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The Elevate interview — Phil York & Kevin Energy get ready to take you higher
Reported by Allan@Nu Energy
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Submitted 18-10-06 20:09
Anyone else reckon hard dance is going through a bit of a purple patch lately? Is anyone else finding themselves stood grin plastered, rushing like a demon, in the middle of a big shiny dancefloor thinking, “this is what’s it’s all about?” Finding those lost rushes that made us fall in love with this scene to start with come flooding back, wave after wave? Or listening to tracks like M.D.A. & Spherical’s futuristic head-twister ‘Dutch Courage’ and being blown back by its boundary smashing ideas and euphoric energy?
Welcome to the brave, new era. Young, enthusiastic and burning with envelope pushing ideas, a fresh wave of hard dance innovators are sweeping up and giving us hard dance addicts a new spine-tingling injection of futuristic fusions. From the bubbling grooves and spacey euphoria of MDA & Spherical, to the inimitable talents of A.L.I.V.E. star Greg Brookman and the harder Germanic stompalithic sounds of well established Dark By Design, UK hard dance hasn’t been this strong since the halcyon breakthrough days of BK and Nick Sentience et al’s breakthroughs. That ain’t hyperbole, hype or hysteria... It’s a bare bottomed face... and it’s about time someone started shouting about it!
Of course, two talents that are right, slap bang in the thick of all this recent encouraging activity are the Nu Energy Collective’s Kevin Energy and Nuklear Puppy promoter Phil York — the brains behind the trailblazing Tranzlation label. Doing all they humanly can to put the focus back on the future while keeping the fun, we knew we were in for something a bit special when they joined forces and came together for an innovative, forward looking new album concept. And that’s exactly what we’ve got.
The product, of course, is their recent ‘Elevate’ album — a dual pronged assault of almost entirely unreleased hard dance anthems ranging from Kevin Energy & Phil York’s breakthrough collaboration ‘We Can Hear It’, a sweeping European influenced hard trance anthem, to Technikal presents JK’s massive ‘Crank It Up’, a totally off-the-wall hard dance swinger that goes one step beyond Technikal’s classic ‘Summasault’ in the boundary breaking stakes. And this isn’t forgetting familiar anthems like Greg Brookman’s intergalactic bleep epic ‘Hypersonic’ , the SQ remix of K90’s seminal ‘Red Snapper’ and Dark By Design and Phil York’s stomping European flavoured remix of Masif DJ’s ‘Everyday’ — an epic cover in itself of Agnelli & Nelson’s chart smash. It’s euphoric, it’s uplifting, it’s fun and it’s guaranteed to take you higher. Hard dance as it should be — elevation guaranteed!
The future sound of hard dance: ‘Elevate’
We got the ‘Elevate’ characters together — namely the lively Phil York and charismatic scene legend Kevin Energy — to get the lowdown on how the project came together, where they see the scene going and what they’ve got planned for the future...
First of all guys, the Elevate album is the first joint venture between Kevin’s Nu Energy Collective and Phil’s Tranzlation camp, but how did you guys first cross paths to start with? Did you link up through business deals or was it out and about on the hard dance circuit?
Phil: It all started a few years back when we were taking care of our own distribution and selling records to Kev’s lovely online store. We finally hooked up at Darwin Harbour in Sydney last December… not a bad place to have a few beers for my birthday and then it all hooked up from there. We were talking about doing mix cds at the same time and so decided it was best to join forces and conquer it together!
Kev: Yeah, I always knew Phil was an on-the-ball and enthusiastic guy with his labels and have always supported the music in my hard dance sets. After putting a face to the name we kept in contact about our future plans and soon we realised we wanted to do a CD compilation — it seemed natural to link up and join both our knowledge and followings to come up with a stronger product.
How was the idea for the Elevate album first hatched then? The CD market can be a notoriously saturated and cut throat water — what is the essential concept of the album and what sets it apart from the glut of (often uninspiring!) mix comps already out there?
Phil: Elevate is a concept we created to showcase the freshest forward thinking hard trance/hard dance tracks around from both established and up and coming producers, and for both mixes to build into each other so it’s a continuous 2 disc journey through hard dance!
Kev: Fun, fresh and uplifting was the idea. Nothing too deep, nothing too techy. Straight up dancefloor friendly anthemic-styled UK hard dance with a futuristic edge! We both collaborated with as many inspiring producers as possible to make it an enjoyable experience — I think this energy shines through in all the productions. ‘Elevate’ was the perfect name that got to the general point of the whole album.
Phil: “Kevin, I know we’ve enjoyed working together but where are you putting your hand?”
