Nathalie interview by Ru Curthoys



How old are you and where do you come from?

Well hello there! I’m 25 years old and come from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire…god it almost sounds like I’m on Blind Date!

How did you get into hard dance music?

It was my boyfriend Toby who got me into hard dance, way back in 2001. He was seriously into his hard dance already when we met but I hadn’t even heard of a dance genre called “hardhouse” (as it was known back then!) Until then I’d only listened to trance but only what came out on the commercial albums! I was more into my indie, rock and punk bands to be honest! Toby immediately bought me the Tidy Girls Annual (mixed by Lisa Lashes and Anne Savage) and the green Hardhouse Euphoria (mixed by the Tidy Boys and Lisa Pin-Up) which were his two favourite albums at the time. In a nutshell, he told me that if I didn’t like that sort of music there wouldn’t be much hope in us lasting, as clubbing and hardhouse took up a HUGE chunk of his social life! Charming! Just as well I was pretty much hooked from that moment on then! I listened to the CDs on repeat, quickly picking out my favourites such as,
4 Motion’s “Over 4 Me”, Ewok’s “Go Back 2 The Old Skool”, Heaven’s Cry “Til Tears Do Us Part” and The Crow “What Ya Lookin At?” (Lashes & Savage vs. Ingo mix).

I loved the fact that the music was tough, fast and relentless, quite similar to some of the punk bands I’d listen to like The Offspring and Green Day! And the breakdowns would build and build then hit back with new sounds and so much power! When a new tune was mixed in, in would come a totally different bassline and cheeky sample to keep the CD powering along! It was amazing and like nothing I’d ever heard before and I couldn’t wait to actually go out to a full night of it!




Can you remember the first hard house event you went to?

God yes! It was chaos!!! Sundissential’s 5th Birthday at the Sanctuary, Birmingham! I’d been told that Sundissential was an insane night, full of crazy clubbers dressed head to toe in cyber and it was no exaggeration! It was all a bit daunting at first to be honest as I’d never seen anything like it! For me, “clubbing” only went as far as the cheesy nights I went to at university in Sheffield! This, on the other hand was so far removed from all that! I had the most amazing time, the clubbers were so friendly and by the end of the night it felt like I knew everybody in there! I remember spending quite a bit of the night stood on the balcony, looking down at the DJs, trying to figure out what they were doing on the decks! Eddie Halliwell played that night and he totally blew me away! He was doing so much on the mixer, I was just fascinated by it all! I remember Lashes played too…she looked absolutely stunning and the crowd were just going crazy for her!

Afterwards, we went to Code just round the corner where they were holding an Insomniacz to keep the celebrations going! I remember Lisa Pin-Up played tracks off the green hardhouse euphoria! I went absolutely insane! I couldn’t stop dancing and I remember at the end when the music stopped and the side-doors opened to reveal daylight…I was the unhappiest girl in the world! My first clubbing experience was over and all that was left was a roast dinner with my parents! Oh, the joy!



Do you come from a musical background?

Not at all! At secondary school I started learning the violin but drove my parents round the bend as I wasn’t particularly good at it! I was like Sonia with her trumpet in Eastenders…absolutely SHOCKING!!! Then I tried learning to play the piano, but my fingers were too short so I couldn’t reach the top and bottom keys! Its not every day you get told you have stubby digits!

How would you describe your style?

Hmmmmm….its difficult to narrow down my style as I love to listen to and play different styles of hard dance! It means I can pretty much take whatever a promoter throws at me in terms of set-time. I don’t want to be one of those DJs who just thrashes it out no matter what the hour! I understand the importance of the right music at the right hour and the right build up for whatever DJ is on next. Generally, for warm-up sets, I love more chunky, funky or groovy basslines with cool vocals! Something that’s going to draw the crowd onto that dance floor ready for the next act! For peak-time sets, generally, I love mixing tough, uplifting, vocal hard dance with a good dose of bounce thrown in for that happy, fun factor! And for the later sets I’d probably throw in some tougher, harder-edge sounds with cheeky hoovers! I love a good hoover at the end of the night! I think primarily though, it always helps to discuss with the promoter of the night, what they expect of you in terms of music-style. At the end of the day, they’ve booked you for a certain style of music and performance and you need to make sure you deliver the goods!.

