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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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An update on a Vicious year for Insekt’s early riser, Marc Johnson
Reported by Toomz
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Submitted 04-10-05 15:01
It’s been almost a year since we last heard from Marc Johnson and, boy hasn’t it been a busy year! With many more productions under his belt including some very exciting future releases, Marc has definitely been making waves!! Head honcho of two record labels he is also one quarter of the driving force and promotions team of the much talked about Insekt club night. Combined with the day job it is certainly hard to imagine where he fits it all in! Taking all this into account we thought it only right to pose a few questions to see what else he’s been up to & to tell us more about some exciting projects in the pipeline.
The man himself, Marc Johnson
Hi Marc. 2005 has been an exciting but hectic year for you, which has seen your profile raise greatly. How have you found this work load along with your day job? Any plans to hang up the hat & bag yet?
My sickness and lates at Royal Mail has gone up slightly more then average but luckily my boss is sweet as and doesn’t crack the whip too badly. They know what I do and are as supportive as they can be about it. I can’t see me ever leaving there to be honest, especially while the hard house scene isn’t having the best of times. Physically and mentally I’ve kind of got used to juggling everything about so I’m as on top of things as can be and feel a lot better now then I did say 18 months ago. Managing two labels, producing, a normal job and DJing at weekends all seemed to go mad at the same time.
I think congratulations are in order for getting signed to the legendary Vicious Circle Recordings. Having one track taken by these guys is many producer’s dream, but two on one EP and a recent remix, you must be pretty chuffed?
Thank you, it is definitely the icing on the cake for me. If I was to stop all this tomorrow I’d now be happy with what I’ve managed to achieve. I thought I missed out to be honest as Paul was interested in ‘Terrorized’ but I got the feeling it wasn’t going to happen. He was licensing the album and took it for the CD, but I had to put it down as a Flash Point tune as he hadn’t played it out yet and was still a bit unsure. Then I was up at Mik’s and we had just finished ‘Serial Killer’ so sent him that as well and got a nudge from Kate a day later saying that they were interested for a double A, and that Paul was about to call me. I was well chuffed. I think only Dom and Ian M have had double A sides so celebrated big style for the “whole” month haha. Getting offered the remix of Glazby’s ‘Realise, Real Lies, Real Highs’ just added to the numbness of a mad few weeks.
In addition, those tracks & three others of yours feature on the recent Vicious Circle compilation CD, I Love VC. That is another entry for the CV and it must be a nice acknowledgement for all your years of hard work?
It definitely makes all the hours I put in worthwhile. I have been doing all this for over 5 years now and it definitely made me feel good looking back and thinking of the work that’s gone into it. The fact that my name made the advertising banner alongside Glazby’s, Ben and Dom’s was really exciting as well. Just wish they did a TV advert for it like MoS, my mum would have loved seeing that in between Corrie haha.
MJ in the mix
Your bookings have really taken off too, with many more sets outside of your native London and also abroad. Have you been anywhere nice recently & do you have any exciting bookings ahead?
In the last 10 months I’ve been to New Zealand again and Japan, which were both great experiences. Japan is a wicked place, got well looked after and had a right laugh with Daniel who took me out there. I’ve got San Francisco confirmed in the diary with a date for next year. The bloke tells me its some kind of Playboy party which could be interesting. Will hopefully be getting down with Heff and his clan but I doubt it somehow. Just keeping everything crossed that it doesn’t get cancelled as I’ve had 2 other overseas gigs cancelled this year which is devastating.
Flash Point Records has been steadily churning out cracking releases and now there is a new project, Flash Point Digital. Can you tell us more about this?
Yeah it’s basically that we get sent a lot of demos that are of a really high standard but we can’t release everything we like as, anyone with a label will tell you, it’s impossible. Now with the new technology available, the music can get heard/played and the artists get paid for their work and gain some recognition as opposed to the track sitting on the shelf and the artist wondering “what if?”
