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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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We get up close & personal with Madam Zu — preview to SPIN @ Club 414
Reported by Dan Andres
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Submitted 11-01-06 19:33
With gigs spanning across the globe and a countless number of hit singles on her own and other record labels, in my opinion Madam Zu is one of the long time pioneers of the hard dance music scene and I was keen to find out more. Madam Zu began her DJing career in the early 1990s, becoming owner and label manager of Nile Records UK in 2001. In 2004 she formed a new record label with long time friend Chris C, Falcon Music. Falcon Music teamed up with Ben Kaye, going on to release a string of hits on Tidy Trax and Nukleuz Records.
After taking a breather from her record label for the most part of 2005 and having broken all ties with her old distributor, now in 2006 Madam Zu is reenergized, and motivated with fresh ideas to get Nile Records back into the swing of things with a new look and a new music policy for the label.
Nile Records is one of the well known and long time surviving underground dance labels in the record business, how and when did taking over the label take place?
Hi Dan, well I took over running Nile Records in 2001, previous to this I was helping run the label with Chris C who owned it at that time. Taking over the label was actually a birthday present from Chris C, it was quite daunting for me to take over Nile at the time as the label had released a few tunes that had kicked off and made a name for the label. Looking back 5 years now, I’m glad I took on the challenge.
It’s been over a year now since I last meet you at your first gig out in Melbourne, Australia @ BPM in bct 2004, how have you been keeping yourself busy?
Yes it has been over a year since we met in Melbourne and what a year it has been! I have been keeping busy with a number of local gigs here in Cornwall playing everything from 90s old skool to upfront hard dance, drum ‘n bass & breaks — playing a whole range of music has been an inspiration and has motivated me for the coming year and for the work I plan to do in the studio during 2006.
2005 looks like it has been a quiet year for Nile Records & Falcon Music, are there any releases due out soon we can look forward to hearing on either one of these labels?
Yes it has been quiet for both labels and that’s been primarily down to finances and time – this year is looking more promising on both fronts, so I will be aiming to re-launch Nile Records during 2006.
As mentioned before you play various styles of music when you DJ, will we see this reflected in some of your new releases on Nile Records for 2006?
Yes Nile is going to branch out more for the new year and have a more diverse music policy, and will cover everything from breaks, drum & bass, hard dance, hard trance and anything else that I feel is good quality music to put onto the record label.
Digital releases are becoming increasingly popular with dance music; do you foresee Nile heading down the digital path?
Well I was approached last year by DJ Mag as they are moving into the digital market and will be dedicating a section of their web site to digital releases and downloads. I will also be providing a digital music section on my own web site when it’s up and running again later in the year.
A lot of energy goes into running a label, and is very time consuming. What aspect of running your own label do you enjoy the most?
I don’t think I have really had the chance to enjoy running my own label until now, as up until last year I was still under contract with my old distributing company who dictated and restricted the style of music I could release. I’m looking forward to enjoying the freedom I now have with running my own label and being able to see through plans I have made without having anyone else restricting me.
Being able to provide myself and other people with a platform to be artistic on, that’s got to be the best part of having your own label.
Over the years a lot of your work has been done alongside Chris C, will you be collaborating with him again for future releases on Nile for 2006?
Well Chris and I are good friends and still have our Falcon Music project together so will definitely be collaborating with him on my forth coming releases on Nile.
What other artists can we expect to see on Nile releases in the New Year?
I’m not quite sure at the moment, as the launch for the new label is going to include different styles of music, really it’s probably going to be with people I get on with and am friends with, such as a lady called Angel Farringdon who makes a lot of drum & bass and breaks. I will also be signing new and up and coming artists who’s music I enjoy and fits in with the new sound of Nile Records.
At the end of the day Nile Records is a platform for music for everybody to enjoy, it’s not a platform to be selfish on.
Your latest releases have been on Tidy Trax and Nukleuz Records; I would classify these labels as big labels in the scene but they’re more on the commercial side of things. Do you find you have to alter the style of tune that you’re writing for these labels as opposed to writing something to release on your own label?
If I am writing something for my own label, I never have any structure, I write what I'm feeling and what’s happening at the time. When we were writing stuff for Tidy and Nukleuz we had a formula to work with as we had to write something to fit into the releases they were putting out at the time, so Chris and I found it a bit easier to sit down and write something for them, it took some of the stress out of writing a tune.
