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A preview to TOXIK’s “The Embrace”: JP & Jukesy vs Yaz and the hard house vs trance debate.
Reported by Steve Milton
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Submitted 02-02-05 02:17
Friday the 18th of February sees the second instalment of one of London’s brightest new promotions - TOXIK, with their valentine’s party aptly named “The Embrace”. After an energetic and certainly fun opening night at Heaven last October it’s now that the hard work really begins in proving they can move forward and show they have what it takes to survive in the highly competitive London clubbing scene. With what’s listed as “three truly spectacular stage shows” planned along with a renowned UV artist and all housed by the famous Rocket Complex, the TOXIK promotions team really are maximising their potential to make this event so much more than just another club night.
The UV artist does his thing
With some of the heavyweights in hard dance going head to head with the finest in trance new boys I thought it was time to light the fuse and stand well back as the trance verses hard house argument once again boils to the surface and I try and settle the debate once and for all which genre really does rule the clubbing roost.
So, without further ado, from the dark side, fighting from the red corner we have musical deprivation itself in the form of newly signed TOXIK residents and purveyors of fine audio filth . . . JP & Jukesy!
And in the blue corner, fighting on behalf of the light is Nottingham’s Club Fixation resident; trance master Jedi and midlands mini hero DJ . . . YAZ!
This will be a 10 round bout, I want no gouging, biting or punches below the belt. Keep it clean gentlemen and come out fighting. DING DING
Round 1 – First of all for those not familiar with your good selves, explain why you’re good enough to be fighting for your chosen genre. A chance for some blatant self-promotion here so knock yourselves out.
Yaz: “I’ve been mixing for almost 10 years, a club resident at Fixation for over 2 years and have played to crowds in famous midlands clubs such as Passion in Coalville in 2004. I’ve played alongside loads of top names such as Scott Bond, Guy Ornadel, Nick Riley and many more. I’m a weekly resident on Risefm.com with my own two-hour show and I’ve just been given a monthly two-hour show on the massive www.etn.fm internet radio station as well. London’s going to be new to me but I’m looking forward to the challenge as I understand they’re a tough crowd to please but I’m sure I’ll be more than up for it.”
JP & Jukesy: “Well we have just been signed to Tidy’s DJ Agency and we own and run our own label Deprivation Recordings, the events that we’ve played at last year include Tidy Weekenders, Tidy Summer Camp, Tidy Magna, Hard House Academy, Frantic vs Wildchild, Garlands, Roar & even Australia. 2004 was a really good year for us and it ended on a really high note, 2005 we are going to push that little bit harder to see where we can get. I (Jukesy) also produce under an alias-called “Masmada” which is done with Sam Hudson and have had releases on labels like Vicious Circle and Nukleuz. And as you quite rightly say Nomi, as from 2005 we have joined Toxik as new residents.”
Round 2 – OK, you are forced into playing a set of the other DJ’s choice. How would you get by and what tricks would you need to make sure you didn’t kill yourself by permanently stabbing yourself with the stylus or slitting your throat with a broken record?
Yaz: “I could manage no probs as long as I didn’t have to play that bouncy hard house – I think I’d happily slit my wrists before ever having to play that. Full on filth I can live with!”
JP:” I was into trance 4 or 5 years ago so that shouldn’t be a problem, its true what they say about trance though…. they don’t make it like they used to!!!”
Jukesy: “I was into trance back in the day too but I gave all classic trance records away and god I regret it now, mainly because as JP said they don’t make trance like they used too!!”
Round 3 – You’ve just finished playing a set and are quite pleased with how everything has gone when a slightly worse for wear punter comes up to you and congratulates you on a job well done. The only problem is they mistake you for a DJ from the other side. Do you:
A – Go all show biz and walk away in disgust with your nose in the air.
B – Calmly sit them down and teach them the error of their ways and how your style of music is so much better than the DJ they’ve mistaken you for.
C – Hit them over the head with your record box, steal their money and then spend it all on sweets.
D – Thank them politely.
Explain your selection.
Yaz: “Err . . . I’ll go for A. Then they’ll think the hard house guy is an arrogant tosser which means one up for the trance corner!”
JP:“My answer would be D, its best to be polite as it might be difficult trying to explain (LOL).”
Jukesy: “Can I answer E???
Nomi Sunrider: "No . . . stick to the rules"
Jukesy: "OK, in that case I would thank them and because they had been so nice give them the bag of trance records from behind the decks as a kind gesture.”
Nomi Sunrider: *Makes mental note to never upset Jukesy – he’s devious.*
Round 4 – I’ve often heard it said (by trance lovers no doubt) that hard house is for sweaty munted morons with no musical taste whereas trance is for the more intelligent and upmarket amongst us. How would you respond to this?
 GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS - just one of the planned stage shows
Yaz: “I think hard house has a name for certainly attracting a certain amount of clubbers who favour the veterinary kind of drugs which you don’t tend to find at trance venues. As for musical taste, there’s good and crap music in every genre, be that hard house or trance. To be quite honest with you, I love a bit of filth and nu-nrg but I really can’t stand the cheesy bouncy hard house with definitely in a lot of cases fall under the ‘made in Cubase in 30 seconds’ category. Anything musical, even if it’s hard and pounding, and I’ll give it a listen. The production sometimes has more layers and riffs but again you’ve got the hard house from Ian M and the like which are just as well produced – I wouldn’t argue either is more ‘intelligent’.”
