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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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Spring cleaning with Dan Dyson
Reported by SunnyAli
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Submitted 19-01-09 10:10
Anyone with their ear to the ground in hard dance will probably agree that if dirty filthy hard NRG is your thing, you’ll be deeply indebted to Dan Dyson for his contribution. This killer subset of hard house has certainly never been the same since Dan began turning his capable hands to producing tracks that range from cool and funky to eyes-screwed-up-ears-stinging hard.
For those not yet familiar with him, “devastatin” Mr Dyson is one of the nu-breed producer-DJs who’s earned a reputation as a prolific producer tuned to creating fearsomely infectious tracks. Despite beginning life as a DJ spinning his first set in 2001, he’s proved that these days it’s definitely production skills that give him the killer edge.
With a name like Dyson – altar ego Hooverboy – it’s clear where Dan’s loyalties lie; his tracks are all about hard, fast driving basslines, furiously hoover-ridden overtones, bizarre noises, ripping stabs and lashings of catchy samples snatched from films. He has definitely got a style all of his own. If you’ve seen him play out you’ll hear him showcasing predominantly his own tracks, of which he’s accumulated a formidable list, including collaborations with names like Sam Hudson, Rodi Style and Kam-Pain among many others. His first release to get serious attention was Bad Mutha Fucka (with Space Sentinelz), released on Twisted Traxx in 2004, and he’s well known for tracks such as Compromise (With Sam Hudson) and Rock Ya Soul (With DTM) which was featured on Toolbox’s Hard Heart Beat CD too. His recent release (Nov 08) Cookie Crisp is currently critically acclaimed on Trackitdown.net’s featured track list.
He's a hardworking guy too - to date Dan's released over 80 tunes and remixes across a whopping 20 labels, both vinyl and digital, UK and international, in just four years. His talent for making tracks that grab the attention is possibly only topped by his talent for noticing other people’s tracks that’ll sell and he’s earned himself a name for making smart moves in the label management sphere as well. He cut his teeth with the Dual Cyclone Recordings venture with Rodi Style back in 2005 and has been involved in setting up, managing and signing tracks to a series of labels. He now manages two vinyl and three digital labels that cover the hard house spectrum, so is without a doubt a need-to-know talentspotter for any producer keen to get themselves known and signed.
As a DJ, Dan’s been playing in clubs for eight years, favouring the edgier and dirtier underground sounds and clubs and best known in London’s dark and fabulous Brixton and Vauxhall hard house venues like The Fridge and Club 414. As his tracks get added to more and more record collections, he’s now in demand around the UK and is travelling further to play more and more ambitious events. He’s also resident at the monthly Spin night at Club 414. He’s a quiet guy, but HarderFaster chatted him up to see how he’s gearing up for 2009.
We’ve just hit 2009 – what New Years Resolutions have you made?
There is nothing I'd give up at the mo! I'd probably say I’ve resolved to do more in the industry like engineering this year.
Tell us a little about how you made the step into DJing and music production? What started you off in the industry?
I first got into DJing after being introduced to club nights like Feersum and Fish, both at Crash in Vauxhall, by my good friend Damo. Eventually I wanted to have a go and after a few years I started getting sets around London. It wasn't until I starting producing, however, that I got to travel up and down the country and DJ at some awesome nights.
Your specialism is hard NRG - how did you end up playing this? Did you go through other genres first, or hit the clubs and have an epiphany hearing it for the first time?
I used to play a much wider range of hard dance music but as I began to produce I decided to stamp my authority with filthy NRG.
I always loved hearing Karim, Simon Eve, Captain Tinrib, Rubec and Max the Alien Thing at Superfish so I guess that had some influence on my sound.
Describe your signature style? What marks out tracks you play and the style of your sets?
I tend to play out the more driving stuff at the beginning of my sets and the mindless hoover shizzle to finish up.
My tracks have their own style which tends to be hoover-tastic filth with uplifting phaser riffs.
Which artists or labels have most inspired and influenced your DJing and producing?
