Reported by spacekitten
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Submitted 05-04-04 19:49
Group 185 didn’t so much appear on the underground scene in 2002 as explode onto it, quickly developing a loyal following for their energetic and, in their own words ‘trouser-flapping', brand of acid trance and nu nrg. The hard-working live PA from Kent is starting to see a pay-off for their efforts: One of their tracks, JD's Hog, written in conjunction with their good mate DJ JD, is about to be released on the NUNRG label, and their collaborative efforts with Fordy, "Cained", and Type 1, "Party Dirty" & "Party Dirtier (Slice of Cake mix)" are generating loads of positive feedback. With a range of other projects and potential collaborations on the boil, 2004 looks set to be Group 185’s year and deservedly so.
The duo has played many of London’s underground parties to massive and frenetic audience response and is set to rip up dance floors further a field in the UK this year. In the lead-up to their first event, Group 185 Presents…, at Cyberdog on Saturday 17 April, Dave 185 gives us some background to where Group 185 have come from and where they may be going next…
For those people who either haven’t yet heard of Group 185 or don’t know much about you… how would you describe yourselves ?
We are essentially a live act, when we first emerged we didn’t even think about records, even now it seems like such a bonus to get one out. We really are a blend of cheese and filth. Recently we were told (and you know who you are!) that our music has induced involuntary bodily functions. We see people moshing, gurning and air guitaring at one point – then hands up, eyes shut and smiling at the next, then hugging each other. It’s hard to pin to any genre – that’s the way we like it!
Your first gig was a back garden summer party in 2001 as a 3 piece. You’ve come a long way since then; what have been the most important lessons you’ve learned ?
That effort, sacrifice and teamwork are essential – band members must have faith in and respect each other. We are now a 2-piece band - we split for a while after a first, tense London gig and then reformed as a much tighter unit.
Also we have learned that being very patient is essential. People work to very different time-frames. Our biggest booking at Camden Palace came almost a year after sending the demo.
The main lessons though: be polite, nice and genuine with people, cos they ain’t daft!
Most people who want to become involved with the hard dance scene have aspirations to become a DJ, what made you go for the live act ?
I personally get bored very quickly with DJing. Creating the music myself (along with Mike) just seems so much more rewarding. Mike (185) DJs very well, but again prefers the challenge of writing. It gives us total control over what direction we go in and the technology is so interesting.
Being a live PA it must be a bit of a mission to play out, you can’t just stick a load of records in a bag and rush in just before your set You don’t use any backing tracks, hard disk recorders or DATs, so what equipment goes with you and what’s involved in setting up for a show ?
It is indeed a mission. We have to dismantle our home studio. There’s about half a ton of kit to pack up including our control synth, modular synths, 32 channel digital mixing desk, sampler/hard drive sequencer, and outboard equipment. Not to mention the stands and about 100lbs of cable, spares, soldering kit, tools, can of Red Devil and some cakes. We have to get there early to set up, often in places we are unfamiliar with, often in gloomy lighting and quickly. A soundcheck is needed to set all our levels as everything is live and unproduced. Then the wait to go on (constantly running over in our minds what needs to be done during the set).
You obviously like to live life dangerously; there must have been some heart-stopping moments ?
Plenty. Like The Gathering at The Fridge; between soundchecking and going on we lost our kick drum as the cable just died suddenly. We just stuck another in and off we went. Everyone could tell it was live though!
We’ve had a massive explosion on stage at Torque as condensation from an air vent dripped right into our kit, p*ssed people falling into the kit, computer failure (in early gigs), missing leads, shark attacks, vampire lesbian dwarfs etc…
At nearly every gig there is something to test us. Such is the nature of being in a band. It’s not for the easily stressed.
And what’s the payoff that makes up for all the grief ?
