Azuli announce their arrival at Pacha London on 10th May with an opening bang!

It wasn't too long ago that Club Azuli was packing out their former home, The Cross with an international crowd that felt more like Ibiza than North London. By the time The Cross had announced it had just a few months left, an extra marquee was drafted in for each party was such the demand. It doesn't get much better than that. The mixture of hot line ups (remember the last and only London set of 2007 from Deadmau5 or the debut from Dirty South), little touches (free cds, presents at christmas) and an up for it and friendly atmopshere made Club Azuli into to literally a sell out party.

Now they look to do it all again at their new home Pacha in Victoria. The club has already changed dramatically with a total new look in terms of décor, a brand new Martin Audio soundsystem, plus plans for an open air roof terrace at the end of the summer. They also continue the tradition of booking some great artists. D. Ramirez heads things up in the main room, alongside Deepgroove and David Piccioni, while in the intimate Global room it’s an Azuli debut from the Jedi and eclectic maestro Tom Middleton. We caught up with both Deepgroove and Tom Middleton prior to their appearance at Club Azuli;

Deepgroove

You seem to be playing quite a broad range of parties lately, how would you describe your sound of late?

We have been pretty lucky lately with some amazing gigs here, there and everywhere; Warsaw, Canada, Chicago, Belgium, Ireland, Finland, Austria and now we have dates at Glastonbury, We Love…Space, Gatecrasher Summer Sound system…so we have been constantly working hard on our sound to fit most of these parties and ravers. We have made lots of edits of our favourite tracks and play a lot of our own productions, so probably the best way to describe our sound at the moment is chemical rave music and electrifying techno!!!

Any countries that you have played you would never go back too?

Again, we have been pretty lucky with all our shows, as we have been booked by lots of really friendly, up-for-it promoters, and they have generally known how to put on a good party. And being able to travel around the world, seeing different countries is pretty amazing, so every country we have visited has been a good experience.

I know you like to use four CDJs, but do you bring any special equipment to your gigs?

We always use a Pioneer DJM800 mixer, as it has dual sets of effects which is really great as we DJ together, and we always bring two Pioneer EFX1000s to make an extra bit of racket. And maybe even a couple of woman’s nighties if the mood takes us…

Doesn't it get a bit confusing up there?

Always…especially after a few ciders.

Do you ever get sick of each other when on the road?

Not really, as we both enjoy eating chips, taking the piss out of each other and if it does get too much Grayson has his Nintendo and Lee watches Entourage.

Are you looking forward to the 10th May for Azuli's first party at Pacha?

No! As we have to dj alongside D. Ramirez, and every time we see each other we end up staying out all-night and feeling like shit for the rest of the week. And Lee is still trying to forget the PVC pants incident…OK…that does sound exciting actually, so YES…we are VERY excited!

www.deepgrooveworld.com
www.myspace.com/deepgroove

Tom Middleton

You're from Cornwall. What was the music scene like there growing up?

I started out as an Old School Electro B-Boy, then got into Synth Pop, dipped into Soul, Funk and Acid Jazz via Prince and U2 and ended up growing Acid House hair curtains to go with the dungarees, wallabees and smiley T-shirt!

It turned into a pretty crazy scene in Cornwall, we got right into Acid, Garage and Techno in 88-89.
I used to DJ with Richard James (The Aphex Twin) and the Rephlex Records crew. One party was legendary; Rich played his seminal Didgeridoo track live in the sweatiest venue ever. It got so hot that the flouro paint started running, the ravers shed their clothes and started covering themselves and it ended up like a glow paint version of Burning Man. After hours we'd club together, hire a genny and some speakers and put on illegal after parties amongst the sand dunes most weekends 'cos the clubs shut at a pathetic 1am!

What can we expect to see from you in the next 12 months?

I've been moving into Film, TV and Production over the last year or two which is good fun. Going from 8 minute tracks to 30 second Adverts is an interesting challenge.
I've got some new tunes that should see the light of day soon and a bunch of remixes coming up.
Maybe another mix compilation..I'm addicted to making them, reckon I have been since the good old days of "tape to tape" comps for your mates.

Who would you most like to work with and why?

I'd love to produce a band like U2 or Coldplay. The Joshua Tree is still pretty untouchable in my book and whether you love em or hate em you can't deny the emotional power of Coldplay.
Getting textural and adding the ambience behind those uplifting and epic stadium sized anthems with rich harmonies and big big hooks.

When was the moment you realised you had made it?

Could be the invitation to turn left when you enter the aircraft cabin, and a suited chauffeur holding a placard with your name as you exit customs. No, seriously, I think it's the buzz of making thousands of festival goers pogo and sing-along to an anthem or two in a field.

www.tommiddleton.com
www.myspace.com/tommiddleton

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