Interview: Vince Watson goes deep on his new album Deep In The Bleep

It’s with great pleasure that we share the latest release on the Awesome Soundwave label from none other than a legend of the electronic music scene — Vince Watson. An artist truly devoted to his craft, Vince’s vast and versatile output over the years stands as a testament to his dedication and creative evolution. Spanning decades and encompassing a broad palette of sounds across multiple aliases and projects, his music continues to push boundaries while staying unmistakably true to his roots.

His latest album, Deep In The Bleep, marks an impressive milestone, Vince’s 19th full-length release. True to form, it delivers a deep, emotive journey through techno’s most soulful corners, blending the warmth of classic sounds with a distinctly modern, forward-thinking edge. 

To celebrate the release, we caught up with Vince to talk about all things Deep In The Bleep: his creative process, live setup, reflections on how the scene has evolved, and what continues to inspire him today. It’s always an honour to speak with an artist of such depth and longevity, and this conversation was no exception. Let’s go deep…

Hi Vince, welcome to the ASW blog, how has 2025 been for you? 

It’s been a bit mental. My largest release year by far with a total of 13 releases including three albums across Vince Watson and Amorphic projects. 2025 is a major transition year for me, finally getting my output split into very distinct paths and setting up various plans for 2026 and beyond with new projects too, super excited. It’s also been a very rewarding one musically. Finally delivering the ‘Deep In The Bleep’ album project for Carl and ASW has been great, it was two years in the making, so I'm really proud of it and looking forward to my fans getting it in their ears.

It’s been a pleasure to work with you on the ‘Deep In the Bleep’ album, an honour in fact. Thrilled to have you on the label. What was the concept and idea behind this one? 

This album was born from DC10 in Ibiza, after Carl invited me to play for his 60th birthday alongside Laurent Garnier. The next day, the idea was softly posed to me and it was an offer I could not refuse. Almost immediately I decided to use unreleased tracks from the set I played the night before at DC10 and develop them into proper tracks. It took a bit longer than expected as I wanted to make sure the tracks were something that Carl himself would play and enjoy… adding some moments of musicality and VW spice along the way. This is album no.19, I’m still as excited as the first one.

Do you have a particular connection with one or two of the tracks? If so what and why?

To be honest... I NEVER release a track on an album if it's a filler or doesn't have a reason for being on there, I'm simply too picky for that and I am deep on the storytelling and balance of music on my albums. I do have favourites, or tracks that I resonate to easier or for longer. For example, ‘Megaton’ is a straight up banger with a Detroit feel in the middle, classic VW style. ‘Lumieries De Lyon’ is a nod to Laurent Garnier, and how much he inspired and supported me my entire career. ‘The Ladder’, the closing track, is a very very curious one….It’s quite special as it has a double meaning…true story this, but it’s a track I made during some dark months a while ago when I seriously considered stopping making this style of music and simply focussing on Amorphic and a new yet-to-be-announced IDM project. ‘The Ladder’ title seemed like a nice way to end everything like this, especially the way it evolves and takes you up and up, almost spiritually. I came out of my dark days wondering what the hell I was thinking, and the track felt even better and became the symbol of me coming out of the dark and back into the light. It needed to end the album for this reason.

What is your current live set up looking like? Anything in particular you would like to add in terms of gear? 

I’ve been hardware only for years now, focusing on playing as much live and programming as much as a one man band can. An Akai Force is my hub, where I'm triggering 8 plugin channels and playing live keys (strings and pianos and bass sounds) and 8 audio channels for grooves and structures of my tracks sending Midi to my other instruments. For gigs in the EU that I can drive to, I'll take my Novation Peak, sometimes a Perkon’s, I always take my trusty Rolands (TR8S, SH01A, SE02, SH4D) and have 2 Novation Control XL MK2’s. The synths are routed through an Eventide H9 Max pedal. I use a 5  octave Midi keyboard (preferably Roland A800 Pro as it has the same keybed as the Juno’s).

You play both live and DJ, is there a difference between the connection with the dance floor? What do you prefer about the both of them? 

I love both equally. I used to struggle getting into the mood for live gigs if I was playing mostly DJing, and vice versa... but now I'm able to focus and perform equally. DJing is easier, more light on the brain and sometimes more fun. Live is harder, more intense and much more rewarding, but mentally draining. If you tell me I'm playing in the perfect sound system with the perfect crowd in the perfect slot... I’m playing live every day of the week.

