 |
Features
|
|
|
| Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna | | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022! | | TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022! | | A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London! |
|
|
|
|
|
Generation X is here! Interview with Squelcher’s D4RK
Reported by e99
/
Submitted 26-07-06 02:03
Stop press! Hold everything! Those lovely types at Hidden have organised a last minute shindig at the venue this Friday 28th July called Generation X — a free party showcasing the best of London’s new generation of hard dance and house djs! One of the cast of these hot-shots is D4RK — promoter of the awesome Squelcher parties and a dj who has really made his mark on the London scene this year.
Over the past 2 years, Squelcher have staged some of the most exciting parties in the capital on the more intimate end of the scale at venues such as Deep Blue, Hidden and the Factory. They’ve consistently offered two rooms covering the full hard dance spectrum and house, electro and techno, with their carefully chosen selection of underground talent alongside some of the scene’s most underrated djs such as JP & Jukesy and Steve Blake, plus some of the most impressive production around. Adam D4RK spoke to us about his experiences in the scene, and why he feels a club event should look as good as it sounds...
Your party Squelcher burst onto the London scene just under 2 years ago. When where and how did you get your first taste of hard dance?
As far as my first taste of hard dance, that’s a tricky one. It’s hard to say when and where my tastes changed from the early days of hardcore, techno, Goa trance and trance into today’s hard dance.
I’ve been listening to dance music since 1990 with Colin Dale and Colin Favor on Kiss FM! I almost went to my first rave in 1991 in Bournemouth when we saw Carl Cox and Jumping Jack Frost on the line up for a club, but we thought they were hip hop djs and never went in! It took another year to finally get myself down to Yikes on the Bath Road in Slough and then Evolution in Farnborough. It’s all a bit of blur to be honest mate!
Who were the first producers and djs to really grab your attention?
Early day djs that got me into the music were the likes of Grooverider, Pilgrim, Mickey Finn, Carl Cox, oh and Ratty! Those as old as me will remember these guys were all playing hardcore back then!!
It was the likes of djs like Eddie Halliwell, Carl Cox and Lisa Lashes that got me into wanting to dj. As soon as I got my decks, I went out and bought every remaining track on the TinRib label that was just about to shut down. Specifically, anything produced or remixed by Weirdo!
Take us back to the first Squelcher party. Where was it and how did it go?
Originally we started a party called ‘Squelch’ in March 2004 at the Walrus Bar in Waterloo. Basically we were just 4 friends wanting to play out, and who had got decks over the space of the previous 12 months. They’d never had a dance event there, but all the staff were very excited for the change!
It went very very well! Despite setting off the fire alarm halfway through my set, just as the bass kicked in on the Donkey Roller’s ‘Thunder’ track I was playing! Too much heat from the dancers, the smoke machine and the lasers! We all ended up out on the street, but were soon back in the venue to carry on rocking til 2am!
I loved every part of the promotion, the djing and the party, so Squelch was officially born . . . however, due to inexperience and lack of contacts, it took another 5 months to discover a venue that would be perfect for our requirements. Then we found Deep Blue, SEOne . . . and the rest as they say is history!
People always comment on the amount of effort that you lot put into décor and production at your parties. Do you think promoters should be making more effort to make their events look the party?
I’ll be careful how I answer this one!
I refer to myself as a clean living gentlemen within the dance scene! And after a couple of hours of dancing, it takes more than just the music to keep me entertained! In my opinion a party has to appeal to all the senses, you need good sound and good tunes obviously and you need a really good atmosphere. On top of that you also need to appeal visually.
I’m a creative, artistic person, so I like things to look very different and I love to transform a venue so it appears like a venue that a clubbers has never been before. I think we achieved that many times with the help of mirror images lasers, the unique Squelcher décor, and of course not forgetting the very talented LAK:UK dancers with all their crazy costumes and pole dancing.
It really makes happy when you see it all come together and a venue looks amazing, and even more so when everyone tells me how much they love it.
What have been the most impressively kitted-out clubs that you have seen over the years?
I think some of the bigger parties are just as guilty as the smaller ones when it comes to scrimping on the production. Frantic and Heat never fail to impress with their lasers, lighting and production. Also the likes of Contact down in Portsmouth always put a lot of effort into their lasers, dancers and décor.
I don’t think anything compares to the Dutch hardstyle/hard dance parties with the likes of Sensation Black/White and QDance. The production at their events blows everything away!
You’ve had lots of fancy dress themes at your parties. Which proved to be the most popular or successful, and why?
Yeah the fancy dress themes have been fantastic! We’ve had Halloween, Pimps and Hookers, Matrix, Space(d), and the Beach Party to name a few. We’ve tried to give away free stuff on the door to encourage more people to take part, such as Neo Sunglasses and Garlands! The most successful two would have been the Pirate Party and the Masked Ball, as so many people came dressed up!