I have always been inspired by the bigger artists like Dom Sweeton, Paul Maddox, Eufex and BK but I tend to be more influenced by the people around me such as Kam-Pain, Jeff Sealey, Rodi Style, A.M.G and Simon Black.
Do you have a special element to entertain the crowd?
I tend to wear baseball caps every set, haha! But I just keep my head down and let the music do the talking in all honesty.
DJs often find production difficult yet you've got a formidable list of releases - how have you developed your production style and skills? Did you find it easy to pick up?
I used engineers such as Dave Robertson in the early days and it helped me learn how to use Propellerheads Reason, which I'm still using now. It was hard for a few years on my own, though.
More recently I’ve picked up tips from Kam, Rodi, Jeff, A.M.G and a lot of music theory from Simon Black.
What production setup do you use?
In terms of hardware, I work on an Intel Quadcore PC with 4GB RAM, Event ALP 5 Studio Monitors, Tapco Mixer and M-Audio Midair 25 Midi Controller.
In terms of software, I use Reason 4.0, Wavelab 4 and Recycle 2.1 and also dabbling with Ableton.
What do you think are the most important elements to making a successful track?
I find a tight clean drum section, powerful bassline and a memorable hook. A vocal always makes a track so original ones are essential if you can find them.
You collaborate with other artists a lot - is this a feature of being an up and coming producer, or personal preference?
I have collaborated with quite a few artists and this always is good fun exchanging ideas and techniques. I'm always learning new things and everyone I have worked with has taught me something.
Rock Ya Soul and FUBAR - both with DTM - sound psy-influenced, is that something you're moving towards? Or was that just because of that particular collaboration?
Those collaborations were more to do with DTM on the psy-influences but worked out a happy medium between our styles. It is definitely good to try new styles of music as it opens your mind to fresh ideas.
How can producers make it big these days when there are so many producers? Are the big and established industry names still the best - or do they just sell more based on their name?
The scene has a lot of producers but it’s a good thing as it makes us work harder to achieve bigger tracks.
There is a big gap between the likes of Dom Sweeton and Paul Maddox and the rest but there are a lot of artists knocking on the door. Some of the new blood are achieving excellent sales just on the quality of tracks, like Adam NRG for example.
The vinyl industry may be on the slide but good music is definitely on the up with digital formats.
You're involved with multiple record labels - how do you juggle them all? Isn't there a conflict of interest with that?
I run two vinyl labels: 'Spin Hard' and 'Underground Soundz' with Dan Andres which have given us several popular releases, as well as three digital labels: 'Spin Hard Digital' with Dan Andres, The Beat Ranch Digital with Brian J and Sebby Bozak, and finally Dysonage for my own material.
It can be quite hard finding new tracks with the amount of labels around but working with others helps especially with The Beat Ranch as those Canadian boys contribute loads.
What do you look for when signing a track?
On the digital side of things we look for a good all-round ideas and quality production within the criteria of the hardhouse/NRG.
With EPs we go for a range of different remixes or original tracks.
The vinyl scene how it is now needs extra special tracks to balance the books.
2008 has seen a few sad departures from the hard house world - Marc Johnson, Justin Bourne.....is hard house alive and well these days? Will these retirements change the scene? Is there a new era emerging?
It is a sad loss to the scene as I knew both personally and they contributed many tracks but it opens the playing field for all of us to fill at least one of their shoes, haha!
There is plenty of talent cutting the mustard at present with the likes of Dan R, Hilz'E, Darrell White, Hi Freak1c, Tom Parr, Phatt Beats, Adam NRG, Michael Smith and Iain Sanderson to name a very few.
Photos courtesy of the HarderFaster archive. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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Other Features By SunnyAli:
Darude's whirlwind decade
No sleep for Rachel Auburn
In the Presence of Carl Nicholson
Frantic Timeless 8 – totally worth ruining Valentine's Day for...
It's like Origami, but with power tools..... One Awsum Xmas Party reviewed
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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