It looks like there is going to be a generous Flava in the air descending down at Hidden on the 13th January as Flava aid 2007 hold one almighty, pulsating party with 650 hard partying clubbers all supporting Cancer Research and Air Ambulance by attending this very special bash and just who do you think they've got in store for you??????

There aren’t many DJ's that can say they've done as much as this guy: being one of Frantic’s residents right from the very beginning; playing all over the world; being the pioneer of UK Hard Trance, with a list of fantastic productions under his belt; Phil Reynolds hasn't just got his pulse on dance music; he can most definitely claim that it's pressure rate is 180/100!!!

Phil you're going to be playing in the main room at Flava aid 2007 where all the proceeds from the night will be going to charity, what are you most looking forward to about it?

The fact that it’s a charity event and that I can put my services for a good use. It’s not to often that I get a chance to do it and hopefully we’ll manage to raise lots of money.

Flava have got on a great selection of music that night with something for everybody ranging from Hard House to breaks with Trance and Electro all thrown in. What do you make of the wide musical policy they've got on offer that night?

I think its great. I also think its important to offer a good range of music to clubbers. Not everyone likes the same thing so it’s good to have different types of music. I think it adds to the night.

Of course its not only Flava UK involved, but there are some other fantastic brands all playing a part such as Contagious Club wear - the biggest clubwear supplier and Cyber Kitten one of the countries best small clubs; what good great things have you been hearing about them all?

I’ve met the people who run Contagious and they are all really nice people. I’ve never been to Cyber Kitten but have heard lots of good things about it.

The line-up for that night is looking absolutely fantastic with two of Hard Dances biggest hero's Andy Whitby and Lisa Pin-Up playing, how does that make you feel to be playing alongside the crème de la crème?

To tell you the truth I don’t really worry about line ups. I generally concentrate on what I have to do on the night. I always try to get to a club at least an hour before I play so that I can work out what to play and who I’m playing after.

Your first influences were listening to the likes of Paul Oakenfold and Tony De’vit. What was it that really inspired you about the types of styles that they were playing?

I love listening to Paul Oakenfold as his style of trance was very uplifting and quite pumping compared to everyone else. Some of the Perfecto stuff he was doing was psy-trance influenced and I loved that. Tony De Vit totally changed my outlook on music. I loved the fact that the music was so banging with loads of energy, but was still uplifting. Once I heard that type of music I wanted to play it and I haven’t looked back since.

It was ten years ago that you and the wheels of steel first got friendly. Some people just seem to pick the craft up really quickly. Did you have that beat matching perfected in next to no time?

Nope, I was rubbish when I first started. It took me a while to get the hang of it. I taught myself and had no one to show me the basics. It’s much easier to pick if you have a clue what your doing!!!

You played at a lot of house parties in your early days. That obviously made it easier for you because the pressure was off, but did that provide a great learning curve as it gave you the opportunity to learn loads about dance floor dynamics?

I would say it’s the best way to start. It’s so nerve racking when you first start playing out. You don’t want to make a fool of yourself in front of people and it takes a while to get the confidence to play in front of people. The fact that there is no pressure on you at house parties mean’s that you can screw up without people judging you so much. It’s a great way of building that confidence you need to play in clubs.

You got one of your first breaks by playing for a local BBC radio show. Although it wasn’t exactly a prime time slot on radio one, did that give you some valuable experience?

It’s always a bit strange playing on a radio station, as you playing in a room with maybe 1 or 2 other people. It’s not like being in a club. You never really know how many people are listening. When I played in Moscow I played on their version of radio 1. I played to the whole of Russia. That was a bit of a spin out, as at the time I was just concentrating on mixing well!!!

You played at a certain very first party going by the name of Frantic way back in August 97 in Chinatown. What does it feel like to be with Frantic right from day one and being with them whilst the whole time they were growing into the large Hard Dance brand that they are today?

It was a great experience to be a part of it. Especially as we had no idea of what it would turn into. I have a lot of special memories from it.

You’ve been championed as being one of the people responsible for the surge in UK Hard Trance around about 2002. What made you really want to push that particular sound out at that time?

I love trance and was always playing European trance in my sets. I felt that it needed to be a little tougher for the UK market. That’s what influenced me to make the music that I do. It kind of merged Hard house and trance together.

A few years back you were known as being more of a Trance DJ, but you are known as being more of a Hard Dance and House DJ. Trance is still sweeping the world at the moment, though what do you make of the current state of Trance in England at this moment in time?

