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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 |
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Get Contagious with JP & Jukesy part 2
Reported by Greg Lynn
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Submitted 21-01-08 13:55
Continuing our two part heralding of Contagious becoming a fully fledged promotion with their very first event, JP & Jukesy return to talk more on their label, tours and changes to the clubbing scene.
When you set up the label 'Deprivation Recordings' with your friend Ben Hardy, what was your main aim and what ethos did you carry with you?
JP - The label was set up for two main goals really, the first of which was that we wanted a platform to put our own tracks out. We had three or four tracks ready and didn’t fancy waiting a year for them to come out so we thought, why not and gave it a shot. Also we felt that it would be good to have a brand to be associated with us and now the Deprivation brand is sitting very nicely, all of the 3 labels are still releasing vinyl and we have numerous club tours and hosted events in for the first quarter of 2008.
Jukesy – One thing I’d like to add to that is a quick thank you to everyone that has supported the label which has allowed us to continue putting out the tracks, we will continue to do that while the support is still there and even in the ever declining world of vinyl sales we still have a really bright year ahead in 2008.
A couple of years back you completed a tour of Canada. Can you give us a rundown of how that went for you?
Jukesy - We have actually been over this year too, both times it was a flying visit to Toronto to play for Tim Opal and his Total Request Events. It's always good to see how hard house, which is generally a UK sound, exports around the world and were pleased to say that the Canadians love it! It's a bit odd how they work it over there as you can go into a club as soon as you are 16, but you have to be kicked out by 1am so it’s rather funny to see all the door staff rounding up all the youngsters, haha.
One remix project that you've worked on is the dance floor filler Cross the line by 12 inch Thumpers', released on Tidy. What did you look to add with that re-mix?
JP - Its always a very, very hard task to remix a track, let alone one of the biggest hard house records ever made. When Lee from Tidy asked us to do the remix we were like “Right, erm how we going to manage this,” especially as Tidy's two main producers at the time (Maddox & Guyver) were both doing mixes too! We decided not go down the overly hard route and just gave it a slightly darker feel but added a slightly uplifting break to give it a wider appeal. Thankfully a lot of people were really into the mix with big support from across the board.
Jukesy – I do believe it was one of Tidy’s best single sellers in 2007 as well so it was great to see it so warmly received.
You've now produced a great number of tracks. Can you give us an insight in to how you come up with ideas for a track and is it quite a difficult process transferring those ideas in to tangible material?
JP - The main bulk for ideas really come on our actual journey to the studio, the same as our DJ sets, it's never planned. We just go where the hard house takes us and always make sure we put in the legwork prior to going in and collecting all the samples and good vocals to use when we go in.
Jukesy – I always find going through a car wash first thing in the morning prior to going into the studio helps an awful lot.
Being DJ's, you spend a large amount of time seeing how people react to different types of music. Is this something that you bear in mind when putting together a production in the studio?
JP - Yeah the main thing with a track is to keep the floor occupied with a good hook, but never too over the top. Nobody wants a 5 min breakdown that just keeps building up for the sake of it. Our productions have always been across the spectrum of hard house be it hard, funky or trancier which reflects in the style of music we play in 95% of our sets.
You've been described before as 'the clubbers DJ's' When you are playing out and the clubbers are all going mad to your music in front of you, how would you describe the crowd connection.
JP - As we both have made the move from clubber to DJ, we both know what its like. As mentioned before we were both up & down the country for years going to clubs so we would like to think we know what they want! Adam is the more vocal one, shall we say up, on stage, as many will know he has a liking for the odd mic session or two which always does the trick.
Jukesy – We both must have been born with Clubbing hearts as even though we DJ out now we still love clubbing, there’s nothing like getting amongst the “thick of it” so to speak.
So let's say that you arrive in a club for the final set of the night, but your dance floor is in a really sluggish mood. As DJs, what would you do to try and get them all stomping again?
Jukesy -Give them a big start, either the biggest current track or give them a older one, a classic, but not a obvious one more of a hidden gem that when u hear it you think, oh shit yeah, forgot how good that was.. Follow that with some quality end of the night tackle with a few uplifting ones to break it up then hey presto, you have a happy floor! Never be scared to try things out as well, if they don’t work then you can quickly adapt and change your plan of action.
The only time that you ever play separately now, is when one of you can't make it to a gig. Does it feel like quite a strange experience when either one of you is left to play with out the other?
JP - The only time I have played out on my own in years was a few weeks ago, I must admit was a bit of a odd experience! So used to doing the whole back to back thing that to me it’s the norm.
