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Features
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| Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - 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! |
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An Introduction to Innovate: Interview & Review
Reported by Richard Launch
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Submitted 04-10-04 12:50
Inspire – Create – Innovate. That is the slogan for London’s newest club night that we have the pleasure of experiencing. In this day and age every person with a set of decks and some friends that can mix are putting on parties all over the city, but this is not any old half-hatched bosh fest. After three pioneering parties at London’s premier venue, The Fridge, it has become apparent the Innovate Team mean business. With the backing of DJ agency and production company, Most Wanted Global, the team have put together a concoction of clubbing ingredients that will make you very, very excited come Saturday afternoon - even for the most seasoned campaigner.
With Nick Sentience being the sole resident, it certainly means you are in for a treat each month. With his ground breaking album release this year and the forward thinking attitude to his Live PA sets, the humble clubber will be set upon by an aural onslaught that only Nick can produce. Featuring already in the first three instalments the likes of Phil Reynolds, BK, Superfast Oz, Ali Wilson, Nu Idol, Matt Williams, Tara Reynolds, Nicki S, Donna Birt and Justin Bourne, just a few of the DJ’s that have helped Sentience graft a sound that is so upfront and fresh that it will have all the tune-spotters running to the booth with a face like a bulldog eating a thistle constantly throughout the night.
Before I review the recent third party, I asked a few questions to Innovate Co-Promoter, Craig Paxton, to gain an insight into the drive and ethos behind what is fast becoming London’s most exciting Hard Dance club and what the future holds for the rest of the year…..
How did you and Trevor McLachlan come to running Innovate and what is your ethos behind the party?
Trevor and I were both working for Most Wanted/Twisted at the time as members of the promotional team when one of the Saturday nights at the Fridge became available. Lee at Most Wanted asked us to provide a new concept and I instantly knew that Trevor was the person that I wanted to work with as we both share the same views on what it is that makes a great party. Not only do we have one of the best residents in the business in Nick Sentience but we have also managed to enrol the help of his wife and Quality Trax label manager, Nicki (Nicki S) who's previous experiences with Endorphin and within the scene as a whole, have been instrumental in helping create what it is that we are trying to achieve. The whole crew is 100% committed to providing a musical experience for the people who walk through the doors of the Fridge. From the programming of the DJ's on the night, to the production and the crew that we have working for us, we all know that the smallest things can make the biggest difference to a clubbers night.
Inspire – Create – Innovate. What made you come up with this slogan and how does it reflect on the party itself?
I wish that I could take credit for that but I can't. The person responsible for the slogan is none other than HF'ers own Sharon B (ShazzaBazza). As with everything in life you have to give credit where credit is due and that was certainly an inspired choice by Sharon. The slogan itself is a direct reflection of what we are trying to achieve with the promotion. The Headlining DJ's/Live Acts that we book are Innovators of our scene who Create and play their own music and hopefully in turn are responsible for Inspiring other people to push their boundaries and explore their own limitations both as producers and as DJ's. We hope that when people come to the Innovate parties, whether they are DJ's, Producers, or most importantly of all, Clubbers, they will leave feeling as though they have experienced something new.
The Innovate Team prides itself on well thought out line-ups that are full the scene’s top ranking DJ’s and production dons, why do you think this is important and how does it differ to other promotions in London?
Trev, Nick, Nicki and I tend to book DJ's/Producers and play them in the slots that would be appropriate for the style of music that they play or produce. Quite a lot of the time we tend to find that DJ's are playing at times which don't necessarily give them the freedom to be able to fully express themselves as artists. By playing them at a time which we feel will best suit their musical tastes we hope to give them a platform to deliver a set in a relaxed environment where they don't feel under pressure to provide something different from what they normally play. Although in saying that, if we get a specific request from a DJ that they want to try and do something a bit different from the norm, we'll do our best to accommodate that as well. In doing this we hope to get the best out of every DJ who plays for us and we have had some very good feed-back from many of the DJ's who we have been lucky to have played for us so far. We don't really feel that what we are doing is vastly different to anyone else, we are just placing more emphasis on what we believe are the important contributing factors towards having a successful night. If every promotion was the same it would be a very dull scene for the clubbers.
The Fridge is Innovates home and one of London’s most loved venues, how important is it to have a venue that clubbers can feel drawn to?
Innovate are very lucky to have been given the opportunity to call the Fridge our home. The enduring reputation of the venue gives any promotion lucky enough to be there a great head start. There is such a wealth of history behind the place and with the arrival of the new owners at the start of the year, it looks as though it is going to have a very bright future. They have spent a lot of time and money on bringing the venue bang up to date, in terms of sound, lighting and the vastly improved interior, and all of this can only help to improve the over all customer experience. From the moment you walk through the door into the venue you can sense that you're going to have a good night in a clean, safe, well prepared environment.