We still won’t take on stuff we don’t like for the sake of it as that will end up saturating the market with crap, but if something comes along that we think fits to our sound and is good enough to be played, then we will try and take it on board. There are no manufacturing costs so the financial risk is none, so for the artist, it’s a kind of second choice. Everyone wants a tune on vinyl as a hard copy reminder but it is really, really hard these days to get that deal, so this is another alternative.
You will be able to listen & download these & all future releases from the following websites:
www.tidydigital.com
www.trackitdown.net
www.chemical-records.co.uk
www.beatport.com
www.imodownload.com
www.djdownload.com
James Nardi & Marc Johnson
The first few releases are by new artists to the scene. Is this a conscious effort to bring new blood into the fold?
Dunno, I think it’s harder for newer names to get signed to labels. Now, not saying it doesn’t happen as it does, but it’s just harder for new names to get on the ladder. This suits the newer artists who are hungry to get out there and walk before they run. Perfect examples are the three artists who appeared on it first; Dave Owens, Frank Farrell and James Searles. You get no hissy fits, bitching or crying from these boys about getting stuff signed. They all get on with the work and will all have massive years next year, even though they are already taking serious steps up the ladder at the moment.
Who has impressed you this year out of the up & coming DJs & producers? Who do you tip for the top?
Production-wise the three I mentioned above. They have all got the perfect attitude like I mentioned which sometimes is more important then talent, but they are still making some impressive stuff. Dave & I are in the middle of a track at the moment and just watching him and knowing how geeky he generally is I think in a couple of years, he could be the man.
On the DJing front, both Steve Maynard and Richard Toomz have impressed me for ages... they have got the skills and a genuine passion for the music. We have always booked the pair of them and it is good to see both of them moving on respectively. They have started getting tunes signed too so the future is bright.
Now onto Insekt, we’re approaching its 1st birthday shortly. Are you happy with how it is progressing? Are all the blood, sweat & tears worth it?
If I am honest it would have been nice to see it progress a little quicker, but we all said at the start that it will take a year to really get going so can’t really complain. The reputation of the name has been built solely from those who have attended it… no bullshit, no hard sell, just the people who have come have really enjoyed themselves and it has spread via word of mouth. It has been scary. We don’t talk ourselves up though, the slogan from day 1 is so fitting now and the blood, sweat and tears are definitely worth it.
Richard Toomz & Marc Johnson
Recently brought to our attention is the new project Insekt:AM, where the Insekt team will take on the running of Fire Club’s 3rd Arch during the hours of the F afterparty. How did this idea come about?
When the new arch was completed, James, George, Chris & I all had a look round and was amazed at how wicked it was, so we instantly wanted to do something in there. Being realists though, if we used it for a Saturday Insekt then we would have to use the main room as room 2 and at this stage we wouldn’t fill them. We have been speaking to Bianca who is in charge of booking the venue now and we suggested taking it on for Sundays, so long as F didn’t mind sharing. We were up for it, they were up for it so that’s how AM was born.
The general feedback has been mind blowing so far. Understandably it’s not going to go down well with everyone as it’s another party in the mix, but we’ve got just as much right as any to try and better ourselves and we are concentrating on keeping our own house in order. Hopefully everything else will take care of itself. For the clubbers (who are the important people after all) it is a dream as now there is more variety on offer and can only be healthy for the scene.
Sunday mornings at Fire will be an event in its own right, For the launch party, F have got Andy Farley, we have got Ben Stevens. This is grade A beef were talking, the prospect of it all is exciting for everyone involved.
What is the main drive & impetus behind Insekt:AM? Will this have a different music policy to the Saturday night party?
The main drive is to offer a quality hard house event and further add somewhere for people to go after hours. That is the beauty of living in London, there is always something on which makes it such a special place. The advantage of being a weekly event is that there is more room to bring in DJs who we cant use just yet for the Saturday night event, as we have built those events around our residents. So now there are more slots to get some other talent involved sooner.
