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    • hubby
      On July the 8th this year @ Eden in Ibiza Invasion Ibiza began its Ibiza journey with a bang! on the night Randy Katana, Jon O.Bir and K90 topped the bill along with Invasion residents Russ Edwards, Dene No Rythem and Cheadle & Hubby. In the second room was the Uk's number 1 breaks night "Planet Breaks!"
      The night itself was awsome as K90 said in an interview soon after with Harder Faster:  What was the most mental place you played?
      Id have to say this years Invasion: Ibiza at Eden was huge for me, in more ways than one! I think most people whove been to Ibiza to party would agree that its still a place where anything goes and anything is possible. Believe me, this trip was no exception! Another big highlight for me in 2006 was playing to 10,000 in a single arena at a World Cup 06 kick off party in Malaysia.
      So as K90's coming back for Invasions next event @ Eden, Ibiza September 9th along with Marcel Woods, Jon O.Bir, Planet Breaks and the Invasion residents we thought we'd fire a few questions at him Invasion style!  
      1. (Question from Snakes, Invasion resident) Do you prefer laces or Velcro?
      If youre referring to footwear Id say that trainers with Velcro are a lot easier to put on and take off! I have footwear featuring both styles of fastening so it would be unfair of me to side with one particular technique!
      2 Now music is so readily available via download, file sharing sites etc how has this changed things for you as a producer and DJ? Do you prefer it the way it is now being able to share youre newly produced work so easily? Or does this bring allot of problems?
      From someone who runs a record label, digital downloading has without question taken its toll on the vinyl market and that concerns me. I still sell and promote the K90 catalogue on most of the big download sites but if I was 100% honest seeing a track that Ive been working on for four weeks on sale for 1.49 doesnt exactly fill me with enthusiasm to write the next Red Snapper! Luckily, my love for the music will always keep me writing because thats what I do. From a DJ-ing perspective, downloads are a fast, inexpensive way of getting your latest releases to the people you want. Id say 75% of the stuff I get sent is via email these days.
      3. (Question from Kevmixin, Invasion resident) Youve been in this game a long time now and youve seen allot of change, How does the dance scene compare now to when you first started?
      Umm, thats a question Ive been asked a lot recently. Although there seems to be more choice these days, Ive not really noticed much difference in the way people go out and party, not since Ive been falling out of clubs anyway! For me as a producer, the processes I go through when I write are still pretty much the same as when I started its just the kit has got smaller!!! I would say is that with the onset of the digital age its a whole lot easier for new and upcoming producers get themselves heard but with fewer labels and clubs i think its harder to break through into what I would call the big time.
      4. (Question from Naylor, Techno DJ and Producer) When you play your live sets what Kit do you use?
      I use Sony Vaio laptop running Emagic Logic, a couple of synths plus a mini controller keyboard. I run everything through a Peavey 12 channel mixer and have a DAT machine running simultaneously for back up just in case everything goes quiet! That lot all sits on three two tier keyboard stands, then I wrap my big ole K90 banner across the front and there you have it. Oh and I mustnt forget my trusty roll of gaffa tape!!!
      5. (Question from the_minister, Tidy forum) When you play live do you use all the keyboards as controllers for a live sequencing programme like ableton?
      Itd be interesting to know this cos I dont know how the hell you play it all live when youre having so much fun dancing about!!
      Basically, the majority of the sound coming out of the speakers is generated by the laptop, I can then overlay string patterns, effects and operate filters using the controller or sampling keyboard. Not all the equipment on the stage is used in every track all the time but when youre on stage you have to have a certain amount of stage presence. It wouldnt be very good if I was on stage at say Global Gathering for instance with my PC and my little ole controller keyboard cause it would look crap! I personally think its more important to give the audience something to look at, give um a show! I mean, at the end of the day, who really cares if youre using Ableton, PC or a Fischer Price Activity Centre for that matter?
      6. Question from Taylor J, DJ & Promoter) Have you ever thought of changing your music style?
      Im always looking at ways I can improve on what Ive done in the past and if you listen to the music I produced when I first started out its miles away from what Im doing now. Ive produced Hardcore (first time round) Acid Trance, Trance, and Hard House and the stuff Im producing now for my next artist album is I think certainly different again. If you mean will I start to write as a breaks or drum n bass producer I cant see that happening. I may dabble in those styles for an experimental album track or something but in the main I like to keep it four to the floor!
      7. What age did you start producing music? Was it always hard Trance form the start? Have you got a lot of unfinished tracks from years ago?
      I think I was about 21 when I first started playing around with sounds and as I said in the previous answer Ive produced everything Hardcore, Hard House and everything in between! I dont tend to keep anything unfinished; it just gets scrapped so I can move onto the next idea!
      8. (Question from your wife Jane) Whats the story behind the lucozade fountain?
      Shes a wrong-un that Jane! Ok, the story behind the Lucozade fountain goes something like this. We were travelling up to Leeds for a festival a couple of years ago. I was knackered from playing the night before so Jane was driving. I was concerned by my lack of energy knowing that I was gonna have to do it all again that evening so we pulled into a service station for some refreshments! I picked up this family sized bottle of Lucozdade thinking that should do the trick and got back in the car. We pulled out of the services and I proceeded to open my lovely bottle of orange energy, then whoosh, the entire contents of the bottle emptied itself over my jeans just like a fountain! The strange thing was I completely froze and in my weary state I just sat there and watched the sticky orange liquid gush from the bottle!!! It was only when I heard a distant voice similar to that of Obi Wan Kenobi communicating to Luke Skywalker from the netherworld saying are you gonna put the lid back on that then? that I snapped out of it and proceeded to stem the flow! By that time it was too late, I was an ants best friend! Needless to say we had to stop the next services so could clean myself up and luckily I had another clean pair of jeans in the car! The embarrassing this was though, I had to walk across the forecourt looking like Cliff Richard with an overflowing colostomy bag and worse, I had the indignity of attempting to clean my packet with a combination of wet wipes and a hand dryer!!! What a day!
      9. (Another question from Jane) Whats the funniest thing to happen to you in a restaurant?
      Well, this may not be funny to everyone but I know my lovely wife found it rather amusing! We were basically sitting in a well known pizza restaurant and we were ravenous! As our order came to our table I, as usual got straight in there! My pizza had these giant round bits of pepperoni on and as I went in for the kill with a giant mouthful I didnt manage to bite through one of the oversize bits of meat, no, half the bloody topping decided to come off and proceeded to sit there hanging from my teeth onto my chin, melting cheese and all! By jingo that was hot!
      10. What was the highlight of your trip to Ibiza with Invasion?
      There were so many highlights from that trip but most importantly the event itself was fantastic! The atmosphere at Eden that night was electric! My good lady wife as well as a few of my close friends came out with us which made it even more special. I know everyone felt the same as I do; it was one of the parties of the year! Aside from the event another memory thatll haunt my dreams forever was seeing one of my mates walking round Savannah wearing nothing but his underpants and a pair of ladies mustard coloured shoes. Hed been well and truly captured!!!   
      11. Whens your next album due for release?
      I cant see it being ready much before the middle of 2007. The track writing process is well underway but as Im looking to release a DVD with the album it may take a bit longer. As long as Im happy with the final product I dont really mind if takes another two years.
      12. What gigs are you looking forward to the most later this year?
      Obviously Invasion: Ibiza in September then two days later I fly out to one of my favourite countries of the world New Zealand for a five date tour.
      13. (Question from Matt, DJ, Two Kilos of funk) Why do dogs have cold noses?
      Sorry, Im more of a cat man so I couldnt tell you
      14. What do you think was the most likely reason Invasion booked you to play at their Ibiza parties?
      A = Your music style fitted in perfectly with the time and flow of the night and helped them achieve an adrenalin rush of electro, techno, trance and hard dance!
      B = Your claw action is not that bad
      C = They needed someone to get wrecked with and were just thinking of the aftermath really and not the event..
      All of the above but mainly the last one!!!
      15. (Question from Filthy Harris, DJ & Strings, Harder Faster) What does K90 stand for?
      Rather boringly it doesnt actually stand for anything. K90 was originally KA90 back in the day when I was part of a two piece production team. One day, we wrote a tune but couldnt think of a name for the track so my mate randomly typed two letters KA and two numbers 90 We were doing hardcore back then and were signed to Kickin Records. They decided that it would be better to drop the A and K90 was born.  
      16. (Question from Sunnyside, Harder Faster) Does your name have anything to do with Dr Who's sidekick K9?
      Strangely enough, no!
      17. (Question from webbo, Harder Faster) Why did you stop making acid trance?
      Its like anything, you have too much of something, you tend to get bored and want to move onto something else on the end. Im kinda glad my tastes tend to evolve with the music because if they didnt It would rather limit the events I could play at.
      18. (Question from Filthy Harris, DJ & Little Miss Moo, Harder Faster) What was it like playing Dance Valley? And whats the best crowd youve ever played for and why?
      Dance Valley was brilliant this year, responsive crowd and great atmosphere, those crazy Dutch sure known how to put on a party! Ive been privileged enough to play to lots of great audiences over the years so to pick just one would be nearly impossible for me. This is also due to the fact that I dont tend to dwell on past events but try to refocus and move onto the next. As far as this year goes, my top three would have to be Global Gathering, a 10,000 people arena show in Malaysia and of course, Invasion: Ibiza in July!
      19. (Question from Little Miss Moo, Harder Faster) What inspired you to write Breathe?
      Good question! Well, what I can tell you is that I got the lyrics first which then inspired me to write the music. For me inspiration can be a tiny spark, a drum kick, a bass line then it all just takes on a life of its own, its hard to explain but some tracks just seem to write themselves and Breathe was like that.
      20. (Question from Lozer, Wreck head) Why do all shoe repairers also cut keys?
      Ummm, not really a question Ive posed myself on to many occasions but it is strange they do that though isnt itmaybe Ill nip down my local shops and ask!
      21. (Question from Lenni your sister in law) Can you play the Ukulele?
      You know what, funnily enough I can!!! Well, I can play one song anyway - When Im cleaning windows by George Formby!!! I used to play a guitar when I was a kid and that has six strings, so when a mate of mine came round mine one day armed with this Ukulele (I know, thats weird in itself!!!) with only four strings it wasnt that difficult really! He taught me to play said Formby track in one afternoon!
      22. (Question form sexyjojo, Harder Faster) Have you learnt to swim yet? Ref: http://www.harderfaster.net/?section=forums&action=showthread&threadid=1&threadid=165444&forumid=1
      Stay away from this woman, she is evilask her husband, hes permanently scared!!!!
      In answer to your question, yes I can and have been able to swim for some time thanks very much Jo!!! It just didnt look like it on the time in question due to vast amounts of free booze weighing me down!!!
      23. During you carer as a producer if you can answer this without getting your self in the shit, have you ever been ripped off especially when you first started out? The reason I ask is I know a few people that have been shafted due to there inexperience and being over keenness to get a track released.
      Umm, I cant really say that Ive ever been badly ripped off before but I have had occasions where Ive been owed money that Ive never received. My advice would be to try and get something in writing and get it signed, then at least youve got a reference point to go back to if there is some kind of grievance. Also, get your tracks registered with MCPS/PRS so when your track is released you can check back with them to see how many pressings have been made. Any label worth its salt should confirm the amount of pressings when they apply for their AP2 licence (a permission to press records/CDs).    
      24. Should Dene get his hair cut?
      On one hand I think, hell yeah and on the other hand I think he should keep growing it till he looks like Cousin It out of the Adams Family!!!
      25. What do you think of the Invasion brand as a whole, i.e. its team, its mentality and its objectives, and what do you think makes it different from everyone else?
      From what Ive seen, the Invasion brand seems to be successful because the people behind it seem to get the best results by working with a smile on their faces! I mean, thats what were all in this for right, to have a good time? This is not say that their not thorough or professional because in my experience they very much are! Unfortunately, there are far too many people in this industry, especially DJs and promoters that take themselves far too seriously! It makes a welcome and refreshing change to work with a promotion that has the right attitude! 
      26. (Question from Vinylvibes, Harder Faster) Are you sick of Red Snapper yet?
      YES!!!
      27. (Question from lilgingerkittee, Tidy forum) Are you always that happy in real life?? Would we see you in Tesco for example bouncing around the frozen food section with that HUGE grin on getting excited by the special offers???
      I do actually shop at Tesco and can be quite often found larking about amongst all the isles, not just the frozen food section, just ask my wife!!! In general I am a pretty cheerful chap and I dont really need special offers to make me happy!
      28. What did you think of Invasion Ibiza back in July? Was it what you were expecting? Did it look and feel as you imagined it would? Are you looking forward to Invasion Ibiza in September?
      Ive experienced beefa a few times so kinda know what to expect, but I have to say Invasion back in July was just fantastic! For a first event, on a Saturday which is strangely considered not to be a good day to have a party on in Ibiza, I was blown away! The number of people that packed into Eden coupled with an atmosphere that I cant remember being part of for a long time made it one of the highlights of my calendar so far this year! Bring on round two in SeptemberI cant wait!!!!!   
      The Next Invasion event is on Saturday September the 9th
      @ Eden, Ibiza
      K90, Jon O.Bir, Marcel Woods, Planet Breaks & The Invasion Residents!
      www.invasion-online.com for all details!
    • Addiction
      Having burst onto the scene just under two years ago, MDA & Spherical are now well on their way to becoming modern Hard Dance household names. With their immense productions and remixes featuring on almost every major label including Tidy Trax, Masif, Tranzlation & Oblivion Recordings and having just debuted their exciting new LIVE PA, featuring a live bass guitar, a live vocalist and other on stage shenanigans, Addiction promoter Andy T caught up with his new residents to talk about the past, present, future and all things MDA & Spherical.
      AT: Afternoon lads! First of all allow me to take this opportunity to welcome you as the latest addition to the Addiction stables. You've featured at plenty of our events in the past and have rocked Addiction dance floors to their very foundations more often than most. What's your favourite memory from any Addiction event?
      Well thanks for giving us the opportunity! Having both been to many of the Thursday night Addictions there have been loads of great memories from most of them. Aside from the Thursdays, one thing that particularly stands out is the first boat party. All the DJs played great sets and the sun was shining making it a fantastic day all round. The green shirt brigade made us chuckle.
      AT: You've known each other for over 5 years now, and also live together whilst studying at University. Tell us a bit about each other. Who's the worst to live with? Which one of you wears the trousers in the studio? And what makes you such a good partnership?
      Yeah we live together. We're in the lucky position to have a big house with two other guys from our Uni course. This means we're all into music and can all have a laugh. As for worst to live with - Mark has a suspect aversion to washing up; stuff tends to stay dirty for ages. Matt on the other hand, has a horrid habit of munching dry pasta - the crunching drives you mad!
      We'd have to say one of the things that make us a good partnership is that neither of us really wears the trousers. We both have different opinions on things a lot of the time, but are good at compromising creating the best outcome.
      AT: Do either of you have any secret Addiction's of your own?
      No, but one of our housemates is addicted to a real-time computer game. Often having 30 hour playing stints, he only stops to order take-away or power-nap ready for the next 20 hour stint. Quite sad really.
      AT: You've gone from remixing tracks in your bedrooms for your own pleasure to being dubbed as one the brightest new production duo's in Hard Dance history, all in less than 2 years!! What do you think has been the main contributing factor to your success? Is it simply just about making good music? Or is there more to it?
      Well, thanks for your compliments. We do think the music is the key, and we are in the fortunate position that people like what we do. Although it's also about having fun, not taking anything too seriously - can't stand arrogant DJs.
      AT: Where or who do you think your main musical influences and inspiration have come from?
      Our influences come from all over, not just hard dance. Obviously there are people we look up to in the scene such as Nick Sentience, The Edison Factor and Greg Brookman but a lot of inspiration for our tracks come from other genres - house, breaks, electro, tech-trance and hardcore alongside dance artists such as Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and Daft Punk - all things that we've been listening to recently between us.
      AT: I think it would be fair to say that no modern Hard Dance event would be complete without hearing at least several MDA & Spherical anthems unleashed on the Dance Floor throughout the night. With such an immense back catalogue now behind you, which tracks or remixes of your own are your personal favourites and why?
      Matt: I think my favourite of all the tracks that we've produced together is probably one of our new ones, Dutch Courage. It's quite different and innovative and has seen some great reactions on the dance-floor already. It's due out very soon on Tranzlation.
      Mark: I'd have to say out of everything we've ever done, it's got to be our remix of Phil York's Drop The Beatz Out on Tranzlation Whites. Funky, chunky and always goes off when played. Simply a feel-good party tune.
      AT: Having spent the last year wetting ourselves over tracks like Illusion, and the massive remixes of Back to the Program and Drop The Beatz Out what new awesome productions of yours can we look forward to hearing in the near future?
      There's quite a lot of exciting stuff coming up actually. On the remixes front we have a couple of bits in the pipeline with Phil York's various labels. There's Crank it Up by Technikal & JK on Tranzlation Whites, along with a remix of Nick Rowland's huge trancer Communicate on Nukearpuppy. We're also still waiting for the release of our debut remix on Masif records  Weekend by the legends Steve Hill & Technikal. Soon we'll be doing a huge remix of the current anthem U Got 2 Be There by new boys Adrenaline Dept. amongst many other projects.
      As for original productions there's the aforementioned Dutch Courage on Tranzlation, Infiltrate Your Mind on Nu Religion and our Collaborations EP on Oblivion Recordings, featuring Tekamine and Phantasm done with Chrysus & Technikal.
      AT: As well as the more serious production you've also been known to have a bit of fun, bootlegging house tracks like Call on Me and Out of Touch under your Beastie Snax alias. Have you any other production guises or pseudonyms? And do either of you produce music that falls into other genres?
      It's always good fun knocking out the odd bootleg, and doing them under the Beastie Snax guise means it doesn't matter how shamelessly cheesy they are, just plain good fun! That's it for aliases at the moment, although we are both producing tracks in different genres separately. Matt's started to do a few hardcore tracks, with a debut release due on Relentless Vinyl shortly. Mark's delving into the tech-trance/tech-house/electro side of things with a couple of debut remixes on Magnetic records shortly.
      AT: More and more artist's such as The Edison Factor and Technikal have been working on their own artist albums featuring both mixed and DJ friendly material. Have you any plans to work on something like this in the future?
      Maybe in the distant future you never know, although at the moment we haven't physically got the time. Trying to fit in production along with the PA and DJing around Uni is quite a challenge as it is. It is definitely something we would like to do, and we're currently considering releasing a live album of the PA show at some point.
      AT: You've just debuted your new LIVE PA, Welcome 2 The Future for Logic's 7th Birthday @ The Fridge and of course will be showcasing yet again at Addiction's 2nd Birthday in Sept. Featuring a live bass guitar & Jennie Rix on vocals this is no ordinary performance and must have taken a lot of planning and practise. How did things go on the night, and what new tricks will you have up your sleeve for the next instalment?
      We're both over the moon with how it went and the reactions we received! Being the first time we've done it we didn't quite know what to expect. Luckily everything worked and Jennie did a fantastic job on vocals to polish it all off - the crowd loved her! It's basically given us a great platform to work from. The PA is all about evolution - we kept the first one quite simple but the possibilities are endless, only being limited by our imagination and our wallets. No two PA's will ever be the same and with more elements added it's just going to get bigger and better each performance.
      AT: How does the PA differ to a normal DJ set? i.e. what are the pro's and con's ? And will you now feel restricted by the standard set up of CDJs, turntables and a mixer?
      I think to a certain extent we will yes. There's just not as much you can do with them. The main downside to the PA is it takes a lot longer to set up, both at home and arriving at the club. However Logic proved that it's defiantly all worth it once you get up there on stage.
      AT: You've been studying music degrees at University for the last two years. Now about to start your 3rd and final years have you given any thought to what the future may bring when you both finish next summer?
      Hopefully lots more making music, more DJing and more PA's. Basically lots more of everything! Hopefully we will get the chance to get more involved with the industry and really push things forward.
      AT: Apart from your beloved new residency what do you feel your biggest accomplishment to date has been ?
      I think the biggest achievement to date (not forgetting the residency of course heh) has been organising and pulling off the PA, it was a lot of hard work so really meant something when it came together. Other than that having a release on Tidy was quite a big achievement for us.
      AT: Who are you both tipping for the top? Be it Producers, DJs, Promotions or labels?
      On the production front Michael Dow is making some splendid tech-trance, consistently impressed by his material. Edwin Van Cleef is another name that's soon to be on everyone's lips. The Dutch-ninja-pirate's productions have improved ten-fold in the last 12 months.
      Labels-wise we'd have to say Oblivion Recordings; even though we may be slightly biased their release schedule is looking rather impressive.
      AT: And finally guys what do you have to say to people that think Hard Dance and UK Hard Trance are on their way out?
      Everything has its ups 'n' downs and at the end of the day it all goes round in circles (no pun intended). Even if Hard Dance does see a downturn in popularity in a couple of years it will be the new big thing again. It's going through resurgence. Some of the big names will leave or retire, and the artists that stay committed to the scene will end up being at the top.
      Take a look at the Hardcore genre for example  5 years ago hardcore was a dirty word and the scene practically died. Now it's huge!
      AT: Thanks very much for taking the time to answer these questions guys ! On behalf of the other residents and myself welcome to Addiction and we'll see you on Stage in September for the mother of all birthday parties!
      Watch this space for more info on Addiction's 2nd Birthday coming very soon !!

