On Good Friday, Knowwhere welcome a selection of Europe and the UK’s finest trance and hard dance DJs to Heaven in London to go head to head in the biggest b2b musical extravaganze you could hope to fit under your Easter bonnet! To get you in the mood, we’ve got not one but two interviews for you, one with Alex Morph and Woody Van Eyden who will be gracing the huge Main Arena, the other with Andy McCall and JK who will be breaking open the Hardwhere room for the very first time! Enjoy...

Woody Van Eyden b2b Alex Morph:

One of the biggest DJ/producer partnerships around at the moment in Alex Morph and Woody Van Eyden. Both had come from very different backgrounds but converged a decade ago with a common love of dance music. This has now developed into the Morph/Van Eyden sound; big room euphoric trance at its best. There is arguably no better place in London to showcase this sound than Heaven. I put a few questions to both in an attempt to find out a bit more about what makes these two tick.

Hi guys, I hope you’re well.

Yes, fine thank you.

You've both built up a large friendship and business relationship in recent years. How did you guys meet and what attributes do you both have that means you can work so well together?

Woody: We met some 13 years ago when we both played a huge German festival called ’Century Rave’. Alex played a wicked acid minimal set and I was more into raving techno those days. The love of good music plus the fact we really get along well as friends made us grow together.

Who were your biggest influences when you started out?

Alex: Tracks like Westbam’s And Party as well as Inner City´s Good Fun were the things that got me into electronic dance music.

Woody : Well I was always into energetic music - bands like Earth , Wind and Fire were totally my thing.

Production-wise, what studio set up do you both have and what VST's do you run?

We both work on mac now (G5) using some synths and a lot plug ins, we also work with a lot of other producers, some on mac, some on pc, but all on logic audio.

Without wishing to give any trade secrets away, from a technical point of view, what is it about your tracks that make them stand out so well?

Hmmm , do they…?? Well maybe it’s us constantly looking for the best possible quality, lots of tweeking with little beats and fills and layered sounds.

With such a large production catalogue, how do you keep your sound fresh and innovative?
You can always get new ideas and inspirations, and you experiment with new sounds and styles. Besides that, we work with a team of different engineers to keep the sound fresh and interesting. When you find the right balance while working in the studio, you’re all set.

Compared with some artists, you've both been incredibly prolific with your productions over the years, how do you find time to fly around the world DJing?

Flying around the world is on the weekends mostly, so we still have time to do the business and the studio work. It’s all a matter of timing and being very on top of things. We love that shit sooo much we do, so you keep going and going… the dedication is our motivation.

Some DJs decide to take a few months out of their schedule to concentrate solidly on studio time. Do you plan to do this?

Luckily we can handle those things side by side. It’s a bit of stress of course, but for us it works pretty good at the moment. Who knows... maybe times will change someday, but for now, the answer is no.

Although trance is a global phenomenon, production wise, the top producers seem to be largely from Europe and Eastern Europe and Scandinavia in particular has seen a huge increase in the number of quality trance producers. What is it about these countries that seem to produce such good technicians?

It’s not about someone’s origin, it’s just about the music and the love to it. If there is a particular country where trance is very popular, more people get into it and try to produce it. You won’t find such people in a country where trance is not happening, cause they simply don’t understand or feel the music. But musical talents are everywhere.

You've both worked with a variety of other producers in various guises, Woody you have a long history of working with Andre Tanneberger of ATB fame and Alex with Henry & Matthias of Stoneface & Terminal under the alias Arc in the Sky. What other musicians have you particularly enjoyed working with and why? How do you both work differently alone to when you are producing with others?

It’s always interesting to work with other artists. You get your ideas and sounds together (sometimes of totally different natures) and in the end it fits perfectly when everything works. Additionally, it’s always great to see how other producers work. How they start a project, how they work around problems, how they mix it, what they use, all these things make a collaboration very special and exciting.

You've both been involved in the management of various records labels, notably Fenology and Clubbgroove Records. Tell us more about these.

Woody : I was one of the owners of Clubbgroove. It was very successful, but was discontinued a few years ago. I started Fenology Records in 2003 with a focus on quality trance releases, and we had and have really great success with what we released on that label. Alex always has been around searching for new talents and ideas being more then just an A&R guy. There is more to come, so keep an eye on Fenology!

I believe there will always be a place for euphoric trance in clubland. The trance scene shifted significantly in 2006 with many more tech and electro influenced records being produced. Generally speaking, with a few exceptions (A Life Less Ordinary for example) you have not gone down this path as much as others. Is this because the euphoric uplifting sound is where your hearts are? Is it important for the "Morph & Van Eyden" brand to keep productions under that name uplifting?
Yes, we love energetic and uplifting trance. As you say, this is where our hearts are. We will try out something new from time to time, to have fun and experiment a bit (example: Our B2B Remix for Woody van Eyden Feat. Jimmy H. – Y68), but you can always count on us to bring you the powerful and melodic trance sound!

You often DJ together but sometimes alone. How would you say that your sound changes when you DJ alone as to when you do back to back sets? What extra qualities do clubbers get from a Morph vs Van Eyden DJ set?