Watching hundreds of people dancing their tits off to a tune that we wrote. Being told that we’ve scared someone, taken them to full and furious heights, been inside them and flowed through them, seeing people bliss out to the bits that we do, then gurning to the same bits that we do, the absolute synchronicity that is created in the room… The list goes on and on and on. It’s just the biggest feeling and the best reward. Who wouldn’t wanna do it?
How do your tunes usually come together – you've said that being in the studio is a 'civilised blend of chaos and order where you build on each others' ideas' but what’s a typical session like and how much time do you spend in the studio in an average week ?
There’s no set pattern really. One of us will stumble upon something interesting and we see what will fit with it. We jam a lot to get ideas for structuring tunes and take turns adding bits. It’s really sporadic and we don’t get as much time for it as we’d like. Life is just so full of stuff.
You write your own tunes and obviously you need to keep updating your set so it’s always fresh. What do you use for inspiration ?
Blue Rizzlas and The Force.
Who do you admire in the hard dance scene ?
It’s gotta be Kev (Energy) for his relentless energy, his spirit of enterprise, enthusiasm, the talent that oozes and the fact that at such a young age he has a wealth of knowledge and experience that a lot of people could learn from. He’s got time for people and isn’t a big-head. That’s the bit that makes us admire him.
You’ve recently been in the studio with Kev and K-Complex, and your tune JDs Hog is on the verge of being released on the NUNRG label . How did that come about and how did you feel when Kev told you he wanted to produce one of your tunes ?
We were booked to play with the Nu Energy Collective at Atomic Energy and we wanted to write an end of set tune that they would like and remember. Our man J.D. co-wrote with us and we did it in about a week, getting it to fit into our live set. Kev Energy heard it and belled us to say he wanted to release it. It was a total result. We were knocked out. All we had to do was get it produced to Nu Energy standard at their studios.
Pete was a top bloke to work with and very supportive. Kev said himself that there was enthusiasm in the room. It came together beautifully and the end result is a great mix of 185 and Nu Energy.
A lot of people would give their right arm for a chance to work with those two; tell us a bit about the experience.
Well, we had never gone into someone else’s studio before so didn’t know what to expect. Turns out that it was 4 blokes having a ferkin good laugh. These guys really know their stuff so it was easy to communicate our needs. I can’t stress enough what a good experience it was for us. Pete taught us a lot just by explaining things rather than shrouding it all in mystery. We heartily recommend him as a producer (read the interview with k-complex on the Group 185 website). Kev just emits energy, maybe that’s why he’s called Kev Energy!
What other collaborations have you been involved with and what’s on the horizon – anything you can tell us about ?
We did a couple of collaborations with Fordy – one called "Cained" that was being played out in Australia last year to packed floors and recently he sat in with us while we wrote "Ruffasfuk" which is the most aggressive tune in our set. We’ve had some interest in this tune, but have to wait and see.
We’ve also been in the studio with Type 1 DJs Barry and Glen a few times recently collaborating on our "Party Dirty’" project. We did two mixes between us and the "Slice of Cake Mix" seems to be attracting a lot of interest here and in Holland. We are set to work with Type 1 again in both a collaborative and producing context. They are a right pair of nutterz and great to work with.
We plan to work with a few other people in the near future, but nothing’s confirmed yet. J.D. works with us on and off. Again, a great bloke to have around. He will be concentrating his efforts on our lightshow in the near feature as he is a wizard with animation.
You’ve played many of London’s hard dance parties, are there any you’ve not yet played but would like to (promoters take note !!) ?
Well, really of course we’d like all the big boys to book us. Who wouldn’t? There’s a few we think we should have a shot at, but there’s always time. Some people just take more convincing of a good thing than others ;-)
You’ve organised an event, Group 185 Presents… at Cyberdog on 17 April with yourselves, a Group 185 DJ set with Mike and JD, Eryk Orpheus in his first solo PA, Fordy, De-Cent and Phil Able. What was the thinking behind organising your own event and is this something we’ll see more of from Group 185 in the future ?