    • Frantic Benz
      In advance of this weekend's scorcher we caught up with Mr Sonny Wharton, a man who without doubt is one of the UK's hottest emerging house DJs. Recently signed to Serious management and now sitting along side Judge Jules, Trophy Twins, Oliver Lang and Eddie Halliwell. This guy has recently just completed two solo world tours and is also known for his infectious performance and remarkable technical wizardry, often using up to four CDJ's!
      A Renaissance resident, Sonny's rise to stardom has not gone unnoticed with numerous guest mixes for Radio 1 & Ministry of Sound Radio as well as festival gigs at Godskitchen, Global Gathering, Tribal Weekender, The Whicker Man Festival & Glastonbury. This man is Hot Property! Don't miss him at his debut for Audio London this Sunday 23rd July at The White House.
      So, we've been hearing lots about your turntable-trickery recently - but who was the first DJ who really amazed you?
      The first DJ I listened to was Carl Cox - it was a really bad quality copy of an old MTV show filmed @ The Eclipse in Coventry. I was blown away by the whole thing and from that moment on wanted to be a DJ!
      You first achieved fame by winning a DJMag mixtape competition. What was on the tape and why do you think they chose you as their winner?
      Funnily enough it was the first ever 3deck (Technics - I had no CDJs at this point!) mix that id ever recorded and I did it purely to take out to Ibiza with me for the summer, I saw the competition in DJMag and thought it was worth a shot as my mix seemed to fit the criteria of what they asked for. I think that having the advantage of being able to use the 3rd deck for acapellas and loops in the mix gave me the edge over some other entries. When I got the phone call to say I'd won and would be playing Renaissance Opening @ Amnesia I was in shock - I couldn't believe it!!
      Please could you try and define the Sonny Wharton sound for us...however you see fit!
      This is something I'm asked a lot - I find it a really hard question to answer as I don't think I can pin it down, I play house music will allsorts thrown in and try and convey as much energy as possible in the mix! For anyone still not sure tune in to my radio show every Thursday 11pm-1am www.pulseradio.net or come down this Sunday to the Whitehouse ;o)
      You frequently use up to 4 decks and an FX unit in your sets. What creative wizardry can you conjure up using this kit?
      I like to put as much into a set as possible hence the need for 3or4 CDJs. With the CDJ1000 I can bring in and take out loops at will use the CDJs like a drum kit with the cue buttons firing off samples and generally try to create a show for people to enjoy rather than a DJ in the corner hiding behind the decks. Be warned though I can get a bit carried away sometimes and break everything - on my China tour I broke 4CDjs & 2mixers in only 3weeks!!
      Is there any other DJ technology you've had your eyes on?
      There's so much available at the moment its hard to choose though I see it as being very healthy for the scene - it's making people up their game and put that extra effort in. Companies like Pioneer, Allen & Heath and Ecler are really pushing the boundaries as far as equipment goes and programmes like Ableton & Final Scratch are opening up a whole new ball game - its great!
      When did you sign to the Serious DJ Management agency? Did you feel pretty humbled to be in the company of world-renowned talent such as Umek and Norman Jay?
      I had a meeting with Serious in May to discuss signing and its exactly what I've been working towards for the last 3years, It's a hard game on your own and with a lot of hard work and some great friends in the industry I've got a lot further than I ever thought possible so to now be working with such a professional team and have the backing to take things to the next level for me is amazing!! 
      You've had a few tracks and remixes out so far, mostly collaborating with an outfit called Mangotrasher. Who are they and how do you feel the end results have turned out?
      Mangotrasher is the alter ego of a very good friend, I've known him on and off since I was young and we hooked up again about 2years ago to get into the studio and make some tracks - on a solo tip he's featured in the likes of Danny Howells & Paul Oakenfolds charts and toured as far as Japan over the years so he's no stranger to the scene. As far as end results go I'm really pleased with how we're sounding and we're really starting to find our own style now!
      The electro sound has fully taken over the world now, with variants on the sound appearing at all sorts of nights across the world. Do you think we have reached overkill point?
      It will definitely get to that stage as it happens with everything - moderation is the key in all walks of life and its no different with music. In retrospect I think the whole electro sound has blurred a lot of boundaries and opened a lot of peoples ears to new music which is very healthy - many DJs are playing styles from house to breaks to techno in the same breath without even thinking that it might compromise their pigeonholed style, it going back to how it used to be - the underground is back with a vengeance!
      You work with the DJ-technology company Ecler. What exactly do you do with them and what are they best known for?
      One of my first mixers was an Ecler SMAC04 and I've been a fan of their mixers ever since - the build quality is second to none and I genuinely believe in their products - I approached them to get involved and they invited me to play for them @ last years Plasa Event in London to showcase one of their new mixers - the NUO5. After the demo I signed up with their Pro Team to promote their products worldwide at various shows and exhibitions.
      What's the most impressive piece of Ecler kit you have witnessed or used? What do you feel sets them aside from other companies?
      I'm loving their NUO5 mixer - it's got 5channels and all the effects of a DJM600 & Xone62 thrown into one machine... you can personalise the effect parameters via a Midi interface and id say this is a major factor that puts it at top of the game!! Another key thing is I've regularly broken other leading mixers and I've yet to damage my Ecler - this alone is a big plus for me!!!
      You will be down in London on July 23rd for a cheeky little Sunday afternoon party called Audio at The Whitehouse. Are you usually kicking back and taking it easy at this time of the weekend?
      Haha Sundays are just another working day for me so as much as id love to be lounging around id probably be on the computer spamming peoples inboxes with more promotional junk mail about my website and gigs!!
      Do you find that the weekends seem to be a bit more...hardcore during the summer?
      Definitely - when the sun's out people don't want to head home and relax so much, summertime is party party party with places like Ibiza thriving on that very fact. Last weekend I played the Berlin Love Parade with over 1million people dancing in the sunshine all day long - events like that certainly define hardcore and make a DJs weekend all the more spectacular!
      You've been playing all across the world recently - but how have your experiences playing in London been so far?
      London is always fun - one of my first big gigs was in London and I made a lot of friends there so I love coming back down to play and hooking up with everyone. Its great that in one city there's so many different walks of life all partying on the same dancefloors - for me that helps make a great atmosphere and gives me more excuse to push boundaries that little bit further, bring on Sunday!!
      Interview by Benz
      New Online Mix: http://www.flatspin.co.uk/mp3/sonnywharton.mp3
      Website: http://www.sonnywharton.com/index.php
    • mostwantedkat
      When Vicious Circle take their massively successful I Love VC night to The Fridge in London for their first birthday on July 22nd, there'll be one name behind the decks that you might not recognise. He is however one of the driving forces in modern dance music, a star of the Hard House scene, a prolific producer and the tidy pin-up boy for thousands of clubbers around the world.
      Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, meet Infidel, or as he's more commonly known, superstar DJ Paul Maddox
      Why Infidel? I'm half expecting the man from the Turkish Delight advert to appear behind the decks at I Love VC swathed in a bed sheet!!
      An infidel is someone who doesn't conform to an accepted set of beliefs or ideas, which I think sums up the project quite well, Unfortunately however, I was apparently not the only one to think of this as there's an act by the name of The Infidels already in existence, which means that the Infidel name is going to morph into the new moniker Brazn which I think still sums up the sound quite well.
      How do you think your man Glazby is going to cope with his eight hour set extravaganza?
      As long as he's got some empty water bottles or a couple of really long records for bog-breaks then I'm sure he'll cope admirably!
      Are you going to catch some of it if you can?
      I'd love to, but I'm playing in Newquay earlier on the same night, so it's going to be a bit of a mad dash along the south coast to get to Brixton in time to play.
      What do you like about playing at an I Love VC party?
      Always a great vibe from the crowd and a red-hot lineup.
      The I Love VC birthday is where  Infidel makes his London debut. What's the response been like so far when you've played elsewhere?
      I've road tested a few of the tracks at some smaller nights and it seems to be going down really well - can't wait to see what happens!
      You're certainly not the first DJ who feels it's necessary to have an alter ego for other projects. Why did you go under a different name when everyone knows you and respects you so much as Paul Maddox?
      Everyone associates my own name with hard dance material, so it would be counter-productive on both fronts. People looking for house would assume that it was going to be hard stuff, and people after hard house would be disappointed that it was slower stuff.
      Do you worry that your harder fans might think you're selling out to a more commercial sound?
      Quite possibly, but I've never subscribed to the idea that making music that's more popular is necessarily selling out. I've always dabbled in other styles of music and am glad to be finding my feet with the Infidel/Brazn stuff.
      What do you think it is about this filthy electro sound that's captured everyone's imagination?
      I think it's mainly the freshness of it (although house music made with synths is hardly a new phenomenon) - there are a lot of new producers with new ideas coming through which makes for a lot of exciting music.
      Breath On Skin is sex on wax, where is the sample from?
      A film called The Hole - pretty wank film, but some lovely bits of dialogue and atmosphere.
      Where do you get your inspiration from?
      All over the place really, I listen to tonnes of music, old and new Including quite a lot of weird stuff, music that's on the boundaries often contains lots of innovative ideas that can be translated into more accessible, dancefloor stuff.
      On your website, www.infidelaudio.co.uk, you say you're looking for interested parties to sign your tunes up. Why don't you follow in the footsteps of the Great Glazby and set up your own label?
      Well, under the new name Brazn, the first clutch of tunes have just been signed to Firefly recordings, although starting up my own outlet for them is definitely an idea that I've been toying with.
      You've been the tidy poster boy for years now. How has it helped your career having such a heavyweight name behind you?
      I've got a lot to thank tidy for; in this industry its all about taking opportunities and capitalising on them, and most of the breaks that I've had have come in one way or another from tidy, so yeah, its helped me no end!
      Minimal - everyone's got an opinion on it - what's yours?
      Like any type of music, if it's well executed and not just done for the sake of it, it can be fantastic in the right setting. I've actually been working on another project with Leeds, Filthy Rich under the name Spektre, which is more on the minimal tip, more than just a kickdrum and a few bleeps though.
      You said recently that you think hard dance has got a bit too evil. What did you mean by that? Are you advocating the return of bounce?
      Please god no! I just think that a lot of hardhouse these days has lost sight of its original purpose, which was good, danceable party music and just become a technical exercise in how hard it can be. Bounce was the opposite end of the spectrum; I'd be happy with something in-between!
      Is that what you had in mind with the Olive Grooves EP - still hard house but with more musical elements in it?
      Yeah pretty much, its not even that musical really, just a bit more fun! Most of the tracks are about 10bpm slower than a lot of the stuff out there now, and I've been playing them out to great reactions. I just wanted to get back to the feel hardhouse used to have, but bringing in current production techniques so that it wasn't just taking a step backwards.
      Right, God turns round to you and says that you can be either the number 1 producer in the world or the number 1 DJ in the world, but if you chose one you can't ever do the other ever again. Which one would you choose and why?
      Producer at the drop of a hat. Much as I love DJing It has always been a spin-off from my studio work, which really is the thing I love doing the most.
      If Mazaratti had tweaked your nipple and called you a dirty Infidel would you have head butted him? Or would he have been right?
      He probably wouldn't have been far off the mark, but if I was about to retire I probably would've opted for the headbutt anyway - nothing to lose!
      Your last supper - please write down your menu and entertainment requests.
      Food: Either really good Italian or Japanese Entertainment: A Parrot riding a tiny bike Five guests, dead or alive, who and why?
      Brett Anderson (Lead singer from Suede/The Tears): Massive fan Boris Yeltsin: Bet he'd tell a good story and be up for a tear-up Kate Moss: Always comes across as being up for a laugh. Ronnie Barker: To inject a bit of humour into proceedings. Scarlett Johannsen: Fit Perfect date?
      9th of June: My birthday! :oP
      Perfect soundtrack to your life?
      Mory Kante - Yeke Yeke (Hardfloor Remix) Suede - The Asphalt World The KLF - What Time Is Love This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren The Cars - Just What I Needed I think those 5 on a permanent loop could keep me happily oscillating between sitting thinking and jumping about like a nut for the rest of my days!
      Perfect tune to remix and why?
      Always a hard one, as tunes I love already would be difficult to improve on, but a real stripped down tech-house mix of FSOL Papau New Guinea would be cool, or a pumped up version of Altern8 Infiltrate 202, that's got me thinking actually..
      Perfect DJ line-up (feel free to say the I Love VC First Birthday back ;D )?
      Steve Lawler Fergie Carl Cox Tony de Vit That'd be a party and a half.
      Where would you like to be five years from now?
      Just doing more of the same really, I'd love for the Brazn and Spektre projects to get some recognition, and hopefully still be doing the harder stuff as well, it'll be interesting to see where the hardhouse scene goes in the coming years.
      Who's your role-model/mentor?
      No single person really, but I've absorbed plenty of useful knowledge about the music industry from working with Lee Haslam at Tidy and your very own Glazby.
      EARLY BIRD TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD OUT!
      LIMITED ADVANCED TICKETS AT £12 ARE STILL AVAILABLE
      www.ticketweb.co.uk
      www.ilovevc.com (free sticker with every order)

