Music : House and Hard Dance
THE THRILLSEEKERS
For close to 10 years now, The Thrillseekers have been at the forefront of the world's dance scene. From his first single 'Synaesthesia', through to the club anthems 'Dreaming of You', ‘NewLife’ and 'By Your Side', Steve Helstrip has been behind some of the most emotive, evocative electronic music, ever released. He’s worked with pioneers like Trevor Horn, shared co-production credits with Chicane and co-wrote on Ferry Corsten’s Grammy award winning ‘Right of Way’ album. He’s remixed Tiesto and Armin, amongst many others, and reworked Sonique’s ‘Feels So Good’ into a worldwide, No. 1 record.
Steve is now as well known as a DJ as he is a producer; having quickly risen through the ranks, captivating crowds the world over with his tough, cutting-edge sets. The Ministry, Gallery, PaSSion and Gatecrasher have all born witness to his fluid mixing, unique style and kinetic, energetic performances. His spinning career took off with such speed, in fact, that just 12 months after he first put needle to vinyl, he found himself invited to play at Paul van Dyk’s Birthday party! 2004 saw The Thrillseekers crack the DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJ's chart for the first time, before going on to break into the top 50 (landing at no. 45) in 2006.
The Thrillseekers story started back in 1999, where, with a relatively basic home studio Steve constructed the trance milestone that is ‘Synaesthesia’. Signed and released by Neo Records in 1999, at the height of the trance explosion, it has gone on to sell over 1 million copies, across its numerous, repeated worldwide releases.
Following the collapse of Neo Records in 2003, Steve took charge of his catalogue by launching his own label Adjusted Music. With demand high for the re-releases of 'Synaesthesia' and ‘Affinity’ (which was originally came out under his Hydra moniker), both tracks were brought back out in 2004, to a huge response. As well as releasing his own records, Steve’s also sought out fresh talent for Adjusted. He signed the club hits ‘Safe to Dream’ by Russian act Evolve and ‘Alone Again’ by transatlantic duo Deep Voices. His remix of the former showcased a new housier sound, one which was fully realised with his ‘By Your Side’ release. The track was championed by Paul van Dyk and Pete Tong, being marked up, quite simply, as “Brilliant” by the latter, after he played it on Radio 1.
Artist collaborations have played an important part in Steve’s production career. Immediately following the success of ‘Synaesthesia’ Steve went on to launch a new moniker for M.O.S. subsidiary, Incentive. En-Motion was born with ‘Truth’ in 2000 and ‘Getting Away with It’ following in 2002. In the adjoining years he also pushed forward, partnering collaborations with Andy ‘Pulser’ Perring as Insigma (‘Insigma’/’Open Our Eyes’/’Avalon’) and with ATCR owner Tim Stark under the name Rapid Eye ('Never Going Back'/"Circa-Forever"/"Stealing Beauty"/'Santa Cruz'/'Absolut').
In late 2005 The Thrillseekers moved into compilation territory, with the release of ‘Night Music Vol 1’. The CD and 30 date world tour that followed it was an instant smash, mushrooming the fanbase further and generating State-side and Russian releases of the comp. Summer 2007 will sees the much-anticipated follow up hit the stores, again encompassed by a world tour.
BK
As well as running Riot and being the man in charge of the music at the label weather with his own releases or with his A&R hat on BK is the man that has ensured Riot is the most critically acclaimed Hard dance label around. Ben Keen, aka BK, is also recognized the world over as the most successful and prolific hard dance producer of all time. With worldwide dance chart hits like "Music Is Moving" and "Revolution", BK has reinvented the genre of hard house and breathed new life into the style. And in addition to having conquered the world of hard house with his production skills, BK is positioned to take over the global DJ scene, ranking since 2001 as one of DJmag's top 50 international DJs. He calls his sound "ever-changing and full of energy, with innovative infusions of trance and techno that redefine the hard house style. He believes that the sound of hard house has definitely changed-it's got to, and whether producing or playing, the sounds that BK creates represent the future of the genre.
BK began his production career at age 16 as a trainee engineer at a London studio and gradually progressed into writing music for film and television. In his spare time, he used the studio's equipment to experiment with his own sounds, and it was later, at Media Records, that he began producing original tracks. BK later joined Nukleuz Records, the world's top hard house label, and immediately became known for his profusion of definitive hard house tracks. Since 1995, BK has produced more than one hundred 12s and remixes, including remixes of Mario Piu ("The Vision"), Mauro Piccotto ("Iguana"), Storm ("Storm Animal"), DT8 ("Destination"), and Tony De Vit ("I Don't Care"), and recorded tracks for labels ranging from Positiva, Data, and Ministry of Sound to NuLife, Ffrr, and Tidy. Many of his tracks have become UK Top 10 hits, but BK is best known for "Revolution", which with the support of Judge Jules and Dave Pearce, entered BBC Radio One's daytime rotation in 2002 - a singular accomplishment for a hard house track. BK's albums and compilations have also garnered huge success, with his series of Nukleuz Presents compilations (including HardHouse Anthems) earning multiple Mixmag "Album of the Year" awards and the 2003 release Extreme Euphoria Mixed By Lisa Lashes, BK, and The Tidy Boys on track to become the highest-selling hard house album ever. On top of this his recent solo Euphoria album once again re defined the sound of Hard dance.
BK's tracks are irresistible to both clubbers and critics, but the true measure of his talent can be seen in the number of fellow producers and DJs who clamour for a slice of BK's skills. The admiration of his peers is typified by such comments as, If one man has single-handedly shaped what our world is dancing to, then it's he. (Mixmag, June 2002) This feeling is evident in the tracks found on BK's 2003 solo album, Klub Kollaborations, which represent cooperative projects with eleven of the world's top producers, including , Andy Farley, Lab4, Christopher Lawrence, Paul Glazby, and Rob Tissera. In 1999, BK enlarged his creative scope to include the DJ circuit, proving that his talents are not restricted to the studio alone. By 2000, BK was already playing clubs around the world, headlining and appearing at all of the biggest dance events, including Dance Valley (100,000 people), Global Gathering UK, Gatecrasher Summer Sound System UK, Impulse NL, Frantic HardHouse Academy UK, Creamfields UK, Godskitchen NEC UK, Judgement Sunday Ibiza, Lashed in Ibiza, Gallery UK, Slinky UK, and Code Japan. He currently calls three of the most forward-thinking UK hard dance events home, holding residencies at Frantic's Convergence, Nukleuz's Riot!, and Kinky's Trade. Much of his success is due to the same experimental approach that he utilizes in the studio.
'As a DJ, I've been looking at other genres, and I've found that this kind of music is something I like and that I like to play, and no one's complained!'
In an extremely short period of time, BK has become recognized as not only a genre-defining producer, but also an influential DJ in the hard dance scene. His prodigious talents have created a new direction for the future of hard house, but BK is not ready to stop yet.
'I've made every sort of music in the past, even stuff for television commercials. I've mic'd up a 60-piece orchestra at Abbey Road and now I want to start bringing that into the kind of tracks I do now. Do that, but make it danceable and club-friendly and find a new sound for myself.'