This Saturday sees another thrilling installment of Peach Goes Hard at King's Cross' very nice indeed Scala. The past two months have seen two fantastically enjoyable Peach events rock the club to its foundations, with 3 rooms of hard house, trance, and house and breaks keeping everyone happy. This month sees a return to Peach showcasing 100% upfront material across all three arenas, with a very intriguing line-up of established names and exciting emerging talent from across the country. Two of these bright young hopes are Little Gem and Zana Mills - two hard dance DJs who have been destroying the capital's dancefloors repeatedly over the past few years.
Little Gem is a co-promoter and resident DJ for Wildchild - one of the great UK club brand success stories of recent years, bringing trance back to the forefront of the club scene with very impressive results, and not forgetting, of course, the incorporation of all strains of hard dance, hardcore, house and breaks into their multi-arena events. Gem is a DJ who appreciates a wide cross-section of dance music, and her eclectic DJing style covers techno, hard house, hard trance, and the more traditional side of trance. London needs more versatile DJs like her.
Zana Mills has been one of the worthiest New Zealand exports to London in recent times, brandishing her fearless style of funky and brutal techno at every opportunity. She has guested at numerous smaller promotions across the capital, as well as having rocked some of London's most notorious big rooms. She continues to impress clubbers on a regular basis, and her fan base is growing all the time. Making the trek over to the UK as so many Antipodeans do would have to have been one of the best decisions of her life, and her addition to London's hard dance DJ roster should be noted and appreciated by all lovers of the funkier side of hard music.
Hiya Gals! Right we’re going to do this as two separate mini interviews, so Gem, you’re first....
Gem
Where were you born, and where do you live now? How did you get into dance music when you were younger?
Right OK… I was born in Dartford, Kent and live in a place called New Ash Green - it’s near Brands Hatch (where they race cars/bikes!) and is very nice! I got involved in dance music as I started going clubbing more and more. I decided that the DJ life was for me and haven’t looked back since!
You are a resident DJ and a big cheese at Wildchild, one of the country’s foremost dance music promotions. How did you get involved with the affable rogue that is Reece Elliot and Wildchild?
Oh yeah! I’m one of the ‘Head Honchos’ down at Wildchild Towers and kick some serious butt! Only joking! It’s myself, Reece and Richard that form the make-up of Wildchild. It’s been a rollacoaster ride since launching but it’s all been worth it. We’ve all been friends a long time now, but nothing they do ever ceases to amaze me!
April 2nd sees you play a special back to back set with the fantastic Zana Mills for Peach Goes Hard at The Scala. What do you know about the lovely lady herself? Have you ‘played’ with her before? *snigger*
I’ve never had the pleasure of ‘playing’ with Zana before, but I’ve heard loads of good reports, so I’m really looking forward to going B2B with her on Saturday. I’m sure we’ll rock the wheels of steel over a couple of glasses of wine!
How do you feel about the recent resurrection of Peach? Do you think that the events have been a success? Do you think it would be crass to attempt to create a replica of the old events at Camden Palace?
To be honest, I think the resurrection of Peach is great. I’ve never been one of those annoying people that say something’s ‘not like it used to be’, so in my opinion it’s fantastic to give something a new lease of life. And why not Peach? Go for it I reckon!
What are the biggest tunes in your box at the mo which we might be treated to at Peach?
My biggest tunes at the moment have to be… Vinylgroover & The Red Head, ‘Almost Human’; Marc Johnson & Dave Holmes, ‘Respect’ (James Lawson Mix); and Matt Williams & Phil Reynolds, ‘The Shout’. But the one that’s really doing it for me would have to be Dark By Design and Sol Ray’s mix of Dave Joy ‘First Impression’ – a quality record the first time round, and a remix that definitely does it justice this time round!
And finally, what are you main aims in life?
My main aims in life, hmm, let me think… it would obviously have to be to be able to take my Djing career as far as it could possibly go, to take Wildchild as far as it could go, to be a kind and caring person, to be happy and to always look after my family. Yep, I think that sums it up!
