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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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Insekt Preview - An Interview with James Nardi
Reported by El Capitano Pete
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Submitted 09-12-04 11:15
James Nardi grew up in Basingstoke, Hampshire and was lucky enough to be around when the outdoor rave scene was at its peak. Even though he was only sixteen at the time, James still had the chance to experience some of the famous outdoor parties catering for thousands of people, and it was at these huge raves where his love for dance music originated. Inspired by what he heard, James got his first set of decks, started buying vinyl and taught himself how to mix.
He studied business, media and law at college, but Basingstoke couldn’t keep him entertained for much longer, so at the age of eighteen he moved down to London with some friends and that’s where things started to take off.
James became a regular at the world famous Club UK and that’s where he got hooked on the underground clubbing scene. Hard house was the sound that appealed to him (even though back then it wasn’t really that hard compared to today’s ‘hard’ house), and so he started buying more and more of the records he was hearing out at the weekends. It wasn’t long before James was given his first set playing at the Star Bar at Heaven. From that point on he was lucky enough to play at some of the best underground clubs and parties in the capital such as Savage, Fevah, Sunflowers and Fahrenheit.
Having DJed at most of the London hard house nights throughout the late 90’s/early 00’s, James focused on setting up his studio to produce his own material. In 2001 he returned to college to study Electronic Music Production.
During the trance explosion a few years back James became tired of the scene and laid low for a while, going out all weekend every weekend became less appealing. His close friend Fillipo Del Moro better known as DMF (engineer/producer of the hard house classics “Rock Da Spot” and “Full Metal”) asked him if he wanted to come and work on some new material in the studio with him. It was these early sessions that gave James a good foundation and knowledge of the harder beats.
2004 has been a great year for James, his productions with studio partners Nick Irwin (Aftermath) and Julian Dwyer have been snapped up by top labels such as Paul Glazby’s nineninenine and Justin Bourne’s Short Circuit, included on Anne Savage’s Extreme Euphoria & Tidy Magna Live compilation albums and more recently one of his harder tracks Aftermath – ‘Poison’ was played on Radio 1 as part of Lisa Lashes Essential Mix.
Firmly established as a producer, James has started playing out once again, with recent dates at Byte (Purple Turtle), Bedlam (Fridge) and forthcoming dates at the night that he’s just begun co-promoting, Insekt.
For those that are not familiar with you, what’s your preferred music style?
Hard house, NRG and techno are my three main styles. I suppose hard house is what I’m known for.
How long have you DJing for?
Errr….quite a while now. I think I first got a set of decks back in ‘95 and started playing out in London in ‘97.
Where and when did your love for dance music originate?
I’ve always been into my music; I started from a young age at school where I played the drums for a couple of years.
I went to see The Prodigy in concert about nine years ago and was completely blown away. From that moment on I was hooked.
I went to a quite a few of the old school raves (Vision/Dreamscape/Fantazia) when I was just sixteen - proper outdoor parties at some pretty strange places.
When I was seventeen I started going clubbing in London at places like Club UK – where I saw the great TDV and Carl Cox, Peach at The Leisure Lounge, Trade at Turnmills and Pete Wardman’s club Sherbet.
You used to play for some of the classic London hard house nights. What were they?
The main club I played for was called Savage. This was just before Frantic were starting out and it was one of the best nights in London. We had some great names down there including Blu Peter, Baby Doc and SJ (React Records Tour), Pete Wardman, Karim, Rich B, Jon Langford and Ian M.
The residents were Darren Poole (I’m sure some of you will remember this guy) and Luke Brancaccio who is now one half of the very successful house outfit ‘Brancaccio and Aisher’ (Lovely Day – Bedrock Recordings).
Other than that I played for most of the London underground nights and a couple of northern ones more recently:
Insomniacz (Sheffield), Kemistry (Leeds), Fevah (Tube), Pickle (Imperial Gardens), Fahrenheit (Soundshaft), Sunflowers (Chunnel Club), No Tomorrow (Annexe), Full Frontal (Glasshouse), Absolution (Soundshaft), Sin (Dogstar), Synergy (Brixton/Acton)…and more.
