************HARDCORE HEROES SET!*************
***********THE AWARD WINNERS PART 2!****************

Well after the phenominal response of our first AWARD WINNERS B2B set we have inundated with requests for it again yet we feel we ahd to top it and we have found it!

We will be kicking off with the 1st ever HARDCORE award winning DJ from all the way back in 1994!

Not only did he win the 1st ever hardcore award he was also honoured with dropping the 1st ever HARDCORE set at the LEGENDARY DREAMSCAPE @ THE SANCTUARY!

He also co founded the era defining LABEL for the 90’s ESSENTIAL PLATINUM & MENTAL PLATINUM with the BOSS

He also had one of the largest pony tails in the scene ;-)

His tracks and remixes have graced every major record label in the scene with some cd releases in the early 90’s aving some shady pics if I remember hehehe

He got banned from throwing parties in his skool for putting in a sound system as good as venue 44’s but in his skool hall!!

Helped Dave out at most skelters (ledge)

Dropped more tracks at more dreamscapes than any other dj (basicaly nearly from
the start ;-)

Finally shaved of his pony tail in late 90’s early 00’s

Has set up hardcores newest prodigy

Was named after a hippy inspired morning mash out program hehehe

(yeh we all been there hehehehe)

It is the one and only DJ DOUGAL

********BONUS FEATURE**********
******HISTORY LESSON***********

A Day in the life of DJ Dougal
thanks to fantazia

We’re h-a-p-p-y. As hardcore continues to tighten its grip on the nation’s floors, bouncy bpm exponent DJ Dougal bundles us into his car and blasts us round a typical night for a man in demand......

“KILL YOUR SPEED” is the sort of warning sign, dotted around most of Britain’s accident black spots, which was made for people like DJ Dougal.
On an average Friday and Saturday night, DJ Dougal travels over 500 miles to get to between three and six gigs at a leisurely 110mph. Dougal usually does this with only high right eye on the road, while his left one is busy studying a creased map, spread unevenly across the passenger seat. Understandably, this doesn’t give the 21-year-old happy hardcore DJ much time to keep a lookout for police cars lurking in lay-bys to catch lunatics like himself breaking the speed limit.
So nobody, least of all DJ Dougal, was surprised when the courts finally got tough. A couple of days before we were scheduled to join him on the road, he was issued with a six-month driving ban after he was caught doing 120 just outside Lockerbie on the Scottish border.
Telephoning us with the bad news, DJ Dougal typically managed to sound both agitated and somehow at ease with the situation.

"It’s been a total nightmare trying to arrange transport. All my mates have serious women problems at the moment which means they aren’t up for taking me out," he says breathlessly before suddenly taking on a more cheerful tone. "At least I only got a £300 fine, which isn’t at all bad for doing that speed and, well, I’m sure my dad will drive us if the worst comes to the worse".
Dougal’s dad, Gary, is an amazing parent in that he not only enjoys dance culture, he actively participates in it by taking press photos for United Dance, Dreamscape and Helter Skelter. He’s also currently shooting a “day in the life” video of both DJ Dougal and Slipmatt, starting with the pair of them cutting dub plates and making hardcore records in their studios, and ending with some hot footage of the best events in the country.

However, even Superdad isn’t able to help out on this particular Friday night, and while our man is grateful that his friend Melody has agreed to take us in her Astra, he’s upset because she’s a girl, and as far as he’s concerned, girls don’t drive fast enough.
"Can’t you at least do 90?" he pleads with her as we leave his Northampton bungalow at a cool 80mph. He is met with a firm shake of the head. For Dougal, this is the start of a highly stressful, hair-raising, pulse-soaring night. Grumbling, he consoles himself by tucking into his third packet of Monster Munch.

