Frantic's dedication to bringing through the next wave of hard-edged talent continues this Friday at Hidden in the shape of Hard Dance Showcase. Brighton's intimate but much lauded hard dance scene is fully represented this time round in the form of 4 young hopefulls: Lee Walls, Frantik Dan and the Mix CD winners D Concept & Baggie. We got to know Dan, D Concept and Baggie over a few sticks of Brighton Rock.


AND DON'T FORGET HARD DANCE SHOWCASE IS COMPLETELY FREE! Just email your names for the guestlist to elvis@franticuk.net and arrive before midnight to catch the Brighton Boys alongside Frisky, Jason Cortez, Phil York, Steve O'Brady and loads more....

How did you all get into hard dance then? How did the love affair begin?

Baggie: As a school kid armed with a Ministry Of Sound ‘Trance Nation’ compilation and a Mixmag featuring the Gatecrasher kids. I thought I was the bollocks ‘avin it large’ Kevin & Perry style at the school disco to Sash! Being from Reading I also got bitten big by UK Garage, but seeing as what most hard dance heads seem to think of that, we’ll move swiftly on… but not before I say Double 99 – ‘Ripgroove’ TUNE!!

It wasn’t until I was lucky enough to visit Goa a couple of years later that I actually got to see what rave was all about. In my face, and more resoundingly in my eardrums. I’ll never forget the pounding techno beats, the love, the excitement, and seeing people of all kinds going mental amongst the glow in the dark UV palm trees! Fuck wanking away in my bedroom to Dave Pearce’s Dance Anthems every Sunday - from then on I wanted it HARDER..!

I was more into hardcore though until Global 2006, when Hixxy & MC Storm were late for their set, and whoever was filling in for them blew me away with some storming hard dance. That man happened to be a certain Mark H. So we went down to the next Tasty in London to see Mark H play back to back with the legend that is Hoopz, who was on fire that night - and with all of his Brighton and London crew in attendance it went off, and I became part of one of the best crews of clubbers you could ever hope to meet.

D-Concept: I was into all sorts of different music before I first went down to Hardsouth just over a year ago but what I saw and heard that night blew me away…

Baggie: Yea, if there’s one thing the Hardsouth crowd do best, its leave a life-long lasting impression on virgins (of all kinds)!

D-Concept: Not only that but all the people I met had me out again the very next week and I just became more involved in the hard dance scene gradually, by going out to some of the bigger events with everyone. The first one I did was Sunnies 10th birthday at the Sanctuary in Birmingham, which was mental. The funniest thing that night was I was one of the first ones in there and the last one out because of the fucking cloak room queue, 2 ½ hours after it had finished with nobody I knew, but it was well worth it! That was also the night we became known as “The Lost Boys” because even though we went along with a crew of about 30 from Brighton, we hardly saw anyone of our lot all night!

D Concept & Baggie

Baggie: That’s not to say they didn’t see us though! It was possibly more a case of us being joined at the hip and just a little bit messy perhaps, but I can’t quite remember so it must have been good!

D-Concept: After some more trips out with the Brighton hard dance family I started learning to DJ with Baggie and also got into production as well a few months later, which is something I’m really concentrating on now.

Baggie: I only started mixing back at Tidy New Year weekender, but to be honest I’d been learning long before that by stalking the likes of Hoopz & Drummer in the booth at pretty much every opportunity! Production is something I like to fuck about with but I know that I can’t get carried away with it too much just yet, otherwise I’d never get any of my degree work done - I know a few producers WAGs who can vouch for the fact it can get very addictive!

Dan: Well I’m from the East Midlands & had Storm @ The Emporium in Coalville right on my doorstep, was only a half hour drive away so as far as Hard House is concerned that’s definitely where I popped my cherry! Other than that in my early clubbing years I used to frequent nights such as Sunnies, Insomniacz, Polys, B2T etc. Its all about the Northern clubs - it’s too soft down south, hahaha.

What’s your style music wise and mixing wise?

D Concept & Baggie: Basically we start from somewhere a little more laid-back, be that electro, funky techno or Untidy style dubs, then taking it up to into Dan’s speciality of something a little more euphoric. The first hurdle for wannabees who want to leap from the bedroom to the club is learning to warm up a crowd, and the challenge of selecting interesting but appropriate tunes to throw into the atmosphere of the room to get those asses wiggling, before taking the dance floor up a gear. It’s great to keep the crowd guessing, and then see them react when a familiar but unexpected tune kicks in. Obviously we’ve experienced this mostly as clubbers, not DJs - until now that is!

D-Concept: My favourite style is hard trance, originally mixing it, but now producing as well. Living with Lee Walls and going into the studio with him and Technikal has helped me learn a lot very quickly. Obviously I love Technikal’s productions, the work of MDA & Spherical, and also Matt Gardner comes up with some quality remixes. I can’t say I’ve got a certain style of mixing yet though as its still developing.