You haven’t been playing out much since those days – why’s this and what made you pick up your headphones again?
I don’t know really, after doing something for a number of years you need to shuffle things about a bit, and going out all weekend, every weekend was starting to affect my work. So I gave it a rest for a while, which also gave me more time to work on my producing, which I had been doing for a few years already.
About three years ago I broke up with my girlfriend of the time and I went back to college to do ‘Audio Engineering and Music Production’, which was well worth it.
The main reason I’ve started to play out again is largely due to the resurrection of proper hard house and nrg, which got wiped out during the mass trance explosion a couple of years ago. Back then it was almost impossible to go out for a night with out getting swept away with those uplifting trancey riffs and predictable key changes…haha. The other reason is down to the producing, and these days it’s pretty essential for someone wanting to make it as a DJ to have their hand firmly on the production side of things - having tracks released is only going to help you.
Who are you favorite DJs of the past, present and future?
Past –
TDV, Steve Thomas, Pete Wardman and Ian M.
Present –
Justin Bourne, Marc Johnson, Pete Wardman, Lady Bianca, Superfast Oz and Peter Ward.
Future –
The one guy who has really impressed me every time I’ve seen him play is George E. He’s got loads of energy and his mixing is tight as!
Which are your favorite record labels?
Kaktai, Short Circuit, Spin Ball, Raw, Hydraulix, Toolbox and Tripoli Trax
Is there anything special that is in your record box at the moment?
Mmmmmm.. Yeah there are a couple of bits which are really going down well at the moment:
Base Graffiti – ‘Implant’ – Tripoli Trax
Allnighters – ‘Black is Black’ (Killer Hurts Rmx) - CDR
Aftermath – ‘Let Me Tell You Something’ - CDR
Champion Burns – ‘Emergency’ - Tripoli Trax (OD404 Rmx)
J.Nardi and J.Dwyer – ‘Evil Genius’ – Short Circuit
Are there any clubs you’d like to play that you haven’t yet?
I’m pretty picky about going out these days. I guess the only two places I go pretty often where I’d like to play would be Twist at Fire and Riot at The End. Oh and Trade at Turnmills for certain, and also Torture Garden would be pretty cool. That’s probably about it to be honest.
Tell us about your productions. Who do you work with and under what names?
I mainly work with two people. Nick Irwin under our Aftermath guise and Julian Dwyer. I also work under another guise, but that’s a secret for the time being.
Nick and I have had a really good year, getting our tracks signed and remixed by some of the top labels and producers in the scene.
Julian and I have had about four tracks out this year on Nik Denton’s label, Toolbox, and we have one coming out as the next Short Circuit. Things are really starting to go well for us and we’ve just been asked to do a twisted stormer for Tripoli Trax.
Who and what would you say has had the biggest impact on your music and where do you draw influences from?
I listen to loads of different styles at home; to be honest I never really play any hard stuff there. I love hip hop, rap, r & b, drum & bass.
People like Pharrel Williams from the Neptune’s, Dr Dre and Liam Howlett from the Prodigy are the three top producers/engineers I look up to.
Tell us about your successful releases across a spread of labels this past year.
It’s been a damn good year!!
I think I should have had about sixteen or seventeen tunes out this year, which is pretty good going considering the state of the vinyl market at the moment.
