Preview to Bliss at Heaven Interview with Steve Blake and Phil Reynolds.
Joint owners of Impact Recordings and two of the most legendary names on the capital clubbing circuit, no DJs can claim as long-standing and close relationship with the sound of London hard trance as Steve Blake and Phil Reynolds. In tracks like Steve's spine-tingling classic Got That Rush and Instru(mental) by Phil and Nick Sentience, they have contributed to some of the most well aged gems that the scene has produced whilst their epic energized voyages at events such as Heat, Fevah and Frantic have provided some of the most euphoric moments in so many clubbers memories - this one included. As they rummage through their record boxes for their classics set at this Friday's Bliss @ Heaven, we catch up with the Impact Recordings duo to find out how they met, what they've been up to and what sort of audio ecstasy awaits us in the Tasty room of Heaven this Friday.
How did your paths first cross and did you both get on the like a house on fire from day one or did it take a while for your relationship to take shape?
SB: If my memory serves me right I think one of the first times we met was at Provacation and yeah we got on really well from day one.
PR: Yeah, I first remember meeting Steve at Provocation at the Office. At that time Steve had just had some big hits on Tidy like Black is Black and Expression and I was like, wow I just met Steve Blake!! We got on really well from the word go.
What were your first bookings in London clubland?
SB: In the Hard Dance scene mine were for Trinity at the Chunnel Club.
PR: My first booking in London was at the Soundshaft about two months after buying decks. Some of my mates were putting on a midweek night. I played first and was shitting it!! The thing I remember most about the set, was how different things sounded in a club compared to playing at home. It was really difficult trying to adjust and I hope I didn't cock up too much!!
You're both regarded as two of the most legendary and long-standing names on the London hard dance circuit but what do you consider your first big breaks?
SB: For me it was playing for Fevah that was my first real break into this scene, playing for Fevah gave me the opportunity to play at a lot of the major London venues.
PR: Has to be Frantic for me. Up until the point when I first started playing at Frantic I hadn't really played much elsewhere. As the profile of the club raised, so did my profile as a DJ.
What initially inspired you to take the plunge and set up Impact Recordings? How did it all come into fruition?
PR: Steve had wanted me to come into the studio and record something for his label that he was running at the time, Vinyl Tension. Once we had recorded the track, we had a bit of a chat and decided that we would start up a trance label together. That way we could have an outlet for our music.
SB: Yeah, we had already done a couple of tracks together and decided rather than try to go through the hassle of getting them signed we'd put them out ourselves on our own project label.
So was it just meant as an outlet for your own tracks at first?
SB: Initially yes, but it did pretty well so we decided to then take it another step forward and start signing tracks from other artists, that's why the label re-launched after the first three releases with a new sleeve design.
From the bright talents of artists like Dave Lochrie, James Jaye, Richard Launch and Greg Brookman to the hard trance double act Technikal & Olly Perris, Impact seems to have a recurring theme of uncovering new talent within the hard dance stratosphere and handing them a leg up to newer heights - is it a conscious decision to support untapped talent and how have you come across the acts that you've signed??
SB: Its not been a conscious thing at all, we just sign tracks that both or either one of us likes, it doesn't matter if the artist is unheard of if the track is good and we're extremely proud to have given any of the talent we've signed a helping hand to raise their profile.
Most tracks we've signed we either get handed personally or receive in the post.
PR: If we see the potential of a track even though the production might not be great, we will sign it and give the producer a chance to go in with Steve to polish off the production. Not only do they get to have their track signed, they also get hands on advice from Steve about production.
As a consequence perhaps, it must be said we've not see a classic Impact hard trance belter from Blake and Reynolds lately, why is this and are there any plans to see you pair up for an Impact outing any time soon?
SB: We've both been busy doing other projects, mine was unfortunately doing up my flat!
We do keep saying we'll get in and do another one but just haven't got round to it yet, but that being said we've done quite a few remixes together though.
PR: We have both been busy doing other stuff. We have at the moment no plays for a collaboration, but you never know. Watch this space
You've been working extensively to make the Impact Recordings site a more user-friendly, colourful and imaginative area, what are you most pleased about on the new look site?
SB: The last few weeks have seen some major changes on the site, the whole layout is more complete but by no means finished yet, it's pretty easy to navigate around too, which is important.
