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Features 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! DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022! TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022! A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London! Goa based party animal and artist extraordinaire Nirmal talks punk concerts, metal sculptures, flying and rippin' it up on a High Tide! DJ Wired talks to us about the Rise of the Hope and parties, ahead of his upcoming set at Tribal Village on 14th January 2022!

The Antipodean Hard Dance scene in London Reported by monK / Submitted 16-04-02 10:47 “Who hasn’t seriously considered dropping out and going on the road for a while…time to expand one’s consciousness through a little civil disobedience and organic chemistry” With Australia day and the Waitangi day circle Line pub-crawl safely out of the way for another year it is time for the ever-nationalistic antipodeans living in London to move on. Forget Sydney (the Olympics are so last year) forget Melbourne and forget the clean, natural and picturesque environment of Middle Earth, previously known as New Zealand. It would appear that a true antipodean living in London is slowly forgetting the joy of skiing down live volcanoes, the “sick” rush of white water rafting in torrential rapids and experiencing the awesome thrill of diving off the Great Barrier Reef. These intrepid travellers and youth of the southern world are after an altogether new “gnarlier” thrill. Something to get the adrenaline really pumping, something to truly test and push you to the limits…. no, not the London underground during rush hour but Hard Dance clubbing. It’s 8:30 on a Saturday night in Brixton, South London. Outside the world famous Brixton Academy there is already a teeming mass of clubbers predominantly of antipodean origin waiting to enter the world of “Hard House Academy“, run by the [urwl=www.franticuk.com]Frantic[/url] organisation.. For the next nine hours the antipodean Hard Dance junkies will join another 4500 clubbers for a unique London clubbing experience consisting of driving Hard Dance delivered by a range of international genre-defining DJs. The road in front of the academy is awash with bright hues from electric blue to citric pink. These vibrant shades are not radiating from the warm glow of a London sunset (it’s raining, it’s dark, it’s February!), nor from the streetlights overhead but from a group of charged, fun seeking, music loving, fluro toting antipodean Hard House clubbers, hell bent on having the weekend of their big OE [overseas experience] and maybe even their lives, AGAIN. Originating in the UK, Hard Dance emerged as rave music splintered in to a multitude of subgenres. As with all flamboyant and inherently successful movements, the music found its way into mainstream clubland. In the UK, the Hard Dance scene is a lot more than hallucinogenic imagery, post-acid bubbles and several thousand people standing in a field outside the M25. It is big business and it is not only large corporations that have seized upon this marketing opportunity but the clubber too. Some of the most influential Hard Dance club nights in London are run not only by the clubbers themselves but also by those of antipodean roots. Hard Dance is the absolute dominant genre in the London club scene. This applies to record sales, number of clubs, DJs playing and all-over musical influence. The music Hard Dance is denoted by a stoic prefix that suggests that it is faster, fatter and filthier than the genre standard (mainstream). The term, however, remains ambiguous due to the fluid nature of the scene, its sounds and its following. The term Hard Dance was originally coined by the press to describe a new sound emerging in clubland. The sound of the music played by DJ and producers such as Nick Sentience. “ I play hardhouse, techno, funky techno, euphoric techno, trance…. well, everything that’s dance music really“ says Nick when asked to describe his own indomitable style, “ I started to describe my DJ sets as Hard Dance and it’s stuck.” As we move into a new millennium with full force, Hard Dance music and clubbing culture masks many of the less desirable global issues that the world throws at us and Hard Dance culture is highly attractive to both travellers and the British alike. It appeals to all aspects of youth culture, as it is neither class nor ethnic specific. Unlike many previous subcultures, Hard Dance culture is non-elitist. It isn’t run predominantly by working class nor is it a response of the working class to the materialistic inequalities of society. This makes Hard Dance quantitatively different to any specific cultural genre previously experienced by the antipodean enthusiasts. The explosion of the scene can clearly be followed through the success of clubs such as Frantic. Steve Hill, DJ and manger of Pure Groove records, has witnessed the phenomena first hand; “Clubs like Frantic were still underground. Within a few months they were selling out a room in Bagleys (London Super Club) then the whole place and now Brixton Academy!” Along with Nukleuz (the largest selling 12” hard house label in Europe), these clubs (now seen as brands in their own rights) have been charting new waters in the vast oceans of youth culture and dance music. In 1997 Frantic tapped in to the non-stop hard house circuit that was overflowing from the classic after-hours clubs such as Trade and Sunnyside Up and the rest is history. Hill suggests “It all started in the gay scene in, my opinion, at clubs like Trade. When the Antipodeans