Frantik Dan

Baggie: I’ve recently become fascinated with the mixing style I’ve seen from techno DJs like Valentino Kanzyani, Andy Farley, Marco Bailey and local mugpunters Salerno & Drummer - putting in really fast tight mixes. The way they can just throw records on straight in time, and then mix them dynamically with precision and trickery is something I really want to learn! I think the energy and snappiness of quick mixes is something that hard dance could do with a lot more of… really focus on supplying the dance floor with a constant stream of new energy, rapidly bouncing from one big bassline to the next. Andy Whitby does this really well, but I’d love to do something similar using a more subtle sound selection, and with some more complex rhythms in there to give the more adventurous dancers something to really have a go at, rather than flat out bounce (as much as I do love it though!). The mixing on the first Tidy Trashed CD is also pretty much what I’m getting at.

But having all these ideas and then having the skills to put them into practise are two totally different things! We’re still learning to walk before we can run, and it’s great to have the DJs we aspire to helping us, and the likes of Frantic putting on nights like HDS to bring through all these enthusiastic new talents!

Dan: Music-wise I like a bit of everything to be honest but my personal preference has gotta be filth all the way, the harder the better! Oktane Records has got it spot on at the moment, absolutely loving the stuff coming out on that label. Mixing-wise I don’t mess about too much, the odd chop here and there but I just try to keep it simple and stomping and not go over the top with the DJM.

So, is Brighton really as full of nutters as it’s made out to be?

D-Concept: Yes I can vouch for that as I know about 98% of them, lol! But seriously everyone is sound down here and they know how to throw an afterparty as well.

Dan: Yeah theirs a fair few nutters down here, half of them will be coming along with us on Friday! Was definitely a bit of an eye opener moving down there I can tell you - must be the sea air.

What’s the hard dance scene like down there? Why would you recommend a trip down there for any fans of ‘ard beats?

D-Concept & Baggie: On the first Friday of every month there is the mighty combination of Hardsouth at the Honey Club and then the Harder.. afterparty. When it comes to a quality night of ‘ard beats with big names, solid ressies, and a scarily hedonistic crowd, you’d do well to find a better monthly combo.

But with such a strong scene in London, Brighton finds it hard to compete week-in, week-out, like it may have been able to back when hard dance was drawing bigger crowds. That isn’t to say there aren’t some excellent smaller nights that pop up here and there showcasing the ample local talent and Brighton’s trademark friendly vibe. The Getaway and Back2Basics are one’s to look out for if you’re planning a dirty weekend dahn ‘Sarf.

Who else are you looking forward to checking out at HDS?

D-Concept: I’m looking forward to the whole night but mostly Andy Rise and Matt Pickup as they are an inspiration to us as an awesome back–to-back duo, and Gordon Darley as I have never seen him play before.

Baggie: It’s an immense line-up. Gordon really knows his tunes and plays a wide variety of material so that’ll be interesting. Caz Wood is another DJ who has done well by making such an impact on the scene so quickly, picking up gigs like Global, Frantic 10 & TW12, and by successfully hosting a night in the otherwise hell-hole known as Basingstoke lol!

Also it’s a rare chance to see Frantik Dan playing filth, so we’ll be having a stomp to that if we’re still standing by then!

Dan: Well it’s D Concept & Baggie’s debut set so gotta show some support for the lads and obviously gotta catch the other Brighton boys Lee & Elvis do their thing. Aside from that I’m looking forward to seeing Matt Pickup & Andy Rise, those two never disappoint, and also Gordon Darley. Bosh!

What’s been your biggest track of the year?

Dan: Technikal pres LD Concept – ‘This is Now’. (I know it’s my own track, but because I worked on it and got to work with Alf for my first proper production there’s no way I’d be saying anything else!) Also Identikal – ‘Solaris’, as well has been a favourite if mine as the riff is amazing.

Baggie: Funky tune has to be Andy Farley – ‘Feel’. You can see the faces of everyone on the dance floor light up every time it drops. On an innovative Hard Trance tip watch out for Technikal vs MDA & Spherical – ‘Supersonic’. These guys are constantly pushing the boundaries at the cutting edge of hard dance. It’s a late entry but this WILL be tune of the year in my opinion!

Dan: Too many too mention, 2007’s been a good year for tunes and has seen some monster tracks roll out. The producers coming along are getting better and better and the quality of productions spot on. But if I had to choose one it would have to be Grady G’s ‘Rock This’ – it’s an absolute belter of a track!

Interview by Ben Gomori at Evolution99 // ben@evolution99.co.uk


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