"I eat because it helps me calm down," he explains, pointing at the huge mound of junk food he’s just bought at the nearest petrol station. Twelve packets of Monster Munch, Flamin’ Hot variety, two packets of Mr Kiplin’s apple pies, three packets of Jaffa Cakes, three bananas and two egg mayonnaise sandwiches fight for space with Dougal’s feet on the car floor.
Everything gets eaten before we arrive at the final destination, Tasmania on Hastings Pier. Incredibly, when it becomes apparent we aren’t going to be late for his first gig of the night, Addidance at a small club called the Porthouse in Lincoln, Dougal insists we stop off at McDonalds so he can guzzle a Quarterpounder with fries because he doesn’t think his "picnic" will be enough to fill him up.

"Food stops the constant palpitations I get worrying about whether I’ll arrive at all my gigs on time or not," he expands, easing himself into a more relaxed position on the passenger seat. “I have a lot of nervous energy and if I don’t eat loads, the weight just drops off me. I lost more than half a stone when I misplaced my diary at a club in Manchester about a month ago. I didn’t want to let any promoters down, so I spent hours on the phone trying to find out where I was supposed to be over the next couple of weekends. I got so worked up about it, I totally forgot to eat for days."

In fact, while minor hiccups and occasional disasters seem to plague most of his weekend excursions , all the sorry tales Dougal relates during the two and a half hour drive from Lincoln to his second gig of the night, at Bagleys in London, seem to have a happy ending. In the end, his diary was returned after he had put up a £30 reward for it. And despite his frequent run-ins with the police and numerous mechanical breakdowns, he has yet to arrive at a gig more than 15 minutes late, a fact he is visibly proud of.

"I’ve had hundreds of breakdowns, but everything seems to work out. People always seem to step in and save the day just when I need them," he smiles, before swinging back into his distressed state as he shuffles around in his seat, looking for another packet of Monster Munch. "The worst disaster was when my alternator went during a previous visit to Hastings Pier. The headlights were getting dimmer and dimmer, and I kept praying the car would make it through the night. After the gig, the bloody engine wouldn’t start. I had to get to Wolverhampton for another two gigs, so I was running around the car park like an idiot asking everyone for a lift. I eventually managed to convince this raver to take me in his Escort. It took seven hours and I was crushed up in the passenger seat with my two record boxes. The raver was completely off his face, too. I was sure we were going to crash and die!"

Contrary to his earlier claims, eating doesn’t appear to calm him down at all. By this stage, he’s shouting while feverishly chewing his crisps. However, the next minute his frenzied outburst is exchanged for laughter as he remembers he did actually arrive at his destination in one piece.
"It was one of the most stressful nights of my life, I swear! I reckon I lost about two stone that night alone. But he got us there safe and sound, though, and that’s what counts, right?"
Ironically, for a scene which has a reputation for being full of E-heads, Dougal, like 90 per cent of the happy hardcore DJs, doesn’t take drugs. He doesn’t even drink alcohol. Or smoke.
"Nah mate," he shrugs, "I’ve never been into drugs of any kind. I don’t preach though. If people want to do them, that’s fine. My only vice is driving too fast."
Talk about the understatement of the year! After 12 hours in a car with Dougal it becomes crystal clear this guy gets his kicks from hammering down motorways and country lanes at breakneck speed. And even though he’d never admit to it, he seems to thrive on the knowledge that a couple of badly-timed traffic lights could mean the difference between playing a gig or getting some serious grief from an outraged promoter.

In many ways, Dougal personifies happy hardcore. The majority of his set consists of exclusive dub plates and tunes from his Essential Platinum imprint, a label which takes elements from the Dutch and Scottish scenes, and mixes them with the lighter, piano-led breakbeat from England. In the grand scheme of things, Dougal has positioned himself quite nicely. Of his contemporaries, DJ Brisk is faster and appeals to ravers in the North, whereas Vibes appeals mainly to the rave crowds in the South. But Dougal manages to fall somewhere in-between which, ensures he’ll go down just as well at Bagleys or Hastings Pier as he will at Club Kinetic or the Doncaster Warehouse.