Looking at the tracklisting, there’s a lot of forward thinking hard dance creations on there from the nu breed of production innovators. Efforts like Greg Brookman’s bleep driven melodies on ‘Hypersonic’, the mental swinging hard dance grooves of ‘Crank It Up’ by Technikal presents JK and some really forward thinking bombs from hotshots MDA & Spherical. It’s fair to say a lot of these artists have breathed fresh live into the sound of scene, wouldn’t you say?
Phil: They most certainly have! They are the nu breed of producers who have broken through and are gaining so much respect world-wide. They have thrown the rule book out of the window and are combining different styles in their tracks, but at the same time still keeping interest in their tracks and making them dancefloor oriented! Some producers to me seem to have forgotten the point of hard dance and that is for the dancefloor, it may have lots of clever little kick fills but you’ve got to keep the big builds and drops to keep the dancefloors rocking!
Kev: Definitely, it’s new producers like Greg, MDA/Spherical etc. that are making stand out music which is really effective to a crowd. The newer and fresher inspiration that they have is great and has certainly helped the scene in the last year. Phil summed it up perfectly talking about the ‘dancefloor’: the scene’s producers have to remember that this is what their music is effectively made for. The younger talent is fresh from dancfloors and straight to their studios.
Any tracks that you’re particularly pant-wettingly excited about?
Phil: Tracks I am really buzzing about at the moment on my mix include MDA & Spherical’s ‘Dutch Courage’ which is the most forward thinking innovative hard trance track of the year and ‘Rock & Rollin’, my debut collaboration with Technikal featuring a huge rap vocal and best described as a mash up of hard and tech trance! Also on a more Germanic tip my debut collaboration with top lad Shaun M called ‘Command & Conquer’ as well as Alex Kidd vs. DbD remix of NFX’s ‘No Go Go!’ Both huge hands in the air powerful baseline driven trance!
Kev: I agree with Phil about the ‘Dutch Courage’ track — can’t get it outta my head! My mix is all about pace and layers. I’m also loving my collaboration with Chrysus, ‘Unleashed’. It’s intense, energetic and full of the most twisted hoovers known to man.
The Elevate Sampler EP 1 — out 19th October
What sort of route do you see the hard dance scene going musically over the next six months?
Phil: I can see a fusion of groovy hard dance and uplifting hard trance, a few tracks have already grabbed my attention such as ‘ Dutch Courage’ and have also just finished a track called ‘Intellect’, combining an ass-shaking groove with soaring riffs! I’d like to see more German sounds entering into UK hard dance to give it more appeal around Europe. For me 2007 is all about ass shaking grooves and also introducing phatt German electro style baselines into tracks and clever arrangements to keep interest and variety all the way through tracks.
Kev: I can’t see the deeper techy sound taking over but elements of it will certainly shine through I reckon. I think people will always want some kind of uplift in parts of a night. I’d love to see all elements coming through and nights thinking more about what variety hard dance can offer. Building a night that is structured carefully with a build around all these styles is a really good idea that should be played on more. It will only serve the scene well in the long run as the variety appeals to more people.
Even from within the scene itself, there still seems to be a black cloud of dreary nay Sayers proclaiming that hard dance isn’t as innovative or forward looking as it once was. What do you make of those who are always harping on about the death of the scene?
Phil: Tis true that hard dance is nowhere near as big as it was 4–5 years ago when it really peaked. But everything goes round in cycles. Look at hardcore — it all but died around 2000 then came back bigger than ever over the last few years! I would argue that hard dance is more innovative now than it ever has been, with both new producers and old really pushing boundaries. Look at the days of bounce: no one really pushed boundaries then at all, it was same arrangement and nearly every track had the same baseline in it!
Kev: Phil’s summed it up there. Just because hard dance is not as big and hyped as it has previously been doesn’t mean that it’s dead or dying. If anything it’s cleansed the scene a little, as now it’s not full of people jumping on the bandwagon making formulated music for money. All the producers currently supplying new music are not doing it for profit as vinyl in general is a very tricky market. These producers are making what they enjoy and trying to better themselves with every track. The result… great new music!
Kevin Energy & Phil York: The Elevate Team
Both of you are well known for your solid A&R — Kev it’s a well kept secret that a certain Dark By Design enjoyed his first vinyl releases on your Synthetix Whites label, whilst Phil’s tune spotting credentials are in little doubt following the worldwide success of Tranzlation and tracks like Technikal’s massive ‘Summasault’. What qualities do you both look for in a track when you’re cherry picking anthems for labels, album licensing or your dj sets? Is there a special element that you’re always on the look out for?
Phil: Anything that stands out from the crowd in their own way. Many hard trance tracks sound very similar nowadays so it really needs to grab my attention. I also always emphasise the catchy melodies when it comes to making hard trance and some distinguishing vocal (not as essential as melody but sometimes needed). If you play a track and then can’t remember the melody or any distinguishing features of the track in your head afterwards then its not going to stick in peoples minds!