Zana Mills
Hi Zana! Where are you from, when did you come to our fair country, why, and where did you live at first?
Hiya, I’m from Auckland, New Zealand and have been here 7 years now. I moved to London to experience new things and to see what was going in the world, I guess it is something that a lot of Antipodeans do at some point in their life. I am lucky enough to have family here so I was able to stay with them when I arrived; living in Hackney was definitely a bit of a shock after living by the beach in Hibiscus Coast though.
How easily did you manage to find a job, integrate into society etc. over here?
Fitting into London wasn’t too hard; my sister was over here before me so she helped me with a lot of things, including where to go and how to bloody get there. Man that tube map is confusing when you first arrive. She also introduced me to clubbing so I owe a lot to her.
What style do you play, and who has influenced and helped form the sound that you mix?
This past year my style has really changed and moved towards the funky-techno side of things, I love the sexiness and grooviness of the big bass lines. Andy Farley’s new productions and his event Blue at Turnmills really made an impression on me and since then it’s just been all about searching the net to build a collection of my own style.
Were you DJing before you came to England? How long for? And is the culture of the ‘bedroom DJ’ as big back home as it is over here?
I didn’t get into the whole clubbing culture until I came to London, I was only 18 when I arrived here so I was unable to ‘legally’ go clubbing back home. I’ve been back to play in NZ a few times though and the clubbing scene out there is very friendly and up for it. I don’t think the bedroom DJ culture is quite as large mainly due to the DJ equipment being so expensive but there is a great bunch of young local DJs out there so it must be surviving somehow.
You are appearing at Peach Goes Hard on April 2nd at The Scala with Little Gem from Wildchild. What have you two minxes got lined up for us?
I’m really looking forward to this event as I haven’t had the chance to play b2b with Little Gem before; however I’m not going to ruin any of our surprises! You’ll have to come and see us play to find out!
In the past year The Scala has thankfully once again been offered as a club venue as well as hosting gigs, and we’ve seen some great parties at this great venue. Are there any other clubs in London which you feel are underused?
When I first arrived Fevah used to have events at The Astoria in Central London for their Bank Holiday specials, I had several fantastic nights there and it’s a pity it no longer gets used.
If there was one thing you could change about clubbing in London, what would it be?
Definitely the drink prices!
With thanks to PInk Kitty, Frantic and Zana for the pics
First 100 Tickets only £5 +BF
Saver Tickets £12 +BF
Standard tickets £15 +BF
For More info check www.kiss100.com/clubs or email peach@kiss100.com R.O.A.R
Ticket Outlets / More Info:
It’s that time again! Peach Goes Hard is thrilled to present a scintillating selection of the UK's NuStars! The Main Room is packed with some of the most exciting new names in the ever growing Hard House and Trance Scene. Each and every one of the DJs in this room lives for the music and boy will you be impressed as they push the Turbosound Soundsystem to its very limits!
This is the Last Peach Event until June! Miss this and miss out!
Flyer:
Region:
London
Music:
Trance. Hard Trance. House. Deep House. Hard House. US House. Vocal House. Breaks.
From: benzon 30th Mar 2005 23:28.18 Gem' and julez's warm up at HHA foyer was great- nice chunky techno bizness! and Zana and Donna smacked it at Toxik, so this should be a good un
go girls!
From: Stevi Don 31st Mar 2005 11:43.50 Choice Zana, nice work babe! Couldnt agree more with the drink prices though - ridiculous!!!!! Top stuff
From: Less is Baton 31st Mar 2005 12:12.04 Nice interview benz, particularly like 'very nice indeed scala' Brill!
GO ON GIRLS! Respect to the female industry massive!
From: Richard Launchon 31st Mar 2005 19:29.54 Go on the MILLS...!
From: little gemon 1st Apr 2005 00:48.40 i just can't wait til saturday!
From: Reece Ellioton 1st Apr 2005 14:00.38 go gem, you rock!
From: chrishawkeson 1st Apr 2005 16:34.51 go for it Gem!
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Brill!