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Features 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!

Boom Box, Bulldog Breaks and V1 - It's Time to Reload with DJ-X(lab4) Reported by Steve Milton / Submitted 12-08-09 16:30 The music industry is a fickle beast at the best of times and the small part of that beast which is the clubbing scene has, like everything at the moment, been in a transitional phase during the current economical climate. The days of massive turnouts every week and a booking list for DJ’s as long as your arm have long gone, subsequently replaced by a slimmed down and more financially viable set-up for all concerned. Many acts and DJ’s have come and gone during this time so to find someone with such longevity and continued passion for what they do is no mean feat. With a multitude of diversifying projects and a brand new solo album I spoke to Les Elston over a few beers to bring you a bit more information on Reload and the world of DJ-X (Lab4). Hi Les and welcome once again to the pages of HF. Hi there . . . Let’s kick off straight away with your solo album Reload. After the juggernaut that was Lab4 it must been refreshing to be able to write new music without the obvious restriction associated with that sound. Was it an easy transition or just something which was always there and just waiting for the right time? I actually started working on 'Reload' about a year before the Lab4 split. Reload was the title I originally had in mind for 'None of Us Are Saints'. I already had 'V for Vengeance' written and 'Falling Down', the latter didn't make it onto the album because I couldn't get sample clearance on the 'Subliminal, Choo Choo Romero' vocal. So to answer your question, yes! The transition was very easy... the style and sounds are synonymous with the construct of a Lab4 track. I wanted to use the familiar formula to a certain degree as that’s what people have come to recognize the Lab4 sound by, but I wanted to build on it and not try to rely on it to heavily. It’s quite a varied album with both remixes and collaborations in there. Is working with other people something you enjoy and what do you think it takes to make a successful collaboration? Yes definitely, 90% of the time I write alone and always have done, which is cool, but every now and then you get stuck in rut and bored. Doing collaboration is a healthy way to get out of an uninspiring mind set and get some fresh ideas happening. I think that creative interaction every now and then is a very positive thing, even if the other person knows nothing about programming I always come away thinking I learned something there, or tried something new I may have overlooked previously. Being able to interpret what someone else has in their minds ear as it were. You’ve been pretty prolific with your music output and I know some pretty good tracks didn’t even make it on to the album, what were the deciding factors on which tracks made it and those that didn’t? I mentioned the 'Falling Down' track earlier, there was another one called V.1 which didn't make it and that was more techy. The deciding factor though was running time. It’s as basic as that... a CD has to come in at just under 78 minutes. I definitely wanted V for Vengeance on there as it’s got a lot of meaning for me and I think its one of the best tracks I written, but its over ten minutes long. As I understand Reload has been selling pretty well already and this is no doubt due to some of the distribution. With both Cyberdog and HMV involved. Cyberdog is an obvious outlet for this kind of niche music however having a mainstream shop like HMV on side is quite a coup, how did that come about? After all the work I put into it I wanted to do the whole business side properly and not just sell it at gigs and through download stores etc. I asked the guys at 23rd Precinct (my publisher) if they could help me out with the distribution and they managed to sort it out. I contacted Cyberdog last year and went for a meeting and showed them the packaging design I had made up for the 'Special Edition Metal Tin' versions. They liked that and it proved to be really popular, even though they worked out slightly more expensive people seemed prepared to pay a bit more for a 'Special Edition' release – Cyberdog actually ran out of stock within a two weeks of their first supply! The standard jewel case cd will be in HMV but not the Metal version. Both versions will of course be available from my website www.djxlab4.com. The official release party is set for the more alternative Jailbreak event in Italy on the 12th September, not somewhere you’d immediately think of for a UK based hard dance producer. What was the thinking behind this departure from the accepted norm? Marco (BRK) who runs Massive in Rome contacted me to play a DJ set out there a while ago. He's a really good friend and has always been really supportive and into what I do. Then as time went on I thought well, its going to be very close to the shop release date of the album so we could tie in the official launch party at Massive in Rome.... sounds very cool as well. Android Lime from South Africa is playing on the same line up to, he's the guy I did the Robot Noize remix for on Reload. Should be a great party. I know you’ve always had a pretty keen interest in everything audio visual so it came to no surprise to me when I found out a video was going to be the next step on the Reload ladder. So, what track made the grade and what can we expect from the video – badgers checking for wasps or something a little more sensible? Yes, I can't bloody wait to start work on that... awesome. A really good friend of mine Piers Royce who did a video for my Overlords project offered to do a DJ-X video/film project for one of the tunes