Kev: Definitely. A good signing needs to have an element that will make you remember it (for good reasons of course). You ideally want people to hear it and then remember it when they hear it again — preferably when they are in a record store doin’ their shoppin! Something that pushes new ideas but is effective on a dancefloor is very important. Production quality is a must of course but I’ve signed good demos in the past that are not well produced and had them re mixed down in our studio.
Both of you seem to suffer a few misconceptions by the general public. Phil, a disproportionate amount of people seem to be 100% convinced that you’re a hardened Scotsman. Where did all this come about and do you actually have any Scottish blood running through your veins?
Phil: Haha, yeh it’s a combination of two factors, running a club night in Scotland (Nuklearpuppy) and having bright ginger hair! I’m actually a hardcore Geordie at heart even though I don’t sound like one, and the ginger hair, well that just makes me special.
Kev, over the years you’ve often suffered from the misconception that you are a pure hardcore jock leaving your ability to destroy dancefloors with sets of European hard trance and UK hard dance overlooked. These days, you’re firing full pelt on both cylinders, but do you think you would have stamped your impact on the hard dance scene quicker if you weren’t tied so strongly to the hardcore scene?
Kev: Absolutely, yeah. There is a pre-conception as I have had more success in the hardcore scene then the hard dance scene. It’s where I first made my productions and general reputation back in 1995 and I didn’t start experimenting with hard dance till 1999. Looking back I should have started a sub name for my hard dance productions and sets — just like Brisk, Ham of the Stimulant DJ’s have done. But then, it’s also had a lot of benefit to me at the same time though as my futuristic breed of hardcore can have similar qualities of hard dance and I love to build from one to another in the right club. My home town London knows that I can supply both and knows what to expect from me at different nights. That knowledge isn’t as known in the North I think, where some people would class me as hardcore only. I hope this album helps sum the situation up.
Kevin, your Nu Energy label has been pushing euphoric, hard trance influenced hardcore for nearly seven years now and Phil you’ve even been ducking into the studio for the odd hardcore remix lately. On ‘Elevate’ a certain Matt Lee aka hardcore hero Gammer features with the euphoric, party hard dance of ‘Shake Your Body’ alongside Kev and Arkitech also debuts his first hard dance cut in the raved up ‘Everyone’s Corrupt’. Do you both think the hardcore and hard dance scenes are getting closer and closer all the time?
Phil: Definitely, lots of hard dance djs are now producing hardcore it used to be the other way around when the hardcore scene dipped a few years back. There are a lot of djs that play both styles now and its totally acceptable in my eyes. Some freeform to me sounds just like speed up hard trance and vice versa, big trance riffs, offbeat baselines and loads of energy! I absolutely love hardcore and will be doing a few more bits this year so watch this space!
Kev: Sure they seem to be. More and more nights are hosting hardcore and hard dance side by side. After all — musically it’s all kick-drum driven tunes danced to by people that like to bounce, glow in the dark and pull funny faces. The whole N.E.C ethos is about fusing boundaries and crossing influences. It’s worked very well for us and works on the dancefloors also. It’s great to see producers trying new things/styles and I hope it can help the longevity of both scenes in the long run.
Phil, with your own Tranzlation label you’ve cemented a position at the forefront of the scene at a time when most new vinyl labels have floundered haplessly. What have you got coming up on the label over the coming months? Is there a strict Tranzlation artist family or do you sign tracks from all over the place?
Phil: We’ve got a roster of artists already but we are always up for new fresh material especially for the whites series, am always on the look out for new artists with fresh ideas and sounds! There’s no point closing yourself off! We’ve plenty of exciting releases ahead of us too. First up on Translation’s main label we hit double figures in November this year with my debut collaboration with Mr Alf Bamford a.k.a Technikal called ‘Rock & Rollin’. Tranzlation 11, features two tracks by Jason Cortez, the massive ‘Finally’ and ‘No other Way’ on the flip. On Tranzlation whites is Technikal pres JK — ‘Crank It Up’, best described as the follow up to ‘Summassault’ featuring a massive remix from boy wonders MDA & Spherical, which is more along the hard trance route!
On our spin off series Tranzlation Nation (set up for more European/German sounding hard trance) our next release will be ‘Command & Conquer’ by myself and Shaun M and a new single by the ever trusty Dark by Design! Our final tech trance E.P will also hit the shops by the end of the year, featuring a Shy Brother remix E.P with mixes of my ‘Angels in Heaven’ and Exposé’s ‘More Than This’. And don’t forget the two Elevate EPs, which include mine and Kevin’s massive collaboration ‘We Can Hear It’.
Kev: Yeah, I’m really pleased with the way that turned out — it captures so much pace and power without being hard or overloaded. It’s a full sounding tune and continues to evolve through a breakbeat breakdown and right into the huge main riff.