Here’s the list for the year:
Aftermath - 'Pornstar' - Freezingpoint (Inc, Prime Mover Rmx)
J.Nardi and J.Dwyer - 'Dripping Wet/Techno Slut' - Toolbox 12
Nik Denton and T.T. Babies - 'Feel The Friction' – Toolbox 14 (Aftermath Remix)
Aftermath - 'Underworld' – Toolbox 16 (Inc. Justin Bourne Rmx)
Aftermath - 'Body Rock' - NineNineNine (Inc. Ant Rmx)
Aftermath - 'Nightcrawler' - Brain Damage Recordings (Inc. Tara Reynolds Rmx)
Aftermath - 'Confusion'/Just Do It' – AftermathWhite01
Casper – 'Paranoid' – Toolbox 17 (J.Nardi and J.Dwyer Rmx)
Aftermath - 'OGI'/'Too Hot’ - Litup Records
Aftermath - 'Vision' (NRG) - Litup Records (Inc. Casper Rmx)
Aftermath - 'More' - Tonka Trax (Inc Equinox Rmx)
Aftermath - 'Poison' - Brain Damage Recordings (Inc. Colin Barrat Rmx)
J.Nardi and J.Dwyer - 'Little Maniac!' – Toolbox (Inc Pete Wardman's Trade Rmx)
J.Nardi and J.Dwyer - 'Evil Genius' - Short Circuit
Aftermath - 'Basuco Beat' – Hardsounds 2
A couple of them are due out mid to end of December and one early January.
It’s been really good to spread ourselves out and manage to get signed to loads of different labels. There are a lot of new labels springing up all over the place, most of the time being created by producers an outlet for tracks that they can’t get signed, so the scene has been somewhat submerged with new tracks and labels.
The strong will survive and hopefully quality will shine through.
What’s the favorite track you’ve produced?
Probably ‘Little Maniac!’ on Toolbox (Ltd. promos available from the Toolbox store now, sorry, haha).
The track is pretty funky, but still really driving. It’s totally different from a lot of other tunes around at the moment. It’s got a bit of an OD404 feel to it. Plus getting it remixed by the legend Pete Wardman has made it a pretty special track for me.
‘Evil Genius’ - forthcoming on Short Circuit seems to be getting amazing reactions every time I’ve heard it out. Justin Bourne and Marc Johnson are the only guys that have a copy of it, so it’s pretty special right now.
What has been your proudest achievement so far?
Probably getting phone calls from Paul Glazby, Superfast Oz and Equinox all saying they wanted to sign tracks.
Run us through some of the kit you have in the studio.
For sequencing I use either Cubase SX or Nuendo 2. Both are made by Steinberg and are really cool. People go on about which sequencer is best - Reason, Fruity Loops, Logic, Cubase. The whole topic gets really boring, at the end of the day it comes down to how well you use it.
I use different stuff depending whether I’m working at Nick’s, Julian’s or at mine, but most of the kit is the same.
Either a Mackie 14 channel mixer or the digital Yamaha 01v. Roland JV1080, Alpha Juno 2, Kontakt (soft sampler), Wavelab (for audio editing) loads of soft synths and filter plugins and a few secret little FX plugins.
When writing original material, do you normally have a pretty good idea of how the tune you want to produce will turn out before you start making it, or is there a lot of spontaneity involved?
It can go either way to be honest, but more recently it has gone the way I hoped it would. If you go in with a cool vocal in mind you have something to work with in your head, rather than starting from scratch with a basic kick pattern and going from there.
Who would you like to work with in the studio, any plans made?
Recently I’ve had loads of people ask to come and get something down. I’m definitely up for it, but at the moment working full time during the week and producing with Nick and Julian takes up most of my free time.
It’s easy to make plans with people, but actually following it up is a different story. Hopefully next year I can allow more time to do some other projects.
Marc Johnson and I are gonna be hooking up soon and the other week Superfast Oz asked if I’d be up for doing something with him.
That’s about it for now.
Karim has done his own remix of ‘Body Rock’ (NRG Mix) - is this set for a release or will it stay only available to the select few?
Haha… Yeah he has.
The techno mix of this tune was released on NineNineNine a few months ago, but Glazby wasn’t too keen on the NRG mix. Everyone else seemed to love it. It was actually re-worked and put out as ‘Confusion’ on Aftermathwhite01 a few weeks ago.
No release is planned for Karim’s mix - only Myself, Nick and Karim have a copy anyway. I must say it sounds wicked on a big system. I might dig it out to play on NYD for Byte at The Purple Turtle.
What releases do you have forthcoming?
Aftermath - 'Poison' - Brain Damage Recordings (Inc Colin Barratt Rmx)
-Promos out soon.
