(1) Firstly lets take it back to your youth age and your early rave days. How was it back then and how did all start with your passion to the oldskool music?
I am one of those people who, if you had never met me before, you would never think has ever been to a rave or is into anything like that. According to my raving friends back in the day, i was quiet, polite, well spoken (i'm not so sure about that, but I get told all the time so, what do i know?), i'm not loud or a complete nutter. Most people expect a raver to be some drug addled permanently on a mission gurning wide eyed lunatic, I kind of mess with peoples perceptions quite a bit haha!
I've always loved music from a young age and really loved electric keyboards that had started to come onto the market in the mid 80's, I only had access to the most basic an cheapest of home yamaha keyboard but, while I had piano lessons, as well as playing clarinet and the obligatory (for the uk anyway) descant and treble recorders, the idea that this electronic box with a small piano keyboard could play different sounds was fascinating to me. I would be the complete pain in the arse for sales assistants in every local electronics store that had an electric keyboard department, going in when ever I could and playing with stuff that was way out of my pocket money range until i was asked politely, but firmly, to leave them alone!
After a lifetime of bland middle of the road music and country and western thanks to my parents, I heard Adamski's "NRG" and that was that, blew my head off, here was what could be possible with an electronic instrument instead of playing "Little Brown Jug" from the piano lesson books. I wanted to hear it, make it, feel it and once i started work in the late 80's early 90's after leaving school I began to meet other people who were into the hardcore rave scene, I started gettin mix tapes from Fantazia, Kinetic, Dreamscape and would listen to them endlessly at home, wanting to hear more and more of this sound that was the total opposite of everything I had ever heard before ...i'm a compulsive collector and ended up, around 1999/2000 with something like 1500 mix tapes from all kinds of different events and dance styles, hardcore, house, all the general variations of techno, dnb etc etc etc i would like to get stuff from the latest events but through the years i would always be looking for hardcore mix tapes from the early 90's.
I went to Club Kinetic regularly through the early to mid 90's before it closed as well as the usual Hardcore Heaven, Dreamscape, Helter Skelter all nighters and various smaller nights whose names escape me right now. I also spent a year or 2 going to wales regularly for illegal raves and free parties. I was always a straight head raver as i found the rave's music had all the energy and psychedelic qualities that I needed without requiring a little boost from a pill or whatever. I was very proud of being a raver and I loved the fact it wasn't a highly mainstream thing, it was known about in the news and certain tunes managed to chart but if you wanted the real underground stuff you need to know someone who knew someone who knew the organiser or whatever it might be, there was no internet, mobile phones still in their commercial infancy and the rave flyers you got handed as you left an event were a huge source of information as well as alternative bedroom wallpaper! Whenever I'm producing I always think back to the main room at Club Kinetic, the sheer loudness of it, the bass, the lights, the lasers, the mad decor, the hundreds of ravers going for it, the mc and, more importantly, the dj and their tune selection.....everything all crammed together in this tsunami of sight and sound overload as you made it up the stairs and through the doors.
(2) Can you share with us any interesting story from these days?
My favourite memory is at a halloween helter skelter rave, myself and my friend both got scary masks to wear, thinking everyone else would, but that was not the case, anyway, im giving it the full impression of a psychedelic windmil (very into the glowsticks!), gettin handshakes and hugs of people who were liking my choice of halloween mask ( i went for a scream mask), but suddenly, this guy emerges from the crowd, he takes one look at what appears to be a multi coloured horror film serial killer in front of him, his eyes widened and his mouth went into a sort of O shape so he looked a little like a bowling ball on legs, completely freaked out and then legged it back into the safety of the raving masses!
I've dj'd in the woods behind Keele University (well used area for free parties for a number of years) at about 2 in the morning during March, it was bloody cold! I just remember a fairly loud system, some real die hard party people who would turn out in any weather or temperature if there was a dj and some cans of beer. I also remember the organiser, who is now a maths professor if I have my facts right, and also very definitely from London, yelling "Sweet as a nut mate!" every time i did a mix and also the guy standing a little too close to the decks for my liking, juggling flaming clubs and fire breathing!
