Home News What's On Annual Poll Photos Forums DJs Features Music Venues Reviews Links

Features Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022!

Inside Frantic: Interview with Will Paterson Reported by Dickon Laws / Submitted 24-02-03 17:48 Love it or hate it Uprising Clubs Ltd brand Frantic is without a doubt one of the most successful and prominent underground promotions of our time. To take a private party from the smallest of Venues in London's China town to repeatedly selling out Brixton Academy is a feat few can claim to have achieved. The drive and determination required coupled with the professionalism of managing a major event is the envy of any fledgling promotion and event management firm. Yet one man can stand up and be counted as a true pioneer of what is the modern day underground promotion. The title 'Managing Director' conjures up an image of a pin striped, suited and booted corporate monster stopping at nothing to fulfil his firms potential. Thankfully a camouflage clad Will Paterson fulfils little of the above stereotype with the exception of the latter. In this role he is second to none. As well as his unflinching requirement for excellence he remains as down-to-earth and dedicated to the scene as the massed hoards of Frantic followers that stream to various London Venues month in, month out. In a rare interview the head honcho of Uprising Clubs Ltd, the firm behind Frantic events such as Timeless, Chemistry, Hemisphere, Unity, Convergence, Hard House Academy and Mainframe, gives us an insight into his Frantic world: Dickon Laws: Over all the events you have promoted over the years, which has been the most memorable? Will Paterson: The most memorable event I've promoted would be the first Camden Palace event almost 4 years ago in April 1999. Id been trying to hire Camden Palace for nearly a year, but the venue was heavily in demand for the House and Garage scene and it was impossible to get a date. Finally I was given a date and went to work with a passion. Up until this time we has been getting 2-3000 people every month at Bagleys and the Rocket with little or no flyering and no ads. Almost all of the audience came by word of mouth and we had only just begun to book National DJ's like Steve Thomas and Pete Wardman. The core appeal of our event lay with our residents Phil Reynolds and Spencer Freeland to the extent that they would often play 2 sets at every event! We promoted the Camden event for 6-8 weeks and by the day before the event we had sold 1000 presales, which was unheard of at the time when there was no or little advance ticket culture. In addition we had over 500 on a paying and free Guest list. I remember being very nervous about whether we would sell out and whether the night would work. On the night I arrived at the venue at 7pm for a 9pm start to see a huge Q down the side of the venue. By the time we opened the doors at 9pm the Q went completely around the Block and in the end we had over 2000 punters and turned away over a 1000 people! The night itself had its problems as all first nights at a new venue do as clubbers got to grips with the layout of the venue, but it was certainly some feeling looking out over the dance floor at 6am! DL: Which of the event 'brands' do you most enjoy promoting and why? WP: I love promoting all the brands we run, but my personal favourite is Convergence. As a Hard Dance fan I like the range from Funky Hard House to the dirty tech stuff, but my greatest passion is for the stuff on the dark side! Convergence is all about promoting the harder, more progressive sounds championed by BK and Andy Farley and its an amazing feeling to get 1500 people to an event that is advertised as being about this more underground type of Had Dance. Its unbeatable to stand on the dance floor at The Fridge and see hundreds of hands go into the air as the kick drums crash in! DL: Frantic records have had a number of top quality releases to date. With the assistance of Andy Farley and Ed Real what are the immediate plans for the label? WP: Andy, Ed and Peter Pritchard who runs Nukleuz Records are currently sourcing a range of new tracks for release later this year. We are planning a number of new and innovative Andy Farley releases and many more besides. The focus of the label will remain underground Hard Dance with an emphasis on the tougher rather than trancier side of our genre. DL: You have a very close relationship with the Nukleuz team to the extent that you now share premises in south London. For obvious reasons this is a very mutually beneficial alliance for both parties. Can you tell us a bit more about how this came about? WP: Frantic and Nukleuz have been in partnership for over 3 years. Ed Real and Peter Pritchard approached me to be involved in managing the Nukleuz brand in clubs and then the idea of managing Nukleuz artists came about and its just grown from there. When we started there had only been 2 Nukleuz events in clubs and BK, Ed and Nick Sentience had just begin to play in Hard Dance clubs. Andy Farley had just played his first ever gig in London and was still very much a Midlands DJ. However with a lot of teamwork and lots of creativity from all the artists and everyone at Nukleuz we have managed to make Nukleuz one of the biggest brands in the UK and internationally and Andy, Ben, Nick and the others on the Nukleuz Agency have become recognised as vital elements of our ever growing, ever changing Hard Dance scene. DL: The Frantic brand now reaches as far as Japan and Australia. Do the countries respective promoters have total creative freedom or do they stick to a template with the final word coming from you? WP: My promoters in Japan and Australia do have considerable creative freedom to plan Frantic for their respective territories. However the foundation remains the London club and at its core the artists that we love and support such as Phil Reynolds, BK and