Just because it’s a cold January, that still won't stop warm hearted clubbers from digging deep into their pockets by supporting one almighty party: Flava aid 2007 at Hidden on the 13th January. You can rest assured that this time your hard earnt wonga isn't lining the pockets of the promoters but all going to Cancer Research and the Air Ambulance!
Just who do you think they've got in the main room who's really going to be serving up the tunes, battering out the Hard House and Hard Trance and really getting the crowd into a deep fried frenzy? It's none other than the Hard Dance phenomenon that is Technikal!!!
Alf, the promoters of Flava have been working around the clock to make sure that this party is a success and all proceeds will be going to charity; how proud do you feel to be a part of it all?
Hey there! It’s great to see so many collaborative efforts within our music scene with the focus on charity. This looks like it’s for a real good cause and I’m real happy to be a cog in the mechanism!
Flava are going to have Hidden totally awash with imaginative decor, dancers and stilt walkers that evening. This one is going to have more colour splashing around than Jackson Pollock throwing a creative tantrum! What sort of atmosphere do you reckon that is going to bring?
Sounds very unique … almost carnival-like! I’m looking forward to seeing it all in action, and really hope it brings that party vibe.
You are going to be playing alongside some true legends that night in the form of the bounce King and Queen Andy Whitby and Lisa Pin-Up and a man you should know quite well Phil Reynolds. Are you excited about playing alongside such big names?
Too right! When I saw the line-up for this event I was really impressed. It’s the norm that charity events normally get one or two big names but not five like this one, with fantastic profiles and ability.
Flava have managed to pull off another master stroke with their choice of venue in the form of Hidden which is a lot of people’s favourites and the lay-out there means that you have the crowd right in front of you. How much are you looking forward to making a return there?
I’ve played Hidden twice in the last year, once for Summit (hard trance) and once for Love Muzik vs Freeformation (hardcore). I also played there back when it used to be Studio 33 and I’ve always enjoyed its intimate vibe. It’s a club I always look forward to playing because the crowd are right in your face and it has an electric connection between the DJ and the clubber.
Back when you were at college before you were a full time producer you had a part time job in a chip shop. Whilst you were serving up the Haddock and Cod, were you busy hatching plans for musical domination?
Haha! Man I loved that job. I still feel so proud of that chippy every time I head back to my hometown. I defy anybody not to agree that they do their darned best Saveloys you’ve ever tasted. Firm, spicy, and value for money!! Check it out … Seafare in Winchester (plug plug!) ha-ha! It was pretty common that I’d rush home covered in grease and flakes of batter and jump straight onto the PC to put down music ideas though … those were the days!
The only full time job that you've ever had is being a professional producer. The normal route is that most people have a 9-5 job that’s got nothing to do with music then eventually jack it in, so you must have been one hundred per cent dedicated and certain that music was what you wanted to do?
I was very lucky because I started producing so young. By the age of 17 I had already been producing for around 4 years so it was never really anything new to me. My career choice was made for me by my tutor in college. I remember I was waiting for a phone call from Alphamagic one afternoon and my phone rang in class. My tutor never excused me to take the call so I just walked out to take it … and on return was told I needed to make a choice between my music or college. At 17 years old and with months of coursework outstanding, I don’t think it was a difficult choice to make! My Mum was a little sceptical at first but she stood by my choice the whole way.
You were always a big fan of the Trance scene and your influences were said to be Ferry Corsten and Tiesto, what sort of style were you looking to create for your self though?
I initially started out producing trance, like my heroes of the time. Although listening back it was nothing like trance and was shoddily produced cheesy euro dance!! I had never heard of hard house or hard dance when I started producing … that followed a few years later.
When you first started out producing you started out using various Ejay programmes then went on to using Fruity Loops. That package seems to be either loathed or loved by producers; what did you think of it?