Kevin Energy & Phil York
Which tracks from the Elevate album itself have been causing the most dancefloor destruction in your dj sets of late?
Phil: I’ve got to say all of them but my pick, of the bunch off both mixes has to be…
1. NFX — ‘No Go Go’ (Alex Kidd vs. DbD remix). Huge melodic German hard trancer with the catchiest melody ever, you’ll be singing it in your head for days trust me!
2. Phil York & Kevin Energy — ‘We Can Hear It’. An absolute monster of a tune! Dirty speaker shaking breakdown kicking into huge euphoria, works every time!!
3. MDA & Spherical — ‘Dutch Courage’. I can’t go on about this enough, for me it’s the hard dance tune of the year!
4. Kevin Energy & Greg Bookman — ‘Execute’. I absolutely love this, bags of energy and soaring glides in the breakdown, awesome!
[b]Kev:
1. Phil York & Kevin Energy — ‘We Can Hear It’. Hearing is believing, absolutely massive
2. Kevin Energy & Chrysus — ‘Unleashed’. Agressive, intense, pure hoover-tastic NRG beamed straight from the future. Chrysus is one to watch definitely, a real inspiration in the studio.
3. Phil York & Colin Barratt — ‘Knowledge Is Power’ (Kevin Energy Remix). A haunting yet spine-tinglingly uplifting breakdown, something seriously different. We’re really pleased with the way things turned out on this remix!
The Elevate Sampler EP 2
A lot of djs turn up, play their records and head for the door, but you two are both well known for giving it as much as you’ve got behind the decks and getting stuck into either the bar or the dancefloor once you’ve finished playing. What’s the most debauched night you’ve had out in 06 and who do you think comes out on top in the partying stakes?
Phil: Oh God that’s a tough one! It probably has to be a toss up between Nuklearpuppy events (free bar always destroys me) and my trips over to Canada, as the hospitality there is unreal — you never go without for as long as you can stay up for! God knows who’d come out on top, but I think Kev is winning on this one after I had to retire from major sun stroke after the last Love Muzik…. sounds like we have a competition running for the tour, oh yes!
Kev: Ha ha nice question… Well I do live by the ethos “Wise Up…..Get Stupid.” I helped think of it after all so I have to preach by it. I do have my sensible side of course and would never party past Monday morning! I think the craziest weekend of 2006 was one of the bank holidays in May where I ended up playin’ Harddance Mania @ Hidden on the Sunday. I’d also played Raindance and two other gigs that weekend and ended up the last person on the dancefloor @ Hidden — then going home and waking all my house mates up at 9am. Bank holidays are great for that kind of behaviour. Sure I won round one of partying with Phil, but we have a whole tour to go and I’m sure he’s lookin’ for revenge! Mind you Phil — the ‘energy’ in my name is there for a reason so don’t hustle a hustler!
Which nights on the Elevate tour are you most looking forward to? I hear you’ve given the tour its own sub-title Phil… “The Mash It Up, You C***s” tour?
Phil: Oh yeh, it’s gonna be a lot of fun! Am really looking forward to this Friday’s Love Muzik Vs Freeformation launch, it’s always rocking at Parlez-Vous and our debut at Funky Bunny in Kings Lyn should be really awesome! We’ve also put in an Elevate rehab tour in for the whole of January, because we think it’ll be well needed by then, lol
Kev: Certainly the Freeformation vs Love Muzik is really getting me excited all over! I’m looking forward to the opportunity of branching out to new nights and areas of the UK like Funky Bunny and Parlez-Vouz and of course the massive Nukleur Puppy in Scotland.
Finally, if you guys didn’t spend all your waking lives holed up in studios or rockin the club what do you think you’d be doing to keep yourself out of trouble?
Phil: Haha, I dread to think what would keep me out of trouble… probably using my Biology degree stuck in a lab in the arse end of nowhere with a nice bright white lab coat pippetting various liquids into test tubes and carrying out tests. Thank god for hard dance!
Kev: Ha ha funny vision — Phil in a white coat — Beaker! Meeep mee meep.
I’d probably be a cook or something as I like a bit of that when I’m not making noise.
‘Elevate’ is available now in HMVs nationwide, all good record stores and of course direct from the Nu Energy Collective online store here: http://www.nuenergy.co.uk/details/ELECD001
Photos courtesy of the lovely H-Pinkness. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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Other Features By Allan@Nu Energy:
Decimation interview with Alter Ego of Opeum
Preview to the Nu Energy Collective’s Freeformation with Tranzlation’s Phil York
A preview To Tasty's Generation E with underground legend Eryk Orpheus
Preview To Freeformation’s final free party with Exeter’s answer to Scott Project, Nick The Kid
PUSH goes Deepgrooving
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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nice one & keep up the good work 