I also went raving with some guys who were studying at Staffordshire university and one summer, after their summer ball, one of the guys was on the student union and managed keep one of the huge marques up for a sunday afternoon rave on the grounds of the uni, I have my very basic keyboard set up in there, very odd experience, a lot of quite highly educated people chilling and dancing to the sounds of my 2 cheap home keyboards and sound mixer that essentially made up my pa set up. They keyboards were of that 100 sounds and 100 rhythms variety but they had a very basic 5 track sequencer, i had a yamaha disk drive that I was able to store the "tunes" onto and load them on either keyboard via a midi switch and then just made the tunes up as I went along, I could trigger each track on and off and so would sequence "on the fly", real basic stuff.
(3) What is your top-10 oldskool anthems and few words for each one?
Wow! tough one, there is 1 just about outright winner and a whole bunch of really close 2nd places, but here goes, guarantee ill forget of miss something....
1 - The Prodigy "Your Love" - love this piano, simple & effective, a properly uplifting tune with enough ravey bits to keep it hardcore
2 - Dj Rap "Divine Rhythm" - heard this tune for the first time on my first ever mixtape from Fantazia One Step Beyond -Ratpack. The main sample just insanely euphoric, love it, gives me goosepimples everytime I hear it
3 - Family Foundation "Express Yourself" - another tune from the Ratpack tape, again, just huge hands in the air moments, I loved the use of orchestral strings in this tune.
4 - Sub Love "Underground" - a slightly lesser known rave tune but one of the most inventive rave tracks in my opinion as well as being incredibly well produced and arranged
5 - Zero B "Lock Up" - i know its overplayed as anything but its such a good tune, the hands in the air pads section is just perfect. There was also another tune that sampled the main hands in the air section of Lock Up but its name escapes me, I'm sure you will know the track i mean, it uses the sample to perfection
6 - Digital Domain "Digital Domain" another more underground rave classic, placed here coz its a fuckin good tune and I love to mix it into "Lock Up" so only right for me thats its next in the list!!
7 - 2 Bad Mice "Bombscare" - Another tune thats played a lot but its so recognisable, to be able to have such a basic melody with just the right kind of beat, just pure oldskool classic.
8 - Acen "Close Your Eyes (optikonfusion mix)" - Acen was a rave music genius. This my fave version of this tune, all hoovers and that famous Beatles sample
9 - Ellis Dee "Rock to the Max" - oh my god, proper hard synth stab sound, just a proper balls out Fantazia rave tune
10 - Tango "Can't Stop The Rush (remix)" - such a great tune for djing with as you can chop bits of it into the mix before you drop it properly, proper hardcore hoover time with a cheeky "Lets rock!" sample from Aliens.
Even as I hit number 10 I realise so many other quality tunes I've not mentioned but so ill just stick a few tune names here without description, Gordon Edge "Compounded", Awesome 3 "Dont Go", Lemon D "In Pursuit of Darkness", Tom and Jerry "We Can Be Free", Congress "40 Miles", Yolk "Music 4 Da People", Structural Damage "Really Livin"...ok.ok..I'll stop there!
(4) What are your personal highlights on your "DJ Rave In Peace" project?
(Well, obviously being "interviewed" by your good self is a certain high point haha!)
Certainly getting my first tune released on vinyl. Back when myspace music was the place for musicians to share their sounds out. I have always made tunes just because i enjoy it and would always be handing out tapes to friends to check out what id made, but it was always a hobby, myspace I just saw as an easier way to get my mates to hear my tunes. Back in 2007 (i think) computer music did a focus on Hardcore Breaks with an interview with DJ's Wax and Inferno and a shed load of good rave samples on the cover dvd. I had made a kind of what I thought of as a 'test tune' called "Got 2 Believe" using some of the free samples from the magazine, it took me around a couple of days on and off to make it, pretty quick turnaround for me and i didn't even feel it was my best work. I uploaded it to myspace anyway and a couple days later i was surprised and shocked to get a message from Wax and Inferno under their Repeat Offender Records page, saying they would really like to sign the tune for inclusion on a vinyl ep release! To say i was bouncing off the walls with excitement is an understatement, I never even thought my name would appear on the centre of an actual piece of 12" vinyl. I ended up having 4 releases with them and, as far as I know, that was the most releases they had from a 'guest producer' over their 14 or so ep releases. Something I'm very proud off!
