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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! | | 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! |
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Chemistry preview with tidy’s Sam Townend
Reported by Ben Gomori
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Submitted 15-05-07 22:59
Northern DJ and producer Sam Townend will be known to many hard music aficionados as an occasional provider of rather meaty hard house and techno grooves to labels like Tripoli, Housewives’ Choice and his own Shroom Records. His hard house productions have found favour with all the scenes filthier DJs, while his techno collaborations with Alex Calver and Tik Tok have found their way into the boxes of techno and acid techno jocks alike. What you may not know however, is that he also happens to be the A&R guy for hard dance behemoth tidy — which basically means that he chooses what the label puts out. Doesn’t sound too bad does it?
DJ-wise, he consistently smacks it in the Northern parts of England, and increasingly down here, carrying on from his first residency for the now defunct Leeds-based party Housewives’ Choice with regular gigs for some of the biggest and most respected parties in the country. The next few months sees him play at Tidy Fridays, Parlez-vous and Sundissential, while us Londoners will finally be seeing him more of him as he rocks on down to Frantic’s next Chemistry event at Hidden on May 25th, alongside the likes of Greg Brookman (Live), Steve O’ Brady, Elvis, K Complex and Nicki S. Want to more? Well that’s handy, because we had a little Q&A action with Sam this week...
What formed your introduction to the world of hard house?
My introduction to the world of hard house came through a club called Uropa in Leeds. It was full of pikeys and tramps but was the first time I had heard the harder stuff so it all came from there really . . . although the club was so rough I was quite taken back by the fact that everyone was dancing and getting on just because of the music, and I never looked back since!
Your residency for Housewives’ Choice was the first many people heard of you. How did the whole thing come about?
Just from going down to the club week in and week out, annoying the promoters until I eventually got a set, started playing for them quite regularly, became mates with all the crew, then got offered the residency! I really do miss HWC, it was a wicked night, with a very unique vibe that you don’t really seem to find anymore.
You set up your label Shroom Records in 2004. How has the experience been thus far?
Shroom has been on the back burner for a while now. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it as I’m so busy with other projects. I started it just to get my sound out there and give myself some exposure on the scene, so it has served its purpose. However I have still got some tracks that my see the light of day through the label sometime!
Looking at your track record, it seems that you are quite into your techno yes? Which producers really inspire you and what sets them aside from the rest?
I do like my techno, however I’m not playing as much of it anymore. One of the main reasons I picked up on the techno sound was I got so bored with hard house. Three years ago there were hardly any hard house tunes about that grabbed me — the love had gone out of it, so I started getting into the techno as it was different and sounded better than all the banging hard ‘filth’ that was about at the time. That’s all starting to change now, so my style has gone back to the more hard houese orientated stuff, although I do still play the odd occasional techno set and get my chop on.
You had a track out on the late, great Tripoli Trax with Ben Stevens. Was that a bit of milestone for you?
The first release I ever had was a collaboration with Alex Calver called ‘Shake It’ on Tripoli, so the track with Ben was my second outing on the label. It was a bit of a milestone though as Ben doesn’t speak any English (his real name is Benwaligi Stevensoson) so managing to communicate with him in the studio was quite an achievement!
What exactly does your job at Tidy entail?
My job at tidy is label manager (or Head Of Music as it is know on the street) so basically all the A & R side of things, choosing what musical direction the label is going in, what music we are going to put out and what albums we are going to do. Also the day to day running of the label, so all the licensing, making sure everything is in place for the manufacture of the releases and making sure the releases are being promoted in the right way. There is also Tidydigital.com that I help out with, so all the correspondence between us and the labels comes through me. All that and trying to look after Kieron as well — he forgets how to do simple tasks sometimes so I have to help him tie his shoes and teach him basic words to help him get through the day.
What sounds are really pushing your buttons at the moment? Are you hearing lots of innovative material at the moment?
I’m really liking the old style of hard house that’s starting to come back through, good solid party music basically. That’s the sound that got me into all this in the first place and to have it come back can only be a good thing for the scene as a whole. More and more people are starting to wise up to the fact that if we are going to take this music anywhere we need to get back to basics and bring back the love!
Were you at the last tidy Weekender? How was it for you if so?
