From Bognor to London, from intimate pub parties to the almighty Fusion, from bedroom to billboard in no time at all, everyone in Hardcore (or so it would seem) know who these boys are. They do not stick to tradition and they are certainly not pompous, to the world of thrashing uplifting beats; these upstanding, fan focussed South Coast legends are all about their ravers, their partnership, having fun, savoury pastries and most importantly.. their music. If you have not met them yet; there’s a chance if you like hard dance you will very, very soon.
A little bit whacky and in being such… 100% cool, ladies and gentleman… I give you, Project Bosh.
How long have you been Fusion residents and how was it that you found yourselves in such a position?
“It all started about two years ago when Supreme posted on DSI asking who people wanted to see playing at Fusion, as ever the die hard ‘Pompey Hardcore Crew’ showed their full support for Bosh, or Xom back to back with Optimus Prime back to back with DjA feat Mc UV; as it was back then.
We where given a set in arena three at Fusion’s first appearance at the now legendary Club Ice venue and from then on have been seen on the Main Stage at every Fusion event. All the guys at Fusion have shown us their full support for the past two years and we like to return the support to Fusion.
Being South Coast boys, we’ve known Fusion for the past 15 years and feel incredibly privileged to be residents for what is clearly one of the best Hardcore nights in the country.”
Bosh history lesson, who started it and what were your / their reasons for doing so?
“Our first set was for Xom’s own night, Elev8, we hosted the 2nd room for Out of Order at the Joiners in Southampton, where the Bosh Hardcore vibe was taken so well, that there was more people in the small bar than the main Hard House room. From then we decided that working on our own just wouldn’t do and Project Bosh was formed. We started as three DJ’s and one Mc and this has now evolved into the 3-way act of Xom, Optimus Prime & Mc UV.”
Did things kick off straight away, or has it been quite a long journey?
“It has been a very long journey getting to where we are now, but it’s been one of the most amazing journeys we’ve ever been on. Much like crossing the Himalayas on Elephants! However in our case the Elephants where heavily pimped with fat sound systems and blasted Hardcore the whole way through!! Made it a bit tricky with avalanches at times, but we battled through it.
The best part of it, two years in and the journey is still ongoing, we’re learning as we go, we’re constantly trying to develop the Project Bosh show and now making a heavier push into tune production.”
Why is it that you have chosen this genre, because you are famous for the harder, faster side of hardcore?
“All three of us have always loved the Hardcore from when we were nippers, so naturally it was the only choice of music for us to DJ, we love all Hardcore however so try to add a bit of variety in our sets whenever possible. From a DJ perspective Xom & Optimus love it as hard and bouncy as possible so we always try and give our sets that extra bit of furious energy!! The faster and more varied the music is, the more Optimus gets into his scratching which always adds that extra bit to Project Bosh sets.”
You have quite an entertaining approach to your performances, in your opinion do you feel it necessary to entertain your crowd with not just the records you all play, but your collective performances also?
“We’re there to entertain the crowd and our general madness rubs off into our mixes, we love Hardcore so much that when we play we just get into it and have a laugh. Hardcore to us is all about having a laugh, enjoying yourself and doing what you want to do. And that’s exactly what we do!”
You’ve had some interesting costumes and outfits for your gigs haven’t you, tell us more about those?
“Yeah, as we said before we just love having a laugh and messing about when we play, if someone wants to dare us to go to Digital Circus wearing tutu’s and fluffy boots, then we’ll take the challenge!! To be honest, we loved doing it, I’ve (Xom) kept my fluffies! It’s not gonna be the last time we dress up either.
Anyone else want to set us a challenge?”
What is it about Fusion that you love, because you are quite vocal in your passion for playing there aren’t you?
“Obviously we love Fusion for all the support they have given us over the past two years, without this help we wouldn’t be where we are today. But also, on top of this is the massive production effort that goes into each event, the line-ups are always spot on and the sound system and lighting and lasers just make everything complete. And of course the home of Fusion is the awesome Club Ice, could we ask for a better venue to call home.
Also and possibly the most important thing to us is the ‘Fusion Ravers’ who we love lots. Each event you guys make such an awesome atmosphere and are always ready to stomp your hearts out right from the off. You’re the guys we feed off and the more you put into the raving the more we want to put into our sets”.
Do you have set influences, is there anyone out there that inspires you and following on from that, have you had the opportunity to meet said person?
“Influences are hard to say, we try not to be influenced too much, as we really want to maintain our own style, but we have plenty of idols within the Hardcore scene. Playing at Fusion, Raverbaby and HTID has given us the chance to share a DJ booth with people we have looked up to and respected for years. We still get a bit star struck around these legends. Although it’s nice to know these guys as good mates now and I (Xom) didn’t think I’d ever see the day that Mc Knight would bump start my car!”
Where do you most want to play that you have not already and who with?
“(Xom) There’s nobody I’d want to mix with more than Optimus Prime and Mc UV, we feed off each other when we play and have a true laugh together, I’d love to play at a truly mammoth hardcore event, something like the good old days of Fusion at Wembley Arena!! But, to us any event is just as important, we just love playing hardcore to ravers and seeing the reaction we get. It’s the smiling faces and furious stomping from the ravers that keeps us going!”
Xom, you have quite an obsession with pies don’t you, what’s that about?
“Yeah I do. I love pie almost as much as I love Hardcore! It’s like my fuel cells, without pie I would probably stop functioning completely. Fortunately I have Hardcore in my life, so any time there is a shortage of pies I can always rely on the Hardcore to pick me up once again.
I know there are some other big boys in the Hardcore scene that love pie too. If you’re reading this, I challenge you to a pie eating competition!!! ‘Xom The Ultimate Pie-Man’ will beat you!!!”
Project Bosh will be playing in the main Fusion and THC arena at Fusion - Phase 3 this Friday 24th November at Club Ice in Westbury, Wiltshire and are residents at the event. You can still get tickets HERE or have a look through the event line-up HERE. You can hear their regular radio show on www.ravers-united.co.uk.
Interview By Jon Brown