So the annual HarderFaster vs The Residents Christmas party is back again with a bang!

Last year HF members together raised a total of £2500 for the Kent Air Ambulance in memory of Zimma. This year we decided to continue the charity concept and we were overwhelmed by support for Dom Pardey. For those who don’t know, Dom is an HF member and London DJ who suffered a severe stroke on Christmas Eve, 2005 aged 28 - one that nearly killed him. Since then he has made great strides going forward in his rehabilitation but due to the ever cash-strapped nature of the NHS he desperately needs more funds to keep his rehabilitation and life moving forward. All money raised will be donated to the Dom Pardey Trust. You can read more about Dom's physical and mental fight on his witty and sometimes poignant blog. We suggest a £5 donation on the door for our Xmas Countdown party though of course more will be appreciated.

Ahead of the shin-dig on 6th December @ The Square Pig in Holborn Lucy Fur and K8-e took some time before their B2B set to go back to back with a Q&A session - the 12 questions of Christmas!

K8-e to Lucy:

1. Production has been a big focus for you this year – tell me what you have been up to and who you are planning to get in the studio with next?

It has, I have really enjoyed making tracks this year. Main reason for this is I want to push my sound as much as possible. The satisfaction of playing your own material is ace! My sets will consist of a lot of my stuff now and a few bits from other producers. Most recently I have remixed Nik Denton Vs Testube Babies ‘Feel The Friction’ for a new Toolbox project called Toolkit (more on that later!) and I have just had my ‘Take Me’ signed to Toolbox too. Toolbox will get first refusal on anything that I do as I am signed to them.

2. You’ve been involved in the Toolbox tour this year and you recorded a Toolbox CD with my legend Justin Bourne - what’s next on the Toolbox front for 2009?

Next year is going to be amazing for Toolbox - very exciting times. The launch of ‘Toolkit’ was this month and it's gone very well. Toolkit is a monthly double CD featuring exclusive tracks/remixes to be able to DJ with, and the other CD is an exclusive mix by a Toolbox DJ or guest. I will be doing one in the next few months.

3. It’s been another whirlwind year for you from Red, to Toolbox to Tidy to HHA and everything in between. What are your highlights and personal achievements from the year?

You know what? When I think about it, I am like ‘what have I done this year?’ I had to do a list for a new bio and come up with this-

• Signed to Toolbox Records Jan 2008
• Produced numerous tracks this year with Paul Maddox, Riggsy, Tom Parr & Dave Owens all 2008
• 'Shake It Up' was featured on the TW Live CD mixed by Ben Stevens April 2008
• Mixed the 'Toolbox Volume 2' album alongside Justin Bourne April 2008
• Released my 1st solo track on Toolbox 'Shake It Up' May 2008
• Became resident for Coalition Manchester which launched June 2008
• 'Rattlebrain' was featured on the Tidy Harder Generation CD mixed by Rodi Style June 2008
• Played my 1st Irish gig @ R3volution Dublin in June 2008 and returned to do a huge festival in Sept 2008
• Played Polysexual main room debut August 2008
• Andy Farley has remixed my 'Rattlebrain' on Toolbox Sept 2008
• Just remixed the infamous 'Feel The Friction' for new Toolbox album (my 1st ever remix!) October 2008
• Invited back to play at the Tidy Weekender October 2008
• This years NYE gig in Stockholm and NYD @ MOS for Frantic’s Hard Disko

All of the above are my highlights!!! ;)

4. We’ve played on the same line up at CyberKitten many times but never managed to play together before so I was wondering what are your top tips for a smooth B2B?

We are gonna kick arse! Can’t wait! No tips, if we both do what we do best and play plenty of Fur/Parr/K8-e it will be storming! In terms of smooth B2Bs, I do believe you have to know someone well for it to work. I have played with people in the past and thought ‘I have never met this person and they don’t have a similar taste to me at all!’ If you know the person well, you can bounce off one and other and really enjoy the set.

5. Tune wise what’s your Top 5 Christmas Crackers and what tune won’t be forgotten from this year in a hurry?

Top 5? Mmmm, ok, well I am going to have to go with my current favourites so:

Nik Denton Vs Testube Babies - ‘Feel The Friction’ (Lucy Fur 2008 remix) (Toolbox)
TDV - ‘Give Me A Reason’ (Tom Parr & Ginge remix) (CD)
Lucy Fur - ‘Take Me’ (Toolbox)
Kynetic - ‘Pacemaker’ (CDR)
Frank Farrell - ‘Unknown’ (CDR)- this will be on my Beat Ranch mix end of Dec!