When you see the crowd moving to some of his more delirious Mickey Mouse tracks, like Druid Et Big D’s white label or Hixxy’s "Lullaby" (both released on Essential Platinum), you will instantly forgive him for cutting the vinyl in the first place. As far as Dougal is concerned, hardcore is first and foremost about fun.
"In most places, I have to play safe as houses because it’s hard work dancing to hardcore all night. If you play something the crowd isn’t too sure about, they’ll just go and get a drink of water."
As well as Essential Platinum, Dougal also runs Mental Platinum and is about to unleash two new labels, Heaven and Infinity.
"A lot of people assume DJs have fuck all to do during the week except like in their beds," he explains. "But I’ve got my labels to run and the phone is going constantly. I don’t get a moment’s peace, I swear!"

His new Heaven imprint was the brainchild of his flatmate, Morgan, who runs a house night in Northampton as well as DJing and recording under the name DJ Breeze. Heaven is intended for hardbag tracks with a rave edge to them, starting with a respectable house version of Slipmatt’s "On A Ragga Tip." The first release on Infinity is "Driving Me Crazy" by DNA Et Breeze, and there isn’t a trace of candyfloss piano in sight.

"Yeah," agrees Dougal. "We want the stuff on Infinity to be intelligent hardcore. Actually, I’m trying to keep away from all that Mickey Mouse crap these days. I’ve been DJing for five years now, so I think I’ve mellowed out a bit. People can’t dance all night to 180bpm."
As we hit the outskirts of London, Dougal stops chatting and is again transformed into a state of agitation and despair. Melody is refusing to skip the lights and we get lost while making for King’s Cross. We’re running 15 minutes late when Dougal suddenly spies Bagleys in the distance. Barely letting the car slow down, he leaps out and makes a dash for the venue. When we catch up with him, he’s arguing with the promoter who insists he phoned to tell him his set had been moved from 2am to 10pm.

"When did you call mate? Because I didn’t get no message," he fumes.
"About 8 o’clock", replies the promoter, looking a bit sheepish.
"I was already on the road by that time, mate. It isn’t good enough, we drove like fuckin’ lunatics to make this do tonight!" he exclaims.

After a rather heated discussion, the promoter agrees to sort out a cancellation fee and allows us inside the club for a look around. As ravers hound Dougal for a chat, he’s unhappy about having wasted precious nervous energy worrying about a gig he wasn’t even playing at.
Before we know it, it’s 3.30am. We’re meant to be at Tasmania by 5am and Hastings is, by Dougal’s calculations, a two-hour drive away. So we make a hasty retreat to the car and spend the journey listening to Slipmatt live on Dream FM, mixing ‘em up at the event we’ve just left.
From here on in, everything runs smoothly and, once again, we arrive at the final gig early. Slipmatt seems to have had such a good time at Bagleys he won’t be coming to Tasmania, so Dougal and Sharkey agree to finish off the last hour between them.
Afterwards, we spend another couple of hours standing at the main door, handing out flyers for the latest Essential Platinum merchandise to shattered punters staggering towards the car park.
It’s 9am and Dougal is still buzzing with nervous energy. Already he’s getting worried about who’s going to drive him to tonight’s gigs and if any more promoters will let him down.

And who have we set im BACK TO BACK with?

He has won more HARDCORE AWARDS than any other DJ in the scene today!

Never had a pony tail

Came 3rd in the UK DMC championships in 88(ish)

Had his first gig at a wine bar in notts

Created the phenominal QUOSH records with UNKNOWN (one if the few to take us through the darker years and with some blinders too!! Ie STAY WITH ME!!!!
Tune!)

Has put more miles on the clock than any other dj *OFFICIAL*!

Was the main resident(in my eyes! big bang any one!!!!! 4k me with a horned cucumber!!!!) at fantazia before most djs even dropped a track

Is part of the scenes 2! TOPscratch partnerships!

Dropped the last ever hardcore track at the legendary sanctuary complex

He has even appeared on top of the pops sureley his fav apparence (an i dont give a 4k wat any one else says it was a 4kin awesome tune that captured the spirit of the originall!!!

Near single handedly saved the scene during the dreaded 99 by still creating some of the best hardcore thast ever been made! (stay with me!!! 4k me!)

Has one of the longest runnin record labels (and running strong!!) in the scene today!!!