J.Nardi and J.Dwyer - 'Little Maniac!' – Toolbox (Inc. Pete Wardman's Trade rmx)
– Promos out now!!
Aftermath - 'More' - Tonka Trax (Inc. Equinox rmx)
– Due out end of December.
J.Nardi and J.Dwyer - 'Evil Genius' - Short Circuit
- Due out Jan/Feb next year.
Aftermath - 'Basuco Beat' – Hardsounds 2
– Due out in Jan sometime.
After the success of the white label you put out, Aftermathwhite, do you have any plans to setup your own label?
I’m not too sure to be honest. Marc (Johnson) and I spoke about this the other week actually. I’ll see how next year pans out, but it’s definitely something worth thinking about, now I’m/we’re a lot more established.
You’ve recently joined the Insekt crew, have you got any ideas regarding the direction for Insekt? For example is there anyone you’d like to have down to play?
The direction for Insekt has been pretty much agreed from the start. We want a party with musical progression from start to end. I’m sick and tired of walking into clubs to an empty dance floor at the start of the night and who ever is playing is banging out the latest big tunes at 150bpm. Some people have no idea in my opinion.
Our line ups will feature only the very best. People who have really helped make the scene what it is today.
Our venue, Fire, is really nice too. To be honest I wouldn’t want the night at any other venue at the moment. Fire is perfect for what we want to achieve.
When you walk into the club there is a nice bar, plenty of seating and good lighting. (no flashing strobes in your face) It’s more like a bar vibe. You can have a chat over a few drinks without being blasted with deafening music the second you arrive.
Regarding whom I’d like to have down to play at future nights:
Steve Thomas, Pete Wardman, DMF (Live), D.A.V.E. Drummer, Ian M, Paul King, Peter Ward, Lady Bianca and not forgetting our residents Justin Bourne and Superfast Oz.
On a lighter tip:
The Sharp Boys and Craig Daniels (DTPM)
How did you get involved with Insekt?
I’ve known Marc Johnson for a while now and through Marc I met George E. We all share a love for the same music and have similar tastes. Both of them have worked in the studio with an old mate of mine: Fillipo Del Morro (DMF). So I guess I’ve got Fillipo to thank.
We all share the same views on how we want the night to go, along with Allen from Torture Garden and Pete Rothy we’ve got a pretty solid team.
What makes Insekt different to the other hard dance nights?
For fans of tuff house, hard house and NRG the line ups at Insekt don’t come any better. No expense has been spared bringing the finest DJs, label owners and producers together for something very special, you’ll be hard pushed to find a better line up at any other monthly night in the country.
It’s about time London had a dedicated hard house night.
What do you do for a living?
I’m a DVD Authorer and audio engineer. At the moment I’m running the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound audio suite, which is pretty cool. I’ve spent the past week creating a 5.1 surround mix for a forthcoming feature film.
What CDs are you listening to at home?
Loads of different stuff. I rarely listen to anything banging when at home, I get enough of it in the studio and out at the weekends.
Kelis - Tasty
Scissor Sisters
N*E*R*D*
Basement Jaxx
D12
James Brown
Outkast
We’ve heard you’re quite a film buff – what DVDs are popular in the Nardi household at the moment?
There is one film actually which hopefully will be massive!! At work we were lucky enough to have the job of making the full UK DVD release of a French film, with English sub titles called ‘Switchblade Romance’. Please don’t let the subtitles or the fact that it’s French put you off. It’s truly one of the best films I’ve seen.
It’s almost like a cross between ‘Seven’ and ‘Fight Club’.
My flatmate’s girlfriend went to bed after watching it for ten minutes because she was so scared!! Hahaha.
It should be out at your local Blockbuster in a couple of months.
I’ve also got a few new sports DVDs for the select few - I can’t remember the titles though. Haha!!!
(Photos courtesy of #J#, James Nardi and Raymondo.)