One tune that won’t be forgotten has got to be Tom Parr’s ‘Hip Hop’ on Atomik Reaction- everyone has been caning this for months and it still has a massive crowd reaction now!

6. What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas this year (in case Mark is reading :) )?

Problem is, when I want something, I get it!! So I am going with something I can’t buy - a pair of wings and an invisibility cloak please! ;)

Lucy to K8-e:

7. You have just launched a new label with your partner Tom Parr called Atomik Reaction - what’s the scoop?

Yes it's all very exciting actually, we've been talking about it for about a year and in fact Marc Johnson did his remix of Tom's "You Make Me" for the first release in January so we've been sat on that bad boy for months. Finally we launched in October this year - check out our DSI Group for more info on releases and 'vs' events we have planned.

We are actually on our second release now and the amount of support we have received has been amazing with plays from the likes of Karim, Ben Stevens, Marc Johnson, James Nardi, Adam M, Dave Curtis and of course youself and many more.

The aim is really to release good quality hard house, primarily Tom (Parr)'s tunes, remixes and collaborations but if we come across anything else we think fits the bill you can expect to see that on the label too. Tom and I just love hard house so much it's our way of getting his stuff out there and putting something back into the scene. The added bonus is we will be giving away a free tune with every release - this has been particularly well received and its our way of saying thank you to those who are supporting us and also promoting our sound to those who may want to "try before they buy" from the label.

Also we are going to be doing vs nights with the label - we have one booked for Harder in Brighton in February already and a few more in the pipeline so watch this space!

8. Have you got any more plans to get into the studio after the success of your “Don’t Want” release on WKD last year?

Much like the label this is something I would have liked to have done earlier this year but I didn't get a chance for various reasons. People think its crazy I live with Tom and I don't chain him to the PC every day to make tunes lol but between djing, work and actually doing other normal couple stuff we don't really have THAT much time. The label is a real focus next year though and I plan to develop my own sound with Tom so we can get some more K8-e tunes out there. Like you said there is nothing quite like playing your own tunes in your set so I'm looking forward to some more of that next year for sure!

9. You are definitely a girly girl (which I love!), so what would be your luxury item if you were to go on ‘I’m A Celebrity…?

Hmmmm I wouldn't be nuts enough to go on something like that but if I did my luxury item would probably be a pillow - same as Kilroy - everything is ok when you have your pillow as my dad used to say.

10. I think you’re an ace DJ, very versatile whilst maintaining your sound. What inspires you to keep going with the amount of DJ’s there are about today?

I think it can be hard with so many djs about - sometimes it feels like more djs than clubbers!! But at least it shows people are passionate about the music and that is what keeps me going really. I am truly passionate about hard house, it's where my heart is and I just love the sound of the beats popping and a tune when it drops and well... I could go on. And secondly sharing that passion with my boyfriend Tom is fantastic - I may be biased but I truly believe he is making some of the best hard house around at the moment and being able to support him in that, play his tunes out and be a part of the scene with the label and through djing is really a massive pleasure for me and a nice balance to my day job.

11. You DJ, produce, write for various websites and hold down a full time job (not to mention keeping Parr in check ;), how do you manage your time? I need to know!

Haha well sometimes it feels like an uphill struggle let me tell you and I did have some time off from writing interviews over the summer as I just felt I needed to calm down a bit. At one point I was writing for Flashpoint, CyberKitten, Harderfaster and doing freelance bits and pieces as well as the day job and the djing and I was just exhausted. Having a bit of a break and easing back on so many gigs has given me a bit of perspective - everything in moderation as they say! I am back on the interviewing bandwagon again though and my main focus for 2008 is the label and getting some tunes under my belt.

12. I guess we better have a Christmas question so…what’s your ideal day? 80’s films, Baileys, chocolate??!!

Now that does sound like a great Christmas!! As long as I'm with Tom and I've got some chocolate it will be a lovely day. Tom is actually a fantastic cook so while I'm stuffing my face with chocolate and watching Christmas Top of the Pops I will have him chained to the oven making us a fantastic feast :D

Catch Lucy Fur and K8-e play the last set (10-11pm) at the HF vs The Residents Xmas Party at the Square Pig in Holborn on Saturday 6th December. Click here to add yourself as going.