For the pirate theme we gave away 50+ eye patches on the door and SeOne even made us a plank for people to walk! For the Masqerade ball, both Squelcher and Guilt spent weeks making 50 masks, which were hand painted and decorated over the previous weeks and everyone loved them. Although it was a little un-nerving looking out from the dj desk at all these spooky masks staring back at you!!
Are you happy with the way the promotion has progressed? Have you found it to be hard work? Is this because there is so much competition or just generally because of the nature of the beast?
The promotion has progressed a lot and most of it has been very good.
It’s really really hard work, and there has been some really tough competition, as well as other problems outside of our control that stop our parties being as successful as we would have liked. But throughout all of it, we have an amazing group of core Squelcher and Guilt followers and without their continued support, the parties would have stopped a while ago. Thanks guys!
We’ve always retained the awesome house party atmosphere through our events, and as new people experience the parties, they leave wondering why they’ve not discovered us sooner!
Your djing has been going from strength to strength too. What have been your most enjoyable gigs of the year?
It’s been a great year so far, and it looks even bigger, busier and better for the forthcoming year!
Besides Red Planet and Squelcher of course, my favourite event so far has been at Contact in Portsmouth, playing alongside Cally and Juice and Chris Liberator to 500+ in one room was simply orgasmic! In all honesty, I love all of it, I love sharing my tunes with any size dance floor, I love seeing people dancing and smiling and seeing the expressions on their faces when you’ve got something seriously twisted or with a massive bass! I’m also booked to play some exciting events over the next few months from Ibiza to Inverness, and I can’t get enough of it!
Which other parties in London have really impressed you this year?
There’s been some really good parties this year and it’s hard to name any particular one. Heat vs Frantic at Brixton Academy was amazing, Terminal, Nu-Religion, Freeformation and Contact.
You will be playing at Generation X at Hidden this Friday 28th July, a last minute free shindig that is being put on by the guys behind Nu Religion. What can we expect to hear from you if we come and see you play on the night?
Anyone that’s witnessed the beginning of one of my sets, or downloaded any of my demo CDs, will know I like to create my own little weird intros. I’ve been working on a special one for this occasion, so be sure to catch that! As for the rest of the set, that depends on set time, but expect fresh, hard and hopefully dark and twisted tunage with a hint of nasty acid undertones!
What do you think of Hidden as a club space? You hosted Squelcher there once right?
I really like the Hidden venue a lot. It has everything you need for a perfect night out — 3 rooms offering potentially 3 different style of music and loads of places to chillout and wander around. The sound system and lighting are really good, and the only thing I think is missing is a huge multicolour laser (or 2) in the main room!
I think the money invested in the venue has really paid off and there have been some excellent events hosted there. Oh and I love the outside terrace, especially during the recent heatwave!
Do you think London could do with another big superclub? There seem to be a few too many venues with not enough money to invest in making themselves cutting-edge for the 21st century . . .
That’s another very good and tricky question.
There seems to be a lot of parties and a lot of venues open every weekend. Over the last few months, I’ve not seen any of them really filling up. I’m not sure if there are too many clubs and not enough clubbers and maybe they’re just spread to thinly.
In turn this has a negative effect on the promotions involved as they are not getting enough people through the door to cover their costs. This then reduces their budget for djs and production, which could then in turn reduces people coming to future parties, because it simply doesn’t grab their attention as much.
Having said that, there’s been some excellent parties such as Nu-Religion, and Terminal and Tasty that have offered many styles of music and pulled together some very good crowds.
Photos courtesy of Adam. Not to be reproduced without permission.
GENERATION X
|
|
On:
|
Friday 28th July 2006
|
|
At:
|
Hidden [map]
|
|
From:
|
22:00 - 06:00
|
|
Cost:
|
FREE**FREE**FREE**FREE
|
|
Website:
|
www.hiddenclub.co.uk
|
|
Ticket Info:
|
HOW TO GET IN FOR FREE??
Simply email your names to info@nureligion.com for guaranteed FREE Entry before Midnight. £10 on the Door after Midnight.
|
|
Buy Online:
|
Click here to buy tickets
|
|
More:
|
GENERATION X
FREE ENTRY / FREE ENTRY!!!
Friday 28th July 2006
2200 - 0600
Hidden, 100 Tinworth Street, Vauxhall, London
STOP PRESS!! STOP PRESS!! Got any plans for next Friday? You best cancel them right now because GENERATION X is here! Last minute plans see this brand new name on the hard dance scene arriving at Hidden on 28/07 for a one-off special launch party... and best of all, get there before 12 and GET IN FREE!! Yes, free! No questions asked!