I'm extremely happy with the shop, we've designed t-shirts that are arriving this week, can't wait to see those, plus we can sell vinyl & MP3's, which again is very exciting.
I wanted to make the MP3 purchasing as easy as possible without having to buy credit to get a download, which I find a bit of a pain, so we've made it really easy, you can just jump on there and buy one single MP3 or as many as you like quite simply with no credit tokens!
We will be doing an official launch of the site very soon when it's fully completed but if you want a little sneak preview then head over to www.impactrecordings.com
And as for the MP3s how do you see the future of hard dance music consumption? Will the digital slowly phase out our beloved vinyls and is this necessarily a bad thing?
I don't think it will phase vinyl out but it will affect the amount of units sold I think. MP3 has its good points and bad, the obvious good point is the instant access to tracks from anywhere in the world at a very cheap price and with no postage costs. A guy bought some MP3s from us last week from a remote area in Australia and he said he had trouble getting vinyl where he lived so was always on the lookout for MP3s to download. The obvious bad thing is the ability to copy and distribute digital music, this will eventually cripple the industry because there will be a lack of money for the labels and artists involved to be able to carry on making and releasing music.
If you were to look back over the label's history, which of all the Impact releases stands out as your favourite and why?
SB: From the older stuff it would be Phase 2, it was cracking tune that still sounds good today and from more recent times I think Panzan has to take the crown because it's quite simply a belter of a track!
PR: That's a difficult one really. I don't really have a favourite. I think all of the releases have been good in there own way.
Phil, how is work on your debut artist album coming along?
PR: The album is almost finished. I'm waiting for some new monitors so I can finally mix it all down. I'm also still sorting out some vocals for some of the tracks. The vocals so far sound really good. As for the style of music, you will have to wait and see!!
Phil, your remix of the spine-tingling Faithless classic, Salva Mea, with Matt Williams has been stirring up a hot-bed of hard dance interest, what was it about the track that inspired you to give an energized 05 update?
PR: I've always loved Salva Mea and it's never been released. It is probably my favourite Faithless track and I've always wanted to do my own version.
Steve, what classic track would you most like to inject with energy for the harder generation and why?
SB: I've had a few in mind before but someone always beats me to it!!!! I still have a couple I would like to do but if I tell you that then someone will definitely beat me to it!!
Do you ever knock out a decent blast of hard house filth and what are your opinions on the continuing influence of techno on the rhythms of modern UK hard dance?
SB: I don't really play other genres of hard dance unless it's a classics set. The only other genre I really like playing is the lighter side of trance, not too fluffy mind you! I really like techno influenced percussion, it adds a funky groove to the rhythm of a track, nothing wrong with that.
PR: I like to listen to all types of hard dance. I have been influenced a bit by techno over the past year or so. I love my tech house stuff. I don't really play too much none trancy stuff. Although I did play a hard set for Frantic Vs Wildchild recently, where I played only hard house.
As I'm sure you know, Bliss is the meeting of London hard dance legends Tasty with the original rave experience Raindance did you get swept up in the madness of the UK's rave revolution the first time round in the late 80s and early 90s?
SB: Yes I did, I was really into the rave scene at that time and played for Desire and Labyrinth a few times, which was where I first met Daniel Bunter. I do have some fond memories of the scene back then, we used to drive for hours to find secret venues but it was all worth it, there were some pretty amazing party's in the middle of nowhere back then!
PR: I missed out on the early rave scene. I kind of latched onto the end of it. When I first started buying records when I was still at uni, the sound was old skool hardcore. I use to love my Rhythm Section records. I've still got them somewhere.
What can ravers expect from your own set in the Tasty room? Will it be full-on hard trance voyage from start to finish and which classics will you be digging out for the occasion?
SB: It will definitely be a large amount of hard trance in the set but I think I'll slip in a couple of anthems along the way too but I'm not too sure what ones yet, so you'll just have to wait & see!
PR: I should think it will be mixture of upfront new hard trance stuff, with a few classics thrown in.
Finally, what is your idea of a night of Bliss these days? Would you slump on the sofa with a quality film and a bottle of red, catch some mates down the pub or do you still love nothing more than a messy night on a pumping dancefloor?
SB: If I can have two answers then I'll pick 1 & 3, I'm not too keen on pubs!
PR: I couldn't really write what my night would involve. It would be far too rude!!