The music policy will be the same but for me, I think the progression side wont be so strict at the AM events because most people have already been warmed up from whatever night they were at before. The DJs will obviously still play to the floor and all do their respected jobs but the vibe of Insekt will still be the same I guess.
For me Fire, with the addition of the new arch, is now one of the best venues in town. We are glad it’s our home as it wouldn’t be the same anywhere else. I have been to a great deal of the clubs in London and we are glad to have secured our place at Fire.
Many clubbers around the country have been asking if Insekt are planning to take the party on tour, or collaborate with any other nights. Will this be the case?
Part of what makes Insekt so special to us is the venue, it’s a big factor, so personally I’m reluctant to take it on a tour (the others may be up for it but this is my opinion). We have been lucky that since our inception we have had people travel from all over as opposed to being a London thing so not sure if a tour is needed. The planning of it could be traumatic so not sure if were ready for that yet, but who knows. Never say never.
October 15th sees an exclusive line-up at Insekt as Superfast Oz & Dom Sweeten of OD404 fame, play back to back for the first time in years. This is all set to be a very special night indeed. Did the lads take much convincing to play?
They did at first. I have been trying for ages but Dom wasn’t really up for it. So I kept asking every so often and eventually wore him down thank god. When we started the night it was always one of the main targets to get the back to back at Insekt, so now it is finally all tied up and rapidly approaching, the magnitude of it all is beginning to sink in. They have started doing PAs but this is a rare DJ set unseen for ages and probably won’t be again for a while (or if it does it wont be the same as the first time). I imagine all the anoraks will be out in force for this and I will be no different. It is going to be a strange sight seeing them both mix it up in the booth as we are all used to seeing Oz but only once seen Dom.
Add to this it being Justin’s birthday and James’ return set from his month away Down Under, it is shaping up to be one special evening. And, if that is not enough, all those that turn up will be given an extra special treat by being allowed free admission to Insekt:AM to see the mighty Dynamic Intervention tear it up! What a bargain!
Photos courtesy of Marc Johnson.
Insekt
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On:
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Saturday 15th October 2005
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At:
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Fire [map]
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From:
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10pm - 6am
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Cost:
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£10 Paying Guestlist, £15 on the door.
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Website:
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www.insekt.co.uk
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Ticket Info:
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For £10 paying guestlist please email:
insekt_guestlist@yahoo.co.uk
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More:
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This month Insekt are proud to unleash a true world exclusive in hard house. No Sequencers, no laptops, no live PA, just 2x1210's, 2xCDJs, a mixer and 2 bags of the most classic and upfront tunes you could wish to hear. This month Insekt are proud to bring you 2 legends back to back for the first time in years, Superfast Oz and Dom Sweeten bring the studio to the dance floor, Insekt are proud to present OD404.
Crystal-clear soundsystem, chill out area, colour laser.
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Flyer:
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Other Features By Toomz:
Insekt preview with Simon Paul & Housewives Choice.
Insekt preview: crowd rockin with Ben Stevens
An interview with Flash Point's quiet man Jupe.
Insekt preview: interview with George E
From Oz to AM: a look at the past year & 2006 with James Nardi
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: Jacob on 4th Oct 2005 15:20.50
Nice one Marc- best of luck with Insekt A.M and I look forward to the 1st birthday in November!
From: Kamora on 4th Oct 2005 15:29.09
What a phat interview!! 
Marc each time Insekt is on you are always the one standing around keeping a watchful eye...with all this hard work you should get off your tits a bit more often!!
Toomz your interviews get better each time mate. Well up for Insekt/AM now!!   Bring on the mayhem!!
From: Toomz on 4th Oct 2005 15:30.15
What makes you think he doesnt now haha!