The first three parties have seen a very high standard of lighting, visuals and pyrotechnics being unleashed on the crowd, what exactly do you have going on during the night?
Lighting and production are a few of the many areas that we focus on intently before the event as we feel that this can make a vast difference towards the feel of the night. The "old" Fridge was widely renowned for having one of the most impressive lighting rigs in the London club scene and with that in mind we set about trying to maintain and exceed that same level of lighting for our events. Terry from Visual Reality is the one person that we felt we could really rely on to deliver what it is that we wanted as he has such a wealth of experience working within the music industry and his track-record really speaks for itself. Before each event we talk to Terry about what it is that we have in store for the evening, which Live Act will be performing, any ideas that we might want to incorporate and then Terry designs a specific stage-set and live lighting show based upon the information that we have given him. As Terry really is the expert in this area, much like we do with the DJ's, we give him carte blanche to be as creative as he wants and to try any new things that he might have in mind. So far we have had some pretty amazing stage shows and that really is all down to Terry and the Visual Reality crew.
Nick Sentience is your resident and one of the scene’s pioneers, what made you choose Nick for a residency over other DJ / Producers?
It was no contest really. Nick has been at the fore-front of the Hard Dance scene for many, many years now and his experience, vision, input and skills are very much valued by the Innovate Team. If there is one producer out there within this scene who you could say was consistently responsible for breaking new ground and pushing the boundaries with his music, there would only truly be one answer. His recent album "Universal Language" is a brilliant example of this. Nick is very influential in helping us decide on the flow and direction of the night and where Nick is involved, you can guarantee that there will be Quality. We work very closely with him and Nicki to ensure that we maintain the highest possible standards for every aspect of the promotion and having someone of his stature involved makes sure that we stay on our toes. It's fantastic to have a resident who is as focused and determined on the success of the night as Nick is.
You have included a ‘Future Funk’ arena for the second room at the Fridge, what was your thinking behind this and how do you think it lends itself to what is going on in the main room?
With the Future Funk room we wanted to provide a good alternative to what is going on in the main arena and also to provide people with options. The music is a bit more down-beat, but still with a good groove and that all important "dance factor". Funky house with it's chunky bass-lines and ass shaking grooves is the perfect way for people to take 15 minutes out to recuperate from all that hectic dancing in the main room, re-charge their batteries and get stuck back into the action again. More and more now we are finding that people will spend larger portions of their nights in the Future Funk arena as the music really is that good they just can't pull themselves away.
Finally, the standard of the first three parties has been exceptional, what do you have in store for the coming months?
We're still a very young party so we'll be looking to establish ourselves firmly on the London clubbing map over the next 6 to 9 months by maintaining the standards that we have set for ourselves so far. We'll still be going all out on production and as always, placing major emphasis on the musical progression of the night. I can't say too much yet, but at the start of the year we'll be introducing a few changes that should prove to be very exciting. Also, over the next 6 months we have some Live PA's never before seen in London, a few of which will be making their Live debuts exclusively for Innovate. November - we'll be hosting the "Captain Tinrib gets Vicious Tour" and for our December Xmas party we're going to have one of the biggest Hard Dance line-ups that the Fridge has ever seen. Watch this space…..Firstly, on the 16th of October we have the great pleasure of hosting the Quality Trax showcase for the release of Double Drop's ‘Imaginate’ on our resident Nick Sentience's label. With an absolutely storming line-up featuring Nick Sentience, Phil Reynolds, James Lawson, Paul Glazby, Nicki S and our very own Trevor McLachlan. If that doesn't get your musical taste-buds tingling then you need some serious help.
Now to the review of the recent party on the 16th of September.
First up we had the pleasure of Del Walsh playing his debut main room set and I can’t think of a better way than at the new Fridge. No doubt some of you have not heard of Del before, but I can safely say he is one of the better DJ’s coming through the ranks at the moment. Already appearing at Tilt, Hardware and holding his own radio show (‘Paramount’ on www.wwfm.co.uk, Saturday mornings 4-6am) it is a shame promoters haven’t already swooped in for the bookings so we can see him out more. Playing a fantastic blend of uplifting trance and hard trance, Del opened with a great warm-up set to the delight of the eager clubbers already inside as they danced to Todd Tobias’s ‘Under One’, Expander by Marc Dawn, BK and Christopher Lawrence’s ‘Warp’, K6 (a Ferry Corsten ‘Punk’ bootleg) and the priceless Adagio For Strings among others.