[b]I hear a lot of your time this year has been taken up, working on a new project, is this music based, tell us more.
Yes this is true and it’s also the prime reason why I haven’t had much time for anything else this year! Myself and a some close friends have started a new business together here in Cornwall – we deal in the buying and selling of very large amounts of catalogue clearance, end of line, etc. goods from the main retailers i.e. Argos, Bid Up TV, Comet etc. and we sell them on eBay, through auction houses, to other traders and at car boot sale etc. We have an amazingly large warehouse (which is crying out for a good old fashioned rave!!) and I have been driving three & half ton trucks and forklifts – it’s been hard work but great fun and you know what they say “a change is as good as a rest!”
Your fan base spans across the globe, but you also have a huge fan base across the UK, and also in London. You play at various parties across the UK but rarely travel into London to make an appearance, your last set here in London was almost a year ago @ Club Supreme in Vauxhall on the 29/01/2005. Your fans are screaming out to hear you play, why don’t we see your name around town more often?
I would love to play in London more but I don’t seem to get asked! That’s why I am so happy that you have booked me for your night at the 414 club in Brixton.
Along with your monthly event Reunion @ The Barn Club in Penzance that you promote, what other gigs do you have lined up for the near future and will we be seeing your name grace any line ups here in London any time soon?
As mentioned before I will be playing my next gig @ SPIN in London at the infamous Club 414 on Friday 20th January 2006.
The Reunion event only ran for the summer and it was fun — I am playing in Bournemouth at the Show bar on January 28th for the launch of an old skool breaks cd that I did for Ensku Records www.enskumusic.com I will be playing breaks & drum ‘n bass that night. I have also been asked to join a Mohawk Records reunion tour 2006 by Chris C which sounds great fun and which of course will be the best in hard dance music! Also I have teamed up with — DJ Kristoff (a local very talented breaks dj) and Mark Sherry from Public Domain (Operation Blade fame) and Jim Shaft Ryan from Miss Money Penny’s — we have been given support (and a banner!) from Allen & Heath, who are based here in Cornwall and are known for making the best mixers in the world — their mixing desks are found in all of the top clubs here in the UK, so we will be basing a tour around the clubs with Allen & Heath mixers which I am really looking forward to.
[b]How does the scene in Penzance compare to London?
Well obviously Penzance has a smaller population than London so the scene is miniscule compared to London, having said that the scene here has been going strong for about 15 years now and has been host to some amazing parties with top name DJs regularly headlining gigs here. I’d say the scene used to be about a year or so behind, but now with the digital music taking off it makes it much easier for the scene to catch up with the latest trends and music styles.
Cheers and thanks for the interview, will look forward to having you down to play for us on Friday 20th January 2006, and will definitely be on the look out for the Mowhawk Records 2006 tour along with new tunes to be released on Nile Records in 2006…
For more information on Madam Zu and her releases see www.madamzu.com
All photos courtesy of Madam Zu. Not to be reproduced without permission.
"SPIN" *FREE Entry B4 Midnight*
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On:
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Friday 20th January 2006
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At:
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CLUB 414 [map]
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From:
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22:00-8:00
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Cost:
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FREE FREE FREE Entry B4 Midnight £10/£8 Guest list
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Website:
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fp.club414.f9.co.uk/
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More:
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Your Invited to celebrate Dan's 26th Brithday along side a top line up
including Madam Zu & Olly Perris, amazing visuals and an even better
vibe!!
And just coz were in the Party mood were offering FREE ENTRY B4
midnight to this special occasion so there is no excuse not to
be there..
Our First Massive 14Hr Party!!
For your guest list FREE ENTRY B4 midnight or guestlist entry after
midnight please email: gcppresents@yahoo.com
**Vinyl Give-aways courtesy of TWISTED TRAXX**
!! Happy Birthday Dan !!
**Party on with SPIN ON & on & on Recovery 6am - 12 Midday @ The 414**
People already @ the Club for SPIN need not pay again for SPIN ON RECOVERY
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Other Features By Dan Andres:
Interview with Nik Denton - preview to Toolbox Recording's 5th Birthday @ Spin
Warped’s 4th Birthday: the inside story
We get Torqueing with Macey: preview to Torque's 6th birthday
Up close and personal with Ben Kakoschke — preview to Torque’s Red Planet Encounter
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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Have a great night Julia! xx
I shall be back for more!!!!