      I LOVE VC - THE BIRTHDAY
      SATURDAY 22nd JULY
      10PM - 6AM
      THE FRIDGE, BRIXTON
    • Frantic Benz
      Smyrky & Seraya are the Hard Dance DJ couple who have been taking London by storm with their awesome back-to-back sets, live PAs, and productions for the likes of Nu Energy Recordings. We spoke to them as they prepare for their set at Frantic's massive 9th Birthday celebrations at Renaissance Rooms in London on August 27th.... 
      Please introduce yourselves....
      Smyrky - For those of you who don't know; Seraya is the lady and I'm the dude! As people often get it wrong
      Seraya - Together we are a loving duo that produce, DJ and perform Hard Dance in and around London.
      Where do your names originate from? They are quite distinctive!
      Smyrky and Seraya - real names Anthony Smyrk and Seraya Hill, self explanatory really!
      How did you meet?
      Seraya - Ok if you want to hear the cheesy version, we knew of each other in school but didn't really associate at the time. The first time we actually spoke was around a camp fire down the woods doing what kids generally do at that age.
      Smyrky - After just leaving school we started seeing more of each other as chums. I had the pleasure of introducing Seraya to the wonderful world of Hard Dance and more importantly mixing! It quickly came apparent that Seraya was actually very good at mixing from day one. Consequently we soon became best of buddies for the next 7 years raving it up at any given chance.    
      You guys have been playing for most of London's biggest parties over the last year or so...from Tasty, to Heat, to Frantic, to Total Mayhem to Summit...how did you manage to get your foot in the door with your DJing career?
      Seraya - We started pushing our DJing careers at the beginning of last year as Smyrky had spent the previous 2 years teaching me the basic tricks of the trade on how to make tracks in the studio.
      Smyrky - Since then we both decided it was time we did some self promotion and were fortunate enough to have the right people hear our demos at the right time. We also started promoting our own event Hard Drive, which also introduced us to more people in the industry.
      How would you describe your sound and DJing style? Do you feel you have a distinctive style that sets you apart from other DJs?
      Smyrky - Our DJing Style depends on all the usual factors, club, night, time, room, atmosphere etc. On the whole we play a mixture of Hard Dance for the crowd, with the crowd. As it should be!
      Seraya - We have a distinctive style in the fact that we get to play our own tracks.
      We can be told apart from other DJs as we have produced material that they don't own.
      What about DJing as a pair - what are the pros and cons?
      Smyrky - We live together, work together, club together and produce tunes together.  Stuck by the hip 24/7 and with everything in common, it made sense to DJ together. There are no cons in my eyes.
      Seraya - I agree. It's great to share the experience as a couple. We wouldn't have any other way.
      You guys have been producing some tracks too...have you got any releases lined up?
      Smyrky - Getting some tunes out there is currently at the top of our agenda. We've recently finished a Hard House number From Darkness with Cyberkitten's Steve Gillen. Definitely one for the dirt box! Still looking to be signed! Nudge, nudge wink, wink Mr/Mrs Label owner.
      Seraya - On the Hard Trance side we've got a few energetic and uplifting tracks in the pipeline.  You'll know when they are finished as we usually add a small sample around forums to get feedback.
      Which other musicians and DJs inspire you and why?
      Seraya - On the production side I really enjoy and admire anything by K-complex. That dude has uber amounts of talent. Greg Brookman, M.D.A & Spherical are also ticking all the right boxes for me at present with each production getting better and better.
      Smyrky - Agreed! To be fair there are too many good producers to list. If I start I won't be able to stop! Lets just say OD404, Karim, Justin Bourne and Kevin Energy are top dogs in my eyes. DJs that inspire me are the ones that show true passion in putting on a good show whilst interacting with the crowd. The likes of Proteus, Mark EG and Kevin Energy always maintain stage presence, which goes a long way in my books. It's far more satisfying watching a DJ enjoy themselves rather than just boshing out a mix with their head constantly down!
      You've been doing some live PAs from time to time too...who does what when you do your live show? How have people reacted to them?
      Smyrky - On this occasion I must spill the beans and explain all as I know this topic has been hotly debated on previous discussions. To start with our set-up consisted of a multi tracker a few synths, samplers and FX units. Seraya would be mixing the levels of the percussion and backing tracks whilst playing a selection of preloaded samples. I was free to tweak away at the pre-programmed synths, play samples and add FX where appropriate. We also hooked up a CDJ so that I could scratch over the top.
      Seraya - After a few parties we soon came to realise that our Live Set-up wasn't the most practical setup. Sure it looked good, but it didn't really satisfy our need to feel 100% involved.
      Smyrky - Which is why we are currently flogging some of our gear to go down the Ableton Live route! Hopefully that will give us the freedom and flexibility we are looking for.
      You are playing at Frantic's 9th Birthday  on 27th August at The Renaissance Rooms in London. What are your earliest memories from Frantic's legendary events?
      Smyrky - A bit of a blur. I remember loud music, flashing lights and 'ard House (Chuckle). What more can you ask for. In all seriousness I have been to many Frantic events over the years, the ones that spring to mind are Timeless, HHA and Chemistry. All of which hold fond memories that I will cherish forever. 
      Seraya - One of the earliest memories I have of Frantic was going to Convergence at the Fridge with the likes of BK and Andy Farley playing. The good times have been and are certainly not over! It keeps getting bigger and better every year.
      What can we expect to hear from you at this event? It's a pretty big occasion so you better have something pretty big in store!!
      Smyrky - Damn right, it's going to be total havoc! On this momentous occasion we finally get to unleash some fresh material that will be sure to have you climbing the walls.
      Seraya - It's a great event in the perfect surroundings. What better time to go absolutely bonkers! We look forward to seeing you all there!
      Smyrky & Seraya play at Frantic's 9th Birthday at Renaissance Rooms in London on 27th August. See www.f-h-h.co.uk for more details.
    • Addiction
      AT: So Nick, for those that have never heard of Nick Rowland, Rowland & Wright, The Coalition or PBS, can you just give us a brief background of who you are ? What you do ? And where you come from ?
      NR: Well. Once upon a time, in a land far far away. Actually, it was in Bristol, but that's far enough! I've always been into the music scene in one way or another - I started DJ'ing when I was 16 in your average Friday night club, and I played the guitar and wrote songs as a kid, and really enjoyed it. I began making tunes on the Amiga about 14 years ago (god I'm old!!), but never really took it seriously. 
      I met Dave Wright in a bar in Birmingham that I was DJ'ing in, and we both said we had an interest in writing dance music, so we used to get together when we could, and bash out some ideas. After a fairly short while, and not too many complete turkeys, we got a track signed by Alphamagic for the Execute label, and hence PBS was born - or Phatt Bloke & Slim. We were quickly picked up by Nukleuz for their Hard Trance EP series, and Rowland & Wright just snowballed from there for just over a year. Towards the end of that year, we did some tracks with a few other well known DJ's (Nick Rafferty, Phil Reynolds, Ed Real) under The Coalition moniker, which also did really well for us. Dave had commitments with his full time job, and didn't have the time to spend in the studio, so I started to do stuff on my own as well as continuing The Coalition brand with Nick Rafferty. In 2004 I had my first solo EP on Nukleuz Green which featured 'Somebody' & 'Burn The Dancefloor Down', that kick-started my solo career really well. Since then I've lived over in Montreal, Canada for a while, and since coming back I'm sharing a house with Dave in sunny Tamworth, writing for myself and producing for others, and generally enjoying myself!
      AT: You truly are a Hard Dance household name with tracks on every major label and compilation album, not too mention having remixed countless tracks for some of the scenes biggest artists. Out of all the tracks you've produced and remixed over the years which one would you say is your favourite and why ?
      NR: There have been so many landmark tracks for me all for different reasons. Silverspeed, written with Dave, was my first release on a major label - Nukleuz. The remix we did of Happens (Intensive) was also a really big track for us back in the early Rowland & Wright days, as well as Deeper (Nukleuz) and Bring The Lights Down (with Rob Tissera). More recently, I had a great time writing Fakin' It (Honey Pot) with Nick Rafferty, which was played by Dave Pearce some three weeks in a row on Dance Anthems! The tracks I'm the most proud of as a solo artist have to be Overdrive and h2o - both of which went out on Tidy. h2o was a great cross-genre track, and was played out by Tech Trance DJ's such as Christopher Lawrence, as well as on Hard Dance scene by the likes of BK. Hybrid, which was the first track working back with Dave, seems to be doing phenomenally well as a cross-genre Trance / Hard Dance track, with plays from John O'Callaghan, Ian Betts and John Askew as well as The Tidy Boys, Wid & Ben, Paul Kershaw (Galaxy FM) and other Hard Dance aficionados.
      AT: Normally every artist's material is influenced by someone. Who do you think has inspired your productions the most ? Or do you feel that you have and have always had a completely unique sound ?
      NR: I take inspiration from all sorts of artists from all styles of music and have learnt to do what I do by tearing apart their records, and trying to emulate the best bits. BT has been one of the most influential artists for me - the guy is so diverse and has such talent.  When I was learning how to produce hard house, artists like BK and Nick Sentience were the main people I aspired.
      AT: You've also proved to be an extremely versatile producer. With releases covering the whole Hard Dance spectrum from Trance & Hard Trance to Hard House and even Psy-Trance, how would you describe the style of music you are producing at the moment ?
      NR: Well, basically I try to keep myself from being 'too' pigeon-holed.  I love trance and the harder side of dance too, so I'll continue to write all kinds of music with no real overall style. Recently I've leaned towards the more trancey stuff, but I've got plans to write a load more tracks which will again cross many genres.
      AT: Having worked with almost every major player around including artists like Nick Sentience, James Lawson & Phil York, you must have some tales to tell. What's the funniest story you can tell us from any studio session ? And who were you working with ?
      NR: There are a few! The funniest was probably one of the bank holidays a year or so ago; I was engineering for Nick Rafferty & Paul Kershaw and we all agreed to start on the Tuesday as we would all be pretty messy from the weekend. So the weekend passed and at 7:30am Kershaw turns up, we're both pretty tired but get a coffee and start working. Time rolled on & there was still no sign of Rafferty. We try phoning time and time again but there was no answer. At 11:30am the phone rings and we get a quiet voice on the other end - it's Rafferty! He's sat in a bar in Birmingham completely wrecked saying that he's been out since Saturday night with no sleep and he's not going to make it!  The conversation was a funny one - I wish I had recorded it now and bribed him with it!
      AT: Are there any artists that you wouldn't work with again ? And why ?
      NR: Some people can be very, very hard to work with and there have been some situations in the past which have been, lets say, uncomfortable. But I like to think it possible to overcome most differences in the studio, especially when the end results are good!
      AT: You've recently re-launched your own Digital Mp3 Download label Periodically Repeated Sequence as well as completing a massive remix of Xinetd_D & Bruce H Fear Factor for Addiction's own Mp3 label Addiction Digital. Do you think that digital labels and mp3 downloads are the future of dance music sales ? And what treats are in store for release later this year on PRS Digital ?
      NR: Digital downloads are without doubt the way forward. The problem at the moment is that there is no physical product (i.e Vinyl, CD, etc) which in effect devalues the music to a lot of people who would otherwise buy it. In this scene I think CD albums like the Edison Factors World Series are a very good stepping stone while people get used to the idea of owning music as a digital only product. I know a few people who are working on these kind of albums now (me included!).
      AT: For your next performance aboard the Addiction Boat Party Pt2 on Saturday July 15th, you'll be blowing 300 Addict's away with your fantastic Live PA ! The burning question here Nick is, is it actually live or pre-recorded ? What makes this more special than one of your DJ Sets ? And finally what tricks have you up your sleeve to make your Live PA stand out above the rest ?
      NR: My DJ sets are all about the music that does it for me, I usually only play a couple of my own tracks, this makes the PA very different. With dance music it's all about tight timing, if your vocals or leads are even slightly out of time you know it and it sounds shit. This makes it very difficult to play 'Live' in the conventional sense, unless you incorporate real instruments like drums and guitars - The Edison Factor do this very well. I chose to not go the instrument route. Basically I use Ableton Live to effectively remix all my songs on the fly. I can bring in loops, samples, re-arrange and do all sorts of cool stuff in real time.  While I play no 'real' instruments live there is still plenty of room for mistakes and plenty of room to be creative!
      AT: You'll be joining an all star line up including, Spencer Freeland, Pierre Pienaar AKA P.H.A.T.T. feat Jennie Rix and Ben Gold ! Have you ever played on a Boat party before ? Do you get Sea Sick ? and what are you looking forward to the most ?
      NR: I've never played a boat party before, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to it. I have heard a lot of good things about Ben Gold so I'm looking forward to his set. Hopefully I won't get sea-sick, but there's only one way to find out!
      AT: You also often DJ overseas, particularly in the US and Canada, and are not long back from a tour of the two. What's the scene like over there ? How do the clubs, punters and music compare to the UK ?
      NR: I love it over there, the scene is still very young compared to the UK and the clubbers are much more open to different styles of music than they are over here.  It's still more about fun over there than being cool and it reminds me a lot of the UK club scene a few years ago.
      AT: What's the best gig you've ever played and why ?
      NR: When I was living in Montreal I played at a night called 'Lollipop' in Quebec City (Canada).  I was asked to come and stand in for Jon Langford as he couldn't make it so as we were only 3 hours drive away we drove up. It was in an Ice Hockey rink or something, the setup was wicked, the crowd were nuts and the place went off!
      AT: If you could only choose one would it be production or DJ'ing ?
      NR: Don't get me wrong, I love DJing but it's the production side that buzzes me. Having an idea in your head and being able to work that into a finished track is really rewarding for me.
      AT: How do you foresee the future of DJ'ing both personally and generally ? Do you think that turntables will eventually be phased out ? With more artists turning to their laptops, do you think that the Live PA will take over completely ? And have there been any other recent technical advances that you think will make a significant change to the performances we see on stage ?
      NR: I think the turntables days as a club format are numbered, laptops make life a lot easier (and more reliable) and you can to do so much more. Ableton Live has opened many doors and the way I do my PA is pretty much how I see DJ sets going, the only real difference being the music and the fact that producers can dissect all their own tracks into individual parts which you can't do with other peoples tunes. Sasha & Paul Van Dyk are already DJ'ing like this so it's only a matter of time.
      AT: What are your top 3 tunes of all time ?
      NR: This changes all the time!
      Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar BT & Tori Amos - Blue Skys (Paul Van Dyk's Blauer Himmel Remix) The Sex Pistols - Friggin' In The Riggin' AT: Finally Nick pls tell us what you think of the Trance & Hard Dance scene at the minute. What clubs or artist's are doing it for you ? And what changes if any, would you like to see in music or on our Dance Floors ?
      NR: Over the last few years music has been split into so many micro-genres that I think it has damaged the scene somewhat.  It would be great to see more musically versatile nights around the country (it was that way a few years back!), I think this would increase the numbers and people in our clubs and open people up to different music. Innovate is pretty much the only night I can think of doing this in the main room and it's consistently good. As a producer I want to explore different sounds and it would be great to not feel like you would be alienated for playing around. As for artists that are doing it for me at the moment I have been really impressed by MDA & Spherical lately, and also Micky D is proving himself to be exceptionally talented!
      AT: Thanks very much for taking the time to speak to me Nick, and we'll see you aboard The Sundance on July 15th
      NR: Cheers Andy and I'll see you on the Thames!!!
      To view the E Flyer for full line up, ticket info, competitions, important information and more please click here