Donna Birt has had an amazing year so far for 2004. Pushing the chunky groovy techno led hard dance sound has seen her play in far corners of the globe and gain residencies in the US and Australia, plus with an up coming appearance in India her profile is ever growing. Donna delivered a second set full of tracks that we are accustomed to hear her play such the Edison Factor mix of Beautiful, Loops ‘n’ Tings and the sublime instru(MENTAL). These perfectly complimented the upfront material that Donna has access to - Guffy and Greg Brookman’s ‘Bring The Funk’, Alex Calver’s ‘Whip Damage’ and the magnificent creation of On A Roll by Nick Sentience and James Lawson, certainly set the tone for the rest of the night. Not a still arse in the place!
As I was having such a blast in the main room I hardly ventured into the Future Funk arena all night and in fact I only went in to catch a little of Paul Henry’s set. Paul has been playing great house sets lately and his set in the Groove Factory room at SEOne was hugely received. Purveying a tough edge to his house, Paul had the funksters in the Ice Box grooving in no time at all with tunes such as the Dub mix of Get Away by Mauve and a wicked little chunky number called In The Beginning by Hool and Bruckheimer (Mark Knight Mix).
Ali Wilson was next up in the Fridge booth and it also just happened to be his birthday too. Happy Birthday Ali! A Mixmag Future Hero and production guru, Ali has been on fire of late with appearances at Tilt, Twist, in Ibiza with Heat as well as Wildchild. He continued with the theme of techy hard dance and played the top new OD404 mix of Testube Babies ‘Jungle Style’, his remix of Mayhem in Miami, some new collaborations with Marc French and Matt Williams, huge party music in Carl Cox’s remix of Cohen vs Deluxe ‘Just Kick’ (listen out for the “It Just Won’t Do” lyrics..!) and finishing up with the timeless Ascension.
After Ali’s set finished in silence the crowd looked to the stage and saw Nick Sentience take the helm behind his PA equipment. Having seen a few of Nick’s live performances before, I can safely say that this was his finest performance to date. BANG! and the pyrotechnics are let off and 4 huge screens positioned around him burst into life with Nick bringing in a moody breakbeat intro. All throughout the set Nick was sampling vocals, adding in cymbal crashes and adding breakbeat to breakdowns of normal tracks which all led to an aural ambush of the highest proportions. If you missed this PA, I highly recommend you see one in the near future. With tracks such as his new remix of Dave Holmes’ classic Samsara, his remix of Hostile and Never Lost His Hardcore as well as old favourites Discotech and the BK and Sentience mix of Injected With A Poison – I was blown away with what he was doing. Coming close to the finale I went and stood on the dancefloor to see if the crowd were taking it all in and all I saw was arms and legs flying about the place. Then crashing in over the massive Fridge speaker-stack was the first few bars of Afrotekno – possibly one of the most intelligent tracks produced this year. As the breakdown shot everyone through the roof I noticed the speed getting faster and faster and as the tune finished Nick added a twisted drum-roll finale to a roar of appreciation from those on the dance floor. If all that wasn’t enough, dancers, fire twirlers and a new edition of a break dancer where all on stage at various times throughout the set to provide additional visual entertainment for the crowd that certainly made for one of the most enjoyable sets I have experienced this year.
With a move up to northern England and signed to Tidy, Tara Reynolds has been one of the busiest DJ’s in the country and with sets all over the UK and abroad booked for the rest of the year, she has certainly cemented her place at the forefront of Hard Dance. As expected her merciless big room hard house sound was just the thing to bring us into the home straight after Nick’s blinding PA. Tunes such as her own Mercy, Tim Priestley and Little Jon’s ‘Rock The Beat’, Turn Up That Stereo by Nick Denton and Paul King, Ali Wilson’s ‘Wolf’ and the epic Propaganda 303 provides a flavour of what Tara served up to the Innovate crowd.
Having missed his recent 7 Hour marathon set at Twist and not hearing him play in a while I was seriously looking forward to seeing Ian M on the decks. Ian is one of my favourite DJ’s who combines an out-of-this-world ability to mix with a tune selection to die for. However, he was unfortunately caught in traffic and was running late. Tara continued to play till 6am until Nick Sentience took hold of the reigns for a last hour DJ set. And I wasn’t disappointed at all. Nick played a cracking set that was so into the future it almost turned into Michael J Fox on a hoverboard. Chunky fat bassline energy stompers kept flying out of the bag and I only recognised his new remix of Nick Rowland’s ‘Laws of Progress’ coming out on Heat soon from a whole set.