The man the myth the legend DJ SY

********BONUS FEATURE**********
******HISTORY LESSON***********

DJ Sy - Interview

How did you come by the name SY?

I used to be a graffiti writer, and wanted a name short for Simon (my real name), but found Si couldn't be written as a tag very stylishly, so I just changed it to Sy (plus that's how it's pronounced anyway!)

Where did you first DJ and how did you get your first big break?

I DJ professionally for the first time in a wine bar in Nottingham, and the owner then bought a club and took me with him, leading to loads of gigs in the Midlands.

What is your preferred style of music away from the scene - do u still dabble in the hip hop scene?

I don't dabble in it, but I still love a bit of hip hop

How did you learn how to scratch?

By messing about on my dad's shite turntable and the volume control before I could afford Technics

Whose idea was it to remix Baby D - Let me be your Fantasy? Did you think that trying to mix such a Classic tune in a garage fashion wouldn't do the original justice? Especially the official release version (Trick or Treat) had that lame ass MCing all over it !!

Pete Tong heard the bootleg mix on one of those Essential Mixes and wanted the track remixed officially (he owns the rights to the original), because he'd heard the track was causing such a storm in the clubs. It was the record company who stipulated that they wanted an mc on it. The very fact that it reached number 16 in the charts with absolutely no radio play from Kiss or Capital Radio etc I think demonstrates quite clearly that the remix did the original justice. Plus, of course, the fact that it was more than just casually endorsed by the original artist. It annoys me when so-called die hard hardcore ravers slag us off for doing that remix - many of the big early hardcore tunes from 92 were rip offs of old tunes; for instance "Sweet Harmony" was a rip of old US house tracks by Marshall Jefferson and Ce Ce rogers, and "Out Of Space" by the Prodigy was a rip of an old reggae tune. We just reworked it in the style that was popular at the time, as those hardcore producers had done in the early 90s.

Do you play under any other names?

No

What do u think of the new Hardcore breakbeat style tracks being produced and what do u think to the breaks remixes of old skool tunes e.g. music takes u?

I've only heard one or two "new" hardcore breakbeat tunes (by which I presume you mean 170ish bpm tracks) so I can't really comment objectively. I've also only heard the new reworking of Zero B's "Lock Up", which I thought sounded phat.

Did you like playing with MC Scratchmaster Techno as a lot of his sets seemed to involve him - did you request him?

To be honest when I'm DJing I don't pay much attention to the mc - I'm too busy cueing up scratches/the next tune to listen to what they're doing. A lot of people ask me about him, so I guess he must have been popular! I've never requested a particular mc over another, nor have I (as some big name djs tend to do) pulled the volume down on an mc, however f***ing annoying they might be, because at the end of the day the promoter has booked that person to do a job. If they're shit at that job, they won't be booked again.

What is your favourite mix of DJ's Unite as it was almost your signature tune?

I can't remember playing it that often. Still, I reckon DJ's Unite Vol 3 was the best reworking of it - tougher beats and a better arrangement than the original.

What's been your most embarrassing moment while DJing?

I can't think of anything particularly embarrassing that's happened, to be honest.

What's your favourite all time tune?

Too many to pick one, but I'll never forget getting LFO's "LFO" through the post and thinking this is f***Ing awesome.

In light of the recent breakbeat hardcore revival do you think it was a mistake for Happy Hardcore producers to drop the breakbeat piano sound in favour of the 4 beat / techno sound in '94?

Interesting question, and a controversial one at that. Some of the best early hardcore tunes were 4/4, from Bizarre Inc through to a lot of the Basement Records releases (which I still count as some of the best underground dance music ever produced), and all the Belgian and Dutch stuff which preceded UK hardcore (in about 1990-91) was 4/4, so I can't really see how the progression (in terms of beats) into the "happy" hardcore (what a f***ing stupid name - always makes me think of "nappy hardcore") of '94 onwards can be seen as much different. What I detested, and still do, was the tendency for virtually all of the new producers to produce every single track without even the slightest hint of a bass line. To me, music sounds unfinished and weak without a bottom end thumping through - I know not everyone "feels" the same frequencies in music, but to me it it was the bass line and bass noises of the early hardcore that made it sound "hardcore" and underground, and hence attracted me to it.