discovered it the word spread like wildfire. It was only a matter of months between Frantic getting 500 people and over 2000 a month. There is something about the vibe of the scene that keeps it going.” Investing in the previously underground, subversive rave culture and bringing it to the forefront of popular youth culture. It’s not just about fun, sex and drugs although these factors still have a role to play it, can now widely be attributed to an almost tribal sense of belonging. Nick Sentience, when asked about his favourite aspects of the scene, replies, “Obviously the quality of the clubs and the music just gets better and more interesting all the time but mainly its being part of a scene, a real sense of community.” The already fast moving scene has a new, unique slant; a ray of sunshine has flooded the smoke-filled, laser-riddled air of London clubland. This welcome catalyst is the massive following of antipodean clubbers, DJs and promoters. There are links between the fluidity of the scene, its continual musical reinvention and the antipodean travellers. There are constantly new additions to the scene in the form of clubbers, DJs and promoters, with new people getting involved or going to the clubs. “Because so many people are into it who are already here when new people arrive in London, they'll soon get introduced to it by someone else they knowhere - it soon becomes a way of life!” says Steve Hill when asked to explain the ever-expanding following. In London, you can find a Hard Dance club going from 9pm on a Friday to 4am on a Monday morning. You choose when and where you club. The music will always be upfront, new and diverse, as are the crowds. Fevah, another antipodean-run shindig began as a free party in a pub in London’s West End and has grown to be one of the most successful hard house and trance clubbing brands. DJs at these parties include names like Andy Farley, Nick Sentience and Ed Real (DJ and Label manager of Nukleuz). Fevah is not only a UK phenomena, but is also well recognised in the Southern hemisphere, where they hold monthly events in Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington, as well as quarterly parties in Sydney, Australia. Fevah’s loyal following is comprised of an affluent, free-spirited and culturally aware audience (many of whom are world travellers) with a love of cutting-edge Hard Dance music and the clubbing culture surrounding it. Antipodeans in the UK have a unique reputation with regards to having fun. The “go hard or go home” no holds barred party mentality is seen not only in the Shepherds Bush Walkabout on a Saturday night but also in the after hours Hard Dance clubs throughout the capital. Maybe it’s the fact that they are going to cram as much partying into their trip as humanly possible, or it might have a more deep seated cultural link to growing up in countries where after hours party culture is not some new exciting revelation. Whatever the reason is, we don’t care and nor do they. The antipodean clubbers bring this stamina to the UK and transfer this relentless energy straight to the dance floor. The after hours attitude is not merely embraced but is normalised and plays a large part in the success of after hours clubs such as Solid Sunday (popular antipodean-run party) and Riot, (Nukleuz records’ Sunday all-dayer at London’s legendary nightclub The End). Parties such as Riot, where Nick Sentience is resident, plug a gap in the weekend’s clubbing programme and consistently showcase the tough, emerging hard dance music. One of the more famous - or should I say notorious - antipodean clubs in London is Solid Sunday, renowned for its party atmosphere and bang up for it crowds. It was started in 2000 in a local pub…… (Sound familiar?). “Antipodeans over here [London} are quite different to when they are at home “ says Chewy, the Solid Sunday promoter “They’re in holiday mode for the full 2 years (or more) that they are here. There is never any agro, everyone’s just up for having a good time”. The music at Solid Sunday has progressed from hard house/trance in the early days to what is now regarded as Hard Dance. This transition in musical taste sums up the antipodean attitude to clubbing and maybe even life, they like it hard but not too dark. The antipodean clubbers represent the music and the scene and what is widely regarded as the up-for-it underground. The development of new technology and the globalisation of youth culture has massively decentralised musical and political spaces and is clearly represented in Hard Dance clubs. The phenomenon of the antipodean following of Hard dance could probably be explained by discussing the anthropology of consciousness and drawing vague, woolly comparisons between ethnogenic rituals in new, emerging and traditional cultures. I, however, would rather attribute it to the fact that there are over a million antipodeans residing in one of the most culturally diverse, musically pioneering centres of dance music culture in the world. It’s a London thing. Eh Bro. By David Malcolm (monK) Feb 2002 Any duplication of this material without written permission of author will be an infringement of copyright No-Requests 2002 Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: 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. Comments: From: tom on 17th Apr 2002 16:44.15 I heard last week that as of next year there will be no working holiday visas granted to South Africans (as SA has not been giving out visas to UK citizens). So there goes one third of the UK Antipodean scene

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