Fruity Loops (or FLStudio) is a fantastic first step into production. It’s clean, easy to operate, and really logical for somebody that has never produced before. However it does have a real limit with its boundaries, and it really can let your sound down if you want to take it to the next level. I think it’s got far too much stick though. I can’t deny that I’ve written 90% of my bigger hits with it!
On an on-line forum, a track of yours got given a serious amount of abuse by a certain young man called Olly Perris! (Now of Trackitdown.net) at that point did you ever dream that the two of you would be working together?
Ha-ha! Yeah I remember that Olly Perris was one of these guys on GeneroProject that was seriously hard to please … but looking back at the track now he deserved to slate it … it was a shocker! Me and Olly became great friends and produced around 10 tracks together towards the tail end of my college days. We should do more soon, but we are both juggling our own things now. Will have to clear a few days in the diary methinks!
One of your big breaks came when you got in with Heat UK and then became their production engineer, working alongside people like of Spencer Freeland. Did you really feel that you'd got some where when you were given that opportunity?
Ha-ha, well to be fair being so young I had never experienced the clubbing scene before … so when Spencer Freeland of Heat called me up, I never realised how big and important their names were in the scene. Spencer came round and we worked on a track, then he took me to Camden Palace for the Final Curtain that evening. I was blown away, and it was then that I understood the scope of what I was getting into. I was so lucky to get in with Spencer, Marc, and Damo – they basically created Technikal the DJ last year, and I am forever thankful for that.
At one point you had a load of unreleased material so you decided to put that to good use by playing it your self as a DJ. Once those tracks were being unleashed out to the world in clubs did you really notice a positive move in your production career because now people knew your music?
People started taking more interest of what I was playing after “Global Panic” was released on Tidy. Before this, I don’t think the clubbers realised that 95% of my sets were my own productions. Since then, I’ve been getting inundated with requests at parties to play some of my really obscure tracks that never saw the light of day. This is really good, yet it boggles me … if a track was never released, has never been on any CDs, yet people are asking for it … they must be recognizing tracks I play in my sets only! I still think people think of me as a producer first and a DJ second … which to be truthful is really what I’ll always be. I suppose my best hand is that I always have a lot of exclusive productions sitting in my CD wallet! ;)
How did you go about getting your first gig and what kind of experience was that like for you?
My first ever gig was in Finland, back in 2003. I was approached by email, and was hugely nervous. I was never the best at DJ’ing back then and really had no idea of how to put a set together, but I flew over and played for them. I did enjoy it, but it really is amazing how much you learn in a few years! I was more or less thrust into that set because of my production … so when I played my first UK gig for Heat at the Fridge, Spencer gave me weeks of knowledge and planning. Bless him!
You've been signed to some highly respected labels such as the mighty Nukleuz and Phil Reynolds’s Impact label; how would you describe your relationship with them?
I’ve made sure that I’ve always had a close relationship with labels I’ve worked for, always leaving the door open for future projects. Nukleuz and myself have shared some great music and I’m really happy with the remixes I did for them last year. Impact are always great – I have a great relationship with Phil and Blakey and they are always interested to hear anything new I might have to send them.
After just two months of DJing you got your first international gig in Finland and then in 2004 you played in Australia and New Zealand with your production partner P.H.AT.T What type of experience was that like for you?
Finland was my first gig, and Australia was actually before my first UK gig too haha! I absolutely loved that tour of Australia, and I met some amazing people there. The guys at Global Panic became fantastic friends of both mine and Pierre’s. It was quite daunting to be that far across the world at that age but I think it’s really done me good … I used to get homesick a lot but now it is a thing of the past! We played 3 gigs over 3 weeks, and they were the first gigs where I walked away and thought “yes, I would love to DJ every weekend!”
One of your biggest DJing moments so far was playing at Heat on New Years Eve at the midnight set at the mighty Brixton Academy at the end of 2005. What did it feel like to have 4,500 mad happy people in front of you whilst you were playing that all important gig?
