Superfish!, one of the most influential and popular club-nights in hard dance history, is celebrating its tenth anniversary! Fish-founders Captain Tinrib, Steve Thomas, the late RR Fierce, Karim, Dave Randall and DFQ (later joined by Max Alien, Weirdo and others) launched the club as a place to party and play their own new music. They were influenced by the underground Euro-tech and trance sound of the early 1990s and but also involved (as party-goers, producers or DJs) in the new hardhouse scene developing at Trade. The Fish went Super when it launched at the Fridge, Brixton in 1997.

Three of the Superfish! DJs plan to celebrate the tenth anniversary by playing two sets each at the Superfish! party at Fridge on 24th August:

Dave Randall’s contributions to dance music are massive, multiple and myriad. He has been DJing for nearly 20 years, residing at Trade, FF, Night Red at the Zap (Brighton), and the Kinetic room at the Gallery (Turnmills), as well as having numerous high-profile international appearances, including at Dance Valley Amsterdam, Colombia, Cape Town and Australia. He founded promotional company ClubNet, Chug n Bump records, and currently part-manages the Kinetic Records shop in London. Before focusing on techno, Dave recently had a number of hard dance hits in collaboration with BK, including their remix of ‘Meltdown’ by The Project.

DFQ began DJing ‘too many years ago to remember’, in Plymouth, where he and his mates ran an after-hours club for three years called Totally Techno, the first after-hours club in the south-west. He played a combination of everything - funky house, hard house, techno - and developed his skills in getting reactions from dance crowds. In the early 90s, DFQ used to support Tony de Vit at The Nightingale in Birmingham, before TDV started playing at Trade. TDV was an influence on his music, and introduced him to Dave Randall. DFQ’s international appearances have included Croatia, Ibiza and Holland (Dance Valley, Milkveg, Impulz). UK residencies and major club-night appearances include Come and Queer (both in Cheltenham) and Breathless and Totally Techno (both in Brighton).

Max Alien had his first big break as a DJ ten years ago. He has held residencies at The Fridge, Brixton Academy , Soundshaft and Turnmills, and has toured Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Holland, Finland, Canada & USA. He runs Alien Trax recordings with collaborator Amino (Paul Curtis), releasing their debut album ‘The Missing Files’ in 2000. Under one of his guises, The Alien Thing, Max mixed ‘Fish Tales Vol. 4: Alien Lobster Abduction’ on Tinrib Recordings. His recent dance-floor hits have included ‘Beaver express’ and ‘Acid gate scandal’ (with Captain Tinrib).

I badgered Dave, DFQ and Max with annoying questions about the upcoming party and the origins of Superfish!...

Let’s begin with the origins of Superfish! I’m interested in the connection with Trade, the club most associated with the origins of hard house. Dave was a resident DJ there and Max and DFQ were regulars on the dance-floor. Can you say a bit about how Fish/Superfish was intended to be both similar to Trade and yet different?

Dave: FF (the Sunday night party at Turnmill’s following Trade) was more closely related to Fish as the music was far more influenced by the harder sounds coming from the continent. The hard house sound was really introduced at Trade when Tony de Vit arrived on the scene several years into the whole Trade thing. There was never any direct intention to associate Superfish! with Trade other than the fact that myself and Steve Thomas both had residencies there.

Max: Trade was a great night and we had some mad ones there. But to me Fish had its own vibe and was where all our friends went to listen to great music, partying the nights away. We (Paul Curtis - Amino & Max) first had a track on ‘Trade Volume four’ (1997), our first ever release under Max & Amino ‘Chemical Imbalances’ then ‘Transexual’ [sic] came out on compilation called ‘Trade’ in 1998.

DFQ: I think Superfish! wasn’t too afraid to try something new with their sound, which a lot of people enjoyed. It wasn’t just jumping into mega BPM straight away. It was a gradual progression in the night, which makes it work so well.

Was the techno influence you all shared part of the difference between the musical policy at Trade and what you wanted to do at Superfish?