Andy Farley. Each of the artists takes our sound to our monthly events in Tokyo and regular events in Sydney and Melbourne. We are also in the process of planning Frantic events in Auckland, Christchurch and Adelaide. DL: The sheer volume of events Frantic promotes seems from the outside as a logistical nightmare. How do you prevent the logistical borders of each event from blurring into each other especially when you hold several events in a row? WP: We keep each event that we do distinct by clearly marketing each event with a different theme. As its foundation we have 6-7 clubs that each has a different philosophy. For example Timeless is our classics and anthems night, Hard House Academy is the biggest Hard Dance event in the UK and Chemistry is our Payback night. Each edition of these clubs has a separate theme. For example the next Chemistry on March 22nd is called 'Futureworld' as its about giving 4 young, but very talented, DJ's a chance in the massive Main Room at Camden Palace with 4 of our regular, award winning DJs like BK and Phil Reynolds. By doing this we provide nights for the range of constituencies that populate our growing Hard Dance scene, rather than get ghettoised into just promoting one type of Hard Dance at one venue. Instead we use at least 5 venues across London, which each give the clubber a different experience and we feel the maximum amount of fun that they can have on a Saturday night! DL: Can you give us an insight into your movements on the day leading up to a major event such as Hard House Academy or Mainframe? WP: On the day of Hard House Academy my business partner Thibaud and I take on different roles. Thibaud is the Production manager. He will arrive at Brixton Academy at 11am and stay right through the day and the night. During the day he will oversee the arrival of the 5 different production companies that we use to create the experience that is Hard House Academy. Brixton Academy is known as a 'dry hire’, which means it’s an empty shell until we bring in Sound, Lights, Lasers and Decor. This is a huge process that begins 3-4 months before the show. Thibaud meets with the different companies and designs a show for the event and then on the day ensures that everything is in its place! I take responsibility for everything else. This includes liasing and answering any questions from the artists, dealing with any enquiries about door sales and working with Robyn to ensure that we have everything we need like posters etc to open the event. I arrive at the Academy at 5pm for Sound checks and to inspect the lighting etc. I then stay right through the night and run the Door with Thibaud and carry out regular inspections of each room once the event is open. DL: It's rumoured that you're not planning any further Mainframe collaborations with Storm & Nukleuz. Can you confirm or deny these rumours and if so why? WP: We are not currently planning any Mainframe events, as we are very busy with our London events and with our Hardware events with Cream. However never say never! Its something we would like to come back to and I’m sure Storm feel the same. DL: Your collaborations with other promoters such as Sundissential, Good Greef & Tidy Trax seem to be becoming more and more frequent. Is this arrangement planed to be reciprocated in their respective northern venues or it is a solely London based concept? WP: We do events with Sundissential in London every 2-3 months. We have a lot of respect and admiration for Sundissential and feel that London needs a dose of their Northern magic! What’s good about the arrangement is that by and large we are quite different clubs. While understandably we share some of the same DJ's the look and feel and indeed crowd at both events is far from the same. We do events with Sundissential in Leeds 2-3 times a year and we do events with them in Brum a few times as well. Every event is always a great deal of fun and we are always on the look out for opportunities to do more things together. DL: Frantic in the past has been criticised for its repetitive DJ format but more recently we've seen a much broader range of DJ's on the bill. Was this in direct response to those critics or just a planned move toward showcasing a broad range of performers such as Rob Tissera & the Tidy Girls/Boys? WP: We have changed our DJ Line Up considerably over the last year. This is in response to many factors rather than any direct response to criticisms. On a positive note Thibaud and I have come across a number of DJ's whose overwhelming talent earned them an immediate booking at Frantic. These DJ's come at different stages of their careers. DJ's like Rob Tissera, that already have a national reputation, were so impressive that we felt London deserved to see more of them! Other DJ's like Lee Haslam and Paul Glazby were starting to play in London, but we felt we could offer them a regular platform for their inimitable talents. Lastly we were thrilled to find young DJ's like Guffy who like us liked a range of Dance music and put this knowledge into the way in which they played Hard Dance. More than that we felt that the scene needed new stars if it was to grow and develop, so we have looked far and wide for the next generation of DJ's and now play over 40 different DJ's at our events and we are still looking for more. DL: There has been some mention that one of your pioneering resident DJ's, Phil Reynolds, has plans to move back to his native Australia in the future. Can you shed some light on this? And if so is the emerging talent of James Lawson being lined up to fill the clearly colossal gap that must appear with his departure from the Frantic UK line ups? WP: Phil Reynolds does not intend to move to Australia in the next couple of years. In the future it’s a choice for him as his wife and fellow DJ Tara Reynolds is Australian, but he is concentrating on developing and improving his DJing career as his