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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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Ed Real opens the Hard Dance Awards
Reported by Nicola Freitas
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Submitted 17-12-08 16:25
As we approach the 6th Annual Hard Dance Awards, we caught up with event sponsor and trackitdown.net main man Ed Real to find out what he’s been up to, about the exciting new categories, and what’s in store for the Hard Dance event of the year!
Congratulations on what looks like another top Hard Dance Awards ceremony. How has the last year been since we spoke to you on Harderfaster?
2008 has been an incredible year for Ed Real, Trackitdown.net and the dance music scene in general. On a personal note, I’ve played some of the best events ever in my 15 years on the decks and it proves that with the right marketing and ethos, the party scene is as positive as it’s ever been.
Events like Bangface Weekender sold out with no mainstream acts performing whatsoever and the second event has already sold out and it isn’t even till April 2009! I played in a swimming pool at the holiday park to 800 lunatics actually in the pool splashing about which was a first for me and something I won’t forget!
Torture Garden too proves to me that the right event can be bigger than ever in these tough times for clubbing. Halloween and Xmas TG’s have both sold out with 2,000 dressed up and dressed down extroverts having the ultimate party. Playing the last two hours at these events is the best fun you can have with your clothes on!
After a summer of great festival action where I played at six or seven large-scale events in Europe, I ended up at the legendary Burning Man Festival in the Nevada Desert, USA. Playing alongside Carl Cox and tonnes of other internationals - another career highlight. There are two rules at this 40,000 capacity seven-day desert spectacular: no money and no guns! Incredible.
Trackitdown.net has had a cracking year as we head towards the benchmark five years in business. Powering a number of key festivals and events like the massive James Zabiela and Nic Fanciulli show in Miami and the Trance Awards at Ministry of Sound has been exciting. The highlight for us though has to be powering the legendary DJ Mag Top 100 DJ Poll where we processed 350,000 votes over the six weeks. Now it’s the end of the year and time for our favourite project that is why I’m here today.
The HDA’s have been held at some top venues across the country. Why have you chosen Leeds for 2009?
Having held killer events in London, Birmingham and Sheffield it was time to find another city with an amazing hard dance heritage and Leeds was an obvious choice. The city has been one of the most important for dance music culture since the late Eighties and naturally when hard house and hard dance became popular ten years ago, Leeds went for it with a vengeance!
The good clubbers of Leeds and the surrounds certainly know how to party hard and myself and the promoters of the event are certain that the show at the culmination of the voting will be the best in 6 years of Hard Dance Awards – and that’s saying something!
This event has packed out every year. Why is it so successful?
It’s the one time of the year that all the scene gets together to celebrate hard dance music and culture and the anticipation for the event is incredible. As the first big party of the year, the Hard Dance Awards event sets the pace for the next twelve months and as such a positive project I don’t think it’s any wonder that clubbers and those involved in production, promotion and performance want to attend.
I’m sure that with the incredible line-up and professional team behind the event this time – some of them worked on the Brixton Academy party a few years ago, the last successful show for the scene at the mighty London venue – we’ll be on course for a legendary party. I personally can’t wait!
For anybody not in the know, tell us how the voting system works.
Simple, visit www.harddanceawards.com today! Each category has open voting so you can vote for whom you really love. It never ceases to amaze us how many folk put the same name in every category however – clearly getting all the family involved! Lisa Pin-Up for Best Event and Best Festival!? Go on girl!
Do you feel that previous winners of the Hard Dance gongs have been a true reflection on the scene?
Definitely. There are always surprises in the results and when they happen you find yourself agreeing with the public, although it wasn’t necessarily an obvious choice. Both Yoji and Proteus have won Best DJ in the past and it was their international standing that drove the result. Based in the UK, we’re not always aware of the weight behind overseas acts. Both guys were headlining massive festivals all around the world during those years, which built an incredible fan base who came out in force.
This time around I’m looking forward to seeing the effect of the hardstyle acts and events around the world. The Dutch in particular are really running the international hard dance scene at the moment. Last year we saw Showtek from Holland pick up Best Track and I am expecting to see this trend continue – if you don’t agree, head to the site and make your feelings known!
This year there are some new categories. What was the thinking behind this?
Want to keep evolving and so with the incredible amount of great artist albums out in 2008 from some very talented acts we need to shout about this with the Best Album category.
For Best Regional category I felt it was important to show some recognition to the very hard working guys and girls around the country and world. They put on events, produce and promote the scene in their area. They are the ones who in my opinion are the backbone of the scene and we need to show respect!
Finally, Outstanding Contribution category is a new fixed voting selection with five options. This is made up of guys who have spent a big part of their lives upping the ante for hard dance. The idea behind this was to start honouring one entity (obviously Tidy Boys are two people!) and as the scene is now a decade old it’s a good time to do this.
Madders, BK, Rob Tissera, Tidy Boys, and Mark EG are all up for the Outstanding Contribution award. How did you decide who to put forward?
Madders is the controversial figure responsible for bringing us the legendary Sundissential events which has been a test bed for DJ’s and their productions. At its peak with regular events all over the world, the cartoon vibe of these parties was responsible for promoting the good time ethos of the scene like nothing else.
BK has won Best Producer every year at the Hard Dance Awards and has been responsible for a lot of the key trends in music production over the years.
Rob Tissera is a Northern dance legend since 1988 and even sacrificed his liberty for the cause back in the day.
The Tidy Boys founded the biggest hard dance label brand the scene has witnessed in the UK.
Mark EG… well, just go see him play and that’ll explain it!
Us hard dance folk are in quite a niche scene. Do you feel events like this open us up to the masses?
The Hard Dance Awards is a showcase for fans to celebrate the good things about our scene over a twelve-month period but it’s also a window for the rest of the electronic music community to see how well we represent ourselves. Very few other genres have their own awards on the scale and depth as ours and we should be proud of this institution.
With Radio One, Trackitdown.net and Ministry of Sound’s Euphoria backing the project I’d say that this year the Awards will come of age. In terms of exposure and weight behind us it couldn’t be better and we thank all our partners.
So what can we expect on the night? We hear there’s an underground club at this impressive venue!
Having had a £4 million pound refit very recently, the Leeds Academy sounds like the perfect high calibre location for our scene showcase. With a multi room format that reflects the diversity of hard dance and the new fixtures and fittings from the refit I’d say we’re in for an amazing night.
There’s a strong focus on regional DJs at this event with the new category and the line-up in room 3. Why have you widened the focus to include these guys?
For the last two years we have had a room dedicated to regional acts and long may this continue. Sadly it’s not possible to fit everyone who represents the scene around the UK and beyond onto the line-up so we rotate DJ’s as often as possible each year. This year we have talent from each corner of the country and I bet this room will have as much, if not more, energy than anywhere else as this is their night.
For us southerners, will there be any travel arrangements for us to there?
I think Leeds is one of the easiest places to get to! Straight up or down the M1 by road or rail! See you there.
And lastly, who will you be voting for?! Go on, you can tell us…
I’m not sure that I’m allowed to vote!?
Vote now at www.harddanceawards.com and remember to vote for HarderFaster.net as Best Website!
Photos courtesy of the HarderFaster archive. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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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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love the hairy tache photo!