Dave: Techno had always played a huge part at Trade - Daz Saund and Trevor Rockliffe delivered some of the best techno I had ever heard anywhere. I have always included techno in my sets both at home and abroad. There really wasn’t any other techno at Superfish!, it was hard house in its various forms all the way.

DFQ: We all shared different musical influences in our sound - that’s what tells us all apart: Techno from Dave Randall, Karim for hard house and myself for the funkier style. My C.V. reads, ‘DFQ has a knack of getting people away from the bar and on to the dance floor!’ The crowds we get at the Fish night are from all ages, which is what I like to see.

Max: Back then I didn’t really think of it as techno, hard house, or trance as long it was having it, it didn’t make a lot of difference. The nights always progressed and the music built up. It was never about one type of music… Talking of Trevor Rockliffe, who Dave mentioned, he’s playing at Tribe featuring Intec Records, (along with me, Dave Randall, Jon Rundell, Lisa Peaches Hayze and Coxy) on 22nd September at the Volks, Brighton.

So was it just musical direction or an idea about the nature of the party itself that distinguished Superfish?

Dave: Superfish! was about a group of really good friends working together on a club-night with Nadia and Jon at the helm with his super-fishy Tinrib master live shows. There was no discussion of a musical direction; it was everybody’s mission to deliver the best music flow that was possible.

DFQ: I think the people that come to Superfish! nights, are such a diverse group of people, different ages and backgrounds. They know what they like and they know what to expect when our nights are on. It’s always a great atmosphere, people have fun. Plus it’s like seeing an old friend you’ve haven’t seen for a year, you just pick up where you left off.

How did you meet each other and Captain Tinrib?

DFQ: It’s a long story but I’ll shorten it down for you. I was running a night in Cheltenham, and we’d booked Dave to play for my birthday, he brought along Jon (Captain Tinrib) with him. We all piled back to my house, where we got introduced, and Jon mentioned that he was looking for a warm-up DJ for a night called Fish at the Soundshaft in London and would I be interested in filling that spot, so I jumped at the chance...

Max: I met Karim and RR Fierce at the record shops in Soho where we use to sell our tunes and buy records for DJing. They took me to Fish at Soundshaft (behind Heaven) and that’s where I met the rest of the gang.

Going further back, can you say a bit more about who and what were your earliest musical influences?

Dave: Giorgio Moroder, Bobby Orlando, 70s club music, Depeche Mode, Shoom at Heaven, The Mud club.

Max: I use to listen to Heavy Metal (Metallica, Judas Priest etc.) then got into the techno (Hardfloor, early SUF releases), the harder trance labels like Noom and Phuture Wax and some early psychedelic stuff (Hallucinogen) and labels like TIP and Dragonfly.

Ok. So what’s the key to a Superfish! party?

Dave: The best attitude at a London party, no headline DJs, superb music.

DFQ: Fabulous people, up for a laugh and a good night out. Plus plenty of dancin’.

Max: Good friends, great atmosphere, pumping music…

And what’s the key to a Superfish! DJ set?

Dave: Fitting in amongst the other residents and knowing your place.

Knowing your plaice, perhaps? ;o)

Max: Good build-up and music with energy.

DFQ: Plenty of Absolut Vodka smoothie cocktails.

Party animals!.. So let’s talk about the upcoming party on August 24th… One of the bonuses of the tenth anniversary party is that you three will be playing two sets each! As well as one in the main room, you’re each playing one in the little room, which is hosted by Brighton club-night Totally Techno. (Good name! Who thought of that! ;o) Can you say a bit about the idea behind playing two sets each. And tell us something about Totally Techno. Is the type of techno you play the arty-farty experimental type, or the mad fierce fast variety, I wonder…? ;o)

Dave: Totally Techno is run by Lisa Peaches, Max, Hayze and myself. No experimental techno, just good solid grooves and no attitude. Brighton’s longest running techno event.