No1 Priority! In the next few weeks alone Phil is headlining Convergence, Frantic and playing alongside Moby at a huge festival in Hong Kong and playing at Dance Valley's massive Impulz event and touring Australia and New Zealand!! James Lawson is the new Nukleuz Boy Wonder. He has recently been taken on by Peter Pritchard to work for Nukleuz full time and already has tracks due for release with Tom Harding, Phil Reynolds and Steve Hill and last but far, far from least an imminent collaboration with the mighty BK! He is also traversing the globe in the coming weeks with his own tour of Australia and New Zealand with Tom Harding, Ireland and Japan and his debut at the Tidy Weekender and Main Room gigs with Frantic! DL: The Camden Palace has for a long period been your flag ship venue but recent months have seen more and more Frantic promoted events being held @ venues such as the Fridge, Shepherds Bush Empire and in future months the Ministry of Sound. Is there any particular reason for this? WP: Frantic absolutely love Camden Palace and in recent months we have helped install a big and booming new sound system in the Main Room and new sound upstairs. For us it remains the best venue in the UK, but as with everything we do we want to keep our clubs as fresh and innovative as we can. With this in mind we were thrilled to obtain more dates at our second home, the Fridge, which like Camden has the unbeatable atmosphere of a huge Main Room and wicked, wicked lights! Alongside our thrice yearly trip to the biggest venue in London, Brixton Academy, we have also started to do events at the Empire and Ministry of Sound. The Empire is a wonderful place to hold a club. It’s recently been totally renovated and has everything from red velvet seating to gold leaf paintwork and its own Pub! At 1300 capacity it allows a more intimate experience for our clubbers and again gives them something different and fresh! We are doing some dates at Ministry this year! We have been in talks with them on and off for 2 years but could never agree the deal we wanted. Finally everything is go and we are very proud to announce our first event there on Easter Sunday April 20th featuring the World Exclusive Sound clash between the 2 biggest producers in Hard Dance BK and Paul Glazby, 25 other DJ's and our Funky House room, Funkaholic! DL: What are you long term plans for the Frantic brand? WP: The long term plans for the Frantic brand are to continue to provide the finest all night entertainment in the land. We are always looking to update and renovate our approach to account for developments and improvements to the Worldwide Hard Dance scene and indeed general clubbing culture and most of all keep bringing our love of dance music to others! Fundamentally this will involve supporting our favourite new and award winning DJ's and using what we believe are the most exciting venues while keeping the ticket prices at the lowest possible. With thanks to Will for his time. The next Frantic event is Frantic vs Sundissential at the Camden Palace on the 28th February - for full details click here. Relevant Links www.franticuk.com www.nukleuz.com With thanks to Monkey, Sim Pat and Tom for the use of their photos Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: Other Features By Dickon Laws: Extreme Euphoria preview: Interview with Jay Pidgeon Strange things happen when you DOUBLE DROP for the first time - The Innovate Interview! Hard House Academy (HHA): The Preview Interview with Steve Hill Interview with the Energy UK Djs The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable. Comments: From: DJ Cdw on 25th Feb 2003 11:41.22 Top man! I support the best night in London (Frantic) all the way! Chris. From: DJANDYSIMPSON on 25th Feb 2003 16:01.01 Keep up the good work Will. Andy (",) From: NLB on 27th Feb 2003 00:24.14 Interesting reading... good interview, great pics. From: Hooverboy on 27th Feb 2003 13:35.22 Frantic - You gotta love it! From: Camden Nurse on 27th Feb 2003 16:09.06 Agree with Adam, interesting to read. Good to get some feed back and insight into the brains behind Frantic... From: sebastian on 27th Feb 2003 16:10.36 we all have to admit that frantic is the best, will and your team keep it up because you all are the best!! From: Lashed-Up on 28th Feb 2003 11:53.15 Biggin it up to "THE" Frantic Crew. To the camouflage clad Will Paterson : You're are a star, I'm glad to be associated with Frantic; paving and setting trends, so that other clubs can follow!! - what more can I say, I'm "Hooked"!! - Another MainFrame event would be good, I still remember MainFrame (Last year), as if it was yesterday!! LONG LIVE FRANTIC!!!!! James Lawson: Congrats on the promo, I'm looking forward to hearing your new tracks with Steve Hill & the masterful BK, don't worry about living up to Phil; you have already, as far as I am concerned, surpassed the Phil-meister!!! Peace, Love & Respect! Lashed xx From: little Em on 3rd Mar 2003 12:10.25 i went to the first ever Frantic in China Town, i remember it so clearly, hot, sweaty and pummping. Phil on the decks, going HARD and i mean HARD!! It was great :-) I also had the chance to help Will and Spencer with Frantic for a few years, and i want to say "Boys i had a ball" Your club is an insperation to many people out there, including me, and you have become HUGE!!! You have worked hard over the last 5 years and i wish i could be behind you and "Pat you on the back" Who would have thought, that night in China Town could have led you so far. Keep up the fantastic work Frantic Crew, i love you and will support you for forever........ Little Emma (The Old Crew) xxxx From: Virus on 27th Mar 2003 22:50.01 i do love frantic to but what happened to the spikey balls

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. All other content is (c) 2001-2024 HarderFaster.

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Statement | Text Mode