And whilst very recent, being asked to submit a guest mix for the Generation X show was both a highlight as well as a bit of a kick start to keep producing. I won't go into personal details here, those who know will understand that, more than once, i've been close to giving up on music all together this year and seeing peoples comments in the chatroom as my mix was aired on nu-rave and the sudden boost in comments, plays and likes on soundcloud is a huge help to keep it going.
Having my first download release through Retro Rave Records ("Tomb Shaker") was also interesting, although, due to a bit of a typo, you will find me on itunes, beatport etc etc as DJ Rest In Peace, an error it is not possible to rectify once the tune has been distributed, but still, my wife gets a kick out of telling people I have a tune on itunes.....its very well priced, why not treat yourself? or someone else? "Tomb Shaker"......its the gift that keeps on giving!!
(5) Have you ever tried producing something different from the 'Nu-Rave' and Hardcore Breaks genre?
My musical tastes are very wide ranging, I like classical, motown, the kind of rhythm and blues you get in Blues Brothers and The Commitments, heavy metal (bit of a closet Metallica fan), love Pink Floyd, Vangelis, Jarre, Pet Shop Boys, Cold Play, Red Hot Chili Peppers (we could be here for some time!) Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, Kraftwerk, Queens of the Stone Age, Nina Simone.....and so on! As well as a varied range of dance genres, so , while I have found my main musical niche in Hardcore Breaks, I do occasionally produce something a little different.
I have produced all kinds of chill out/downtempo 'odd stuff', house tracks even some hardcore gabba techno as well as composing the music for my wife to walk down the aisle to at our wedding.
(6) As far as i know you play your own pianos to most of your tunes, which is deeply respectful really and worth mentioning. What types of music making equipment/software/Digital Audio Workstation do you use in the studio?
Well, my 'studio' is my cheap pc, a usb musical keyboard, headphones (cheap again) and some supermarket brand pc speakers that are about 8 years old haha! I use Reason 5. I've always used reason as it was the first DAW i was introduced to whilst working at Vodafone and a guy in my team was into producing Tiesto style trance music, he "sorted me out" with a copy and thats all I've ever needed. I dont like to use banks and banks of effects and processes, the original rave music was made on pretty limited equipment so whilst i have a lot of toys at my disposal within Reason, I keep everything simple. Personally I feel to be able to try and recreate music made with basic equipment then i need to try and replicate that within the computer. Im a big believer in the fact that you don't need to spend huge amounts of money to start making music, pcs are relatively cheap, so is the software depending on what you get and how you get it ;) When "Got 2 Believe" had been mastered at the recording studio by was and inferno, i figured that, due to the overall cheapness of the kit i was using, that there would be significant work needed to get everything sounding right before going to press. Inferno told me that they only had to tweak the bass a little, everything else was fine! I was quite shocked and explained why to inferno, he in turn was then shocked that I had made this tune on such lower end of the market equipment! OK the software is a bit higher up the scale but in hardware terms, no one is going to be drooling over my set up!
As for the pianos, I think there are just 2 tunes where i've used a sampled piano, "Unreal Dream"(Mad World piano) and "Coffincore" (let me love you for tonight). Other than that it's my own work. There is just something about the the sound of a piano in a dance tune, weather its hardcore or tunes like Alison Limerick "Where love lives" or Starlight's "Numero Uno". I did have piano lessons as a kid, but didn't get very far as i got more interested in making my own tunes, not playing someone elses, and the wealth of sounds available on a keyboard made it far more interesting than playing a baby grand which, as beautiful an instrument as it is, only makes piano sounds, but it was enough to get the basics down. When I first played my own tune in a club which had a piano line, a guy came running off the dance podium and shook my hand, he'd no idea i had made the tune, he just shouted something like "fuckin LOVE piano tunes mate!" then ran back and carried on dancing, so i guessed I must be doing it right!