You will get the intense feeling that more energy is in the air when we are B2B!! We just have a lot of fun and we interact with the crowd a lot. It’s entertaining, funny and the feedback we get everytime is proof that the people love our performances – thank God ;-) It’s the same with Bud Spencer & Terrence Hill. Can you imagine one of these movies without one of the guys? Hehehehehehe...

As international DJs, I imagine there have been times when clubbers have come up to you and started talking complete rubbish at you, we all do it at some point! What is the strangest clubber-related incident you have experienced?

A guy coming to us (at Slinky Ibiza in 05 ) wanted to sell his car to us while we were playing!!! He was completely up his a**e!!!.

How easy is it to break into the British trance scene and what attributes do you need to have as an international DJ to do so?

Well if you know please tell us because you can make a fortune with that knowledge.

Haha! Has there been a particular DJ booking or production that has really helped to further your careers? In other words what have been your most defining moments?

Woody van Eyden – Unfinished Symphony (the first Fenology release) caused a really big hype when Armin played it on A State of Trance in 2003..This was a very important release for Woody, and there have been other successful singles like The 1, SI-N+R-JE and Y68.
Alex had so many amazing productions, it’s hard to pick the `most defining’ ones. Armin van Buuren – Shivers (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix) was a good push for Alex’s career, as well as ’New Harvest’ and of course his track with Rank 1, Life Less Ordinary.
Together we had a production in 2006, called `Heavenly’, which was greatly accepted all over the world as well.

It has been said in other interviews that the trance scene in China is really growing in popularity. From your experience where do you think are the new hotspots in which trance is really going to take off in the next year or two?

At the moment we see big growth for the trance scene in Russia, Poland and China as well. The parties are different, the people go nuts to the music and they celebrate the DJs that are playing. Really amazing! We hope we have a chance to play more often there in the future.

I know it's a bit of cliché but everyone answers differently so; what advice would you give to any up and coming djs and producers out there?

Believe in what you do and let the crowd know what you want to tell them, you gotta have a message.

Ok guys, I’ve got a few specific questions for each of you, Alex first:

I've read that although you began gigging at an early age, you had a period around your early 20's where you took time out to find out where your true musical path lay. Tell us more about this time in your life. How important was it for you to do this?

Well during my first years in the business i met a lot of ´´no worries we are going to be big´´ and ´´I am gonna make you big´´ talkers that really influenced my believing that the music world is full of idiots. Musically I was into deep, minimal things that were no longer inspiring me, so I took a few years off and I was looking for a new musical identity. Melodies and strings got me and the new morph sound was about to be born.

There’s has been lots of hype surrounding your first artist album, Miles & Morph. I recently read that the original format has been scrapped in favour of a new format encompassing more unreleased material. Can you clarify to harderfaster readers exactly where you are with this project?

That’s correct. I’m in the studio at the moment, to work out brand new tracks. It will take some time longer, but will definitely be worth the wait. Instead of bringing a `best of’ album with tracks you already know for months and longer, you will get really fresh stuff!!!!

Is there any difference between tracks produced as Alex Morph and tracks produced under the M.O.R.P.H. name?

These days all my releases and remixes run with the `Alex M.O.R.P.H.’ alias, and of course they are a bit more grown up in style and sound than the earlier productions. The `M.O.R.P.H.’ project is obsolete, just focus on Alex M.O.R.P.H. and you’ll be fine ;-)

Woody, a few questions for you:

You've been producing for almost 20 years - In fact I think I remember a video for one of your early projects, Sequential One - Happy Feelings on MTV! What changes have you noticed from a production point of view in the last 20 years? What have been the most significant advances in your opinion and how much easier is it today than it was then?

Wow , what a memory, yes being in the bizz for over 25 years i still really love it, the music and their names always changes but never the passion.

You first visited Ibiza in 1984, how has the island changed in that time, has it become more commercial?

I went to Ibiza in 84 working in a club called Angels, it was with Amnesia and Pascha the best club on the island , I played a lot of Depeche Mode , sigue sigue sputnik and other weird new age music , it was a crazy time where we used make up and had real funny haircuts. Ibiza was a very ´´in´´ place to be but very expensive aswell those days. In ´85 I returned to play in Exctasis in San An where I met a lot of English superstar DJs (Tony Prince, Chad Jackson, Steve Walsch etc) and it was the time where I said to myself ´´It’s time to start making my own music.´´

I've read in the past that when the cdj was just starting to get popular that you were a big champion of the vinyl format. Is that still the case?

I still love to play vinyls! I used to do a lot of scratching but it’s fact that I don’t get far without CDs. Times have changed and nowadays 95% of promo material is being handled digitally. I play more and more from CD, but it’s always great to put your hands on a warm record. So, I use digital formats and vinyls, if possible.

In 2003, you threw a massive party to celebrate your 25th anniversary as a DJ at which friends remixed your first ever production, Party All Night and performed it live. Tell us more about this party, who was there, what was it like, any gossip you can give us??!!

