Original pioneers of Hard Dance Lab4, were and still are one of the most respected and sought after acts in the genre. Once dubbed ‘the Ozzy Osbournes of the dance scene’ Lab4 started their careers playing besides the likes of Carl Cox, Laurent Garnier and Josh Wink at legendary Club UK. They went on to win many awards across the globe for their unique and exciting live performances, one that has been imitated but never matched. But by 2006 it had got all too much for the boys who announced they would be calling it a day by the end of the year. Now following a 3-year sabbatical Lab4 have decided to make a full comeback, reclaiming their crown on the hard dance scene. We catch up with the guys ahead of the mighty Riot event taking place at super club matter next month.

1. You guys reformed for what was meant to be a one-off gig for Tidy earlier this year but have since decided to make a full come back, can you tell us about why?

Lez: After all the dust had settled post Magna we started getting so many emails and messages saying how much people enjoyed it and it was great seeing us back etc. So we agreed to do one show every four to six weeks, around ten or so a year. Its not so much a full come back as such. We have turned down a lot of gigs since the Magna show for various reasons. Five or six years ago it was two shows every weekend… we could still do that but we don’t want to.

Adam: Also we both have many other side projects on the go now that neither of us want to stop working on so we now have the best of both worlds with a handful of big Lab4 shows and plenty of time in the studio.

2. As the original pioneers of Hard Dance, what’s it like looking back at the impact you had on the UK scene back in the early days?

Lez: I was thinking about this the other day, when your in the moment you don’t realize it. Looking back on it now I think we did have an impact which was good and bad. I think it inspired a lot of people and still does, but on the other side of the coin it put a lot of noses out of joint… unknowingly as well

Adam: At one of our early gigs at Club UK (maybe 1995) we were on stage banging it out at around 160 bpm and Josh Winks manager was beside our stage doing what looked like throat cutting actions at us... after our set Josh Wink went on with some weird 125bpm funky electro stuff and emptied what was a full dance floor! He got moved within 2 or 3 tunes into another room and Gail San had to get things going again! - we made a lot of fans that night, but also a few high powered enemies!!!

3. You’ve won countless ‘Best Live Act’ awards, how much do you value these awards? Will you be reclaiming your crown now you are back gigging together?

Lez: To know people are totally behind what you do is very reassuring. Don’t know about the ‘Crown Reclaiming’ haha!!! … The live thing is great but there are other areas we would like to get some recognition for.

Adam: It does feel good when you know that you have been voted for by so many people because often you can get home from a gig and be so exhausted that that’s the last thing you remember or we have done endless massive events, had amazing crowd response and we are the only act not mentioned in reviews etc. So it actually puts things back in perspective for us as opposed to boosting our egos... With regards to ‘reclaiming the crown’... there are some awards that were recently held where they have now decided to not recognise ‘Best Live Act’ anymore???... so might be difficult with regards to ‘winning’ such a title again.

4. Mixmag once described you as the ‘Ozzy Osbournes of the dance scene’ – Do you still live up to non-stop party animal image you were so famous for – what’s the most rock n roll incident of your career?

Lez: Mmmm??!! Its not a tag that I’m that happy with. People say that but its not actually true. You cannot be trashed in any way shape or form when you have that much stuff to look after and sort out. And have to drive at the end of the night… chance would be a fine thing…. ;o)

Adam: also the rehab fees are just too expensive these days now that it’s a cool thing to do! We have had some quite Rock ‘n’ Roll moments in Japan when we’ve been out there playing for Yoji... Probably the most Rock n Roll moments have been on the couple of occasions when we have done live sets in Holland and England on the same night and also walking into HMV in Tokyo and seeing life size cardboard promo pictures of us...

5. Do either of you have any weird / funny rituals you do before your live gigs?

Lez: Yeah,,, I totally shit myself… before the Magna I must paced up and down for at least 3 hours… Garbo was laughing his tits off. I actually got home after that and started reading up on getting some hypnotherapy for it. One of friends is a stage actor and he was the same… I haven’t done anything about it yet but I might… You would think that after thirteen years and over five hundred gigs I would be ok.

Adam: If I don’t stretch my neck properly before I go on I end up not being able to turn my head for the next few days from doing my Timotei dancing on stage! I tend to pace up and down a lot too but that’s usually due to impatience... I love going on stage and it drives me mad waiting the last 30 mins or so.

6. You both had your solo projects when you split up – will you continue to keep these as side-projects?

Lez: Yes. My Overlords project has just gone into overdrive. I signed a new publishing deal with a company who look after FightStar and Funeral For a Friend amongst others. I had a meeting last week with them to discuss plans. We’ve got about ten tracks roughly finished.
They want to strip it down to four of the best ones and start pimping us around.. we might be collaborating with some of the established rock artists on their roster. I don’t want to let Lab4 go though..

Adam: My other main project at the moment is The Horizontal Instrument which is a very song based project influenced by Radiohead, Coldplay, John Lennon, Bob Dylan etc. I have finished a full album of songs and am now rehearsing for some live sets later this year. That said I am also happy to have Lab4 back in existence...

7. Riot! are taking over matter again next month, are you excited for your London comeback? What do you think of matter as a venue, have you been before?

Lez: I haven’t been yet, as soon as the booking came through I checked it out.
There’s a strong possibility we’ll be filming at it… the corridor bit looks like something out of Star Wars…. Wicked. A lot of interesting TechStep guys play there as well.. Spor, Evol Intent etc.

Adam: I’ve never been there either but also checked out the website and it looks amazing!

8. Out of the line up for Riot who would you pick to be an honouree member of Lab 4 for the night?

Lez: Haaaahaa!!.. I think a rotor system would be good. We could judge it like X Factor or Dragons Den… the ones that really put on a “Special” show would win the prized title of Lab4 impersonator 2009… we could even give an award… it would be called The Golden Labia… ( Labicus demundus Goldicus ) in latin to make it sound more established and honoured. With a small parchment scroll.

Adam: I think Anne and Lisa would be a good start!

9. What genre of music would people be most surprised to find in your laptop / music collection?

Lez: Cilla Black. Honest. Mersey Beat Generation. Bloody good actually.

Adam: I guess it depends on how they know me – could be Slipknot or it could be Backstreet Boys!

10. What can we expect from you guys over the next few months?.

Lez: Well we’ve got a few festivals to play. We’re both doing Bulldog Bash which will be really cool. Adam is doing a live set and I’m doing a Break Beat set. Exclusive first.

I’m also doing a gig with Gary Numan in September which will be geat fun… once I get over the star struck bit I’ll be fine.

Adam: a handful of Lab4 gigs, I also have live sets and DJ sets up and down the country (Truro, Chesterfield, Portsmouth, Plymouth) and we also have a world exclusive 2 hour Lab4 b2b DJ set in London on September... My studio work has been slowed a little as I am in the middle of moving back from France to England but I am excited about getting stuck into some new tunes as soon as my studio is set up here.