Unfortunately it has always generally been the case that bass-orientated music has generated bad attitude (jungle in 94/95, and now garage), so it was unsurprising to see how good the atmosphere was at all the "happy" hardcore events from 94 on, where the music concentrated on the uplifting, more treble-y end of the musical spectrum. DJs such as myself, Slipmatt and Seduction soon found ourselves in the minority by liking bass lines - all the crowds seemed to want was piano breakdown after piano breakdown. To further compound this, sales of tunes that I produced with bass lines in were far fewer than those of producers who went down the cheesy route. But the fact of the matter is, "happy" hardcore was huge in 95 - 96. I just think it's a shame that it went so far in the "without-bass" direction that a lot of people deserted the scene in favour of drum and bass. That's why I reckon there'll never be a music genre as good as the early hardcore, because it encompassed everything - tough beats (some break beat, some kick driven), bass lines, vocals, pianos...everything! Don't get me wrong, I love a good stomper, but there's got to be variation to keep a genre interesting. And I can't understand people who can't feel a ruff bass line and appreciate it!

Vestax or SLs?

1200s without doubt.

Do you ever regret becoming a DJ? Did you ever think you would become as big and as liked / respected as you have?

No regrets whatsoever - music has been more inspirational and important than anything else in my life, and the opportunity to express oneself in this form (playing music to an audience) is the most perfect platform for me as an individual, as I'm not one to force my opinions on others orally, like, for instance, a politician might want to do. I'm just happy that others find my interpretation of underground dance music pleasing! I never even thought (and still don't think) about whether I'd be as well known as I am now - I just enjoyed "showing off" my own unique way of presenting dance music.

Do you like Fomula 1 racing?

No I find it boring - but I do like Rally Cross!

How did Quosh Records come about?

After a few tunes I'd produced with DJ Unknown, we thought we may as well start our own label, which we did in 94.

Could you expand on the firework incident on the A3 after playing at an event in Portsmouth on Nov 5th a few years ago.....

Being the boisterous nutter that I was back then, when a £100,000 Bentley turbo cut me up on the A3 on the way back from Portsmouth one night whilst I was driving a Sapphire Cosworth chipped to 350 BHP with Terry Turbo (not the most gentile person you're ever going to meet) in the back, and when the said Bentley was overtaken and beaten round the tight bends of the A3, the driver understandably got rather annoyed at the fact that his car (worth more than a 3 bed semi) was beaten by a Ford, and decided to drive like a wanker up my arse. So, Mr. Turbo thought that to offload some fireworks (which he had conveniently brought along for the occasion - it was Bonfire Night) in his direction might deter him from driving so close to my rear bumper. And he was quite correct in his assumption; however, about 1/2 mile further on, the driver of a police patrol car, who had been informed by the Bentley driver of a series of bangers and rockets exploding under and around his car, disagreed, and we were cautioned appropriately.

what a way to end :-)

And refing the whole proceedings who else could we have but

One of the longest standing mc’s on ANY stage!

One of the greatest standing mc’s of ANY stage

Has been an integral part of the 2 greatest MC partnerships in the world!

Has lead the way with a unique style of mc’n (2 hardcore) and up n comins take note he des it well hehe

Has played in every continent! No mean feat for an mc!

This multi award winning mc (basicaly he has won em all in a row nuff said) must of received more bookings than any other artist in the uk to date

The scratch master himself

MC STORM

No need for an interview or an in the life of as this geeza is at the fore front of all things ardcore! at the front of the stage there in face! yall know him, yall know what hes about

HARDCORE

see yall on 13.10.07

for the bday spectacular!!!!

GET YA SPUDDS IN

SPREAD THE CORE

FEEL THE LOVE

RAVERS REUNITED!!!

"RAISIN' THE ATMOSPHERE! FOR OVER A YEAR!!!!!

Rremember feel free to budd us as at the end of the day RAVERS is BY RAVERS for RAVERS

and shouts to mclaren for finally getin his ass in gear !!!!!