With multiple decades in the game, you have seen the trajectory, and evolution of the techno scene. If you could bring back something from the past what would it be? And what is one thing you like about modern times in the industry? 

I've seen more cycles than most, were in another one….but this one is different. We’ve never had so much capitalism involved and social media has created a monster for the music scene.

So much of today’s music is either too arty (myself guilty as charged with Amorphic), copying other people or simply not creative enough. There is a lot of fun music out there trying to break some boundaries between styles, and I think experimentation in general is missing from a lot of underground music styles. A lot of artists have set the target of making their music at a really high level technically, and forgot to add the fun or experimentation to keep it exciting.

Real Techno has had so many cycles, ups and downs….92-94 was peak techno, 98-99 was peak techno, dub techno was peak techno…too many moments, it's all cycles. In modern times, the fact we are so much more connected to each other through Bandcamp is incredible. I Love it… I really love my Bandcamp fans, they have been just incredible for me, and I love this community.

Do you still have the burning desire you had in the beginning? Or has that evolved into a different connection or emotion with music over the years? 

I am so driven, I don’t know where it's coming from. I'm clearly chosen to be a messenger of music to people, but from where or what I simply don't know. I've tried to figure it out and just surrendered to the fact that this is what I am.

There is one period where I did lose all interest and inspiration and that was 2011-2013 - MINIMAL. It was the antithesis of everything in my music making soul. It was so empty and shallow that I simply lost all inspiration after labels I had recorded for had started to reject my music for the first time in my career, looking for a minimal sound instead, so I stopped making music for 18 months. I tried Minimal….but it was never going to work. I could listen to Basic Channel for ever, but that horrible cliche German tech house swingy thing with clicky bleeps was so out of my soul, I just lost my bearings for a while.

Thankfully I found my way again with ‘It's Not Over’ on Planet E, titled very aptly. In my opinion, if you do not still get that jelly belly before you play or dont get that same level of anxiety before a release, you have to listen to your body and do something else. I still get it, every day I make music.

People may or may not know you are also teaching music as well as everything else you have going on. Can you tell us a bit about that? 

In 2017, we started discussions with Conservatorium van Amsterdam about starting a new electronic department (they already have Classical, Jazz and Pop, all world renowned schools). We started softly and built things up, now we are the top recommendation from the Dutch Study Guide as a musical institution.

We have been called AEMA - Amsterdam Electronic Music Academy since we opened in 2018, but in September 2027, we will begin a 4 year Bachelor programme and will become simply Conservatorium Van Amsterdam - Electronic. We have an amazing roster of teachers, ranging from the creators of Here’s Jonny and Bowchi Bow (both rave hits), to Tiesto’s Ghost producer on every one of his big hits, to Capricorn 20HZ on R&S…and good ol me Mystical Rhythm haha. I'm now Senior Lecturer.

My classes are Stylelabs - teaching production styles of many genres of electronic music, DJ& Repertoire - DJ Class for Year 1. The Art Of Remixing - remix class where students can remix my music. Advanced DJ & Performance - a Year 2 course teaching advanced DJ skills, Hybrid performances and B2B.

In our eyes you are a true pioneer of what we value here at ASW, on that note, is there any up and coming artist that you see this in?

I appreciate the gratitude, it's endearing but you're mad. I’m just doing my thing trying to make the world a better place, one beat at a time. I tend to resonate with like-minded artists who are true to their beliefs and have something to say. When it comes to new artists - I see many coming past me at School, some incredible young minds being very creative and inventive, breaking new ground and trying to tell stories - I won’t name them as that would be unfair, but some are already starting to make waves in the scene. Being a true pioneer takes courage of your convictions…building a legacy takes guts, not to be  taken on the lure of money in exchange for your storytelling or musical morality. This is hard, and what I try to instill in the younger minds coming through.

If you could give one piece of advice to a producer starting out in the game, what would it be? 

Tell your story. It's your Modus Operandi. It's your brand.

Don’t fake the funk... Be creative, and as original as possible.

Sampling is an art form that should be respected.

Throwing a rave stab in will date your music within weeks.

Above all, think about your legacy and don't be short-sighted.

If you start to make it big or go Viral for a track, don't take your foot off the gas thinking you’ve made it, you will die even faster.

Trust me…I know for a fact. Twice.

⏵ Vince Watson’s album ‘Deep In The Bleep’ is out from October 31, 2025. Available from all the online platforms.