Jukesy – Yeah it just doesn’t feel right for some reason, it feels like you have a leg or a arm missing. Its funny how rumours come out of the woodwork as well, JP played on his own towards the end of 2007 as I was at my brothers wedding and then a week after we heard rumours that we weren’t DJing together anymore! It certainly made us chuckle!
In 2008, it looks like there could be quite a few changes taking place in dance music, but what can you see happening next?
JP - People keep harping on about the demise of dance music - blah blah - for me the whole dance scene is now stronger than ever with the chart flooded with electro & commercial funky house. As for hard house, you can’t deny that the scene is a lot smaller than it was from a record label point of view, take the fact that this year there has been around 230ish vinyl releases. It may seem a lot but when you see that in 2001 there was just short of 1000 releases on vinyl it kind of hits home how small things have become. There has been a good influx of vinyl labels this year which can only be good for hard house as the people that are starting them are doing it for the right reasons, for the love of the scene, because there is very little financial return. We then move onto the digital platform which is slowly starting to get a big hold in many genres like ours but it really does need some quality control as there is some proper shit being released! From an event point of view though, it’s never been so good, look the way TW12 went and how rammed Storm is every month so it’s not all doom and gloom.
Jukesy – Also every now and again you get new brands breaking through and building up great followings, there’s definitely been a few success stories in 2007.
Contagious for sure has enjoyed a bit of a cult following after some massive stages at festivals so it will be great to see them transform that into the clubs. Also we have seen X-Static grow right from the beginning and that’s just about to burst into the mainstream with a massive following in the midlands and several sell out events last year. A+E in Hereford have reinvented themselves in 2007 after going back to their original venue the Jailhouse and packing them out there. You would never guess there would be 500 nutters in Hereford, all having it off to hard house, so it’s a unique atmosphere and place to play, we look forward to seeing them grow in 2008.
Resistance in Lincoln is a brand new night set up in a spanking 5 Million pound venue which initial support has shown that things are really going to take off there and have a great set of residents to build the night. Also Blessed in the Midlands has had a solid year and they are in the brink of breaking through in 2008, there’s defiantly a lot of support for these clubber orientated brands mainly because it’s all built around a good party with friends. Worthy of a mention as well are Summit in London, we’ve played down there a few times and every time there has been a great atmosphere, they are certainly destined for bigger things this year.
You will have of course have the major brands putting on the bigger events too which have been really successful and I don’t see this ending which of course will include people like Tidy, Storm, Frantic, Poly’s, Hardsouth and Tranzaction. They will be there as long as the support is so make sure you get yourselves to things like the Tidy Weekenders because we never want stuff like that to end!
What type of year has 2007 been for you both and what does the future hold for JP & Jukesy?
JP- On the achievement front it's been another solid year for us. Highlights included overseas gigs in Canada and Ibiza, both for the second year in succession. Playing our 12th Weekender in a row, with our set being recorded live and released for purchase again. Keeping the Deprivation brand ticking over nicely with tours around the country, appearances at Creamfields, Global Gathering and Escape Into The Park - all for the second year in succession. Gig wise we have clocked in at around 85 for this year which we feel is pretty solid and a good base to work from into 2008.
Looking on into 2008 we are planning to step things up a fair bit. We will be taking Deprivation around the country again with more tours & events. A new series for the label launches too. "Deprivation Masterclass" does pretty much what it say's on the tin. Its a series of EPs from the finest producers hard house can offer, first up is Equinox, with Equinox Dawn and Rave In My Bedroom this will be followed up with Defective Audio on volume two. We also have a new project launching but that's hush hush until the end of January. Some Festivals are already booked in for the summer which is good and a return visit to Australia and New Zealand is being planed for 2008 too!
It’s also going to be great getting our teeth into our residencies next year for more details on those check out our website or our HF DJ page.
And finally, come the Valentines and Heartbreakers Ball, which tracks of yours are really going to enhance everyone's loved up vibe?
JP - Hahaha, hardouse & love?! Could be a tricky one, maybe we should slip in one of the disco classics we played at Storm on NYE
Jukesy – Gordon’s already asked me to dig out Foreigner – I Want To Know What Love Is, so it could get quite interesting!
For bookings enquiries & Demo Cd’s please contact – Alec.Mills@s62dj.com
General enquires or if you just want to chat – JP@jpandjukesy.co.uk & jukesy@jpandjukesy.co.uk
www.jpandjukesy.co.uk
www.deprivationrecordings.co.uk
Photos courtesy of JP & Jukesy. Not to be reproduced without permission.