How does it feel to be asked to play at HDS?

Bloody brilliant!!! I’ve been going to Frantic events since I started clubbing, regularly going to Camden Palace for their huge events! Steve Hill and Andy Farley were particular Frantic DJ favourites of mine, back in the day! Frantic is most definitely a superpower in the clubbing scene…always moving with the times and keeping up to date with what’s hot and what’s not! They always put on great parties and are always trying to push nu-breed DJs and producers forward so to have been asked to play is a huge honour and a great opportunity for me to show more people what I’m capable of and hopefully get them to love the music I love to play and listen to myself!

Who is your favourite producer/remixer?

Oh I have quite a few at the moment!

Matt Lee for starters….this guy is pure genius! He’s made some absolute crackers when it comes to hard dance tracks such as…”Go” (Nukleuz), “How Many” (AWsum) and “Over 4 Me” (AWsum). And his remix of “Party People” is so damn good it should be banned!

Andy Whitby….what can I say?! Not only is he fantastically skilled behind the decks, but he also produces bloody brilliant tunage, from his remix of Bliss Inc’s “Faith” to “U Ready?” and “R We Alone?” (a current fave of mine which I can‘t wait to play out!) Klubfiller…the new king of bounce!!! Especially loving his tracks “Feel The Groove” and “Earthquaker”! A great producer and a bloody nice lad too!

Tom Parr...I’ve been loving A LOT of his tracks recently! Tom makes a lot of good, filthy hardhouse but he also makes a lot of tough, funkier hardhouse with the most amazing chunky basslines! They’re fantastic! His across-the-board style means you never know what you're going to get, but its always top draw!

Paul-F & Kye Shand…these two producers have such a HUGE passion for hard dance! Its great to see and just what the scene needs! They love their bounce but they also make fantastic tough yet euphoric tunage! They’re definitely ones to watch out for in 2008!

What is currently in your top 5 tracks?

Stimulant DJs - Blow Da Roof ( an oldie but it has an amazing warpy, bassline with a great riff and amazing sample!)

Nathalie - “Hardhouse Musik” and “ Feel The Pressure” (two of my own tunes which were engineered by the lovely and very talented Audiohedz! Hardhouse Musik being a happy, Rachel Auburn-style bouncy number whilst Feel The Pressure is a tougher, rolling-bassline bounce track.

Andy Whitby - R We Alone? ( a harder-edge sound from AW…..amazing riff and samples and fantastic production!)

Nathalie & Some Punk - “Can’t Get Enough” (a new track from myself, made with my close friend and upcoming producer Some Punk! A rework of a certain popular dance tune with the Soulsearcher’s “Can’t Get Enough” vocal! Tough and euphoric…set to be a dancefloor pleaser! )

What one event or promotion would you die to play at?

Oooohhhh…..can I have two please?!

Hardhouse Academy @ Brixton Academy ….an amazing event at one of the best venues in the UK! Been to a fair few of these and the atmosphere is immense! I’ve only seen the view from the mainstage in photographs but to actually experience it for real as a DJ would be something else!!! Tidy Weekender ….surely its every hard dance DJs dream to play at one of these?!!! I’ve been to every one except the first and I’ve loved every minute of them all! Amazing people, amazing atmosphere! I’d do anything to play at one of these!!!

If you were promoting a one-off hard dance event, which 5 DJs would you have on the line up, and where would it be?

Andy Whitby
Cally Gage
Lisa Pin-Up
DJ Tobias
And myself of course!

And where would I hold it?! Hmmmm…..would be a toss up between The Opera House, Bournemouth and Brixton Academy, London! Undoubtedly, two of the best venues in the country!

Who (dead or alive) would you most like to have a one-to-one with?

Ooooohhhhhh…..now you’re talking! It would have to be, in true girly fashion, Leonardo DiCaprio or Johnny Depp…or even both at the same time?! Mmmmm! I’m not sure what I’d talk to them about! I’m not sure there’d be much conversation going on to be honest!



What’s the one thing you won’t leave the house without?

My mobile phone! I know it’s probably the most common and boring answer but it’s true! I’ve left it at home before and it was torture!!!

What ringtone do you have on your phone?