    • Frantic Benz
      So, you were chosen to mix the 1999 present disc of Helter Skelter's new United In Hardcore compilation. When did you first encounter the world of Helter Skelter?
      I first encountered Helter Skelter in 1989 at Milwaukees, Bedfordshire.
      Which of their events do you remember most fondly?
      You know what, all of them were so amazing, I don't think I could forget any of them.
      Do you miss the days when there were lots of large scale events on up and down the country all the time?
      Those days were very special, I don't think they could ever be topped.
      Which of the tracks on your mix hold particularly special memories for you and why?
      Get Hype holds great memories for me, it was when I realised that me and gammer had cracked the new sound of hardcore.
      Do you think it's far to say the hardcore went through a second "golden age" post-2000?
      Absolutely. We have all fine tuned a new style of rave music and a new generation of ravers has come along with it. With the amount of different styles around now theres something for everyone, Hardcore certainly is on top of the world right now.
      What about hardcore's low point? Did you ever think it would recover from its slump? You were one of the people who stuck with it through thick and thin after all...
      To be honest, at one point if you'd have said to me in a few years time you are going to be playing to thousands of people again, week in week out, I would never have believed it! So I appreciate the scene now more than ever
      What have been the major changes in the hardcore scene in the last few years? Does it feel like it's a different ballgame to how it used to be?
      No, not really. Its still the friendliest place, the best atmosphere on earth
      What about the new tracks on the album? Which have got the hardcore crowds in a flutter?
      The Angel City Remix (Sunlight) and rocking with the best are without a doubt two of my strongest anthems at the moment
      How was you recent(ish) Essential Platinum Live PA at Tranzmission? How has the whole project been progressing?
      It was great, but extremely hard work. The atmosphere is so intense when you do a pa there's nothing else like it. We will continue to have no expenses spared when it comes to performing live!
      And finally, if you had to pick a hardcore desert island disc - what would be the one track you took with you?
      Pretty Green Eyes
      Interview by Benz E99
       
    • GregSulli
      Hiya Lee, so what have been the highlights for you so far in 2006?
      The biggest highlight of year was the birth of my beautiful baby girl Brooke born on January 26th 2006. It really put things into perspective.
      Djiing wise its been a busy year from the start. Playing alongside Ferry Corsten at Brixton Academy on NYE for Riot, then NYD mainroom infront of a sell out crowd at The Fridge for Twisted was just the best start to the year possible. Totally amazing!
      After that I'd have to say the YES! parties we put on - was lots of hard hard work but so worth it (watch out for more soon).
      In terms of production it has to be the TEKELEC releases - Centara, Troika, Revolution of the Mind and Lost Souls all getting major support and big air play from Carl Cox, Judge Jules, John Askew and Above & Beyond.
      ....Oh and Ferry Corsten supporting my new tech trance monster SLIDING DOORS! Big things!
      This time next year, what ambitions would you like to of fulfilled?
      Has to be getting my new tracks on a major trance label - there's been some very very big interest by a major DJ/Producer but I cant say more. Apart from that it has to be my European gigs I have coming up in Ibiza and headlining in Finland cant wait!
      What would you say best describes your sound?
      Full on driving & energetic Tech Trance.
      What do you think in general with the scene in London?
      The trance scene is coming back in a big way! The music is more intelligent and the producers are just firing on all cylinders at the moment. With events like The Electronic Sessions and Yes! really pushing the boundaries its exciting times for our music.
      Do you get to go clubbing much, and what Dj's do you admire?
      Has to the Godfather himself Graham Gold - year in year out he consistently delivers everytime an amazing DJ and a great ambassador for the industry!
      I'd also have to say Sir Carl Cox - he versality is amazing. Even though he's been on the scene so long he's still pushing the boundaries a real legend.
      Are you looking forward to playing for us at Electronic Sessions, have you played at Deep Blue before?
      Yes definitely. Ive been in the studio with different producers for the past 6 months and im really looking forward to unleashing some upfront material on the crowd. Im also looking forward to finishing the night after Simon Patterson the last hour will be full on tech infused trance, boooowai! 
      Can we expect any new material this year from you and your partner in crime Ali Wilson?
      After working with Ali for the past two years and compiling a selection of over 30 tracks we wanted concentrate on our own projects. I've been working with in the studio with two great producers Ben Gold and Greg Brookman and another exciting big big producer that I cant talk about right now - but watch this space!
      Whats the weirdest set you have ever played?
      Haha there's been a few probably any time that Ive been out with the boys - we had some weird ones lol!
      Will you be playing over in Ibiza this year?
      Certainly am! We have the Yes! Vs Wildchild Sunset Boat party in Ibiza this year, It's gonna be a big one. Wildchild have put together a massive events schedule at some fantastic venues, make sure your on the flight!
      So what can we expect from your set at Electronic Sessions?
      GET SOME TECH TRANCE IN YOUR LIFE! tm (Osborne)
      You can catch Lee spinning in the main room at ElectronicSessions between 5 - 6 am, finishing the night off in style !
      For tickets;
      http://www.seonelondon.com http://www.ticketweb.co.uk http://www.electronicsessions.co.uk
    • GregSulli
      Hiya Simon, so what have been the highlights for you so far in 2006?
      This has been a great year so far for me. Being made Inside Out resident would be up there and also the success of F16.
      This time next year, what ambitions would you like to of fulfilled?
      Just to keep moving and pushing forward each year is all I look to achieve.
      What would you say best describes your sound?
      Driving, tech trance, with elements of psy and uplift about them. 
      Is there a big clubbing scene back home in Northern Ireland and do you get back to play there much?
      The scene back home is popular but there are only a few big clubs worth playing at. These clubs are filled each week with the cr�me of Dj talent so its hard to get a space to play. I try and play there 2 or 3 times a year. The atmosphere in Ireland is ridiculous.
      What do you think in general with the scene in London?
      I haven't been playing in London much this year which has been very refreshing for me. This is the way I wanted it. I got sick of playing in London so much at the end of last year seeing the same faces etc. But now that I haven't played here much I want to play again! It's always the way. In general I find London too cool. There's not always the right vibe. 
      What are the top 3 clubs you have played in the world and why?
      Inside Out - No better place in the world. Atmosphere is unreal. People are friendly and so supportive. Honeyclub in Brighton - Now that they have revamped the place it reminds me a little of The Cross, the crowd are close to you, intimate atmosphere. The sound system is rocking. Again the atmosphere is brilliant. Everyone going nuts! Judgement Sundays - Like Inside Out. I just like playing places that have the right sort of vibe about them. I want to leave the club happy that everyone's enjoyed it and that I've enjoyed it. That's the most important factor to me when I play - everyone loving it. Did you always think Dogzilla - Without You was going to be such a huge track?
      No we both didn't think that it would have been. I was worried about the leap from "Your Eyes" to "Without You". I thought people weren't going to be getting the vocal at all. But the track hasn't gone away. PVD has been hammering it. Number 1 2 months in a row in his Mixmag chart. It's good that it's stood the test of time.
      Very Pleasing. Grateful for all the support.
      Do you have much more Dogzilla material planned for this year?

      With the Dogzilla thing, its just getting the time. We just finished a remix called Stimulate by an artist called Emjay. Its coming out on Perfecto in the UK. I think it's by far the best thing we've done. Dogs 4 is well in the making but we're taking our time getting it right. And we're just about to start a remix for Vandit. So a few bits coming up this year. But concentrating more on my own stuff at the moment.
      Do you still get to go clubbing much, and what Dj's do you admire?
      I don't get much chance to go clubbing at all. So I don't get a chance to see many Dj's play. But I was playing at Gods Kitchen recently, I checked out the house room and heard a DJ called Demi(?) play - very impressed. Mixing and crowd control were awesome. Never heard of him before but I'm told he's quite well known. One of the few Dj's that I have seen who has made a big impression on me. Greg Downey, O'Callaghan, Van Doorn. All ripping! But best Dj is without question Halliwell - different league. Can't understand how anyone can think differently?!
      So tell us about the renowned crowd at 'Inside Out' who you are the new resident for?
      They are just so up for it. It's the closest you'd get to scoring a goal in front of a packed football stadium. Its just a sight that has to be experienced to understand. If there's one club in the world that I could only ever play at again - this would be it.
      Are you looking forward to playing for us at Electronic Sessions, have you played at Deep Blue before?
      I can't wait to play. I haven't been in London for a few months so I'm buzzing about playing again. I've never played at Deep Blue either so it's going to be fresh for me. I'm looking forward to checking Andy Moor too!
      Your recent track F16 has been recently been released. How has it gone down in the clubs?
      It's been fantastic! I couldn't have asked for any more support on the track. Everyone's been playing it and managed to enter the buzz chart so I'm so chuffed with the outcome. New one done, a lot different to F16. Will play it on the night!!
      What football team do you support?
      The mighty Spurs. Robbie Keane - legend!
      What countries are you yet to play that are a must for you?
      Japan, Australia and Eastern Europe are real musts for me. USA I need to play more in. But I'm just grateful to be playing anywhere. Its all a bonus.
      So what can we expect from your set at Electronic Sessions?
      Drilling, tech trance.
      And finally do you have any message to the ES party crew?
      Get there early, it will be a lock-out!
      To buy your tickets for ElectronicSessions at Deep Blue, Fri 5th March 
      www.seonelondon.com
      www.ticketweb.co.uk

    • ClubTheWorld
      Well first things first Timo, how's it shaking geezer are you good?
      Doing great thanks - am very excited about this weekend - another 4 day dancathon starting off tonight with our new weekly night called the DROP at Meet and ending with a massive showdown of local east london talent at the RAVE - with loads of other gigs and easter egg binges in between!
      So Mr Garcia for those who don't know you - who the hell are ya?
      Well, I live on brick lane where I have my music studio fondly known as the biscuit factory - I make house music, run my record label (Berwick Street Records), DJ every weekend and some week nights and eat biscuits all day!
      Interesting, The E1 Rave is listed as BBL's dirty little secret - whats your dirty little secret Timo?
      Come on I know your game!
      The DROP - coming very very soon!
      I've been doing a little background research and you started promoting your own nights at the tender age of 16! Sheesh.. I could just about tie my shoe laces at that age! What's the deal?
      I come from a small town on the outskirts of london where the was once a shit niteclub called Stages - so at 16 I used to hire indie bands to play on the top floor whilst I and my mates played indie dance records (very badly!) downstairs. There wasn't much else to do in that town so we got a great crowd down - only problem was that I was one of the few of my age to look 18 so I had to keep running down to the door to get my mates in!
      You've played all over the world including a 2 year residency in Paris. How do all the different countries differ and more importantly which has the hottest women?
      I did enjoy myself in France ;op
      After running your own events, producing and DJing you decided to go Pro in 2002. That must have been a big decision?
      Not at all - Before then I was working full time for a multinational Biotech company shipping all their products around the world - Djing was a great conflict and I ran out of holiday & sick days and had to make that decision. As I was getting some great gigs in the UK and abroad It was the obvious choice.
      There a literally thousands of budding DJs who dream of spinning the plastic for a living what advice could you give? And what are the high and lows?
      Believe in the music - first and foremost
      Its hard work - really hard - so long as they're willing to put in the effort and energy and make it work for them then go right ahead.
      You launched Berwick Street Records in 2005 your very own House imprint, how is this shaping up?
      Going great thanks. Discotech was the 2nd release by myself and the Cheshire Catz was played on Pete Tongs show as the Essential New Tune. The 1st and 4th releases have been licensed to the Bora Bora compilation this summer and the current promo is getting some great support from Smokin Jo, David Guetta, Hernan Cattaneo and Tall Paul amongst many.
      Its not out officially for another 3 weeks but I know there are 5 Test Pressings on vinyl in Black Market Soho at the moment and you can get the exclusive Mp3 Download from DJDownload.com
      Its called Timo Garcia & the Cheshire Catz present Nika - Just Get Over It (Berwick Street Records) - so keep an eye out for it!
      Apart from your own which labels are really doing it for you at the moment and producers/DJs of course?
      The Cheshire Catz obviously as we have made so many tracks together and are launching our new weekly Thursday night called the DROP at Meet - we hope to have some great DJs playing there - I would love to have Tim Sheriden, Mike Monday, Big Daddy G, King Roc, Tom Neville, the Insignificant Others, Mark Sun, Anil Chawla, Dale Anderson down to play as well as many others not forgetting the ever faithful Filthy Krew Shane Watcha, Brad 212 Finlay, Ben dela daddy Pena, Clint Lee and Gepy - all who rock the nights we play at - it's one happy family really!
      On bank holiday Easter Sunday your playing at the 11 hour monster party marathon THE E1 RAVE how are you preparing yourself? A few laps round the park a bit of stretching maybe or will you just be carrying on from Friday you dirty stop out!
      Kick starting tonight with the DROP, then playing Friday night again at Meet, then staying on for Redlight then over to Jam for Saturday 1 til 4pm where ill be battling it out on the decks with Joe le Groove - then im playing that night at Zigfrids in Hoxton before we head off to Club Azuli at the Cross to hear King Roc and the big man himself Kenny dope - then Sunday I might get a bit of sleep in before the Grand Finale - the RAVE!! Nice!
      So who are you looking forward to seeing on Sunday?!
      Really looking forward to playing with the Filthy Krew again - Shane, Ben, Clint, Gepy - also will be great to party with those Cowboys!
      And lastly any final pieces of advice the R R R R Ravers!?
      Watch out for the Easter Bunny! 