Max: Lisa, Hayze, Dave and myself have been doing and playing at Totally Techno for over two years at The Volks in Brighton, every 2nd Thursday of the month. Next month (on the 13th September) we have Chris Liberator playing. We have had some great parties down there and thought we could bring some of that techno vibe into the second room. It gives us a chance to play some of the techno tunes that are hot these days as well.

DFQ: I like to play my techno with a bit more of a funkier sound and something you can swing ya pants to, and gets the girls down and groovy.

Let’s talk now about your musical tastes and your thoughts on the scene… What are your favourite tracks of all time?

Dave: Too many to mention.

DFQ: Some of the earlier Tidy Trax, Fruit Loops, Mighty Records, a track called Pussy Lovers, Blu Records, Nukleuz (earlier stuff), BPM Records, Chug n Bump, Alien Trax and not forgetting Tinrib. I have too many favourite tracks to list - just ask my friends, they all call me a Vodka an’ Vinyl junkie!

Max: Commander Tom - ‘Are Am Eye’, Sourmash – ‘Pilgrimage’, CJ Bolland – ‘Camargue’.

When was the best period for dance music, in your opinion?

Dave: 1989 – 1994. It was about the music, not the DJ who was playing it.

DFQ: I liked the early 90s music; it was really being enjoyed by the masses, everyone was enjoying it for what it was. Now it seems that people are critics or DJs. Now we’ve pigeon-holed all the music that’s come out of the dance scene, people get too critical. I always say if you can do any better, then start up your own night - that’s what I did many years ago.

Max: I like the dance music from around 1992 onwards. There was around 5 years where there was at least one classic tune every month, sometimes even more.

Who and what tracks are you listening to currently?

Dave: At home literally anything, I’ve collected a huge library of very varied stuff. A lot of Drum and Bass just now and a lot of Techno.

DFQ: My Ipod’s full of stuff - it depends on what kind of mood I’m feeling that day. I do like some of Apex’s stuff at the moment. Highwire Records are getting a bit of a hammering too. And Hertz Tracks, Always Two Sides To The Coin.

Max: I don’t listen to much music at home, but if I do its usually whatever my brother Bob (DJB) plays in the house. He has a very varied collection of music and plays at Totally Techno also.

For a while clubbing has been declining in popularity compared to other forms of entertainment. Do you see any signs that underground dance music is on the up again?

Dave: No. It’s gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better. We need clubs that don’t rely on headline DJs to fill them but instead concentrate on the club tag itself with resident DJs. Better music policies from the start of a night to the end with more of a mix across the board of styles. Higher download prices for the music itself so that people can afford to make quality dance music professionally. New venues, better drugs and more disposable income.

DFQ: I think the days of big name DJ’s pulling in big crowds and rip-off prices for big events are not all they’re cracked up to be are over. People are wising up to the fact - some stories I’ve heard over the years are unbelievable. Some promoters couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery. People are thinking hard where to go for a good and affordable night out. A lot more people are going to smaller intimate clubs or even going to outside parties, forests and fields (remember them)!!! Some are just turning up with generators and decks, that’s what people are doing - oh! And a bar!

Max: The club scene has suffered recently and recent smoking laws won’t help either. But I’m always optimistic and it will resurface soon again. As long as it goes more underground where it’s more about the music rather than DJs egos I think people will start to come back out and let their hair down.

Interesting… If you had a personal motto, what would it be?

Dave: It is not the light that blinds you, its the darkness.

DFQ: I don’t have to be dead to donate my organ!

Max: ‘That’s what I’m talking about!!’

Pithy!.. Ok, finally, if you really were a fish, what kind of fish would you be and why?

Dave: A box jelly fish, left alone on the Ozzy gold coast to intimidate humans who get too familiar.

DFQ: Puffa fish, nuff said!!!

Max: Catfish - I like their moustache :o)

Super! See you at the party on 24th August at the Fridge!

Check out the Superfish! event page and TinribDigital DSI group.

This interview a Nut House production