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Features
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| 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! |
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Feersum Records Interview with Dan Madams
Reported by Alex Jackson
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Submitted 06-05-03 14:30
Feersum Records are about to celebrate their 10th release, which is the work of their talented in-house artist Interchange. Since the launch, the label has been going from strength to strength and their releases have ruled and rocked many a dance floor thanks to support from DJs across the board and country. The launch party will be taking place at the awesome party Tronic on May 11th, with A&R man Dan Madams heading up the host of turntable technicians with an exclusive 3 hour set. We thought it was about time to catch up with Dan and see what all the fuss is about!
Alex Jackson: First of all Dan would you like to tell us how Feersum Records started and when?
Dan Madams: Feersum Records stems from the club night Feersum that was held at Crash in London a couple of years ago. Gav (the promoter of Feersum) had just done a really good track that he wanted to release so we thought why not release it on our own label, which will in turn help the Feersum brand. The rest is really history - we are now on our 10th release and although the monthly club night Feersum has stopped we are doing Feersum Records parties around the country, which helps to keep the name out there with the clubbers.
AJ: What is your personal role within the record label?
DM: Apart from making tracks for the label, I am the A&R man and label manager along with Gav. A&R basically consists of me listening to all the tracks that come in from people and deciding whether they have the potential of being released on the label.
I also sort out the release schedule for the tracks, get remixes arranged, and sort out marketing (press releases, reaction sheets etc) and tours for the label. Basically anything and everything - I make a good cup of tea as well now!
AJ: Do you have a set of pre-determined ideas that you follow in the A&R side of the label?
DM: The main question I ask when listening to a track is how will the dancefloor react - if it’s going to rock then it should be considered! You also have to be very open-minded. For example there may be a track sent to you that may not be the finished article but has the potential to be a good tune - great riff, original ideas, good vocal sample etc. From this you can give the artist feedback and hopefully they will take note and improve it. Being an A&R man you also have to keep your finger on the pulse with regard to what is selling - at the moment there seems to be a slight shift from the hard trance to hard house. Saying this though I always believe a good quality hard house or hard trance track will do well.
AJ: Can you tell us more about the artists, who have done tracks for Feersum up until now?
DM: We have a couple of talented artists on board now who are doing regular stuff for us.
We have Paul B who has already done a few tracks for us and is in the process of finishing off his first solo 12" - one side is as tough as ol’ boots, whilst the flip is a great funky number that will go down a treat at places such as Bar Riot!. We also have Graham S who is only sixteen years old - we discovered him via the internet where one of his tracks was on the Genoproject web site. His first release "Nitro" is going to be on the Young Guns EP and we have some other material lined up from him that is excellent. Other artists involved in the label are Lizzie Curious, Interchange and K-oma who are all producing great music at moment. I am actually finishing off a track with Lizzie at the moment that is going really well - hard as!
AJ: Are there any artists that you would like to get involved?
DM: I am about to go into the studio with a guy called Alex Calver who is a very talented engineer from the Midlands - this guy I believe is going to be massive by the end of the year. All being well I am hoping to do a lot more collaborations with him this year.
Other artists that are really doing it for me at the moment and who I would love to get involved are Paul Glazby, Justin Bourne, Illogik and James Lawson.
AJ: Feersum are about to release their 10th track. Who is Interchange and what can we expect from the new release?
DM: Interchange is the main engineer that we use at Feersum Records. He is awesome - the quality of his production is second to none, and I think his tracks "Outta Control" and "This is it" on Feersum 10 illustrate this. The release after this is called the Young Guns EP - basically two tracks by two talented youngsters (well they're younger than me) - one by Mark Leish (aged 22) and one by Graham S (aged 16). I have been caning the Mark Leish track for ages and it has been one of the biggest tracks in my box - banging hard house at its finest!
AJ: The whole music industry has suffered considerably over the past couple of years. Has it been an easy ride for Feersum Records up to this point?
DM: It hasn’t been easy at all - since the boom of two years ago sales across the board have dropped. I wouldn’t say it’s all negative as labels have really pulled their socks up and the quality of releases has risen dramatically. Gone are the days that anything that goes bang bang will sell 1,500 copies. As a label we feel we are really starting to come into our own by combining new talent with excellent quality, innovative production and as long as we can continue to build on the quality of our releases then the future is set to remain bright.
AJ: Any plans to do any nights in conjunction with the label?
DM: We have got a few tour nights coming up - we are having a launch party for Feersum 10 at Tronic on the 11th May where I am doing a 3-hour set and where they'll be loads of give-aways. We are also doing one in Ireland later in the year.
AJ: Can you reveal any of your future plans for the record label?
DM: I think I’ve told you pretty much everything. All I say is that hopefully we will keep on releasing quality tracks, nurture the talented artists that we have got on board, and keep receiving the support from everyone out there.
Thanks to Dan Madams for the interview.
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Other Features By Alex Jackson:
Interview with Jon Rundell
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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