  • Interviews

    • hubby
      On July the 8th this year @ Eden in Ibiza Invasion Ibiza began its Ibiza journey with a bang! on the night Randy Katana, Jon O.Bir and K90 topped the bill along with Invasion residents Russ Edwards, Dene No Rythem and Cheadle & Hubby. In the second room was the Uk's number 1 breaks night "Planet Breaks!"
      The night itself was awsome as K90 said in an interview soon after with Harder Faster:  What was the most mental place you played?
      Id have to say this years Invasion: Ibiza at Eden was huge for me, in more ways than one! I think most people whove been to Ibiza to party would agree that its still a place where anything goes and anything is possible. Believe me, this trip was no exception! Another big highlight for me in 2006 was playing to 10,000 in a single arena at a World Cup 06 kick off party in Malaysia.
      So as K90's coming back for Invasions next event @ Eden, Ibiza September 9th along with Marcel Woods, Jon O.Bir, Planet Breaks and the Invasion residents we thought we'd fire a few questions at him Invasion style!  
      1. (Question from Snakes, Invasion resident) Do you prefer laces or Velcro?
      If youre referring to footwear Id say that trainers with Velcro are a lot easier to put on and take off! I have footwear featuring both styles of fastening so it would be unfair of me to side with one particular technique!
      2 Now music is so readily available via download, file sharing sites etc how has this changed things for you as a producer and DJ? Do you prefer it the way it is now being able to share youre newly produced work so easily? Or does this bring allot of problems?
      From someone who runs a record label, digital downloading has without question taken its toll on the vinyl market and that concerns me. I still sell and promote the K90 catalogue on most of the big download sites but if I was 100% honest seeing a track that Ive been working on for four weeks on sale for 1.49 doesnt exactly fill me with enthusiasm to write the next Red Snapper! Luckily, my love for the music will always keep me writing because thats what I do. From a DJ-ing perspective, downloads are a fast, inexpensive way of getting your latest releases to the people you want. Id say 75% of the stuff I get sent is via email these days.
      3. (Question from Kevmixin, Invasion resident) Youve been in this game a long time now and youve seen allot of change, How does the dance scene compare now to when you first started?
      Umm, thats a question Ive been asked a lot recently. Although there seems to be more choice these days, Ive not really noticed much difference in the way people go out and party, not since Ive been falling out of clubs anyway! For me as a producer, the processes I go through when I write are still pretty much the same as when I started its just the kit has got smaller!!! I would say is that with the onset of the digital age its a whole lot easier for new and upcoming producers get themselves heard but with fewer labels and clubs i think its harder to break through into what I would call the big time.
      4. (Question from Naylor, Techno DJ and Producer) When you play your live sets what Kit do you use?
      I use Sony Vaio laptop running Emagic Logic, a couple of synths plus a mini controller keyboard. I run everything through a Peavey 12 channel mixer and have a DAT machine running simultaneously for back up just in case everything goes quiet! That lot all sits on three two tier keyboard stands, then I wrap my big ole K90 banner across the front and there you have it. Oh and I mustnt forget my trusty roll of gaffa tape!!!
      5. (Question from the_minister, Tidy forum) When you play live do you use all the keyboards as controllers for a live sequencing programme like ableton?
      Itd be interesting to know this cos I dont know how the hell you play it all live when youre having so much fun dancing about!!
      Basically, the majority of the sound coming out of the speakers is generated by the laptop, I can then overlay string patterns, effects and operate filters using the controller or sampling keyboard. Not all the equipment on the stage is used in every track all the time but when youre on stage you have to have a certain amount of stage presence. It wouldnt be very good if I was on stage at say Global Gathering for instance with my PC and my little ole controller keyboard cause it would look crap! I personally think its more important to give the audience something to look at, give um a show! I mean, at the end of the day, who really cares if youre using Ableton, PC or a Fischer Price Activity Centre for that matter?
      6. Question from Taylor J, DJ & Promoter) Have you ever thought of changing your music style?
      Im always looking at ways I can improve on what Ive done in the past and if you listen to the music I produced when I first started out its miles away from what Im doing now. Ive produced Hardcore (first time round) Acid Trance, Trance, and Hard House and the stuff Im producing now for my next artist album is I think certainly different again. If you mean will I start to write as a breaks or drum n bass producer I cant see that happening. I may dabble in those styles for an experimental album track or something but in the main I like to keep it four to the floor!
      7. What age did you start producing music? Was it always hard Trance form the start? Have you got a lot of unfinished tracks from years ago?
      I think I was about 21 when I first started playing around with sounds and as I said in the previous answer Ive produced everything Hardcore, Hard House and everything in between! I dont tend to keep anything unfinished; it just gets scrapped so I can move onto the next idea!
      8. (Question from your wife Jane) Whats the story behind the lucozade fountain?
      Shes a wrong-un that Jane! Ok, the story behind the Lucozade fountain goes something like this. We were travelling up to Leeds for a festival a couple of years ago. I was knackered from playing the night before so Jane was driving. I was concerned by my lack of energy knowing that I was gonna have to do it all again that evening so we pulled into a service station for some refreshments! I picked up this family sized bottle of Lucozdade thinking that should do the trick and got back in the car. We pulled out of the services and I proceeded to open my lovely bottle of orange energy, then whoosh, the entire contents of the bottle emptied itself over my jeans just like a fountain! The strange thing was I completely froze and in my weary state I just sat there and watched the sticky orange liquid gush from the bottle!!! It was only when I heard a distant voice similar to that of Obi Wan Kenobi communicating to Luke Skywalker from the netherworld saying are you gonna put the lid back on that then? that I snapped out of it and proceeded to stem the flow! By that time it was too late, I was an ants best friend! Needless to say we had to stop the next services so could clean myself up and luckily I had another clean pair of jeans in the car! The embarrassing this was though, I had to walk across the forecourt looking like Cliff Richard with an overflowing colostomy bag and worse, I had the indignity of attempting to clean my packet with a combination of wet wipes and a hand dryer!!! What a day!
      9. (Another question from Jane) Whats the funniest thing to happen to you in a restaurant?
      Well, this may not be funny to everyone but I know my lovely wife found it rather amusing! We were basically sitting in a well known pizza restaurant and we were ravenous! As our order came to our table I, as usual got straight in there! My pizza had these giant round bits of pepperoni on and as I went in for the kill with a giant mouthful I didnt manage to bite through one of the oversize bits of meat, no, half the bloody topping decided to come off and proceeded to sit there hanging from my teeth onto my chin, melting cheese and all! By jingo that was hot!
      10. What was the highlight of your trip to Ibiza with Invasion?
      There were so many highlights from that trip but most importantly the event itself was fantastic! The atmosphere at Eden that night was electric! My good lady wife as well as a few of my close friends came out with us which made it even more special. I know everyone felt the same as I do; it was one of the parties of the year! Aside from the event another memory thatll haunt my dreams forever was seeing one of my mates walking round Savannah wearing nothing but his underpants and a pair of ladies mustard coloured shoes. Hed been well and truly captured!!!   
      11. Whens your next album due for release?
      I cant see it being ready much before the middle of 2007. The track writing process is well underway but as Im looking to release a DVD with the album it may take a bit longer. As long as Im happy with the final product I dont really mind if takes another two years.
      12. What gigs are you looking forward to the most later this year?
      Obviously Invasion: Ibiza in September then two days later I fly out to one of my favourite countries of the world New Zealand for a five date tour.
      13. (Question from Matt, DJ, Two Kilos of funk) Why do dogs have cold noses?
      Sorry, Im more of a cat man so I couldnt tell you
      14. What do you think was the most likely reason Invasion booked you to play at their Ibiza parties?
      A = Your music style fitted in perfectly with the time and flow of the night and helped them achieve an adrenalin rush of electro, techno, trance and hard dance!
      B = Your claw action is not that bad
      C = They needed someone to get wrecked with and were just thinking of the aftermath really and not the event..
      All of the above but mainly the last one!!!
      15. (Question from Filthy Harris, DJ & Strings, Harder Faster) What does K90 stand for?
      Rather boringly it doesnt actually stand for anything. K90 was originally KA90 back in the day when I was part of a two piece production team. One day, we wrote a tune but couldnt think of a name for the track so my mate randomly typed two letters KA and two numbers 90 We were doing hardcore back then and were signed to Kickin Records. They decided that it would be better to drop the A and K90 was born.  
      16. (Question from Sunnyside, Harder Faster) Does your name have anything to do with Dr Who's sidekick K9?
      Strangely enough, no!
      17. (Question from webbo, Harder Faster) Why did you stop making acid trance?
      Its like anything, you have too much of something, you tend to get bored and want to move onto something else on the end. Im kinda glad my tastes tend to evolve with the music because if they didnt It would rather limit the events I could play at.
      18. (Question from Filthy Harris, DJ & Little Miss Moo, Harder Faster) What was it like playing Dance Valley? And whats the best crowd youve ever played for and why?
      Dance Valley was brilliant this year, responsive crowd and great atmosphere, those crazy Dutch sure known how to put on a party! Ive been privileged enough to play to lots of great audiences over the years so to pick just one would be nearly impossible for me. This is also due to the fact that I dont tend to dwell on past events but try to refocus and move onto the next. As far as this year goes, my top three would have to be Global Gathering, a 10,000 people arena show in Malaysia and of course, Invasion: Ibiza in July!
      19. (Question from Little Miss Moo, Harder Faster) What inspired you to write Breathe?
      Good question! Well, what I can tell you is that I got the lyrics first which then inspired me to write the music. For me inspiration can be a tiny spark, a drum kick, a bass line then it all just takes on a life of its own, its hard to explain but some tracks just seem to write themselves and Breathe was like that.
      20. (Question from Lozer, Wreck head) Why do all shoe repairers also cut keys?
      Ummm, not really a question Ive posed myself on to many occasions but it is strange they do that though isnt itmaybe Ill nip down my local shops and ask!
      21. (Question from Lenni your sister in law) Can you play the Ukulele?
      You know what, funnily enough I can!!! Well, I can play one song anyway - When Im cleaning windows by George Formby!!! I used to play a guitar when I was a kid and that has six strings, so when a mate of mine came round mine one day armed with this Ukulele (I know, thats weird in itself!!!) with only four strings it wasnt that difficult really! He taught me to play said Formby track in one afternoon!
      22. (Question form sexyjojo, Harder Faster) Have you learnt to swim yet? Ref: http://www.harderfaster.net/?section=forums&action=showthread&threadid=1&threadid=165444&forumid=1
      Stay away from this woman, she is evilask her husband, hes permanently scared!!!!
      In answer to your question, yes I can and have been able to swim for some time thanks very much Jo!!! It just didnt look like it on the time in question due to vast amounts of free booze weighing me down!!!
      23. During you carer as a producer if you can answer this without getting your self in the shit, have you ever been ripped off especially when you first started out? The reason I ask is I know a few people that have been shafted due to there inexperience and being over keenness to get a track released.
      Umm, I cant really say that Ive ever been badly ripped off before but I have had occasions where Ive been owed money that Ive never received. My advice would be to try and get something in writing and get it signed, then at least youve got a reference point to go back to if there is some kind of grievance. Also, get your tracks registered with MCPS/PRS so when your track is released you can check back with them to see how many pressings have been made. Any label worth its salt should confirm the amount of pressings when they apply for their AP2 licence (a permission to press records/CDs).    
      24. Should Dene get his hair cut?
      On one hand I think, hell yeah and on the other hand I think he should keep growing it till he looks like Cousin It out of the Adams Family!!!
      25. What do you think of the Invasion brand as a whole, i.e. its team, its mentality and its objectives, and what do you think makes it different from everyone else?
      From what Ive seen, the Invasion brand seems to be successful because the people behind it seem to get the best results by working with a smile on their faces! I mean, thats what were all in this for right, to have a good time? This is not say that their not thorough or professional because in my experience they very much are! Unfortunately, there are far too many people in this industry, especially DJs and promoters that take themselves far too seriously! It makes a welcome and refreshing change to work with a promotion that has the right attitude! 
      26. (Question from Vinylvibes, Harder Faster) Are you sick of Red Snapper yet?
      YES!!!
      27. (Question from lilgingerkittee, Tidy forum) Are you always that happy in real life?? Would we see you in Tesco for example bouncing around the frozen food section with that HUGE grin on getting excited by the special offers???
      I do actually shop at Tesco and can be quite often found larking about amongst all the isles, not just the frozen food section, just ask my wife!!! In general I am a pretty cheerful chap and I dont really need special offers to make me happy!
      28. What did you think of Invasion Ibiza back in July? Was it what you were expecting? Did it look and feel as you imagined it would? Are you looking forward to Invasion Ibiza in September?
      Ive experienced beefa a few times so kinda know what to expect, but I have to say Invasion back in July was just fantastic! For a first event, on a Saturday which is strangely considered not to be a good day to have a party on in Ibiza, I was blown away! The number of people that packed into Eden coupled with an atmosphere that I cant remember being part of for a long time made it one of the highlights of my calendar so far this year! Bring on round two in SeptemberI cant wait!!!!!   
      The Next Invasion event is on Saturday September the 9th
      @ Eden, Ibiza
      K90, Jon O.Bir, Marcel Woods, Planet Breaks & The Invasion Residents!
      www.invasion-online.com for all details!
    • Addiction
      Having burst onto the scene just under two years ago, MDA & Spherical are now well on their way to becoming modern Hard Dance household names. With their immense productions and remixes featuring on almost every major label including Tidy Trax, Masif, Tranzlation & Oblivion Recordings and having just debuted their exciting new LIVE PA, featuring a live bass guitar, a live vocalist and other on stage shenanigans, Addiction promoter Andy T caught up with his new residents to talk about the past, present, future and all things MDA & Spherical.
      AT: Afternoon lads! First of all allow me to take this opportunity to welcome you as the latest addition to the Addiction stables. You've featured at plenty of our events in the past and have rocked Addiction dance floors to their very foundations more often than most. What's your favourite memory from any Addiction event?
      Well thanks for giving us the opportunity! Having both been to many of the Thursday night Addictions there have been loads of great memories from most of them. Aside from the Thursdays, one thing that particularly stands out is the first boat party. All the DJs played great sets and the sun was shining making it a fantastic day all round. The green shirt brigade made us chuckle.
      AT: You've known each other for over 5 years now, and also live together whilst studying at University. Tell us a bit about each other. Who's the worst to live with? Which one of you wears the trousers in the studio? And what makes you such a good partnership?
      Yeah we live together. We're in the lucky position to have a big house with two other guys from our Uni course. This means we're all into music and can all have a laugh. As for worst to live with - Mark has a suspect aversion to washing up; stuff tends to stay dirty for ages. Matt on the other hand, has a horrid habit of munching dry pasta - the crunching drives you mad!
      We'd have to say one of the things that make us a good partnership is that neither of us really wears the trousers. We both have different opinions on things a lot of the time, but are good at compromising creating the best outcome.
      AT: Do either of you have any secret Addiction's of your own?
      No, but one of our housemates is addicted to a real-time computer game. Often having 30 hour playing stints, he only stops to order take-away or power-nap ready for the next 20 hour stint. Quite sad really.
      AT: You've gone from remixing tracks in your bedrooms for your own pleasure to being dubbed as one the brightest new production duo's in Hard Dance history, all in less than 2 years!! What do you think has been the main contributing factor to your success? Is it simply just about making good music? Or is there more to it?
      Well, thanks for your compliments. We do think the music is the key, and we are in the fortunate position that people like what we do. Although it's also about having fun, not taking anything too seriously - can't stand arrogant DJs.
      AT: Where or who do you think your main musical influences and inspiration have come from?
      Our influences come from all over, not just hard dance. Obviously there are people we look up to in the scene such as Nick Sentience, The Edison Factor and Greg Brookman but a lot of inspiration for our tracks come from other genres - house, breaks, electro, tech-trance and hardcore alongside dance artists such as Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and Daft Punk - all things that we've been listening to recently between us.
      AT: I think it would be fair to say that no modern Hard Dance event would be complete without hearing at least several MDA & Spherical anthems unleashed on the Dance Floor throughout the night. With such an immense back catalogue now behind you, which tracks or remixes of your own are your personal favourites and why?
      Matt: I think my favourite of all the tracks that we've produced together is probably one of our new ones, Dutch Courage. It's quite different and innovative and has seen some great reactions on the dance-floor already. It's due out very soon on Tranzlation.
      Mark: I'd have to say out of everything we've ever done, it's got to be our remix of Phil York's Drop The Beatz Out on Tranzlation Whites. Funky, chunky and always goes off when played. Simply a feel-good party tune.
      AT: Having spent the last year wetting ourselves over tracks like Illusion, and the massive remixes of Back to the Program and Drop The Beatz Out what new awesome productions of yours can we look forward to hearing in the near future?
      There's quite a lot of exciting stuff coming up actually. On the remixes front we have a couple of bits in the pipeline with Phil York's various labels. There's Crank it Up by Technikal & JK on Tranzlation Whites, along with a remix of Nick Rowland's huge trancer Communicate on Nukearpuppy. We're also still waiting for the release of our debut remix on Masif records  Weekend by the legends Steve Hill & Technikal. Soon we'll be doing a huge remix of the current anthem U Got 2 Be There by new boys Adrenaline Dept. amongst many other projects.
      As for original productions there's the aforementioned Dutch Courage on Tranzlation, Infiltrate Your Mind on Nu Religion and our Collaborations EP on Oblivion Recordings, featuring Tekamine and Phantasm done with Chrysus & Technikal.
      AT: As well as the more serious production you've also been known to have a bit of fun, bootlegging house tracks like Call on Me and Out of Touch under your Beastie Snax alias. Have you any other production guises or pseudonyms? And do either of you produce music that falls into other genres?
      It's always good fun knocking out the odd bootleg, and doing them under the Beastie Snax guise means it doesn't matter how shamelessly cheesy they are, just plain good fun! That's it for aliases at the moment, although we are both producing tracks in different genres separately. Matt's started to do a few hardcore tracks, with a debut release due on Relentless Vinyl shortly. Mark's delving into the tech-trance/tech-house/electro side of things with a couple of debut remixes on Magnetic records shortly.
      AT: More and more artist's such as The Edison Factor and Technikal have been working on their own artist albums featuring both mixed and DJ friendly material. Have you any plans to work on something like this in the future?
      Maybe in the distant future you never know, although at the moment we haven't physically got the time. Trying to fit in production along with the PA and DJing around Uni is quite a challenge as it is. It is definitely something we would like to do, and we're currently considering releasing a live album of the PA show at some point.
      AT: You've just debuted your new LIVE PA, Welcome 2 The Future for Logic's 7th Birthday @ The Fridge and of course will be showcasing yet again at Addiction's 2nd Birthday in Sept. Featuring a live bass guitar & Jennie Rix on vocals this is no ordinary performance and must have taken a lot of planning and practise. How did things go on the night, and what new tricks will you have up your sleeve for the next instalment?
      We're both over the moon with how it went and the reactions we received! Being the first time we've done it we didn't quite know what to expect. Luckily everything worked and Jennie did a fantastic job on vocals to polish it all off - the crowd loved her! It's basically given us a great platform to work from. The PA is all about evolution - we kept the first one quite simple but the possibilities are endless, only being limited by our imagination and our wallets. No two PA's will ever be the same and with more elements added it's just going to get bigger and better each performance.
      AT: How does the PA differ to a normal DJ set? i.e. what are the pro's and con's ? And will you now feel restricted by the standard set up of CDJs, turntables and a mixer?
      I think to a certain extent we will yes. There's just not as much you can do with them. The main downside to the PA is it takes a lot longer to set up, both at home and arriving at the club. However Logic proved that it's defiantly all worth it once you get up there on stage.
      AT: You've been studying music degrees at University for the last two years. Now about to start your 3rd and final years have you given any thought to what the future may bring when you both finish next summer?
      Hopefully lots more making music, more DJing and more PA's. Basically lots more of everything! Hopefully we will get the chance to get more involved with the industry and really push things forward.
      AT: Apart from your beloved new residency what do you feel your biggest accomplishment to date has been ?
      I think the biggest achievement to date (not forgetting the residency of course heh) has been organising and pulling off the PA, it was a lot of hard work so really meant something when it came together. Other than that having a release on Tidy was quite a big achievement for us.
      AT: Who are you both tipping for the top? Be it Producers, DJs, Promotions or labels?
      On the production front Michael Dow is making some splendid tech-trance, consistently impressed by his material. Edwin Van Cleef is another name that's soon to be on everyone's lips. The Dutch-ninja-pirate's productions have improved ten-fold in the last 12 months.
      Labels-wise we'd have to say Oblivion Recordings; even though we may be slightly biased their release schedule is looking rather impressive.
      AT: And finally guys what do you have to say to people that think Hard Dance and UK Hard Trance are on their way out?
      Everything has its ups 'n' downs and at the end of the day it all goes round in circles (no pun intended). Even if Hard Dance does see a downturn in popularity in a couple of years it will be the new big thing again. It's going through resurgence. Some of the big names will leave or retire, and the artists that stay committed to the scene will end up being at the top.
      Take a look at the Hardcore genre for example  5 years ago hardcore was a dirty word and the scene practically died. Now it's huge!
      AT: Thanks very much for taking the time to answer these questions guys ! On behalf of the other residents and myself welcome to Addiction and we'll see you on Stage in September for the mother of all birthday parties!
      Watch this space for more info on Addiction's 2nd Birthday coming very soon !!

