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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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Interview with James Ellis
Reported by Tartipants
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Submitted 11-07-05 02:06
Being relatively new to this scene I was keen to try new clubs out. I had heard about a night in Cheltenham and I felt I owed my hometown the benefit of the doubt. I soon realised that this night consisted of a tightly knit crew who were extremely proud of what they were bringing to Cheltenham, and that they blatantly enjoyed what they were doing as well. Several incredibly talented djs were doing what they know best, pleasing the crowd. Upon arrival I was enticed onto the dance floor by this dj. His energetic and smile enticing mix was one of the best I had heard in a while, and he managed to entertain me the whole time he was mixing.
He started his dj life making tapes for friends (as they all do!) and progressed to having five local residencies. He has played all over the country and supported some of the biggest names in the hard dance scene. He once kept a 500 strong crowd rocking their socks off after a LAB 4 set!
So then… here we have one of the main men responsible for teaching the country folk all about decent music. Ladies and gentlemen… I give you, Mr James Ellis.
Tarti: So James, Residency. How did it all start?
James: Four years ago myself and two other djs, Marc Minall and Rich T, were residents at a very successful weekly Friday promotion in Cheltenham called Society (run by the now infamous Brisky of Wildchild/Monster tunes fame). This night was slowly taken over by promoters from Bristol and started to die off, seemingly only the following of each local resident keeping the event ticking over. When these promoters left, Marc and Rich started to run the night off their own backs, and I soon joined the team. It was named Residency as a tribute to the importance — musically and operationally — of each of these three resident djs to the night. We then kept a long running theme of showcasing the hard working but musically pivotal superclub residents, playing peak time sets.
Tarti: What makes bringing the scene to Cheltenham so important to you?
James: Cheltenham is where I fell in love with hard dance music, and where most of my friends and acquaintances live. If there hadn’t been promoters around putting events on when I was 18, I would have had a much less exciting social life at that age and wouldn’t have met and bonded with such wonderful like minded people over the years (sniff).
Tarti: Do you see any changes in people’s attitudes to hard dance music locally?
James: Sadly yes, the market has faded over the years. It peaked in Cheltenham about three or four years ago, along with the mass commercial interest in dance music, and has been gently declining. These days most smaller towns are mainly students and young people who are more into cheese and R&B. The real clubbers are getting older and now getting married/pregnant etc. and aren’t as mad for it. This is mainly due to the media’s declining interest in house and trance, and we are left with too many events, too many djs, too much product generally and not enough clubbers. We have had to be clever and strategic about Residency over the last 18 months to effectively ride this wave. One way we have done this is by lightening our music policy for the first half of the night to accommodate more trance and by working harder and smarter with our street level marketing. Phew!
Tarti: Would you prefer jam doughnuts or a chocolate éclair?
James: Chocolate every time.
Tarti: Who inspires you?
James: Anyone who is at the top of their game. In particular some of the UK’s most successful promoters like Danny @ Sundissential and Will @ Frantic — mainly because they aren’t djs themselves (as far as I know!). I can’t imagine having the motivation and determination to run big costly events without having the sweetener of all that glory behind the decks, so fair play to those guys.
Tarti: How many pairs of shoes do you own? (This one is for a group of ladies out there…)
James: Oh dear. Has someone told you I have lots of shoes? I have about 15 pairs on rotation — we are including trainers right?! Is that a lot? The key to making your shoes last a long time is not to wear the same ones all the time!
Tarti: What is the best part of the evening for you? The start when you are all excited about what is about to happen or the end when you can see the crowd begging for one more tune?
James: Specifically — catching the eye of a clubber who looks to be just as in love with that particular record as I am, or maybe even more so! Hard dance events are like great big musical appreciation societies and its great to share that sort of thing with a friend or a stranger.
Tarti: Favourite tune… only ONE!
James: Dark Monks ‘Insane’ (Steve Murano mix) because it’s deep, powerful, energetic and elevating. It sums up everything that I have loved about hard dance music over the last two or three years, and a bonus is I don’t hear too many other djs playing it! I NEVER tire of hearing it, Murano is an absolute genius.
Tarti: Favourite T-shirt?
James: My super tight, super white, GAS/Honda one.
Tarti: I may need pictures of that one. *cough * If you could have anyone doing a set at the Residency, who would you chose?
James: Tiesto, because it’d be a sell out and would really put us on the map! Unless we had to actually pay for his services… we’d have to do a runner at the end of the night when he asked for his 10k fee!
Tarti: What first made you want to become a dj?
James: Well one of my best mates Swen was a very popular trance DJ in Cheltenham and he used to pull so many fit girls so I thought...
No — really it was listening to a few key DJs in London circa 2000 who used to blow me away with their tunes and their amazing mixing — four of which must be mentioned: Steve Thomas, DFQ (@ Fish), Matt Clarke and Jarlath. The latter was a true friend and mentor at the time — he doesn’t play hard dance any more but if you had ever met him, or heard him, you’d remember!
Tarti: Are you married? Engaged? (The girls are going to want to know!)
James: A long way from either…
Tarti: Bungee jumping or sky diving?
James: Bungee jumping as you’d never get me out of a plane…
Tarti: Which night would you most like to play at?
James: Lucky old me has already played at most of the clubs that were of my previous wishlist ! However, I’d like to appear at the ID&T Sensation Black event in Amsterdam. 40,000+ people all in the one arena going nuts to hard, twisted dance music, all wearing black — sounds like heaven!!!!!!!
Tarti: Do you sleep on the left or the right side of the bed?
James: Generally I like to be on the left side of the bed, facing left! (Unless that side faces the wall).
Tarti: What sort of music can we expect to hear from you? (Please say bouncy…)
James: I do play bounce of course, as the bouncy HH sound of a few years ago was THE sound of hard dance at the time. That was what I first started buying so it’ll always be close to my heart, plus it’s great fun to mix and it has a fantastic friendly up for it crowd following too. I like to say that bounce is a feeling!
However, most of the time I’ll be spinning European hard/tech trance and trance bootlegs — lots of riffs, lots of vocals. This is what gets my pulse racing in my car, on my home stereo, my MP3 player and of course on the decks...
Tarti: So where can we hope to see you play next?
James: I’m playing Residency every month of course and also Afters and Sundissential @ Subway in Birmingham on a monthly basis, but a few exciting gigs on the horizon include:
The B2T Rave Aid party @ The Sanctuary in Birmingham on 20th August (a free party event with proceeds towards B’ham Children’s Hospital), Sundissential’s Bank Holiday event @ Creation in Cardiff on Sunday August 28th, and later in the year the Wildchild 3rd Birthday bash at SEOne in London on October 29th — all of these events will have a massive attendance and a fantastic atmosphere! My full diary etc. can be found on my website www.djjamesellis.com
Tarti: And one final question that I know everyone wants to know the answer to… what is your favourite sandwich filling?
James: Ploughmans (with lots of pickle). But remember people: sandwiches aren’t a good food choice, as bread is a poor carbohydrate source!
Thanks for chatting James. Where is my next demo?
Many thanks to Phil James for the photography www.pjp-photo.co.uk
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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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.. there's not enough about.. I wanna hear this guy play now!
I remember listening to your demos way back when I first moved to London. I believe we share a mutual friend in a Mr Dan Burner. 
His mixings not half bad either hehe!
Cheers guys. Look out for this guy in a store near you....superstar dj indeed.
@ Kev