Question: Could each of you pinpoint a high and low point of the last 20 years?

DM: Obviously winning a Grammy for sure.

FK: I would say it's one of them. Not the highest point but for sure it's up there.

DM: For me, having the 4 year birthday party in Mikanos, and having everyone together for that.

FK: There are more high points than low ones believe me.

DM: Between ourselves there are no lows. The only thing that I can think of that's more of a general thing is the state of music.

FK: For me personally, the highest point that we have is the fact that we made it 20 years. 20 years! There's no way that 20 years ago I would have believed we'd be where we are now, being as close as we were if not closer. I'd already been playing for 15 years before I even started with these guys. It doesn't get any better than this…unless it's 25 years!

Question: Is it easier to be a DJ now you've all been travelling the globe for years, and how do you get treated by comparison?

DM: Like a rock star now.

FK: I don't rest on it though. I don't think it's easier though, cos you have so many people trying to re-invent the wheel. We weren't purposely trying to re-invent the wheel we were just making music because it's the heart of what we are. People look at house music as something that was purposely invented; that wasn't the case. It just came off the heels of the kind of music we were playing at the Warehouse and at the [Paradise] Garage and so many other places across the US. House music flourished and grew from that. Now there are so many young guys and so many new guys popping up all the time. In the UK they're always looking for the next big thing and the next big superstar DJ. It's difficult staying in it because industry states that I have to compete with everyone else, you know, but I don't look at what I do as a competitive sport. I think I have just as much right to be out there playing as the next guy as long as people want me to do it. It's awful when promoters or the media try and introduce a competitive element and try and pitch us against each other, cos that takes all the fun out of it. And if we can't have then we can't make anyone else have fun.

DM: Also the thing is that the audience that we initially played for are no longer going out. So then you have to almost start again and prove yourself to the next generation who really don't know who you are. And with all that technology changes, music changes, taste changes. And you have to evolve with these changes if you want to stay in the game.

FK: It's like we're here at the WMC and where's the hit record?

ST: Yeah this used to be the biggest opportunity to get a record out there, and in a way that opportunity it still there, but not as much as it used to be. Now people not involved in the industry just hang out in clubs, the original spirit has been lost. But now everything about music is different, the way it's made the way it's distributed. Even producing records has become more like part of the package necessary to be a DJ.

HR: There's so much pressure, especially at the level these guys are at.

FK: There is pressure, but no-one could accuse any one of us of not putting in our all every time we perform. There are guys out there who go out, throw their hands in the air and just because they have a name for themselves think that's enough. It's not enough. I think if you don't connect with your audience and see them looking back at you and smiling then you don't have it. Doesn't matter how big your name is you just don't have it. And you have to have it for as long as I've had it to be able to make an impact.

Question: Satoshi, was DJing or production your main drive?

ST: Well my first love was Hip-Hop and I actually started producing and DJing at the same time. I got more into house music after meeting Frankie and later David. I'm a perfect example of the fact that unless you're a big DJ already, in order to get gigs you have to make some records, so that's what I did.

Question: Where are the Def Mix residencies around the world?

DM: I have Stereo (Montreal) which is a club that I own. Then there's Pacha in Ibiza which I think we've been doing for 7 years. Grease in Italy which we've been doing for 10 or 15 years. There are other places where we don't have residencies but we go and play at the same time once or twice a year.

Question: Do all four of you regularly play together?

HR: Rarely! But tonight the Def Mix anniversary party will be special. Champagne will be flowing! That's gonna be a treat!

DM: We all have different styles and different personalities, and because of the current fragmented state of house music, you know you're either into electro or you're into tech, or you're into vocal house or whatever, it's hard to go to parties where you go into a room and you just hear different styles of music. And it will be 10 DJ's just all playing one style.

HR: I agree, but I also think that the genres are becoming more blurred once again and the general sound is becoming more organic.

FK: I hope so.

HR: Me being the A&R director and all! Ha ha! I really do feel that.

DM: When I do my residencies, playing for 10 hours or something, they know that they're going to hear all kinds of music, across the board. People outside our culture of music, see our music as boring, because it's just this linear thing. And back in the 70's or 80's there was so much variation in music, that there's no way you could say it was boring. Today we're missing the artist part of the scene.

FK: Technology has put the music into the hands of the DJ's, which is great, but the one gripe I have is that some of the music being made is so two-dimensional. It's great that you can sit in your bedroom and sample someone else and put together a track completely independently, but it's even greater when you can create a track with others and use a vocal artist. There's so much disposable music around at the moment that it's resulted in the industry being where it is now.

DM: Before you had DJ's and you had producers and the lines never crossed. Now you have keyboard players who are DJing because there's a market for it and there's money to be made.

ST: There's no money being put into production now, and most of the time you can tell. And the result is you either have a huge hit, or nothing at all, nothing in the middle. It's a tough market.

DM: When I started out producing, if I didn't know how to do something, I hired someone who did, you know? I didn't know how to play the keyboards so I hired someone who did, I didn't know how to produce background vocals, so I hired a professional, and I learned from them and became a better producer myself as a result. Some people can do it and others can't, some people can DJ and some can't.

Question: How do you decide which remixes and which tracks are part of the album?

ST: Making tracks is always interesting. I just go with the flow! Someone lays down a baseline and someone else some beats and we all add our own elements to it.

DM: It's like a jam session. We used to literally live in the studio, 48 hours non-stop sometimes and put out a couple of records a week.

FK: For this current compilation, there are some songs we have in our back-catalogue that absolutely have to go on. "Tears" obviously, "The Whistle Song", "I'll Be Your Friend". Songs like that have to be a part of it because people get this package and expect those songs to be there. Those are gems, those are precious stones within our catalogue.

Question: Fast-forward 10 years to Def Mix 30th anniversary; what's in store?

FK: We're still trying to grasp the concept of 30 years!

DM: Yeah, I think my kids are going to have to carry that torch.

FK: There's always something left to achieve. I think at this particular point we're all still raising the bar for ourselves. I'd like to think we will still all continue to play. Hopefully things will come back around to how they were.

HR: For me I hope to contribute more to this industry as a label manager and make a dent in dance music.

DM: I don't think I'll be playing in 10 years, but I definitely want to be making music, producing tracks. Work towards developing artists, writing songs. I'd like to grow more in a more mainstream market.

Question: If each of you had a motto or a message that you would like to get across or that's driven you, what would that be?

DM: I think the most important thing is to stay grounded. I've been fortunate to have someone in my life, my partner, to keep me grounded, because being a superstar DJ, producer, whatever you want to call it, it's easy to lose yourself. I think it's important to have someone to let you know when you're crap stinks, when you need to reinforce yourself, because the regular tag-alongs would never tell you that your sound is stale. So I would stay be humble and stay grounded.

FK: I would agree with that. And love what you do, first and foremost.