JP: “Each to their own I suppose, I guess if everyone had the same tastes in music the world would be a boring place.”
Jukesy: “I would just laugh and mince with the fairy a little to humour them!! If Glazby were around I'd ask him to have a quiet word in their ear! I'm sure they would soon run away.”
Round 5 – On the flip side to the previous question hard house lovers will say trance is for loved up fairies to ponce about to and wave their arms in the arm to two-minute breakdowns. All the get up and go has got up and gone. Definitely one for those with, shall we say, less than masculine tendencies (a non PC question but there you go).
Yaz: “Haha . . . I guess if you go looking, you can probably find some fluffy trance with lovely vocals and 3 minute breakdowns which might be some DJ’s choice. I tend to favour the more driving style of trance and especially the harder end of the scale where you’ve got hard almost techno-sounding trance with its tough beats, which is typically the style I play in later sets. I’ve also been known to drop techno tracks into my sets, a big favourite of mine is currently the Wilko mix of Pedro Delgardo – 818, so it’s not all fluff from the trance corner  The problem is that you’ve got Flip & Fill and the likes giving people the impression that it’s trance, when it’s just pop cheese with a euro beat. Proper trance should be nice and driving with lush soaring pads and synth riffs to blow your mind.”
Jukesy: “I have been known to do an impression of a poncey trance person every now and again, there might even be pictures somewhere, I think you’ve just about summed it all up though, trance heads have no get up and go!!”
Round 6 – In one of your brighter moments you lose a tooth trying to open a bottle of beer in your mouth. Still believing in the tooth fairy as you do, the said tooth is placed under your pillow that night in the hope for some extra cash, but in the morning there’s a note saying: “If you convert to trance/hard house you will become the world's number one DJ, be rich beyond your wildest dreams and have hoards of rampant totty desperate to do untold things with your body.” Signed – The Tooth Fairy. Would you compromise yourself and go over to the other side?
Yaz: “Hell yeah – why not! Think of all the women and partying – do I look stupid?”
Nomi Sunrider: “Hmm . . . I best not answer that.”
JP & Jukesy: “We would never sell out, we both have open minds and play various styles of hard dance but would never convert to the poncey side.”
Round 7 – What would be your favourite (if you have one of course) trance/hard house tune and why?
Yaz on hard house: “Hard house probably Ian M – Crazy Pills just because it’s really filthy and has also stood the test of time which so few hard house records manage.”
JP on trance: ”My fave trance tune has to be Kristine Blond - Love Shy the ELECTRIC BOUTIQUE remix. Got so many memories of that track being played at bakers in Birmingham years ago.”
Jukesy on trance: “Mine has got to be Marc Et Claude – I need your lovin…. so so many happy memories!!!”
Round 8 – You’re half way through a set and notice the crowd is being tempted away by word of a hard house/trance set in another room that’s really kicking off. What tunes would you drag out from your record box to make sure you got them back again?
Yaz: “Hmm maybe Marco V – Automanual, or something similarly techy to get them stomping. No sane trance addict is going to go and listen to hard house though with the exception or maybe Mark EG or Stirling Moss. Even I have to watch them because they’re so impressive to watch!”
JP & Jukesy: “Ahh, the great classic debate, we always try to throw in a few classics just to keep things interesting & keep the crowd happy. Ones that always seem to do well for us are Paul Glazby - Kick it, TDV - R U Ready & TDV - I Don't Care. There has been occasions where we have played the odd bounce set and there is a whole host of classics within that sort of theme too.”
Round 9 – Due to the higher BPMs of hard house a more energetic style would seem to be the order of the day. Working on this assumption does it mean hard house DJs are fitter than trance DJs, regardless of visits to the pie shop and total salad dodging?
Yaz: “Hahaha no way – I’ve seen some well lardy hard house DJs (without naming names of course but you know who you are) so I don’t agree with that one bit.”
JP & Jukesy: “Of course it does, they only listen to trance music because they like to chill, hard house music is for the Healthy Happy Land of clubbing.”
The Final Round – Explain why you think your chosen style of music is better than the other. Bonus points will be added for imagination, intimidation and sheer bloody mindedness!
Yaz: “I think trance is generally more musical than most hard house with its big riffs and breakdowns. The harder stuff still has enough kick to appeal to the kids who like it hard – it’s all down to the DJs to play the good stuff and leave the cheesy vocals with the 3 minute breakdowns alone.”
JP & Jukesy: “We’ll be honest, trance is good, classic trance is ace BUT its all so boring and your arms hurt if you hold your arms up for too long in the breakdowns, hard house clubbers call you poncey so there's just no point, it's much better to come over to the dark side, pump up the BPM and start doing some proper dancing and burn some calories off, in the end you will become a slim jim and your mum will be proud of you.”