The last Weekender was very different for me, as I have been to just about everyone as a clubber, but this was the first time I actually had to work at one. It was really strange at first seeing things from the other side of the coin, and also very hard to avoid being dragged into the pub by my friends on occasions! I did enjoy it though as it was still the Weekender and I do love those events. The atmosphere you get on the site is definitely special!
You once made a techy track which sampled the music from the Umbongo drinks adverts. Please explain this act of lunacy!
Ha ha, that wasn’t actually me who made the track, it was released through Shroom by two producers called Withenshaw & Moloney, I just did a remix of it with Alex Calver. I still think to this day it’s a good tune, with a wicked riff, a good bouncing bassline, and it makes me laugh!
Do you think that hard dance could do with having a bit more of a humorous side to it then?
Hard house is not serious music — it’s very tongue and cheek. People jumping about in clubs with luminous clothes, sucking dummies, wearing fridge magnets and listening to 150BPM music with chipmunk sounding vocals is not the most serious of looks. If people want a serious night they should go to a minimal night, where people wear sunglasses and pout at things — but if you want some fun, come to a hard house party! I think a lot of people have tried to take the scene down a serious route, make ‘intelligent’ tracks and try to ‘educate’ people with their sets. It very rarely works, as this isn’t what this music is all about!
You will be down in London playing for Frantic at the next instalment of Chemistry at Hidden on May 25th. Have you had many experiences either playing or partying at Frantic’s events?
Yes, I have been to quite a few Frantic events over the years as a clubber, and always had a good knees up. I even played there once at Convergence many moons ago with Alex Calver back in my techno days. I do think Frantic put on some of the best parties down South though and I’m really looking forward to showing the Frantic faithful how we do it up North!
So what can we expect to hear from you on the night?
I will mostly be playing Turbo Folk, but I’m looking to do a five minute Live Minimal PA, which consists of me doing nothing apart from tapping things with a stick and shouting whoop at irregular intervals!
Sounds good! Hard house and its various offshoots have been consistently massive up North for the past decade — probably on a wider scale than down South. Why do Northerners love hard music so much?
It must be something to do with our love of farming. Ask any farmer what he gets up to on weekends and his reply will be: “have it like a bastard to some banging hard house on my tractor”. It must be in our blood!
Photos courtesy of Sam Townend. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Frantic presents Chemistry - FREE!
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On:
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Friday 25th May 2007
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At:
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Hidden [map]
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From:
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2200-0700
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Cost:
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FREE! Nada! Gratis! Zip! Zero!
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Website:
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www.franticuk.net
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Ticket Info:
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It's FREE! Just email your names to willfrantic@yahoo.co.uk and arrive before midnight for totally free entry!
£8 after
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More:
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Following on from the sensational return party in March, Chemistry returns to kick off the long-hot Bank Holiday in truly pumping style! Frantic continues its dedication to the hottest new talent with another white-hot line-up of the country’s most exciting new talent.
Greg Brookman brings his sensational ALIVE PA to the main room, Nu Energy super-producer K-Complex makes a long-overdue appearance, and Innovate’s leading lady Nicki S will also be in full effect. Room 2 is hosted by those full-on types from Harder in Brighton, with Hard House & Techno whiz Sam Townend playing a rare set in London, and the uncontrollable Matt Pickup & Andy Rise going back-to-back like only they know how. All this plus the most exciting new DJs around like Steve O’ Brady, Elvis, Frisky, James Condon, and Electro & House filthiness in the Bar Room. Plus Hidden’s gorgeous outdoor courtyard will be in full swing by the end of May – perfect for when you want to cool off and enjoy the night sky!
It’s another totally FREE party – just email your guestlist names to willfrantic@yahoo.co.uk and arrive before midnight. Who else gives you the biggest new stars in hard dance for absolutely nada? Start your Bank Holiday the HARD way!
And just remember….Frantic loves you!
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Flyer:
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Other Features By Ben Gomori:
HF exclusive SouthWestFour preview: Sasha vs Digweed
Scott Attrill aka Vinylgroover: The Bass Junkie
The Bluffer's Guide to Detroit Techno
Riot! memories as hard dance returns to The End
The King is back! Andy Farley finally returns
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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Enjoyed your set at Twist recently, roll on Chemistry!
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Was great having you down over the weekend and loved your set at Twist!! Will surely be hearing more soon! Remember your sunglasses - your cool!!! 