I must say you are very well informed! Yes my 25 DJ anniversary went down unbelievably, 1300 selected friends and bizz partners were there and it became one of those lifetime events.
Nearly everybody came using my dresscode ( ´´as 70s as possible´´ ) and there were a lots celebs that day.

Finally, what things have you both got in the pipeline, production-wise and other?

We have our new B2B single `Turn it On’ with Michelle Citrin as good as finished, and there are some remixes coming up as well as new singles. For example, `Alex M.O.R.P.H. vs. Ferrin & Low – Chimaera’ will see a release on Somatic Sense soon, so keep your eyes open, as we have been busy lately! Just finished a B2B rmx for a new DT8 single.
Furthermore, we are on the road back2back this year more often, incl. an Ibiza residency, and our HeavensGate radioshow will go weekly on worldwide radiostations all over the world. Make sure to check this out, and if you have the chance to see us live: we would love to see you!

All good stuff! I shall certainly look out for some of those new productions. Many thanks for your time guys and we’ll look forward to seeing you on 6th!

Andy McCall b2b JK…

Andy McCall and JK have just returned from playing at their new residency in Amsterdam and we caught up with them ahead of their forth coming B2B set for Knowwhere’s Big Bank Holiday Back2Back night @ Heaven!!!! (Good Friday 6th April).

These two guys have had a busy time of late playing for some of the biggest hard dance promotions such as Knowwhere, Tasty, Frantic, Polysexual South and 100%classics. As well as this, they have played international gigs in Ibiza, Germany and Holland, and will be playing in the Tasty arena at Innovation In The Sun in Lloret de Mar, Spain this June (www.innovation.gb.com).

Firstly, congratulations Andy on becoming the new resident at Knowwhere, what are you looking forward to in your new role in the Hardwhere Arena?

Thanks. I’m really excited and honoured to be asked to be resident in the Hardwhere room for Knowwhere. For me, it’s one of the friendliest crowds you will come across on the London dance music scene! You can expect me to be keeping with the Knowwhere uplifting party vibe: playing the best new energetic hard dance, some of my own tunes and of course some classics in there as well!

I’m also getting stuck in helping to promote the Hardwhere room and am really looking forward to the sets that are on offer for us hard dance heads. We’ve got Phil Reynolds B2B Steve Blake to set the atmosphere hard-trance style then Billy Bunter B2B Jon Doe will be playing classics to keep the party jumping. Next comes a complete first Ed Real B2B Justin Bourne followed by me and JK who’ll be looking to finish the party with a bang!

I notice you and JK play B2B quite often. How did the Andy McCall and JK B2B come about?

JK: I was djing for Hectic UK and the promoter, Tony, was putting dj’s B2B for his parties. At one event we were put B2B and were totally on the same wave length musically, as well as having similar tastes and styles of music. The set went really well resulting in other promotions booking us B2B too.

Andy: As JK said, the first time we played B2B it just clicked! Probably because we are good friends and have appeared on a lot of line ups together over the past couple of years.

So how did you two get into dance music and how did you get your first break?

Andy: Ever since I was 18 (now pushing 30) I have been into clubbing. I was a regular at Cream in Liverpool and I wondered what the feeling of djing to a massive club full of nutters would be like - so I bought some decks!

I moved south, clubbing it in Bournemouth and London, and built up my record collection. I played my first dj gig for Afterlife at g4 on a Sunday afternoon. The promoter, Rob Kane, asked me to play regularly and things snowballed from there. I started playing Friday and Saturday nights at 414, g4 and Mass for promotions like Shining/ HuJe/ Skwosh/ Vital/ Primetime/ Ez Duzzit / HDL/ Hectic UK/ Baklash/ Flashbak/ Twatted/ Wired/ Crossover/ Nrgized/ Carnage sometimes playing 5 or more times in a weekend! I had this mad lifestyle of working all week and djing all weekend. I did this for years and then started to get asked to play at the bigger events.

JK: I have been into dance music since the early ‘90s and finally brought a set of decks in ‘94. I started playing at mates’ parties, then had a residency at my local pub and went to on to play small clubs in and around the South Coast. I made my London debut at Bagley’s for EZ Duzzit & Smile Clubbing UK. Between the two promotions I was getting booked regularly and, as they were both touring London, I got to play in many of the capital’s top clubs. Since then I have gone on to play around the UK and internationally.

What gigs are you looking forward to playing this year?

Andy: I’m looking forward to being resident for Hardwhere! I’m also looking forward to playing on the Pulse boat party again: there’s something special about bangin’ out hard house on a boat on the Thames! (www.cubelive.com) Also can’t wait to play in the sunshine in Spain! Bring-it-on!

JK: Definitely can’t wait to make my Hardware debut - especially as it is a Heaven (one of my favourite clubs). Then to round off the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend I will be playing B2B with Andy at the official Tasty after party@Babalou. I’m also really looking forward to playing for Tasty@Innovate In the Sun (www.tastyuk.com) and out in Holland again.

Knowwhere at Heaven (Friday 6th April 2007) www.clubknowwhere.co.uk