The Valentines and Heartbreakers Ball
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On:
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Friday 8th February 2008
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At:
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Club ice [map]
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From:
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22:00 - 06:00
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Cost:
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£12 bf MOTD
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Website:
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www.contagiousclubwear.com/contvalentines.html
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Ticket Info:
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Early bird tickets have completely sold out already so make sure you get your tickets now as this event is likely to sell out.
Online Tickets Can Be Purchased Through Ticketweb or By Calling The Contagious Ticket Hotline: 0800 019 55 23
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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Feel the love this Valentines and join us for a night of magical romance, love, fun and frolics.
We promise you more of the legendary production that you have come to expect from Contagious along with a lineup of undoubtedly the biggest names in Hard Dance today.
Mark the date in your calendar with a huge Love Heart and join us for our first party of 2008.
February maybe a cold, cold month, But Come Friday the 8th of February, Club Ice in Westbury, Throw away your thermals and feel the heat, as Contagious Present: The Valentines and Heartbreakers Ball!
Not content with being the country’s biggest supplier of clubbing clothing and providing fabulous dancers for every event, Contagious go one step further as they flood the three rooms, decked out in huge Valentines themed décor, with dance music love if this doesn’t get your heart to skip a beat we don’t know what will. Vowed as being “the ultimate night out in the south west”, Club Ice is where only the coolest boys and girls hang out so we know you will fit right in! They’ll be plenty of Hard Dance to get your heart pumping, Hardstyle to turn your knees to jelly, sexy House to get your palms sweating and Electro making your hair stand up on end! We promise nothing less that to heat you up, turn you on and leave you wanting more!
And if that doesn’t do it for you we have none other than The Queen of Hard Dance, Lisa Pin-Up who will be spreading the loved up Contagious vibe, whilst Rob Tissera makes his Contagious debut bringing shivers to your spine and we will be getting you down right, hard and dirty with Alex Kidd as well as taking you on a euphoric journey with Miss Cally Gage. The highly versatile JP & Jukesy will be giving it all their heart and soul. Wales’s fastest rising hot young talent; Frisky gets set to take things to a harder place. You can expect fast paced and exciting stuff from Contagious resident Caz Wood to get you hot under the collar and Mike Avery will deliver the ultra smooth blend of euphoric Hard Dance alongside Sam Hudson and Nick ‘the Bongo Man Fisher’ delivering the tribal beats. This will all be happening whilst the super sexy Contagious dancers strut their stuff, and keep a look out for that give away including club-wear goodies!
‘Totally Funked Up’ man the third room, and if all that hard dancing gets too much, then why not chill out in the Pleasure room it really will be OUR pleasure, take a load off and relax on one of those giant heart shaped beds. They’ll be a massage to get you even more wound down, plus special Contagious cocktails to get you right in the mood. Don’t have someone with you that night? Well don’t worry, we have just the answer! We know you have heard of it, might even want to try it so nows your chance! Speed dating the contagious way! Line up and take a seat at the stall and you never know you might just meet that special somebody….
To put the icing on the valentine’s cake, the long awaited winner of “The Face of Contagious" competition, will be decided and announced that very evening. So what are you waiting for grab your boyfriends your girlfriends your lover and your mate and make sure that your Valentines night dancing gets Contagious!
Directions
Heres the Google Map to the Venue, its just off the M4 before you get to Bristol, in between Salisbury and Shepton Mallet.
View Google Map
We have coaches running from the following locations too:
South Coast - Southampton/Bournemouth/Portsmouth
Ernie: 02392 423329/07973 551171
South West - Cornwall/Devon/Somerset/Dorset
Eventz Travel - Jon: 07779 0232854
West - Bristol/Bath/Swindon
Kushti Coaches - Anthony: 07979 272412
Wales - Swansea/Cardiff/Newport
Gavin: 07816 310525
Birmingham - Click Here For Details
It’s about 2 hours from both Birmingham and London by car too.
And if you are a lover of British Rail, you can get a train straight to Westbury Station from most locations around the country, and the station is a 5 minute walk from the venue.
For example you can get an 08:18 train from Paddington that goes direct to Wesbury which gets you in at 09:57, then there is a 06:39 train back home again in the morning, all for......wait for it....the grand total of £18.40....SWEET !
Check it out for yourself
Rail Timetables
For those of you who think that a night of pure un-adulterated Contagious fun is going to be too much to take on the night, or for those hoping to get lucky in the speed dating, there are a couple of cheap hotels real close by too:
Hotels
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Flyer:
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Other Features By Greg Lynn:
Get Credible with Simon Qudos
Get Contagious with JP & Jukesy part 1
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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keep rockin it guys, love ya loadddddddddsssssssssssssssssssssssssss