I don’t really listen to too much "proper" trance these days. I still appreciate it, but it doesn’t really get me going. I’m really into tech trance and that seems to be massive on the trance scene at the moment. There is so much good tech trance around.

You’ve played at some really big festivals in your time like Creamfields, Godskitchen and Escape in the Park. Besides the obvious what’s really different about playing in a festival as opposed to a small event?

I love festivals. There is always a special atmosphere. I don’t really think there are any real differences because at the end of the day your still trying to achieve the same thing. You are there to entertain the crowd through your music. It’s always a nerve racking experience playing at such a big event. I remember playing at Creamfields for the first time. It was such a spin out as I’d been there as a clubber a few times and never imagined Djing there.

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You’ve played abroad in quite a lot of places like South Africa and Australia. In say Australia for example would you say there is anything quite similar to playing to a London crowd?

The crowd in London was made up of people from overseas in the past, especially Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Playing is Oz is pretty much the same as over here. I always enjoy playing in Oz as I get to catch up will all my friends there.

You used to work at that little gem of a record store – Kinetic Records in London’s West One. Kinetic are one of the few independent record stores still going in the area; how do you feel about most independent record shops closing down over the last few years; a bit of a shame, or a good sign that technology is moving forward?

Technology is dictating the way we play music. The development of CD players has changed Djing forever. The development of the CDJ100 has mean’t that DJ’s could play CD’s in the same manner as vinyl. Music is much more accessible now than it ever was through MP3 download websites. The death of vinyl in some music scenes has lead to people only playing on CD. In the past, playing CD’s were a good way of testing tracks that had just been produced in a studio before being pressed to vinyl. Now because of tunes only being sold as MP3’s, people may never experience Djing with vinyl.

You’ve been producing for the last five years now and you’ve notched up some tracks like ‘Instrumental’ and ‘Back 2 Front’ out of all the tunes that you’ve produced, which one would you say has had the biggest influence on the dance floor?

Instrumental would have to be the biggest tune I’ve done. It changed people’s outlook on trance. Myself and Nick were confident that we could write something good together, but never imagined that we would write something that got such a great reaction

A lot of your productions have been collaborations with other artists. Nick Sentience is one man that everybody seems to have had a colab with at some point. Is that because of Nick’s great technical ability that every one wants to work with him?

Nick is a genius in the studio and is very forward thinking. He is also perfectionist. When you put these together you have someone who everyone wants to work with. I’ve been very luck to have had the chance to work with him and become good friends with him.

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You’ve now started up your own promotion ‘Groove Factory’ what was the main concept there and what type of night did you want to bring out?

Unfortunately I’m not involved with it any more. It was difficult to find the time to concentrate on helping the boys promote. The concept came about when myself, Richard Launch, CD and Paul Henry were doing parties for our friends. We all started off Djing hard stuff but we all loved house. We started to do the night as it gave us the chance to play house. Now the rest of the guys only play house and are doing really well for themselves. The night itself has gone from strength to strength and has a bi-monthly residency at the white house in Clapham.

You’ve been the co-manager of the label Imprint for the last four years; with so many artists clamouring to get their material released how do you actually decide what gets released on your label?

It all comes down to how good the tune is. It doesn’t have to be the most polished production, as in the past we’ve got people into the studio with Steve Blake to get the production up to scratch. Its more the potential of the tune that I’m more interested with. With new producers, it’s great from them to spend the day in the studio with Steve as they get to learn loads.

All good DJ’s play their set according to what venue they’re in and what particular set time that they’re playing at. When you step up onto the decks, how do you instinctively know what kind of party vibe that the crowd are up for?

I try and always get to my gig’s at least an hour before I play so that I can check to see what is getting played. If I’m playing early I’ll get all my warm up tunes together and go through them so that I know what to play. I think it very important to build up a night musically. If I’m playing later on in the night I can pretty much play what I want, which is good.

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And finally at Flava aid 2007 @ Hidden on the 13th of January what tunes of yours are really going to let every body that the New Year has arrived so that they can start as they mean to go on with some serious, hedonistic, partying action?

I’ve got a few tunes coming out in January. Myself and Nick Rowland – Prestigious coming out on Addiction digital. And the Phil Reynolds EP featuring collaborations with Technical and Greg Brookman, which is coming out on Impact.

Remember to catch Phil Reynolds playing at Flava Aid 2007 @ Hidden on January 13th!

©Greg Lynn 2006
Feature by Greg Lynn
Tel: 07891654122
Email: greglynn0210@yahoo.co.uk

The right to be named as the author of this work has been asserted by Greg Lynn in accordance with the Designs, Copyright and Patents act 1988.