For this special occasion, Generation X will be providing a host of the nation's finest producers & resident DJs in the scene, featuring hard trance don Greg Brookmanl, alongside hardhouse princess Cally Gage. Expect to see many other exciting new names on the line up too!
Naturally, for those who prefer an alternative on the night, Funk Deluxe & Funkylicious will be pushing all the buttons in room 2 with their acclaimed DJs & usual blend of funky house & electro.
Short notice it may be but hey, it's free hard house! You'd be mad not to pencil out those plans!
|
|
Flyer:
|
|
|
|
Region:
|
London
|
|
Music:
|
Trance. Hard Trance. Psy Trance. Nu NRG. Hi NRG. Hardcore. HardStyle. House. Bouncy House. Funky House. Hard House. Techno.
|
|
DJ's:
|
Main Arena: GENERATION X
HARD HOUSE!!!!
Cally Gage
Greg Brookman
Steve O’Brady
D4RK
Steve-NRG
Biblstar
Hoopz
Raf
Arena 2: Funk Delux
Lisa London
Simon Williams
Morgantey
Paul Lynch
Chris Perkins
Plus Guests!
|
|
Share this ::  :  :  : 
Follow HarderFaster :: 
Other Features By e99:
Fergilcious: PunchFunk & Excentrik take over The Key
Baklash take over the IceBox at HeatUK Aftermath '07
Goodgreef take on Frantic at NYE-NEC
Trevor Rockcliffe — Proactive — HeatUK & The Gallery NYE — 'nuff said?
HeatUK Evolution: Natural Selection — a look at dance music’s gone-but-not-forgottens
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
|
|
|
Comments:
|
From: dj madness on 26th Jul 2006 10:31.43
congrats adam on a great article. you are awsome mate.
From: Little Miss Moo on 26th Jul 2006 10:32.15
Excellent interview. Can't wait to hear what you've got in the bag for Friday. 
From: Triptech on 26th Jul 2006 12:25.54
Nice read there D4rkus! Going from stength to strength I see!
Shame you couldnt find any decent pics of you!! haha!
See you friday mate!
From: N-Slay on 26th Jul 2006 14:18.01
Nice one Adam!
From: rrmccart on 26th Jul 2006 14:48.51
I'll be there with bells on mate ... looking forward to hearing what you have in store geez!!
Oooops I just reproduced your photos 
From: raving_pixie on 26th Jul 2006 15:06.48
Excellent interview.  Squelcher parties are in a league of their own when it comes to friendly atmosphere. Looking forward to having a wiggle to your set Friday!  
From: Ian Edwards on 26th Jul 2006 19:40.34
noice work bro.
From: crazyclubber66 on 26th Jul 2006 21:10.15
hi adam looking forward to your funk-deluxe debut
for free guestlist to generation x please email names to vince@e-listlondon.com by midday on fri
From: Miles Gorfy on 26th Jul 2006 22:12.25
Good work Adam
From: Jordan X on 26th Jul 2006 22:55.49
Happy crazy days Mr D4RK. Excellent guy, even if he is as camp-as-salad. Does a cracking techno set too :P xx
From: Neats on 27th Jul 2006 13:14.41
Ave it!!!
From: moggyy on 27th Jul 2006 13:31.35
Nice one Adam , sweet interveiw, your parties rock will see you down the front on fri lets ave it!
From: BakLash on 27th Jul 2006 15:10.25
Well done Adam on a great interview,looking forward to doing more parties with ya in the near future,laters mate
From: sexyminx on 27th Jul 2006 17:55.59
Well done lovely  wicked interview. Looking forward to hearing your set tomorrow and  to you 
From: ORPHEUS on 28th Jul 2006 11:28.31
Squelcher parties are second to none....nuff said...well done adam
From: Brixkitten on 29th Jul 2006 10:41.15
well done darling, wikkid interviewlove the silver outfit
From: Dr DUZZIT on 29th Jul 2006 12:57.11
Adam mate your a rising star!! Great to know you and i look forward to many a smash-up in the future..... Great interview by the way
From: lisa loon on 30th Jul 2006 17:25.49
just cos you are a git,dont mean your shit at dj'ing and mixin,always said u were excellent and that's one thing i wont change,lol x big hi to trip and sorry no gossip today hun x
From: jackVanChallis on 31st Jul 2006 20:32.11
Add your comments here !
From: jackVanChallis on 31st Jul 2006 20:33.23
Whoops! Fair play Adam, good to see you're getting the recognition you blatantly deserve. Keep it going mate, see you soon!
From: JP and Jukesy on 1st Aug 2006 16:50.22
top guy and top promotions!!
From: gr8m8 on 1st Aug 2006 19:03.16
oh my god, i cant believe yet again i missed this, and i promise to be at squelcher soon....flyers adam???????
|
|
|
![[HarderFaster] - Work Hard, Play Harder!](/images/mainbanner_top1.gif)