Quite simply that we fancied playing there, then Phil Able asked if we would – well, what’s a live PA supposed to do? It’s a good opportunity to help our good friend Eryk Orpheus to promo himself too. He’s been a great help to us and we love working with him. (It’s like having your Dad there).
Also, we just all like the idea of doing a free party and all of us working together. It’s a great chance for people to come and have a look at what we offer, without having to pay and be out all night… (promoters take notice).
We plan to do more events and are in discussion with other parties right now to bring you something special…. soon.
So, where to now for Group 185 ?
We have to play it a bit close and be a bit quiet about our plans – they have a tendency to go pear-shaped at times. Suffice to say that we are well happy slapheads! Things seem to be going nicely and everything’s a bonus really. Tune in to www.group185.com to follow our progress.
From: WEBBOon 6th Apr 2004 09:48.43 cant wait to see u in action again keep up the good work
From: Lizzie Curiouson 6th Apr 2004 10:49.10 brilliant interview...but does anyone know why they are called Group 185???
From: Flakeon 6th Apr 2004 11:04.50 Because Blink was already taken........lol
From: Flakeon 6th Apr 2004 11:05.23 No........G185 totally rock! Keep up the hardwork guys!
From: The Soundscape Gardeneron 6th Apr 2004 11:14.48 I remember being told where the name came from once... but that was many spliffs ago.
Nice interview guys. See you down the Cyberdog
From: Type 1on 6th Apr 2004 11:15.41 yeh nice, big up yourself..........party dirty baby!!! with a slice of cake!!
From: spacekittenon 6th Apr 2004 11:21.39 d'oh ! forgot to include where the name came from in the interview !! .... but i think i shall leave that story for Group 185 to fill in themselves.....
From: mad rushon 6th Apr 2004 13:23.21 Wicked interview Guy`s :wink:
Keep it Rocking!!
See all @ Cyberdog
From: iccon 6th Apr 2004 13:31.34 AE 'Procession to the Equinox' was SOOOOO LARGE!!!!
Craking set guys!!
185 masiiiiiive:-)
From: GROUP 185on 6th Apr 2004 16:30.40 group 185 were a mythical german prog rock band who never existed during the late 60's ..many had never heard them and it was often said amongst certain muso types if they had of existed that they would probably have been pretty good ...also , it was daves email address and seemed convenient at the time ...
From: Evil Ezon 6th Apr 2004 20:23.00 'Dad' you cheeky young(ish) beggar! You'll be in for a slippering when I get hold of ya!!!!!!
From: moonmantraon 6th Apr 2004 21:36.13 nice 1 guys - & spacekitten - see ya on the 17th!
From: Mandakinson 6th Apr 2004 22:51.48 Wicked interview guys! Looking forward to seeing you soon
From: acid leson 7th Apr 2004 13:01.14 thanks to Spacekitten for a great interview. These guys do kick ass and deserve all the credit they are getting.
From: Matt Styleon 7th Apr 2004 15:18.53 Great interview, Two of the nice's guy's i've met in a long time!! Glad to see your both doing so well, you deserve it.... Keep up the good work!!!
From: Tony.Pon 7th Apr 2004 15:39.05 excellent read and two of the nicest blokes out there, you deserve all that's coming to you guys. Keep up the good work and see ya soon
From: lady_penelopeon 8th Apr 2004 12:54.18 Looking forward to the 17th!!!
From: Atomic Energyon 8th Apr 2004 15:47.21 top live p.a.
From: HouseGuyon 8th Apr 2004 18:07.01 nice article!!! you guys are great... can't wait to c u again.
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d'oh ! forgot to include where the name came from in the interview !! 
.... but i think i shall leave that story for Group 185 to fill in themselves..... 
nice 1 guys - & spacekitten - see ya on the 17th! 
thanks to Spacekitten for a great interview. These guys do kick ass and deserve all the credit they are getting.