Hello guys thanks for taking part in this article, we are very exciting about Saturday we think this is going to be a biggy.
We have Just got a few question we are dying to ask you, so here goes....

What were your big 3 tunes last year and why?

Andy-
Oooooh you know how to get me thinking don't you, my first would have to be Little Jon & Tim Priestly - Rock The Beat (Pickup & Rise Vs Riggsy Remix) because it was the first time Matt and I had got together in the studio with Riggsy. We made the track with the intention of it being on our Frantic 11 mix, and with rushing to get the track done in time for the album deadline it was a muchos manic and fun few days. 2nd would have to be Adam M & Defective Audio - Sweatbox, not only is it one of my girlfriend's favourite tracks and she asks me to play it whenever we are out together but it's one of the most fresh and exciting tracks I've heard in years; full of energy and life with lots of exciting drops and noises at the end of phrases. Last but not least it would have to be Dave Curtis - Weekender for its uniqueness! Its a full on thrapfest from the word go but what does it for me is the quirky vocal in the breakdown which talks about the Hard Dance industry, the scene needs more tracks that don't take themselves too seriously.

Craig-
Tom Parr - HIP HOP. It has such a drive and deep dirty sound that i have always loved
Ben Stevens - Frequency point. Love the sound that Ben produces, none stop pumping drive which is my sound
Paul Glazby – Alien Animal. Their is a different sound in this track with an interesting melody, it takes away the old style of H/H which is full of dirty hoovers which is becoming very common in the dance scene.

What rising stars do you recomend for 2009? Can be DJ's, producers or promoters?

Andy-
Evo D & Maxwell are on top form at the moment with some insane productions coming from the two of them (They just missed off my top 3 tracks of last year with several of their tracks!). I've yet to see them DJ but with gigs at Good Greef, Tidy, B2T and many more events under their belt and a forthcoming set at The Atomik Weekender they are obviously doing something right. Kevsey D is also a DJ I think we will all be hearing a lot more about over the next 12 months. I've had the pleasure of being on a lot of lineups over the past 6 months or so with him and he's going from strength to strength. With a banging energetic sound but still having quite a euphoric side at times it's definitely infectious on the dancefloor

Craig-
As a DJ i see lots of people who can mix dance music, mostly all of them but sometimes have the lack of feeling in their performance, producer wise i would recommend Riggsy, Adam M and Tom Parr, they work hard at their engineering and deserve credit for their work.
DJ wise i have noticed a few new sparks in the up and coming stars category, Adam M is making appearances in some of the big successful clubs, as he also promotes high octane in leeds which is proving to be a popular night.

What brands are lookin hot for 2009?

Andy-
A very biased answer seeing as I'm resident but if Frantic's year is anything like the last 12 months then I can see a lot more huge parties being thrown by everyone's fave London promotion, and after the sucess of Hard Disko I can really see it happening. I'm yet to go to a Glowball event but having heard lots about their last few events I'm really excited about sampling the goods on the 28th Feb. Also London promotion Summit, from what I hear on the grapevine they should have some amazing parties coming up over the course of the next 12 months, watch this space people.

Craig-
Hellbound promoted by shenton has its appearances in its original home club hosted by Birminghams after party club ‘SHINE’ has been very successful with its harder NRG scene and has a lot of potential and am glad to see the after club grow in 2009 as well as its host ‘shine’ which has been successful itself in 2008.

If you had the chance to play B2B with anyone world wide who would it be and why?

Andy-
Errrr there's a few actually and you have not said if they can be dead or alive. Ghandi would be quite priceless, I don't know if he can mix but it would be good to see his tune selection. Hitler's a no no as I don't think the mixture of his Hardstyle and my Hard House/Nrg would work. But seriously I'd love to go b2b with Eddie Halliwell if he would play like he did back in the day!

Craig-
B2B wise i would say my all time favourite Andy Farley, since DE VIT passed away in 1998, i have been watching him play all over the country, he amazes me in many ways with his ability to create a sound that i cant relate to any other DJ.

How do you see the scene evolving over the next couple of years in regards to the music, people etc?

Andy-
I think things can only get better, I hate using the phrase ''CREDIT CRUNCH'' but since it's become such a big thing there has been a bit of a knock on effect on attendance at some venues and parties, but the scene has got through worse. The majority of the music coming through at the moment is full of fresh new ideas which can only be a good thing. I just hope that certain issues within the scene that have been made blatent public knowledge recently can be left and not carried on, leave the politics at the door, its not going to help in the slightest!

Craig-
As many people are saying the dance scene in dying out, this is far from the truth, its the music that people are producing that some clubbers think its all the same, again this is far from the truth, if you are a real hard house fan then it will stick in your blood for as long as you want it to. Many people do change their music policy, this doesn’t mean to say that the scene will get any less, new ‘starting’ clubbers are to see what the dance scene is about and im sure they won’t be disappointed.

If you had 2 wear a wig on saturday, what type would it be and why?

Andy-
Who says im not going to ;-) Anyone who knows me knows the random things I keep in my record bag, I might have to be a non conformist and say I would wear a wrestling mask as I've got one (it was a present from my better half, im not thinking of taking up a new career) that needs to be put to use. But it might be a bit warm trying to scratch in it, so i may have to conform to the question and say an afro or a scottish cap with ginger hair attached. I'll fill my record bag with a random assortment of fancy dress headwear for Saturday anyway just in case I change my mind again.

Craig-
If I wore a wig I think I would wear one like Russell Brand type hair, then i would make it into a proper hair style rather than it look like he has been but in a tumble dryer and had a fight with a girl.

If you choked a smurf, what colour would it go? (Please do not try this at home to answer this question)

Andy-
What sort of person do you think I am, do I look like the kind of person who goes round choking smurfs??????????? They go human coloured, we tried it out once haha.

Craig-
Personally i wouldn’t choke a smurf, i have seen them out and about in different clubs and they give me a lot of energy and i buzz my ass off when they are their!! And also, they are the funniest little things ever!! ;0)

Thanx for your time lads roll on saturday!! WOOP WOOP!!!
CRANK HQ

To vote for Pickup & Rise for best new face please click here

After our successfull event "THE RESIDENT BATTLE" at Rooty's in the Custard Factory, Crank is back in full force with a special line up.
Featuring the Red managments very own the lovely LUCY FUR making her Crank debut, Frantics joker himself and scatch devil Andy Rise b2b with highly talented DJ Craig Lee in a very first world exclusive Scratch battle, Norwich based rising star Tom Urwin has recently launched a label called severe impact which has been getting support by some of the top DJ's worldwide, breaking on to the scene Habib and Eddie izzad already have a huge Birmingham following, Coventrys convergance main man Spectra and new talent Phoenix will be bringing you an hour of hard trance and Tidy 2 classics, Top Dj's and producers Resh and Sparx will be trapping out there very own unique blend of Hard Tech trance and Filthy NRG and finally new boy on the scene Nick Proser will be delivering his very own talented style of tech trance cross over.

Dont forget to catch all these DJ's at Rooty's a small intimate venue with Cranks very special following and atmosphere!!!!

TICKETS ONSALE NOW!!!

At our recent event 'Crank the Residents Battle' we put together our debut album based on the night. Each resident compiled a 10 minute mini mix inwhich we digitaly mixed the mixes together.
We gave away only 25 of the albums on the night. So here at Crank HQ we thought being as it was xmas coming up we thought we'd treat all of our Crank fans. When we reach 200 members to the group we upload the mix for a limited time only!!

GET YA BUDS IN!!!

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