from Reload. I gave him a copy of the album and he picked 'Neo London'. After a few weeks he had a treatment written up. It’s mainly going to be utilizing the 'Green Screen' technique, as in CGI, where you shoot the subject against a green screen and drop the background in later. We're looking at a two minute film, fast paced, with explosions. When I looked at the storyboard I though "What? How?" cars blowing up, things on fire... great! He's just finished the new Mica Paris video, I haven't seen it yet but I know for a fact that if he says he can make something work then it will. He did a great job when I worked with him as part of my Overlords of the Underground project on a video to ‘World on Fire’. Clearly publishing is a major issue with any release like this so you must have been pleased with the deal involving 23rd Precinct and your inclusion in their producers’ roster. How did that come about? They contacted me last year asking about my publishing situation. I did have a publishing deal at the time but it was a loose agreement and it seemed I was working my life away and getting nothing out of it. So as soon as the opportunity came along I sorted out a new arrangement. I went along to their head office in Kensington and had a meeting which lasted about three hours and played them everything I had and that’s when they signed me as a writer and producer. The Hard Dance stuff is a small part of what I do. I love it but there's more to life than just a four four kick. Let’s move away from Reload and take a quick look at what else you have going on and I’ll start with the Godskitchen connection. You’ve been to Global Gathering this year but not in your normal capacity so what exactly were you up to? Yes! I got an invite from AMG, (Angel Music Group). They're behind a new stage production called 'Boom Box'. Earlier in the year I got a call from Simon Barrington... if you've witnessed the Tidy Magna stage shows with the fire, pyros and stage production, that’s Simon's doing. They wanted a two minute intro for the opening of the Boom Box show... Sci Fi soundscape, cinematic with dialogue/voice over. We did a few versions using various voices and effects. The bass was quite crucial, it had to dive-bomb from midrange down to around 20Hz without cracking up... you can hear it on the youtube clips, it sounds demonic...ha ha! Eventually we nailed it and the first event was in Moscow with Sander Van Doorn opening the show. At Global it was for Above and Beyond and I actually got to see it all kicking off live. Speaking of festivals you’ll be returning after a short break to the Bulldog Bash, something I’m quite familiar with myself and certainly not your normal dance event and again you’ll be doing something a little different. Will it be the “Wall of Death”, drag racing on a rocket bike or perhaps the famous naked spaghetti wrestling? Drag racing.. I'm going to cross dress and run up and down the field, drag racing! Not really... depends how pissed I am haha! No... I'm doing a break-beat set, my first one ever. BullDog Breaks I'm calling it. I sent Tim from Aura Orange a bunch of mixes I did and he got straight back and said you have to do the Breaks set... which I'm chuffed about as it takes me away from doing the predictable thing. I’m really nervous about it but if Tim reckons it will work then let’s do it. I bloody love Breaks as well. You’re clearly a pretty busy guy so mention of a new trance label made me wonder if you’re some kind of musical workaholic. Do you actually have any free time and is this trance connection designed to keep you out of mischief? Sometimes when I'm working on one project I start messing around with something else, maybe a groove or a riff... so what I do is store it all away. I realized I had quite a few trance ideas hanging around, so a friend of mine I've known for ages, Dan Baseley and myself decided to start a trance project. It’s more along the Jochem Miller style rather than the harder stuff, around 128bpm to 138bpm. Dan already has his Detekted label so we've called this project Advanced State. Being a bit of an old duffer and 80’s kid I’ve always been a fan of electronic music pioneer Gary Numan and I understand you’ll be working with him in the near future. Must be quite a thrill to work with him and does this mean we’ll be seeing you on any Mighty Boosh festival line-ups? Hahaha! not quite... but that would be cool though. The Boosh are class. I went to see Nine Inch Nails at the London 02 the other week and he came on and did 'Cars' and ‘Metal’ which was really cool. The gig is on the 19th September at the 02 in Birmingham. It’s called Xistance V'S Xposed. It’s a really cool line up… Gary Numan is doing a back to back DJ set with Ade Fenton, Ed Real, Anne Savage and myself doing the Hard Dance sets. Then we've got KIK, Gundogs and Goteki doing live band sets. If it works it should be the start of something cool, other things planned are DJ sets from Bullet For My Valentine, FightStar, Funeral For A Friend. Thanks for your time and good luck with the release of Reload. Always a pleasure and thanks. Well you don’t last long in this business if you haven’t got what it takes both musically and commercially so I guess it’s testament to the fact that Les is still with us (in a musical sense) and stronger than ever but don’t take my word for it - go and have a listen yourself. See you on the dance floor. Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: Other Features By Steve Milton: The Final Zoo The Death of Clubland? Trousers, Caps and Trance Anthems - It's Dave Pearce! Clubbers Guide to Photography: Part Two Clubbers Guide to Photography: Part One 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. Comments:

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