    • Frantic Benz
      In advance of this weekend's scorcher we caught up with Mr Sonny Wharton, a man who without doubt is one of the UK's hottest emerging house DJs. Recently signed to Serious management and now sitting along side Judge Jules, Trophy Twins, Oliver Lang and Eddie Halliwell. This guy has recently just completed two solo world tours and is also known for his infectious performance and remarkable technical wizardry, often using up to four CDJ's!
      A Renaissance resident, Sonny's rise to stardom has not gone unnoticed with numerous guest mixes for Radio 1 & Ministry of Sound Radio as well as festival gigs at Godskitchen, Global Gathering, Tribal Weekender, The Whicker Man Festival & Glastonbury. This man is Hot Property! Don't miss him at his debut for Audio London this Sunday 23rd July at The White House.
      So, we've been hearing lots about your turntable-trickery recently - but who was the first DJ who really amazed you?
      The first DJ I listened to was Carl Cox - it was a really bad quality copy of an old MTV show filmed @ The Eclipse in Coventry. I was blown away by the whole thing and from that moment on wanted to be a DJ!
      You first achieved fame by winning a DJMag mixtape competition. What was on the tape and why do you think they chose you as their winner?
      Funnily enough it was the first ever 3deck (Technics - I had no CDJs at this point!) mix that id ever recorded and I did it purely to take out to Ibiza with me for the summer, I saw the competition in DJMag and thought it was worth a shot as my mix seemed to fit the criteria of what they asked for. I think that having the advantage of being able to use the 3rd deck for acapellas and loops in the mix gave me the edge over some other entries. When I got the phone call to say I'd won and would be playing Renaissance Opening @ Amnesia I was in shock - I couldn't believe it!!
      Please could you try and define the Sonny Wharton sound for us...however you see fit!
      This is something I'm asked a lot - I find it a really hard question to answer as I don't think I can pin it down, I play house music will allsorts thrown in and try and convey as much energy as possible in the mix! For anyone still not sure tune in to my radio show every Thursday 11pm-1am www.pulseradio.net or come down this Sunday to the Whitehouse ;o)
      You frequently use up to 4 decks and an FX unit in your sets. What creative wizardry can you conjure up using this kit?
      I like to put as much into a set as possible hence the need for 3or4 CDJs. With the CDJ1000 I can bring in and take out loops at will use the CDJs like a drum kit with the cue buttons firing off samples and generally try to create a show for people to enjoy rather than a DJ in the corner hiding behind the decks. Be warned though I can get a bit carried away sometimes and break everything - on my China tour I broke 4CDjs & 2mixers in only 3weeks!!
      Is there any other DJ technology you've had your eyes on?
      There's so much available at the moment its hard to choose though I see it as being very healthy for the scene - it's making people up their game and put that extra effort in. Companies like Pioneer, Allen & Heath and Ecler are really pushing the boundaries as far as equipment goes and programmes like Ableton & Final Scratch are opening up a whole new ball game - its great!
      When did you sign to the Serious DJ Management agency? Did you feel pretty humbled to be in the company of world-renowned talent such as Umek and Norman Jay?
      I had a meeting with Serious in May to discuss signing and its exactly what I've been working towards for the last 3years, It's a hard game on your own and with a lot of hard work and some great friends in the industry I've got a lot further than I ever thought possible so to now be working with such a professional team and have the backing to take things to the next level for me is amazing!! 
      You've had a few tracks and remixes out so far, mostly collaborating with an outfit called Mangotrasher. Who are they and how do you feel the end results have turned out?
      Mangotrasher is the alter ego of a very good friend, I've known him on and off since I was young and we hooked up again about 2years ago to get into the studio and make some tracks - on a solo tip he's featured in the likes of Danny Howells & Paul Oakenfolds charts and toured as far as Japan over the years so he's no stranger to the scene. As far as end results go I'm really pleased with how we're sounding and we're really starting to find our own style now!
      The electro sound has fully taken over the world now, with variants on the sound appearing at all sorts of nights across the world. Do you think we have reached overkill point?
      It will definitely get to that stage as it happens with everything - moderation is the key in all walks of life and its no different with music. In retrospect I think the whole electro sound has blurred a lot of boundaries and opened a lot of peoples ears to new music which is very healthy - many DJs are playing styles from house to breaks to techno in the same breath without even thinking that it might compromise their pigeonholed style, it going back to how it used to be - the underground is back with a vengeance!
      You work with the DJ-technology company Ecler. What exactly do you do with them and what are they best known for?
      One of my first mixers was an Ecler SMAC04 and I've been a fan of their mixers ever since - the build quality is second to none and I genuinely believe in their products - I approached them to get involved and they invited me to play for them @ last years Plasa Event in London to showcase one of their new mixers - the NUO5. After the demo I signed up with their Pro Team to promote their products worldwide at various shows and exhibitions.
      What's the most impressive piece of Ecler kit you have witnessed or used? What do you feel sets them aside from other companies?
      I'm loving their NUO5 mixer - it's got 5channels and all the effects of a DJM600 & Xone62 thrown into one machine... you can personalise the effect parameters via a Midi interface and id say this is a major factor that puts it at top of the game!! Another key thing is I've regularly broken other leading mixers and I've yet to damage my Ecler - this alone is a big plus for me!!!
      You will be down in London on July 23rd for a cheeky little Sunday afternoon party called Audio at The Whitehouse. Are you usually kicking back and taking it easy at this time of the weekend?
      Haha Sundays are just another working day for me so as much as id love to be lounging around id probably be on the computer spamming peoples inboxes with more promotional junk mail about my website and gigs!!
      Do you find that the weekends seem to be a bit more...hardcore during the summer?
      Definitely - when the sun's out people don't want to head home and relax so much, summertime is party party party with places like Ibiza thriving on that very fact. Last weekend I played the Berlin Love Parade with over 1million people dancing in the sunshine all day long - events like that certainly define hardcore and make a DJs weekend all the more spectacular!
      You've been playing all across the world recently - but how have your experiences playing in London been so far?
      London is always fun - one of my first big gigs was in London and I made a lot of friends there so I love coming back down to play and hooking up with everyone. Its great that in one city there's so many different walks of life all partying on the same dancefloors - for me that helps make a great atmosphere and gives me more excuse to push boundaries that little bit further, bring on Sunday!!
      Interview by Benz
      New Online Mix: http://www.flatspin.co.uk/mp3/sonnywharton.mp3
      Website: http://www.sonnywharton.com/index.php
    • mostwantedkat
      When Vicious Circle take their massively successful I Love VC night to The Fridge in London for their first birthday on July 22nd, there'll be one name behind the decks that you might not recognise. He is however one of the driving forces in modern dance music, a star of the Hard House scene, a prolific producer and the tidy pin-up boy for thousands of clubbers around the world.
      Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, meet Infidel, or as he's more commonly known, superstar DJ Paul Maddox
      Why Infidel? I'm half expecting the man from the Turkish Delight advert to appear behind the decks at I Love VC swathed in a bed sheet!!
      An infidel is someone who doesn't conform to an accepted set of beliefs or ideas, which I think sums up the project quite well, Unfortunately however, I was apparently not the only one to think of this as there's an act by the name of The Infidels already in existence, which means that the Infidel name is going to morph into the new moniker Brazn which I think still sums up the sound quite well.
      How do you think your man Glazby is going to cope with his eight hour set extravaganza?
      As long as he's got some empty water bottles or a couple of really long records for bog-breaks then I'm sure he'll cope admirably!
      Are you going to catch some of it if you can?
      I'd love to, but I'm playing in Newquay earlier on the same night, so it's going to be a bit of a mad dash along the south coast to get to Brixton in time to play.
      What do you like about playing at an I Love VC party?
      Always a great vibe from the crowd and a red-hot lineup.
      The I Love VC birthday is where  Infidel makes his London debut. What's the response been like so far when you've played elsewhere?
      I've road tested a few of the tracks at some smaller nights and it seems to be going down really well - can't wait to see what happens!
      You're certainly not the first DJ who feels it's necessary to have an alter ego for other projects. Why did you go under a different name when everyone knows you and respects you so much as Paul Maddox?
      Everyone associates my own name with hard dance material, so it would be counter-productive on both fronts. People looking for house would assume that it was going to be hard stuff, and people after hard house would be disappointed that it was slower stuff.
      Do you worry that your harder fans might think you're selling out to a more commercial sound?
      Quite possibly, but I've never subscribed to the idea that making music that's more popular is necessarily selling out. I've always dabbled in other styles of music and am glad to be finding my feet with the Infidel/Brazn stuff.
      What do you think it is about this filthy electro sound that's captured everyone's imagination?
      I think it's mainly the freshness of it (although house music made with synths is hardly a new phenomenon) - there are a lot of new producers with new ideas coming through which makes for a lot of exciting music.
      Breath On Skin is sex on wax, where is the sample from?
      A film called The Hole - pretty wank film, but some lovely bits of dialogue and atmosphere.
      Where do you get your inspiration from?
      All over the place really, I listen to tonnes of music, old and new Including quite a lot of weird stuff, music that's on the boundaries often contains lots of innovative ideas that can be translated into more accessible, dancefloor stuff.
      On your website, www.infidelaudio.co.uk, you say you're looking for interested parties to sign your tunes up. Why don't you follow in the footsteps of the Great Glazby and set up your own label?
      Well, under the new name Brazn, the first clutch of tunes have just been signed to Firefly recordings, although starting up my own outlet for them is definitely an idea that I've been toying with.
      You've been the tidy poster boy for years now. How has it helped your career having such a heavyweight name behind you?
      I've got a lot to thank tidy for; in this industry its all about taking opportunities and capitalising on them, and most of the breaks that I've had have come in one way or another from tidy, so yeah, its helped me no end!
      Minimal - everyone's got an opinion on it - what's yours?
      Like any type of music, if it's well executed and not just done for the sake of it, it can be fantastic in the right setting. I've actually been working on another project with Leeds, Filthy Rich under the name Spektre, which is more on the minimal tip, more than just a kickdrum and a few bleeps though.
      You said recently that you think hard dance has got a bit too evil. What did you mean by that? Are you advocating the return of bounce?
      Please god no! I just think that a lot of hardhouse these days has lost sight of its original purpose, which was good, danceable party music and just become a technical exercise in how hard it can be. Bounce was the opposite end of the spectrum; I'd be happy with something in-between!
      Is that what you had in mind with the Olive Grooves EP - still hard house but with more musical elements in it?
      Yeah pretty much, its not even that musical really, just a bit more fun! Most of the tracks are about 10bpm slower than a lot of the stuff out there now, and I've been playing them out to great reactions. I just wanted to get back to the feel hardhouse used to have, but bringing in current production techniques so that it wasn't just taking a step backwards.
      Right, God turns round to you and says that you can be either the number 1 producer in the world or the number 1 DJ in the world, but if you chose one you can't ever do the other ever again. Which one would you choose and why?
      Producer at the drop of a hat. Much as I love DJing It has always been a spin-off from my studio work, which really is the thing I love doing the most.
      If Mazaratti had tweaked your nipple and called you a dirty Infidel would you have head butted him? Or would he have been right?
      He probably wouldn't have been far off the mark, but if I was about to retire I probably would've opted for the headbutt anyway - nothing to lose!
      Your last supper - please write down your menu and entertainment requests.
      Food: Either really good Italian or Japanese Entertainment: A Parrot riding a tiny bike Five guests, dead or alive, who and why?
      Brett Anderson (Lead singer from Suede/The Tears): Massive fan Boris Yeltsin: Bet he'd tell a good story and be up for a tear-up Kate Moss: Always comes across as being up for a laugh. Ronnie Barker: To inject a bit of humour into proceedings. Scarlett Johannsen: Fit Perfect date?
      9th of June: My birthday! :oP
      Perfect soundtrack to your life?
      Mory Kante - Yeke Yeke (Hardfloor Remix) Suede - The Asphalt World The KLF - What Time Is Love This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren The Cars - Just What I Needed I think those 5 on a permanent loop could keep me happily oscillating between sitting thinking and jumping about like a nut for the rest of my days!
      Perfect tune to remix and why?
      Always a hard one, as tunes I love already would be difficult to improve on, but a real stripped down tech-house mix of FSOL Papau New Guinea would be cool, or a pumped up version of Altern8 Infiltrate 202, that's got me thinking actually..
      Perfect DJ line-up (feel free to say the I Love VC First Birthday back ;D )?
      Steve Lawler Fergie Carl Cox Tony de Vit That'd be a party and a half.
      Where would you like to be five years from now?
      Just doing more of the same really, I'd love for the Brazn and Spektre projects to get some recognition, and hopefully still be doing the harder stuff as well, it'll be interesting to see where the hardhouse scene goes in the coming years.
      Who's your role-model/mentor?
      No single person really, but I've absorbed plenty of useful knowledge about the music industry from working with Lee Haslam at Tidy and your very own Glazby.
      EARLY BIRD TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD OUT!
      LIMITED ADVANCED TICKETS AT £12 ARE STILL AVAILABLE
      www.ticketweb.co.uk
      www.ilovevc.com (free sticker with every order)