From: George-E on 4th Oct 2005 15:52.52
Marc is most prob. the hardest working man I personally know on the Hard House/NRG circuit...it seems he is always either in the studio or sorting out Insekt stuff...he truly eat/lives/sleeps it - a true passion for the music he has indeed! A great inspiration to all up-n-comers out there and J...Marc neva gets messy :wink:
From: *cheeky chick* on 4th Oct 2005 16:12.09
nice interview
 to Marc.
ive had so much fun at the Insekt events 
good luck with Insekt AM 
From: Vivacious on 4th Oct 2005 17:03.05
Nice one Marc you're a top bloke!  Nice to see things are going swimmingly for you! 
From: Harry PT on 4th Oct 2005 17:29.45
Top bloke,top DJ,top producer and promoter...
Hope to see ya soon mate!
From: Steve Maynard on 4th Oct 2005 19:25.30
top darts gezzer, im glad all the hard work is paying off 4 the insekt crew, very well deserved!
From: Steve Gillen on 4th Oct 2005 20:31.42
Good stuff fella. Great interview.
From: Gustavo FRICKEN on 4th Oct 2005 21:07.16
Cant wait to hear you play! Keep it Fierce!
From: James Nardi on 5th Oct 2005 08:40.36
Good interview mate.
Hard work & no bull shit pays off & you are proof of that.
Exciting times ahead for us all with the growth of Insekt & Insekt AM. Roll on the 1st Bday, Christmas & New Year.
& not forgetting next Saturday of course.
From: Ualda on 5th Oct 2005 10:00.56
From: karl davis on 5th Oct 2005 10:16.38
well done marc, top bloke, all his productions are top class, an example for us dudes who know whe have to work our butts off to get anywhere, well one m8
From: Neats on 5th Oct 2005 11:50.30
well done Marc, you deserve it mate
Anita x
From: Redrum on 5th Oct 2005 12:53.44
Really enjoyed reading this interview.Well Done Toomz. Mark,I am so chuffed at all the hard work you have put into your djing,productions,Labels and running of Insekt.It has made Us Clubbers Happy.Hope the success continues!
From: Stevi D on 5th Oct 2005 15:12.05
Fucking phat Marc!! Good effort buddy"
From: Lady Bianca on 5th Oct 2005 16:28.22
Nice interview babe, really exciting times ahead eh!!! Can't wait for Sunday morning!! With F and Insekt... the music really will do the talking!!
From: Matt Smallwood on 5th Oct 2005 20:39.23
MJ you little legend!!
From: Lucy Fur on 5th Oct 2005 22:14.12
Ive actually known Marc a long time now (back from our Tronic days!) and im genuinely pleased to see how far he has come. U are a legend in your own right MJ!!!!
From: Demonix on 6th Oct 2005 10:23.36
MJ - The man, The Legend!!! > hard working, driven but a thoroughly decent down to earth bloke who deserves the recognition. Quality productions and Involved in the best HH night I have had the pleasure to attend!!
From: onthebass on 6th Oct 2005 12:45.34
Only ever seen MJ play once and that was back in '03 - top lad and productions are certainly improving with each release. Top work fella
From: Toomz on 8th Oct 2005 14:41.03
Oh yeah, and thanks for the shout out MJ
From: Coops on 12th Oct 2005 17:13.30
Good write up Toomz and nice work Dr Johnson, keep it up mate.
From: Darz on 12th Oct 2005 19:13.21
GRAND OLD TEAM TO SUPPORT, AND IF YOU KNOW YOUR HISTORY, IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE YOUR HEART GO WOHHHHHHHH WE DON'T CARE WHAT THE RED SHITE SAY, WHAT THE FUCK DO WE CARE!!
From: Darz on 12th Oct 2005 19:14.33
Is it just me or does MJ look like Anil Chawla a bit?!?!
From: El Capitano Pete on 13th Oct 2005 10:25.38
All hail Dr Johnson!
From: Tinks on 15th Oct 2005 13:20.24
Wicked interview from a quality  , producer & dj! 
Hope your star continues to rise and that Insekt gets the recognition it should as london's best night!!
From: sexyminx on 26th Oct 2005 17:34.42
Wicked interview. Glad its going well for ya sweet. Looking forward to bumping into ya real soon. Be good and OI OI 
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