And a final word from the guys:
JP & Jukesy : “Thanks Nomi and Yaz for the time, its really been nice doing a oddball type interview, everything has been said in jest so we don’t expect any trance heads to start throwing fruit at us when we are out. Its really good to see trance, hard house and other styles becoming so common in events these days, the variety can only be good for the clubbers. TOXIK had such rave reviews after their first event, we are very proud to have joined their team. They put an awful lot of effort into the events and that really shines through for us. There will be some CD giveaways from us and various other DJs on the night, you can catch us in the trance room trying to get hold of one.”
Yaz: “When TOXIK approached me asked me to play at their second event I jumped at the chance. I’d heard all the good things being said on the clubbing websites and in magazines and knew it would be a great and fun night. It’s also a huge chance for me to show what I can do to the London crowds which is something I’d wanted to do for a long time so I’m going to be pulling out all of the stops and just hope I get asked back again. Thanks to the boys from the dark side for providing such eloquent answers, if I’m not playing at the same time you’ll find me down the front when they’re on and proving we’re all one big happy clubbing family really.
Nomi Sunrider: “Thanks guys for your time.”
So there you have it. Far from there being scene’s akin to the remake of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” I’m feeling lots of love, well maybe not love just yet but where the trance vs hard house debate is concerned they’re genres that can live happily next door to each other without the need for a court order.
See you on the dance floor. 
TOXIK Presents:: 'The Embrace'
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On:
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Friday 18th February 2005
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At:
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The Rocket Complex [map]
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From:
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22:00 - 06:00
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Cost:
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Early Bird Adv. Tickets £10+bf; Standard Tickets £14+bf; Concessions/Guestlist £15; More on the door
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Website:
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www.toxikevents.co.uk
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Ticket Info:
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TICKET INFORMATION:
Early Bird Tickets: £10+BF (on sale only until 14 January 2005)
Standard Tickets: £14+BF
Paying Guestlist: £15 (For paying guestlist, email full names to guestlist@toxikevents.co.uk or phone 07818 044 138 before Friday 4th February 2005)
More on the Door
TICKET OUTLETS:
E-list (1 free per 5) 0709 280 9077 www.e-listlondon.com
Club Connexion (1 free per 5) 0870 246 1840 www.clubtickets.co.uk
TicketWeb 0870 060 0100 www.ticketweb.co.uk
Cyberdog (Camden) 0207 482 2842
Vince (Midlands/Coaches/Packages) 07835-626226
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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After the phenomenal success of our opening night at Heaven, we've decided to move across London to the Victorian splendour of the Rocket Complex! Complete with huge stage, high ceiling, opulent fretwork and brand new 40K Turbo Sound Floodlight System, we continue to redefine the boundaries of clubland. This will be a Valentines night to remember. If the proof in the pudding is in the eating then prepare to gorge yourselves on some of the finest DJ's, and stage entertainment dance music has to offer.
HIGHLIGHTS:
>>> 8 HOURS OF NON-STOP MIND-BLOWING MUSIC
>>> 3 SPECTACULAR SOUND ARENAS
>>> OVER 20 DJS, 4 MC'S
>>> UDG (WWW.ULTIMATE-DJ-GEAR) SPONSORED GIVEAWAYS
>>> AN EXCLUSIVE WORLD-CLASS STAGE PERFORMANCE
>>> UV BODY PAINTED DANCERS
>>> AMAZING DECOR, LIGHTING & LASER DISPLAYS
>>> STALLS WITH A VALENTINES TWIST, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - YOU!
To read the MIXMAG review of TOXIK's successful launch night, visit our website: www.toxikevents.co.uk.
"...All the elements of a top night out are here...Toxik should make its (no doubt florescent) mark on London."
(Mixmag :: Issue 01/05, pg 80)
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Other Features By Steve Milton:
The Final Zoo
The Death of Clubland?
Trousers, Caps and Trance Anthems - It's Dave Pearce!
Boom Box, Bulldog Breaks and V1 - It's Time to Reload with DJ-X(lab4)
Clubbers Guide to Photography: Part Two
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: Craig Paxton on 2nd Feb 2005 14:49.08
Brilliant interview...
From: El Greko on 2nd Feb 2005 19:23.04
Roll On the EMBRACE. Hard House or Trance hmmmm 
From: London_bird on 2nd Feb 2005 19:47.02
Nice one shorty - see you there for another silly night!
From: houseCHICK on 2nd Feb 2005 21:57.20
ha-ha.... Steve sure knows how to add that extra twist in his interviews/reports. Brilliant job!
From: Ian Edwards on 3rd Feb 2005 00:39.38
bring it on
From: JP and Jukesy on 5th Feb 2005 15:24.11
Here comes Toxik :-) good work guys
From: jts123 on 6th Feb 2005 15:56.56
Great interview! (from both perspectives). Roll on the 18th!!
From: twist on 8th Feb 2005 19:03.25
some very entertaining questions Nomi.
From: TOXIK on 11th Feb 2005 17:05.41
a very entertaining interview with a unique twist!!! Very good one...
From: Camden Nurse on 12th Feb 2005 10:07.21
LOL See you guys there.
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