So at 7am as I was filing out of The Fridge I reflected on what had been an amazing night of high class production, forefront beats and fun (mainly due to balloons). I am certain in the current state of play that Innovate is destined for success. Make sure you experience it for yourselves first-hand…!
Thanks to Craig for the Interview & Joey for the amazing photos...!
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Other Features By Richard Launch:
A DJ's guide to the WARM-UP SET.
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.
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Comments:
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From: Gordon Darley on 4th Oct 2004 15:18.09
Great stuff Rich!! Really informative, interesting, and well written  Really makes me want to make it down to the next one.
From: Paul Henry on 4th Oct 2004 18:55.38
Nice review and interview Tinks, I think you summed up the night perfectly! Great answers to your questions too, Craig and Trevor are definitely going far with this promotion!
Innovate is an awesome party and I can't recommend it enough! Go, you will not be disappointed!
From: Carine on 4th Oct 2004 19:36.24
Great interview Richard.
Can't wait for the next Innovate, the most innovative party in town and run by a very passionate team.
From: Duracell Bunny on 4th Oct 2004 20:53.36
Unfortunately missed the last one! But with such a great promtional team, this will always be quality!!!
From: Stevi D on 5th Oct 2004 09:34.41
Nice work boyz, looks very promising and delivering from
every angel, which every club needs to do! And thats why this event will continue to stand out from the rest!!!!!!!
From: Mike Devine on 5th Oct 2004 15:17.49
Nice interview and wicked pics..Innovate is a promotion to watch out for. Keep it up Craig, Trev and the Innovate team..
From: KillaBee on 5th Oct 2004 18:17.45
Great review Rich, also BIG thanx to Craig, Trev, Tina 'n all INNOvolved - excellent night guys!! Nuff respect to Del Walsh on his debut, we need to see more of him...for sure! Another great set from Paul Henry, thanx big guy! Keep up the good work, much appreciated.
From: Lucy Fur on 5th Oct 2004 19:16.35
wow!
From: Red5 on 5th Oct 2004 20:31.19
"so into the future it almost turned into Michael J Fox on a hoverboard" 
Tinks, what a top interview mate, well done
Craig, Trev and the rest of the Innovate crew have been hard at work, and I'm looking forward to see what they have for us in the future. If you haven't been yet, come and see what the fuss is about.
From: Craig Paxton on 6th Oct 2004 10:26.47
Cheers for all the comments guys.  We have some great stuff lined up for the future events so keep your eyes peeled and you never know what you might see.. 
From: Andyking on 6th Oct 2004 13:22.08
Top interview. Can’t wait for the next Innovate.
From: shazzabazza on 6th Oct 2004 13:40.14
I have loved playing Innovate and really believe in this party - definitely a worthy contribution to a growing scene and with Nick Sentience at the helm....well, you can't go wrong there! 
Keep up the excellent work and roll on the next one! 
From: michel_NuwIdol on 6th Oct 2004 20:18.11
Definitely one of the best parties I played at this year! Wicked vibe, forward thinking and passionate crew and a great up for it crowd! Stay wicked!
From: Nikki S on 8th Oct 2004 19:41.38
Wicked review Mr Launch and stunning photos Joey. Definately looking forward to the 16th for Innovate - Double Drop "Imaginate" Launch Party. What a line up!!! OMG!! Sentience, Reynolds, Glazby & Lawson . . all under the one roof . . .on the same night!!! Could it get any better???
Oh yeh . .I'm playing . . .he he. . . I'll be wearing my best underpantz for that!! x ;o)
From: Richard Launch on 9th Oct 2004 11:09.25
Will you be wearing them Superman style Nicki...???
From: Elz on 12th Oct 2004 12:29.46
Wicked interview Tinks.
I've had so much fun at the last 3 parties. Can't wait for Saturday.
From: Donna Birt on 12th Oct 2004 14:18.28
Niiice one to the Innovate Crew + Tinks!
Definitely a wicked party... loads of effort into the production, sound and line-up's. An absolute pleasure to play, see you on Sat! x
From: Bianca on 14th Oct 2004 04:09.33
Innovate was def one of my fav London events, gutted I'll be missing this one!
Nice interview Tinks!
From: anushka007 on 15th Oct 2004 12:25.41
Quality, quality, quality I expect nothing but QUALITY from INNOVATE. I am amazed with the team effort and I can only imagine how much hard work it is to organize amazing night like this. So keep up the good work and just to let you know, us clubbers do appreciate what you are doing.
Very interesting interview, and I am really looking forward till tomorrow
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