:06:53","slug":"from-rugby-to-raves-how-james-haskells-mentorship-with-mark-knight-led-to-go-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/29\/from-rugby-to-raves-how-james-haskells-mentorship-with-mark-knight-led-to-go-deep\/","title":{"rendered":"From Rugby to Raves: How James Haskell's Mentorship With Mark Knight Led to “Go Deep”"},"content":{"rendered":"

It may sound far-fetched for rugged rugby players to swap scrums for turntables, but former England player-turned-DJ, James Haskell<\/a>, says that’s exactly what happened when he began learning the craft of DJing 11 years ago.<\/p>\n

Haskell, along with other rugby players in New Zealand, would alchemize their post-match adrenaline into energetic DJ sets, picking up new skills and that ultimately gave him the confidence to land gigs.<\/p>\n

Haskell’s career as an international rugby player is now over, but his calling in the world of electronic music continues to pick up speed. He has performed across the globe from Dubai to Ibiza and continues to host his own radio show and podcast about DJing.<\/p>\n

Haskell has now joined forces with Mark Knight<\/a>, the influential Toolroom Records boss and recipient of the 2024 EDMA Icon Award<\/a>, for his first release on the label, “Go Deep.” Blending groove with grit, the house track is primed to heat up any dancefloor, as vocals by Chicago house music legend Gene Farris carry a soulful invitation to dance the night away.<\/p>\n

EDM.com<\/em> caught up with Knight and Haskell to discuss the collaborative process behind “Go Deep.”<\/p>\n

EDM.com: How did you two first meet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark\u00a0<\/strong>Haskell<\/strong>: <\/strong>It felt like it was meant to happen. James got involved with the Toolroom Academy early on, which I really respected because he understood the value of starting at the bottom and learning for himself instead of expecting others to do it for him. We first spoke online about a record, and I immediately thought, “We’re going to be mates.” I was already a fan of his as a rugby player and was keen to chat about sport. We started talking more, clicked as friends, and then he came down to the office to get involved with some projects.<\/p>\n

James\u00a0<\/strong>Haskell<\/strong>: <\/strong>We first connected on Instagram, back in 2018, during the very first Toolroom Academy course. I did the course, posted about it, and Mark commented and messaged me, saying to get in touch if I ever fancied a training session. After that, I\u2019d often drop into the Toolroom office to say hi to the team. One time, while working with Luke Hemmings in the office, Mark and I hit it off, and it\u2019s been like that ever since.<\/p>\n

EDM.com: James, when did you realize you wanted to pursue DJing and what has the transition been like from international rugby player to DJ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

James\u00a0<\/strong>Haskell<\/strong>:<\/strong> I\u2019ve been DJing for about 11 years. It all started when I was in New Zealand during my rugby career. I met the managing director of Serato, who was helping a few All Blacks players, including Dan Carter, learn to DJ. I thought it sounded fun, so I gave it a go. Adam Thomson helped me get started, and I used to mess around on a controller after games. P Money even gave me a few lessons. When I got back to the UK, I found out Simon Dunmore was a fan of mine, and both Seb Fontaine and Jaguar Skills gave me some lessons.<\/p>\n

I eventually did a course with SubBass and had my first gig at Ministry of Sound on the balcony. That\u2019s when I fell in love with it.The transition, though, has been tough. Rugby opened some doors initially, but it\u2019s also created challenges. People assume I\u2019m just a “celebrity DJ,” which couldn\u2019t be further from the truth. I\u2019ve put in the work, playing tiny venues for little to no money. I\u2019ve taken multiple courses and worked hard at producing music. I want to earn respect for my skills, not my profile.<\/p>\n

EDM.com: James, do you draw any parallels between music and sports?<\/strong><\/p>\n

James\u00a0<\/strong>Haskell<\/strong>: <\/strong>Absolutely. Everything I learned in rugby applies to music and DJing. It\u2019s about working hard, going above and beyond, and breaking down every aspect of your craft. In rugby, we\u2019d review matches to analyse what we did well and where we could improve. I take the same approach with DJing\u2014watching my sets back, identifying what could be better, and constantly trying to improve. Resilience is key. You have to keep pushing, learning, and honing your skills.<\/p>\n

\n

Mark Knight (L) and <\/em>James Haskell (R).<\/p>\n

c&sol;o Press<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EDM.com: Mark, tell us about your mentorship of James.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark Knight: <\/strong>I don\u2019t really see it as a mentorship in the traditional sense. I\u2019m happy to share everything I\u2019ve learned over the years, but it\u2019s more about mutual respect. James has a fantastic work ethic and a real hunger to succeed, which I admire. I\u2019ve made plenty of mistakes, and I\u2019m open about them, sharing what I\u2019ve done right and wrong along the way.<\/p>\n

What I love about James is his energy and authenticity. The dance music scene was built on raw passion and confidence, but over time, it\u2019s become a bit elitist. James brings it back to that original spirit, where passion and drive are everything. If you\u2019ve represented your country in sport at the
\nhighest level, you\u2019ve already proven you can succeed under immense pressure. That kind of mindset translates to anything.<\/p>\n

EDM.com: How did your song \u201cGo Deep\u201d come to be? When did you two decide you wanted to work on a track together?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark Knight:<\/strong> Like every record, it started with an idea. The first step was to have a conversation about what we wanted to achieve. We sat down, played a bunch of tracks, and landed on a clear direction. James led the production and really rolled up his sleeves. It was my concept initially, but we worked on it together. We brought Gene Farris in for the vocal, and it became a proper collaboration. James has invested a lot in learning from others, and that\u2019s what makes him such a great collaborator.<\/p>\n

James\u00a0<\/strong>Haskell<\/strong>:<\/strong> Out of all the people I\u2019ve met, Mark is one of the few who genuinely wanted to help. We\u2019re both driven by a desire for success, and we connected over that shared mindset. I\u2019m always keen to learn, so when Mark suggested we work on something, I jumped at the chance. He guided me heavily\u2014quite ruthlessly, in fact\u2014which I appreciated.<\/p>\n

EDM.com: What is the collaborative process like between you two?<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Haskell:<\/strong> The process started with Mark sharing some reference tracks. He sent me away to do my homework and build a loop. Then I sat down with our engineer, James Hurr, to develop it further. Once we had something solid, Mark joined us, and we worked on it together. Gene Farris was the perfect choice for the vocal; he\u2019s a legend, and he nailed it on the first take. It\u2019s been a true team effort, and I\u2019ve learned so much from Mark throughout the process.<\/p>\n

Follow James Haskell:<\/h2>\n

Instagram:<\/strong>\u00a0instagram.com\/jameshaskell<\/a>
Facebook:\u00a0<\/strong>facebook.com\/JamesHaskellJHHF<\/a>
X:<\/strong>\u00a0x.com\/jameshaskell<\/a>
TikTok:\u00a0<\/strong>tiktok.com\/@jameshaskell<\/a>
Spotify:<\/strong>\u00a0bit.ly\/3ZopzzI<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow Mark Knight:<\/h2>\n

Instagram:<\/strong> instagram.com\/djmarkknight<\/a>
Facebook:<\/strong> facebook.com\/djmarkknight<\/a>
X:<\/strong>x.com\/djmarkknight<\/a>
Spotify: <\/strong>spoti.fi\/44KXzHr<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It may sound far-fetched for rugged rugby players to swap scrums for turntables, but former England player-turned-DJ, James Haskell, says that’s exactly what happened when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":451,"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions\/451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cuseemehot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}