      I LOVE VC - THE BIRTHDAY
      SATURDAY 22nd JULY
      10PM - 6AM
      THE FRIDGE, BRIXTON
    • Frantic Benz
      Smyrky & Seraya are the Hard Dance DJ couple who have been taking London by storm with their awesome back-to-back sets, live PAs, and productions for the likes of Nu Energy Recordings. We spoke to them as they prepare for their set at Frantic's massive 9th Birthday celebrations at Renaissance Rooms in London on August 27th.... 
      Please introduce yourselves....
      Smyrky - For those of you who don't know; Seraya is the lady and I'm the dude! As people often get it wrong
      Seraya - Together we are a loving duo that produce, DJ and perform Hard Dance in and around London.
      Where do your names originate from? They are quite distinctive!
      Smyrky and Seraya - real names Anthony Smyrk and Seraya Hill, self explanatory really!
      How did you meet?
      Seraya - Ok if you want to hear the cheesy version, we knew of each other in school but didn't really associate at the time. The first time we actually spoke was around a camp fire down the woods doing what kids generally do at that age.
      Smyrky - After just leaving school we started seeing more of each other as chums. I had the pleasure of introducing Seraya to the wonderful world of Hard Dance and more importantly mixing! It quickly came apparent that Seraya was actually very good at mixing from day one. Consequently we soon became best of buddies for the next 7 years raving it up at any given chance.    
      You guys have been playing for most of London's biggest parties over the last year or so...from Tasty, to Heat, to Frantic, to Total Mayhem to Summit...how did you manage to get your foot in the door with your DJing career?
      Seraya - We started pushing our DJing careers at the beginning of last year as Smyrky had spent the previous 2 years teaching me the basic tricks of the trade on how to make tracks in the studio.
      Smyrky - Since then we both decided it was time we did some self promotion and were fortunate enough to have the right people hear our demos at the right time. We also started promoting our own event Hard Drive, which also introduced us to more people in the industry.
      How would you describe your sound and DJing style? Do you feel you have a distinctive style that sets you apart from other DJs?
      Smyrky - Our DJing Style depends on all the usual factors, club, night, time, room, atmosphere etc. On the whole we play a mixture of Hard Dance for the crowd, with the crowd. As it should be!
      Seraya - We have a distinctive style in the fact that we get to play our own tracks.
      We can be told apart from other DJs as we have produced material that they don't own.
      What about DJing as a pair - what are the pros and cons?
      Smyrky - We live together, work together, club together and produce tunes together.  Stuck by the hip 24/7 and with everything in common, it made sense to DJ together. There are no cons in my eyes.
      Seraya - I agree. It's great to share the experience as a couple. We wouldn't have any other way.
      You guys have been producing some tracks too...have you got any releases lined up?
      Smyrky - Getting some tunes out there is currently at the top of our agenda. We've recently finished a Hard House number From Darkness with Cyberkitten's Steve Gillen. Definitely one for the dirt box! Still looking to be signed! Nudge, nudge wink, wink Mr/Mrs Label owner.
      Seraya - On the Hard Trance side we've got a few energetic and uplifting tracks in the pipeline.  You'll know when they are finished as we usually add a small sample around forums to get feedback.
      Which other musicians and DJs inspire you and why?
      Seraya - On the production side I really enjoy and admire anything by K-complex. That dude has uber amounts of talent. Greg Brookman, M.D.A & Spherical are also ticking all the right boxes for me at present with each production getting better and better.
      Smyrky - Agreed! To be fair there are too many good producers to list. If I start I won't be able to stop! Lets just say OD404, Karim, Justin Bourne and Kevin Energy are top dogs in my eyes. DJs that inspire me are the ones that show true passion in putting on a good show whilst interacting with the crowd. The likes of Proteus, Mark EG and Kevin Energy always maintain stage presence, which goes a long way in my books. It's far more satisfying watching a DJ enjoy themselves rather than just boshing out a mix with their head constantly down!
      You've been doing some live PAs from time to time too...who does what when you do your live show? How have people reacted to them?
      Smyrky - On this occasion I must spill the beans and explain all as I know this topic has been hotly debated on previous discussions. To start with our set-up consisted of a multi tracker a few synths, samplers and FX units. Seraya would be mixing the levels of the percussion and backing tracks whilst playing a selection of preloaded samples. I was free to tweak away at the pre-programmed synths, play samples and add FX where appropriate. We also hooked up a CDJ so that I could scratch over the top.
      Seraya - After a few parties we soon came to realise that our Live Set-up wasn't the most practical setup. Sure it looked good, but it didn't really satisfy our need to feel 100% involved.
      Smyrky - Which is why we are currently flogging some of our gear to go down the Ableton Live route! Hopefully that will give us the freedom and flexibility we are looking for.
      You are playing at Frantic's 9th Birthday  on 27th August at The Renaissance Rooms in London. What are your earliest memories from Frantic's legendary events?
      Smyrky - A bit of a blur. I remember loud music, flashing lights and 'ard House (Chuckle). What more can you ask for. In all seriousness I have been to many Frantic events over the years, the ones that spring to mind are Timeless, HHA and Chemistry. All of which hold fond memories that I will cherish forever. 
      Seraya - One of the earliest memories I have of Frantic was going to Convergence at the Fridge with the likes of BK and Andy Farley playing. The good times have been and are certainly not over! It keeps getting bigger and better every year.
      What can we expect to hear from you at this event? It's a pretty big occasion so you better have something pretty big in store!!
      Smyrky - Damn right, it's going to be total havoc! On this momentous occasion we finally get to unleash some fresh material that will be sure to have you climbing the walls.
      Seraya - It's a great event in the perfect surroundings. What better time to go absolutely bonkers! We look forward to seeing you all there!
      Smyrky & Seraya play at Frantic's 9th Birthday at Renaissance Rooms in London on 27th August. See www.f-h-h.co.uk for more details.
    • Addiction
      AT: So Nick, for those that have never heard of Nick Rowland, Rowland & Wright, The Coalition or PBS, can you just give us a brief background of who you are ? What you do ? And where you come from ?
      NR: Well. Once upon a time, in a land far far away. Actually, it was in Bristol, but that's far enough! I've always been into the music scene in one way or another - I started DJ'ing when I was 16 in your average Friday night club, and I played the guitar and wrote songs as a kid, and really enjoyed it. I began making tunes on the Amiga about 14 years ago (god I'm old!!), but never really took it seriously. 
      I met Dave Wright in a bar in Birmingham that I was DJ'ing in, and we both said we had an interest in writing dance music, so we used to get together when we could, and bash out some ideas. After a fairly short while, and not too many complete turkeys, we got a track signed by Alphamagic for the Execute label, and hence PBS was born - or Phatt Bloke & Slim. We were quickly picked up by Nukleuz for their Hard Trance EP series, and Rowland & Wright just snowballed from there for just over a year. Towards the end of that year, we did some tracks with a few other well known DJ's (Nick Rafferty, Phil Reynolds, Ed Real) under The Coalition moniker, which also did really well for us. Dave had commitments with his full time job, and didn't have the time to spend in the studio, so I started to do stuff on my own as well as continuing The Coalition brand with Nick Rafferty. In 2004 I had my first solo EP on Nukleuz Green which featured 'Somebody' & 'Burn The Dancefloor Down', that kick-started my solo career really well. Since then I've lived over in Montreal, Canada for a while, and since coming back I'm sharing a house with Dave in sunny Tamworth, writing for myself and producing for others, and generally enjoying myself!
      AT: You truly are a Hard Dance household name with tracks on every major label and compilation album, not too mention having remixed countless tracks for some of the scenes biggest artists. Out of all the tracks you've produced and remixed over the years which one would you say is your favourite and why ?
      NR: There have been so many landmark tracks for me all for different reasons. Silverspeed, written with Dave, was my first release on a major label - Nukleuz. The remix we did of Happens (Intensive) was also a really big track for us back in the early Rowland & Wright days, as well as Deeper (Nukleuz) and Bring The Lights Down (with Rob Tissera). More recently, I had a great time writing Fakin' It (Honey Pot) with Nick Rafferty, which was played by Dave Pearce some three weeks in a row on Dance Anthems! The tracks I'm the most proud of as a solo artist have to be Overdrive and h2o - both of which went out on Tidy. h2o was a great cross-genre track, and was played out by Tech Trance DJ's such as Christopher Lawrence, as well as on Hard Dance scene by the likes of BK. Hybrid, which was the first track working back with Dave, seems to be doing phenomenally well as a cross-genre Trance / Hard Dance track, with plays from John O'Callaghan, Ian Betts and John Askew as well as The Tidy Boys, Wid & Ben, Paul Kershaw (Galaxy FM) and other Hard Dance aficionados.
      AT: Normally every artist's material is influenced by someone. Who do you think has inspired your productions the most ? Or do you feel that you have and have always had a completely unique sound ?
      NR: I take inspiration from all sorts of artists from all styles of music and have learnt to do what I do by tearing apart their records, and trying to emulate the best bits. BT has been one of the most influential artists for me - the guy is so diverse and has such talent.  When I was learning how to produce hard house, artists like BK and Nick Sentience were the main people I aspired.
      AT: You've also proved to be an extremely versatile producer. With releases covering the whole Hard Dance spectrum from Trance & Hard Trance to Hard House and even Psy-Trance, how would you describe the style of music you are producing at the moment ?
      NR: Well, basically I try to keep myself from being 'too' pigeon-holed.  I love trance and the harder side of dance too, so I'll continue to write all kinds of music with no real overall style. Recently I've leaned towards the more trancey stuff, but I've got plans to write a load more tracks which will again cross many genres.
      AT: Having worked with almost every major player around including artists like Nick Sentience, James Lawson & Phil York, you must have some tales to tell. What's the funniest story you can tell us from any studio session ? And who were you working with ?
      NR: There are a few! The funniest was probably one of the bank holidays a year or so ago; I was engineering for Nick Rafferty & Paul Kershaw and we all agreed to start on the Tuesday as we would all be pretty messy from the weekend. So the weekend passed and at 7:30am Kershaw turns up, we're both pretty tired but get a coffee and start working. Time rolled on & there was still no sign of Rafferty. We try phoning time and time again but there was no answer. At 11:30am the phone rings and we get a quiet voice on the other end - it's Rafferty! He's sat in a bar in Birmingham completely wrecked saying that he's been out since Saturday night with no sleep and he's not going to make it!  The conversation was a funny one - I wish I had recorded it now and bribed him with it!
      AT: Are there any artists that you wouldn't work with again ? And why ?
      NR: Some people can be very, very hard to work with and there have been some situations in the past which have been, lets say, uncomfortable. But I like to think it possible to overcome most differences in the studio, especially when the end results are good!
      AT: You've recently re-launched your own Digital Mp3 Download label Periodically Repeated Sequence as well as completing a massive remix of Xinetd_D & Bruce H Fear Factor for Addiction's own Mp3 label Addiction Digital. Do you think that digital labels and mp3 downloads are the future of dance music sales ? And what treats are in store for release later this year on PRS Digital ?
      NR: Digital downloads are without doubt the way forward. The problem at the moment is that there is no physical product (i.e Vinyl, CD, etc) which in effect devalues the music to a lot of people who would otherwise buy it. In this scene I think CD albums like the Edison Factors World Series are a very good stepping stone while people get used to the idea of owning music as a digital only product. I know a few people who are working on these kind of albums now (me included!).
      AT: For your next performance aboard the Addiction Boat Party Pt2 on Saturday July 15th, you'll be blowing 300 Addict's away with your fantastic Live PA ! The burning question here Nick is, is it actually live or pre-recorded ? What makes this more special than one of your DJ Sets ? And finally what tricks have you up your sleeve to make your Live PA stand out above the rest ?
      NR: My DJ sets are all about the music that does it for me, I usually only play a couple of my own tracks, this makes the PA very different. With dance music it's all about tight timing, if your vocals or leads are even slightly out of time you know it and it sounds shit. This makes it very difficult to play 'Live' in the conventional sense, unless you incorporate real instruments like drums and guitars - The Edison Factor do this very well. I chose to not go the instrument route. Basically I use Ableton Live to effectively remix all my songs on the fly. I can bring in loops, samples, re-arrange and do all sorts of cool stuff in real time.  While I play no 'real' instruments live there is still plenty of room for mistakes and plenty of room to be creative!
      AT: You'll be joining an all star line up including, Spencer Freeland, Pierre Pienaar AKA P.H.A.T.T. feat Jennie Rix and Ben Gold ! Have you ever played on a Boat party before ? Do you get Sea Sick ? and what are you looking forward to the most ?
      NR: I've never played a boat party before, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to it. I have heard a lot of good things about Ben Gold so I'm looking forward to his set. Hopefully I won't get sea-sick, but there's only one way to find out!
      AT: You also often DJ overseas, particularly in the US and Canada, and are not long back from a tour of the two. What's the scene like over there ? How do the clubs, punters and music compare to the UK ?
      NR: I love it over there, the scene is still very young compared to the UK and the clubbers are much more open to different styles of music than they are over here.  It's still more about fun over there than being cool and it reminds me a lot of the UK club scene a few years ago.
      AT: What's the best gig you've ever played and why ?
      NR: When I was living in Montreal I played at a night called 'Lollipop' in Quebec City (Canada).  I was asked to come and stand in for Jon Langford as he couldn't make it so as we were only 3 hours drive away we drove up. It was in an Ice Hockey rink or something, the setup was wicked, the crowd were nuts and the place went off!
      AT: If you could only choose one would it be production or DJ'ing ?
      NR: Don't get me wrong, I love DJing but it's the production side that buzzes me. Having an idea in your head and being able to work that into a finished track is really rewarding for me.
      AT: How do you foresee the future of DJ'ing both personally and generally ? Do you think that turntables will eventually be phased out ? With more artists turning to their laptops, do you think that the Live PA will take over completely ? And have there been any other recent technical advances that you think will make a significant change to the performances we see on stage ?
      NR: I think the turntables days as a club format are numbered, laptops make life a lot easier (and more reliable) and you can to do so much more. Ableton Live has opened many doors and the way I do my PA is pretty much how I see DJ sets going, the only real difference being the music and the fact that producers can dissect all their own tracks into individual parts which you can't do with other peoples tunes. Sasha & Paul Van Dyk are already DJ'ing like this so it's only a matter of time.
      AT: What are your top 3 tunes of all time ?
      NR: This changes all the time!
      Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar BT & Tori Amos - Blue Skys (Paul Van Dyk's Blauer Himmel Remix) The Sex Pistols - Friggin' In The Riggin' AT: Finally Nick pls tell us what you think of the Trance & Hard Dance scene at the minute. What clubs or artist's are doing it for you ? And what changes if any, would you like to see in music or on our Dance Floors ?
      NR: Over the last few years music has been split into so many micro-genres that I think it has damaged the scene somewhat.  It would be great to see more musically versatile nights around the country (it was that way a few years back!), I think this would increase the numbers and people in our clubs and open people up to different music. Innovate is pretty much the only night I can think of doing this in the main room and it's consistently good. As a producer I want to explore different sounds and it would be great to not feel like you would be alienated for playing around. As for artists that are doing it for me at the moment I have been really impressed by MDA & Spherical lately, and also Micky D is proving himself to be exceptionally talented!
      AT: Thanks very much for taking the time to speak to me Nick, and we'll see you aboard The Sundance on July 15th
      NR: Cheers Andy and I'll see you on the Thames!!!
      To view the E Flyer for full line up, ticket info, competitions, important information and more please click here