I have quite a few rintgtones on my phone depending on who calls! When Toby calls me I have Acrobat Pat (Riggsy’s remix of Will’s Song off Radio 1). It never fails to make me smile even if he‘s pissed me off! Cally’s assigned tone is Maddox and Rumble‘s “Party People“; Andy’s is Gigi Pussy’s remix of Tom Haffman’s “Hostel“…when that evil breakdown goes off in public it gets quite a few stares and disapproving grunts! Haha! And my other best friend Linzi has “Organ Grinder” by Paul Maddox as her assigned tone. I used to have Scatman John doing his scat-rap as my general ringtone, but it used to annoy people too much! God knows why…Scatman John ruled!

What is your most shameful moment?

I was in Marks and Spencers with my parents when I was about 5 or 6 and I went on a walkabout as I got bored of watching my mum look for new clothes! After a while, I spotted my mum around the shoe section so I went running up to her from behind and pinched her bum real hard.....I’m not sure why I did it really! Never done it before and haven’t done it since funnily enough! It turned out not to be my mum at all, just a total stranger who screamed real loud and shouted obscenities at me and made me cry! That’s probably as shameful as it gets to be honest! Other things are just things I’ve said that have made me look ridiculously thick…like asking what the moon in Button Moon was made of! Or asking MC Storm, at Ravers United, to teach me to scratch with my mouth like he does!

Tell us a secret / joke.

Q. Why did the blonde stare at the orange juice carton?
A. It said "concentrate" on it!

Q. Why did the blonde tip-toe past the medicine cabinet?
A. She didn't want to wake the sleeping tablets!

They’re so lame I know! Thanks Nat. Are you really that blond by the way?

Excellent Interview hun.

Nice one Nathalie, keep up the good work babes

See you Friday.xx

Cool interview Nathalie. Good on ya and all the best for the future.

Good read huni, looking forward to your set on Fri...hopefully hearing your new tune "Can't Get Enough"! x x

nice read darling.. see u on fri for what is gonna def gonna be a fantastic night.. x x

nice read babe, sorry we cant make friday but good luck, enjoy :) xx

Nice read, sounds like you've been around the DJ-ing scene for a while before you became actively involved and know to play what is appropriate for the times of night. Got yer head screwed on there!

See you Friday :)

Paul-F & Kye Shand…these two producers have such a HUGE passion for hard dance! Its great to see and just what the scene needs! They love their bounce but they also make fantastic tough yet euphoric tunage! They’re definitely ones to watch out for in 2008!

Thank you for mentioning us Nat.
Your a star for that.
We do love it and we hope it shows in our Productions and especially when we smash it up when we play our sets too.
Safe
Paul.

nice read darling.. see u on fri for what is gonna def gonna be a fantastic night.. x x

Thanks Kevsey! See you Friday! And well done on your set at Timless! xXx

Nice read, sounds like you've been around the DJ-ing scene for a while before you became actively involved and know to play what is appropriate for the times of night. Got yer head screwed on there!

Awwww, thanx babe! Look forward to meeting you on Friday! xXx

Thank you for mentioning us Nat.
Your a star for that.

No worries hun! Look forward to hearing your new productions!!!

Great interview Miss Nathalie Bason!! You do write very well, it was an informative read!

Hardhouse Academy @ Brixton Academy

Yes definately agree with that!! THE best venue in my opinion and one that would be amazing to play at!!

See you Friday my lovely xxx

ps, so did MC Storm teach you to scratch with him mouth hahaha!?!?! Well funny!

Well done babe. Wicked interview! x

Great interview Nat :)

Klubfiller…the new king of bounce!!! Especially loving his tracks “Feel The Groove” and “Earthquaker”! A great producer and a bloody nice lad too!

Thanks for the mention too glad your liking the music :)

ps, so did MC Storm teach you to scratch with him mouth hahaha!?!?! Well funny!

Funnily enough, no he didn't babe! LOL! I must've looked so sad asking that!

Thanks for the mention too glad your liking the music :)

Awww, well its all very true my lovely! Look forward to seeing you at Polys! You'd best still be coming mister!

Look forward to seeing you at Polys!

See you at Polys Nat!

Yayyyy! CU at polys babe! Can't wait! Will be a great night! xXx

CU at polys babe! Can't wait! Will be a great night!

Looks like well be crossing paths again miss..lol

Hope Fiji been thrashed by you.........