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Other Features By El Capitano Pete:
Insekt Launch Party Preview – Interviews with Ben Stevens, Superfast 0z and Ziad
Interview with George E
Interview with Marc Johnson
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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Comments:
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From: George-E on 9th Dec 2004 11:53.57
Top stuff Jimbob, HEEEEEEE HEEEEEEEEE!
From: Kevin Wilding on 9th Dec 2004 12:51.34
I would like to watch you take a sex piss James!
From: MADMAX on 9th Dec 2004 12:53.11
wikkid interview.
keep up the good work James 
From: Tony.P on 9th Dec 2004 13:10.16
One of the nicest bloke i know in this scene, in it for the right reasons and is a pleasure to know him.
keep up the good work James
really looking forward to Insekt
From: Mark Maitland on 9th Dec 2004 13:14.24
Top moves son!!!!!!!
From: James Nardi on 9th Dec 2004 13:49.12
Argh Kev!! that means soo much to me mate. Maybe @ Riot. 
From: Toomz on 9th Dec 2004 14:14.35
Tis a good read... nice one Jim!
From: Jennie B on 9th Dec 2004 15:15.16
Wicked interview mate looking forward to you set at INSEKT 
From: Baynesy on 9th Dec 2004 15:52.13
Good Read.
From: Hannah Wild on 9th Dec 2004 18:25.09
Sports DVDs LMFAO!!!!  Im still waiting for a few my end please J!
From: Steve Maynard on 9th Dec 2004 18:57.56
Top interview Jimbob, cant wait 4 sat
From: Toomz on 9th Dec 2004 19:09.19
Jim's got the best collection of golf DVD's I've seen !!
From: Marc Johnson on 9th Dec 2004 19:52.02
well done, jim, keep up all the good work mate
From: Tara Reynolds on 9th Dec 2004 21:04.03
Raaaaaaa chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Great interview James x
From: James Nardi on 10th Dec 2004 00:58.13
Raaaaa Chiii!!! Tara. lol
Haha.. i didn't think you'd be saying that after all these years.
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Toomz - Got a few new editions in.
From: Steve Gillen on 10th Dec 2004 08:51.24
Nice interview fella. Congrats on a successful year.
From: Toomz on 10th Dec 2004 09:17.13
Excellent Jim... need to work on my swing lol
From: James Nardi on 10th Dec 2004 09:19.40
Is that what you call it. lol
From: George-E on 10th Dec 2004 10:01.31
Toomz never make it to the green Jim he always lands in the ruff...wot a mess ey! Hi, Chamone!!!
From: Lady Bianca on 10th Dec 2004 14:42.55
FAB interview! Looking forward to saturday x
From: PETER WARD on 10th Dec 2004 14:59.07
Great interview from one of the leading hard dance producers of the moment. Cheers James!
From: James Nardi on 10th Dec 2004 20:29.08
Thanks for your nice comments everyone. 
From: Toomz on 11th Dec 2004 00:12.43
Haha, George ya cheeky git... at least I can get my club outta the bag
From: sunvisordude on 12th Dec 2004 15:43.29
hey james. great interview. it's all spot on. you i what i think of your stuff...keep it going, as it's pure quality. see you soon
From: James Nardi on 12th Dec 2004 22:29.31
Thanks Thomas, take care.
From: James Jaye on 13th Dec 2004 12:32.41
Good stuff James,keep it up mate
From: NUMBERPLATEGIRL on 13th Dec 2004 19:19.16
Ahhhhhh, the Oldies are still the besties Nice to hame you back James xx
From: James Nardi on 15th Dec 2004 19:12.15
Cheers Kel.x
From: Barry Ford on 26th Dec 2004 10:21.38
Great to see things working for ya mate! Were looking forward to coming to insekt in the near future!
From: James Nardi on 27th Dec 2004 19:48.44
Cheers Barry. Try and get yourself & the boys down on Jan 22nd mate. It's gonna be mental!!!
Take care.
From: GRiT on 5th Jan 2005 18:22.15
Great to see you do well mate
From: James Nardi on 16th Jan 2005 13:26.48
thanks franz
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