(7) About a month ago I had the honour to host a guest mix from you to my radio show on Nu-Rave Radio. I remember that time we've chatted a lot about that mix (where you've featured your 'best of productions') Every tune from there has its own story & value, showing off your talent indeed. Can you share with all fans & nu-rave lovers the story so far from each tune of your selection to that guest mix
In the mix I would say the stand out tunes for me are:
"TOMB SHAKER" as it just a relentless 'ardcore tune and probably my favourite non-piano tune that Ive made.
"SO NICE" was a rarity as that was a track which I was able to have an idea and see it through to the end without the tune changing completely half way through.
"ELATION" is my proudest moment as its got "phatt pianos and bad boy breaks" (as one person commented on it)
I love layering 2 or more breaks together to get a really good rumbling beat to a tune,
I do like to stick a 4/4 kick in there most times as I always feel like it pins the track down but I always try to ensure the breaks are dominant. It got played at Glastonbury by the dj's who ran Repeat Offender Records just before its release on vinyl back in 2008, its also my wifes favourite tune of mine. She is a proper musician, plays guitar and piano and sings as well. When she first heard my stuff she assumed that it was ALL samples and when she heard "ELATION" for the first time, she complimented me on my choice of piano loop and I was like "what? NO! Thats ME!!"
"TRICHROMES" I really like, it was made in 1 day a few years ago after a hectic night out and having had a 'cigarette' or two the next day.
Considering it only uses 1 melody line, 2 break beats, 1 vocal sample, 1 choir sample, a sub bassline and a kick (possibly some hi hats, cant quite remember)
I think it flows really well and has a quite chilled feel to it. Don't always need a whole collection of melodies to make a full track.
"WHAT DO YOU LOVE?" It seems UK oldskool and nu skool breaks is very popular in Spain back in the days when myspace music was the place to share your sounds, spanish producer Crone asked if he could remix this track for me. I may, if I can find it, upload my original but I love this remix because it is so under processed. I love the raw feeling like it was made on an amiga or atari back in the day but when you listen to it, you will see that the work on the arrangement and production is brilliant, the chopped up drum loops and the heavily phased break, i tink it captures the energy of the basic tracks made back in the day, you don't need bags of processing to give a track some cojones!
(8) Is there anything extra you would like to say, or anyone to shout out?
I hope the above answers are not too waffly! I find a lot of what i think and feel about music in general and hard dance music in particular, very difficult to put into words at times, music of any genre should make you feel something and should be made with feeling as well. I feel sorry for people whose only association with dance music is what the charts feed them every week, something or someone featuring David Guetta for instance or friggin Pitbull (not a fan!!) or, even worse, Avicii or Psy! Watered down commercial rubbish, there's no groove and this fad for using that stuttery kind of groove setting so the bassline or melody is way off beat, im sorry, i just don't buy it! You're bombarded with this piss water stuff on most of the tv music channels, the only David Guetta video I want to see is a news report where he's gone missing and the police are dredging a lake!! I don't, however, want the music channels swamped with our sounds either. Rave music, oldskool or otherwise, should be underground, I know the benefits of the internet make this music more accessible, but the kind of person I want listening to my tunes is the sort that has searched and discovered, not just settled for the commercially available shyte the main music industry thinks we should be dancing to. The rave scene should be a globally underground club, but welcoming of all new members regardless of race, colour or creed, just united in a love for the underground sound of dance music.
(hmmm shoutouts, another tricky area where i guarantee I will manage to forget somebody!)
Claire, the love of my life and the current Mrs Dj Rave In Peace! Dj's Wax and Inferno for giving me my first "break", Glowkid and Tariq @ nu-rave for being so active in sharing out my sounds and being very complimentary about what i make, Dave Usher just as he is a fellow original 90's raver and has probably heard my shit for longer than anyone else on the internet as one of my earliest myspace fans and still keeps an ear open to this day! haha! The guys at Eternal Cru (Welsh free party scene), Faza who I used to work with, insisted he got a signed copy of each of my releases on vinyl, seriously, the guys not right in the head!, Most of all a big shout out to anyone who, over the years, has liked or friended or shared or commented or just listened to and enjoyed my tunes over myspace, facebook or soundcloud. I appreciate every single person that takes the time to feedback or just hit the like button.
DJ RAVE IN PEACE
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