some heads. Hype: I am part of the foundationand creation of drum and bass and jungle music, and was around before itbegan. If you look into the history of the music you will find I am part of its roots. How would you say drum n bass has developed over the years? Hype: It’s grown and grown over the years to an international level with a strong underground scene alongside a healthy amount of commercially successful acts. It seems to take over festivals everywhere these days – it’s stronger than ever I suppose and I have been there since day minus dot! Hazard: Producers have definitely progressed and improved over the years. Tere’s so much accessibility to computers and software nowadays that you can get away with producing old and new sounding music within a few clicks. It’s cool that older and younger DJs are blending their sounds together and everyone is getting involved. It’s a really good time for the Drum & Bass sound. Hazard, you recently won the number one DJ In Te World at the Drum n Bass awards – how was that experience for you? Were you surprised to win? I was definitely surprised – it’s always nice to win an award! Hype, you started off running Ganja Records and moved onto True Playaz. Perhaps the best known track you’ve been involved in was Super Sharp Shooter. What are the qualities of a track that makes you want to release it? I own Ganja Records but I did not start off that way. For me to sign a track, I suppose it’s gotta be good enough for me to want to play it out in my sets, but also it’s gotta have an original vibe to it, meaning I don’t want to release music from artists that don’t have their own original angle, and finally, I like them to have an experimental, open-minded approach too.
You also were an early DJ on pirate radio in the early 90’s – what did you learn from those days that you still use now? Erm,,, I wouldn’t say I learnt much from being on pirate radio but itwas a fantasticway to get my name out to the public, and it’s a great way to promote your music. What did you think of the campaign to keep Fabric open, and the sad demise of nightclubs in general? Hazard: I have so much love for Fabric, it’s one of my favourite clubs in the world and to have it reopened after everything that happened was an incredible achievement. It was a real statement that if people stand up for something they believe in, things can change. Te togetherness shone through and everybody should be very proud. Hype: Clubs are so important for the development of our music, it’s my favourite place to DJ; as much as I love festivals and huge stages to perform on, they are not a platform to develop your music. I had the longest- running label monthly event that was packed every month for 15 years straight, and when the club lost its licence I was gutted… I am glad they got it back and I look forward to performing at the 18th birthday event in October. You’ve been playing a lot of festivals across the UK and
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Europe this summer – what’s been the highlight so far? Hazard: Definitely one of the best run of gigs I’ve ever had. SW4 was great – our first ever Playaz stage, a really important milestone and the place was electric. I can’t thank everyone who was involved enough. Hype: I loved them all but I will be biased and say my very own Playaz stage atSW4 festival was my highlight as it was our biggest Playaz stage to date and totally was sold out. When you’re doing a back to back show together, do you practise sets ahead of time or is it pretty flexible on the night? Hype: It’s all organic, we laugh and joke at each other and have digs at each other when playing – the only thing we do practice is our dance routines, we have a choreographer that trains us twice a month. Hazard: We keep everything unrehearsed and spontaneous! We often surprise each other new tunes which keeps things fresh. Also, I can’t be bothered driving all the way to London to see Hype for a practice! Ha ha!
Do you both have tracks you always play when you play out? Hype: In our sets there are certain tracks that we leave for each other without actually discussing it… I will just clock that he likes playing a certain track and vice versa. Hazard: We end up playing each other’s tunes quite a lot. Tere are loads of unwritten rules when we do B2B sets, things pop up every now and again that we seem to notice. Stealing each other’s tracks that kind of thing. It’s all good fun not knowing what’s coming next! What for you is the track that always gets you up on the dancefloor? Hazard: It’s been a few years since I’ve been up on a dancefloor so I wouldn’t know! Hype: Mate! Agadoo! Has the lifestyle of a DJ changed much over the last 10 or 20 years? Hype: Te business side has changed a lot over the years but the rest is pretty much the same as its always been, and I love that. Hazard: It’s certainly relaxed more. It’s less intense in terms of the demand for writing music and travelling to shows. I can be a little more choosy as to when I’m playing, whereas 20 years ago I’d be playing six sets per weekend all over the country – it was pretty full on! I’m very lucky to be where I am now and it’s definitely not taken for granted. What can we expect from your set in Norwich? Hype: An explosion of great drum and bass to make the walls bleed Hazard: Who knows? We’ll try our best to make it special though.
LIZZ PAGE
INFORMATION DJs Hype and Hazard play at Rumble’s 23rd Birthday at the LCR on 6th October. Tickets available from
uealcr.ticketabc.com
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