    • Frantic Benz
      So, you were chosen to mix the 1999 present disc of Helter Skelter's new United In Hardcore compilation. When did you first encounter the world of Helter Skelter?
      I first encountered Helter Skelter in 1989 at Milwaukees, Bedfordshire.
      Which of their events do you remember most fondly?
      You know what, all of them were so amazing, I don't think I could forget any of them.
      Do you miss the days when there were lots of large scale events on up and down the country all the time?
      Those days were very special, I don't think they could ever be topped.
      Which of the tracks on your mix hold particularly special memories for you and why?
      Get Hype holds great memories for me, it was when I realised that me and gammer had cracked the new sound of hardcore.
      Do you think it's far to say the hardcore went through a second "golden age" post-2000?
      Absolutely. We have all fine tuned a new style of rave music and a new generation of ravers has come along with it. With the amount of different styles around now theres something for everyone, Hardcore certainly is on top of the world right now.
      What about hardcore's low point? Did you ever think it would recover from its slump? You were one of the people who stuck with it through thick and thin after all...
      To be honest, at one point if you'd have said to me in a few years time you are going to be playing to thousands of people again, week in week out, I would never have believed it! So I appreciate the scene now more than ever
      What have been the major changes in the hardcore scene in the last few years? Does it feel like it's a different ballgame to how it used to be?
      No, not really. Its still the friendliest place, the best atmosphere on earth
      What about the new tracks on the album? Which have got the hardcore crowds in a flutter?
      The Angel City Remix (Sunlight) and rocking with the best are without a doubt two of my strongest anthems at the moment
      How was you recent(ish) Essential Platinum Live PA at Tranzmission? How has the whole project been progressing?
      It was great, but extremely hard work. The atmosphere is so intense when you do a pa there's nothing else like it. We will continue to have no expenses spared when it comes to performing live!
      And finally, if you had to pick a hardcore desert island disc - what would be the one track you took with you?
      Pretty Green Eyes
      Interview by Benz E99
       
    • GregSulli
      Hiya Lee, so what have been the highlights for you so far in 2006?
      The biggest highlight of year was the birth of my beautiful baby girl Brooke born on January 26th 2006. It really put things into perspective.
      Djiing wise its been a busy year from the start. Playing alongside Ferry Corsten at Brixton Academy on NYE for Riot, then NYD mainroom infront of a sell out crowd at The Fridge for Twisted was just the best start to the year possible. Totally amazing!
      After that I'd have to say the YES! parties we put on - was lots of hard hard work but so worth it (watch out for more soon).
      In terms of production it has to be the TEKELEC releases - Centara, Troika, Revolution of the Mind and Lost Souls all getting major support and big air play from Carl Cox, Judge Jules, John Askew and Above & Beyond.
      ....Oh and Ferry Corsten supporting my new tech trance monster SLIDING DOORS! Big things!
      This time next year, what ambitions would you like to of fulfilled?
      Has to be getting my new tracks on a major trance label - there's been some very very big interest by a major DJ/Producer but I cant say more. Apart from that it has to be my European gigs I have coming up in Ibiza and headlining in Finland cant wait!
      What would you say best describes your sound?
      Full on driving & energetic Tech Trance.
      What do you think in general with the scene in London?
      The trance scene is coming back in a big way! The music is more intelligent and the producers are just firing on all cylinders at the moment. With events like The Electronic Sessions and Yes! really pushing the boundaries its exciting times for our music.
      Do you get to go clubbing much, and what Dj's do you admire?
      Has to the Godfather himself Graham Gold - year in year out he consistently delivers everytime an amazing DJ and a great ambassador for the industry!
      I'd also have to say Sir Carl Cox - he versality is amazing. Even though he's been on the scene so long he's still pushing the boundaries a real legend.
      Are you looking forward to playing for us at Electronic Sessions, have you played at Deep Blue before?
      Yes definitely. Ive been in the studio with different producers for the past 6 months and im really looking forward to unleashing some upfront material on the crowd. Im also looking forward to finishing the night after Simon Patterson the last hour will be full on tech infused trance, boooowai! 
      Can we expect any new material this year from you and your partner in crime Ali Wilson?
      After working with Ali for the past two years and compiling a selection of over 30 tracks we wanted concentrate on our own projects. I've been working with in the studio with two great producers Ben Gold and Greg Brookman and another exciting big big producer that I cant talk about right now - but watch this space!
      Whats the weirdest set you have ever played?
      Haha there's been a few probably any time that Ive been out with the boys - we had some weird ones lol!
      Will you be playing over in Ibiza this year?
      Certainly am! We have the Yes! Vs Wildchild Sunset Boat party in Ibiza this year, It's gonna be a big one. Wildchild have put together a massive events schedule at some fantastic venues, make sure your on the flight!
      So what can we expect from your set at Electronic Sessions?
      GET SOME TECH TRANCE IN YOUR LIFE! tm (Osborne)
      You can catch Lee spinning in the main room at ElectronicSessions between 5 - 6 am, finishing the night off in style !
      For tickets;
      http://www.seonelondon.com http://www.ticketweb.co.uk http://www.electronicsessions.co.uk
    • GregSulli
      Hiya Simon, so what have been the highlights for you so far in 2006?
      This has been a great year so far for me. Being made Inside Out resident would be up there and also the success of F16.
      This time next year, what ambitions would you like to of fulfilled?
      Just to keep moving and pushing forward each year is all I look to achieve.
      What would you say best describes your sound?
      Driving, tech trance, with elements of psy and uplift about them. 
      Is there a big clubbing scene back home in Northern Ireland and do you get back to play there much?
      The scene back home is popular but there are only a few big clubs worth playing at. These clubs are filled each week with the cr�me of Dj talent so its hard to get a space to play. I try and play there 2 or 3 times a year. The atmosphere in Ireland is ridiculous.
      What do you think in general with the scene in London?
      I haven't been playing in London much this year which has been very refreshing for me. This is the way I wanted it. I got sick of playing in London so much at the end of last year seeing the same faces etc. But now that I haven't played here much I want to play again! It's always the way. In general I find London too cool. There's not always the right vibe. 
      What are the top 3 clubs you have played in the world and why?
      Inside Out - No better place in the world. Atmosphere is unreal. People are friendly and so supportive. Honeyclub in Brighton - Now that they have revamped the place it reminds me a little of The Cross, the crowd are close to you, intimate atmosphere. The sound system is rocking. Again the atmosphere is brilliant. Everyone going nuts! Judgement Sundays - Like Inside Out. I just like playing places that have the right sort of vibe about them. I want to leave the club happy that everyone's enjoyed it and that I've enjoyed it. That's the most important factor to me when I play - everyone loving it. Did you always think Dogzilla - Without You was going to be such a huge track?
      No we both didn't think that it would have been. I was worried about the leap from "Your Eyes" to "Without You". I thought people weren't going to be getting the vocal at all. But the track hasn't gone away. PVD has been hammering it. Number 1 2 months in a row in his Mixmag chart. It's good that it's stood the test of time.
      Very Pleasing. Grateful for all the support.
      Do you have much more Dogzilla material planned for this year?

      With the Dogzilla thing, its just getting the time. We just finished a remix called Stimulate by an artist called Emjay. Its coming out on Perfecto in the UK. I think it's by far the best thing we've done. Dogs 4 is well in the making but we're taking our time getting it right. And we're just about to start a remix for Vandit. So a few bits coming up this year. But concentrating more on my own stuff at the moment.
      Do you still get to go clubbing much, and what Dj's do you admire?
      I don't get much chance to go clubbing at all. So I don't get a chance to see many Dj's play. But I was playing at Gods Kitchen recently, I checked out the house room and heard a DJ called Demi(?) play - very impressed. Mixing and crowd control were awesome. Never heard of him before but I'm told he's quite well known. One of the few Dj's that I have seen who has made a big impression on me. Greg Downey, O'Callaghan, Van Doorn. All ripping! But best Dj is without question Halliwell - different league. Can't understand how anyone can think differently?!
      So tell us about the renowned crowd at 'Inside Out' who you are the new resident for?
      They are just so up for it. It's the closest you'd get to scoring a goal in front of a packed football stadium. Its just a sight that has to be experienced to understand. If there's one club in the world that I could only ever play at again - this would be it.
      Are you looking forward to playing for us at Electronic Sessions, have you played at Deep Blue before?
      I can't wait to play. I haven't been in London for a few months so I'm buzzing about playing again. I've never played at Deep Blue either so it's going to be fresh for me. I'm looking forward to checking Andy Moor too!
      Your recent track F16 has been recently been released. How has it gone down in the clubs?
      It's been fantastic! I couldn't have asked for any more support on the track. Everyone's been playing it and managed to enter the buzz chart so I'm so chuffed with the outcome. New one done, a lot different to F16. Will play it on the night!!
      What football team do you support?
      The mighty Spurs. Robbie Keane - legend!
      What countries are you yet to play that are a must for you?
      Japan, Australia and Eastern Europe are real musts for me. USA I need to play more in. But I'm just grateful to be playing anywhere. Its all a bonus.
      So what can we expect from your set at Electronic Sessions?
      Drilling, tech trance.
      And finally do you have any message to the ES party crew?
      Get there early, it will be a lock-out!
      To buy your tickets for ElectronicSessions at Deep Blue, Fri 5th March 
      www.seonelondon.com
      www.ticketweb.co.uk

    • ClubTheWorld
      Well first things first Timo, how's it shaking geezer are you good?
      Doing great thanks - am very excited about this weekend - another 4 day dancathon starting off tonight with our new weekly night called the DROP at Meet and ending with a massive showdown of local east london talent at the RAVE - with loads of other gigs and easter egg binges in between!
      So Mr Garcia for those who don't know you - who the hell are ya?
      Well, I live on brick lane where I have my music studio fondly known as the biscuit factory - I make house music, run my record label (Berwick Street Records), DJ every weekend and some week nights and eat biscuits all day!
      Interesting, The E1 Rave is listed as BBL's dirty little secret - whats your dirty little secret Timo?
      Come on I know your game!
      The DROP - coming very very soon!
      I've been doing a little background research and you started promoting your own nights at the tender age of 16! Sheesh.. I could just about tie my shoe laces at that age! What's the deal?
      I come from a small town on the outskirts of london where the was once a shit niteclub called Stages - so at 16 I used to hire indie bands to play on the top floor whilst I and my mates played indie dance records (very badly!) downstairs. There wasn't much else to do in that town so we got a great crowd down - only problem was that I was one of the few of my age to look 18 so I had to keep running down to the door to get my mates in!
      You've played all over the world including a 2 year residency in Paris. How do all the different countries differ and more importantly which has the hottest women?
      I did enjoy myself in France ;op
      After running your own events, producing and DJing you decided to go Pro in 2002. That must have been a big decision?
      Not at all - Before then I was working full time for a multinational Biotech company shipping all their products around the world - Djing was a great conflict and I ran out of holiday & sick days and had to make that decision. As I was getting some great gigs in the UK and abroad It was the obvious choice.
      There a literally thousands of budding DJs who dream of spinning the plastic for a living what advice could you give? And what are the high and lows?
      Believe in the music - first and foremost
      Its hard work - really hard - so long as they're willing to put in the effort and energy and make it work for them then go right ahead.
      You launched Berwick Street Records in 2005 your very own House imprint, how is this shaping up?
      Going great thanks. Discotech was the 2nd release by myself and the Cheshire Catz was played on Pete Tongs show as the Essential New Tune. The 1st and 4th releases have been licensed to the Bora Bora compilation this summer and the current promo is getting some great support from Smokin Jo, David Guetta, Hernan Cattaneo and Tall Paul amongst many.
      Its not out officially for another 3 weeks but I know there are 5 Test Pressings on vinyl in Black Market Soho at the moment and you can get the exclusive Mp3 Download from DJDownload.com
      Its called Timo Garcia & the Cheshire Catz present Nika - Just Get Over It (Berwick Street Records) - so keep an eye out for it!
      Apart from your own which labels are really doing it for you at the moment and producers/DJs of course?
      The Cheshire Catz obviously as we have made so many tracks together and are launching our new weekly Thursday night called the DROP at Meet - we hope to have some great DJs playing there - I would love to have Tim Sheriden, Mike Monday, Big Daddy G, King Roc, Tom Neville, the Insignificant Others, Mark Sun, Anil Chawla, Dale Anderson down to play as well as many others not forgetting the ever faithful Filthy Krew Shane Watcha, Brad 212 Finlay, Ben dela daddy Pena, Clint Lee and Gepy - all who rock the nights we play at - it's one happy family really!
      On bank holiday Easter Sunday your playing at the 11 hour monster party marathon THE E1 RAVE how are you preparing yourself? A few laps round the park a bit of stretching maybe or will you just be carrying on from Friday you dirty stop out!
      Kick starting tonight with the DROP, then playing Friday night again at Meet, then staying on for Redlight then over to Jam for Saturday 1 til 4pm where ill be battling it out on the decks with Joe le Groove - then im playing that night at Zigfrids in Hoxton before we head off to Club Azuli at the Cross to hear King Roc and the big man himself Kenny dope - then Sunday I might get a bit of sleep in before the Grand Finale - the RAVE!! Nice!
      So who are you looking forward to seeing on Sunday?!
      Really looking forward to playing with the Filthy Krew again - Shane, Ben, Clint, Gepy - also will be great to party with those Cowboys!
      And lastly any final pieces of advice the R R R R Ravers!?
      Watch out for the Easter Bunny! 

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