Simply incredible. Nothing will ever beat that moment as far as I’m concerned … it was the best opportunity that anybody could have given me, and I’m extremely honoured Heat put me up there. I had sleepless nights before it, as we had to work extremely hard to get the ‘midnight set piece’ synchronized up to the video … but we pulled it off. It was a shame to miss Heat NYE this year but there was so much else on that I just couldn’t make it down. I heard it was amazing again though!
There are over 200 dance tracks released every week. Not even mentioning the amount of remixes so it’s your job due in the week to cream off only the very best and filter them into your sets. How do you manage to do that?
To be honest, I don’t really do much record searching … the time I would put into doing that, I actually spend writing new original tracks and remixes. I think it’s more important for me to focus on writing new material rather than playing other peoples records, as it keeps my sets fresh and unique. However I have all my favourite producers (such as MDA & Spherical, Matt Gardner, and Nick Sentience etc) on MSN and we all exchange our latest bits and bobs so I never miss out on anything I know I’ll like!
When you are playing at a smaller intimate venue, does that make it any easier for you to read the crowd and see the dance floor dynamics as opposed to a bigger event?
Not really, sometimes I find it more difficult. With a huge crowd you can generally get away with a lot more because the clubbers are getting off on the epic atmosphere as well as the music. I’ve played a few gigs recently with half filled smaller rooms and because it’s more intimate and there are less people, it’s more difficult to see what is effective.
Word has managed to spread around the camp fire and has battered against my eardrum that you've been assigned re-mix duty for a single released by a certain Lisa Lashes, can you tell us a bit more about that?
Yes! Lisa approached me a few months ago with a track she had written called ‘Can’t Sleep’. It’s a tough, dirty hard dance monster that is bang on the sound that Lisa is playing these days. She told me she was launching her new label Lashed, and wanted ‘Can’t Sleep’ as her second release with a Technikal remix on the flip. Obviously being delighted at the opportunity I was all over it, and have banged out an energetic, psy driven hard trancer, with elements of her original. It’s been going down a treat, and I’ll most likely definitely be dropping it at Flava Aid!
So in the space of just over four years you've already produced and co-produced over one hundred tracks, undertaken a whole string of remixes , played abroad, played at some of the biggest gigs and basically achieved what most artists only dream of. Just how did you manage to pull it off?
It’s been all about determination, and a whole lot of luck. There are many producers that have had the ability, but haven’t had the luck. Word of mouth goes a long way too. It’s difficult to sum up what and really surreal to think about, but I think you just need to keep writing when inspiration is low, listen to lots and lots of different music, and make friends with as many people in the scene as possible. It’s just lucky that a lot of them are complete legends!
So continuing with the generous Flava come Flava aid 2007 what tracks of yours are really going to be dishing up to make every one truly grateful that they didn't go mad with the January sales and came along to this event instead?
Here’s my current top ten that I’ll be giving an airing on Saturday!
1/ Carl Nicholson – Eruption (Matt Gardner Remix) [Oblivion]
2/ Technikal – Back 2 The Old Skool [Global Panic]
3/ Andy Whitby – U Ready? (Technikal’s Masif Tool Remix) [AWSUM]
4/ Adrenaline Dept – U Got 2 Be There (MDA & Spherical Remix) [Oblivion]
5/ Eskimo – Radio Sucks (Technikal Re-Edit) [CDR]
6/ Cube: Hard ft. Jennifer Bolton – Show Me A Sign (Technikal Remix) [CDR]
7/ Bliss Inc – Faith 2007 (Technikal Remix) [3beat]
8/ Technikal – Psyclone [CDR]
9/ Lisa Lashes – Can’t Sleep (Technikal Remix) [Lashed]
10/ Brad Thatcher & Airspace – The Truth [CDR]
Don't forget to catch Technikal's awesome skills at Flava aid 2007 at Hidden on the 13th January!
Greg Lynn 2007
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, Patents and Copyrights act 1988.