Hardhouse Academy Preview: Interview with Nuw Idol
Reported by Tom Allen
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Submitted 24-05-04 08:17
As the solo creative force behind the monster that is the live PA Nuw Idol, Michel Spiegel has entertained hundreds of thousands of clubbers over the course of his career with his incredible onstage performances. He's also the label manager of WellWicked Records and was co-producer of one of the greatest dance anthems ever, the timeless classic '1998' by Binary Finary. Tom Allen chatted to him in advance of his upcoming appearance at Hardhouse Academy: LIVE...
Tom Allen: How did you first get into the clubbing scene and what made you look to getting into production?
Nuw Idol: I got into it by getting out of it and checking out a club night in 1993/94; It totally blew me away and to be honest I haven’t been the same since! I was already a musician, producer and sound engineer at the time so I just switched my writing to this exiting new style of music.
TA: Was it a natural progression for you from producing tunes to getting up on stage and perform a live PA?
NI: I had been in bands in my teens, playing guitar and bass so I had already been on stage before. I was glad to leave the stage behind when I got into studio work as I used to find it quite daunting and scary. I went back to it because that’s what I believed the club scene needed and that maybe I could find a place there. It had all got pretty faceless at some point, apart from the top DJs who appeared to take all the credit for the music while the musicians starved! There wasn’t any choice really, so yeah, it was a natural progression. I’d add that for me performers are made, not born. I am more comfortable with it now but it used to short fuse my nerves!
TA: Was there any particular reason you decided to go for a live PA rather than simply DJing or is that simply how the bookings have worked out? What do you think a live PA can offer that a DJ can't? Are there any other advantages or disadvantages?
NI: I went for the live music performance for many reasons. First because it seemed natural to play my own tunes in a club as I always considered myself a musician/producer rather than a DJ. There are many more DJs out there than musicians willing to try their luck on a stage in our scene so if you are good there are more chances for you to get noticed (although that took years!). You can also get away with more of a show on stage and take more risks musically (scary!): more fun all around!
I think crowds are naturally drawn to artists, their music and the fundamental effort it takes to present it in front of a lot of people.
With live artists a crowd get a very precise and condensed journey through a particular
musical understanding and that’s exciting and always has been. It’s an intimate space trip inside an artist’s mind and the whole thing is fragile and could fuck up at any moment! The only down side for me is that it really takes it out of you emotionally and physically.
TA: You're well known for your larger than life stage persona, when we've seen you you've been dressed up in full garb as a Roman Centurion amongst other thing. What made you decide to go with such extreme outfits and which other getups have you used for your stage show?
NI: I do have a centurion helmet and I do put it on for a few minutes sometimes but I swear I don’t have the dress or the sandals!
Again, it’s about impact, freedom and fun. Why not go crazy, why not wear shit you couldn’t on a normal day out?! That is the whole point of clubbing and raving in a sense. I do what I feel even if I run the risk of infuriating the fashion bores.
The whole thing about my gigs is that it grew in an organic way over the years and as my confidence grew so did the risks I took with my sound and stage antics. Basically I have fun with the crowd and try to help make a special moment.
The Main Room at Hardhouse Academy
TA: There's always been lots of discussion on HarderFaster relating to how genuinely 'live' each PA's performances are... what's your take on this subject and how much of the Nuw Idol live PA is truly live?
NI: I am aware of those discussions and I have always stayed well away from getting involved in any way, mostly because I rightly do not take the brunt of the criticism but also because this bitchy negative shit could be just thinly veiled jealousy. A friend once forwarded a post from your site where some dodo wrote I can not possibly be live because I jumped on my equipment table for 15 seconds! Like Hello!! Never heard of looping? Should I be looking sour and worried behind my equipment? Somehow I got very angry and decided to never read any of that drivel anymore. I know what I do and I am proud of it and that’s all that matters to me, I sleep with a clear conscience. Over the years I have tried lots of ways to present my gigs. I even tried with no arrangement on the computer, just loop building in a techno kinda way, muting each part on the desk… but that’s not possible anymore, things must be sequenced. Ultimately I perform before and after the best International DJs and since they play huge finished productions by the best artists in the world I cannot get up there and start noodling! Damn, I am getting drawn in the discussion!
TA: Your label, WellWicked Records has consistently pushed out high quality trance and hard trance tracks over the last few years. What do you have in store for us in the future in terms of new releases and which new producers are you excited about?
NI: Last year was a tough time as our exclusive distributor folded and I also had to find new premises and relocate the studio. Total nightmare. The way things were going it was like hitting a wall at 100MPH. I have been solidly working on new material since January and they appear in my sets at the moment to really great response! All the new stuff is going to tie in with a new album/compilation which will almost certainly be called “Drums Dreams Relentless”. Each new tune I make is a new tool for my live sets and hopefully for DJs and I never release an Nuw Idol A side without having played it out and tweaked it and that’s what I’m doing right now. The first single that will be promo’d in the next month or so is “Blood On The Sampler” and “Full Spectrum Domination” although the titles might still change. After that I want to release a tune called “Come On” by Chroma, a wicked young Norwegian producer who’s just nuts! I’ll stream it on wellwicked.com in the next week or so. Sybren Danz is still doing stuff for us but his sound is a bit too dark for me at the moment.
TA: What's your favourite track of all those that you've produced and what makes it so?
NI: It is very hard to limit my choice to one tune because I am trying to complete a body of work a bit like a mosaic where each bit defines the whole. I suppose one of the most meaningful is “My Liberation”, I love the harmonies, very pure. I got the inspiration for it just after having been bitten by a scorpion. It made me think about of my life and a strange and deeply euphoric sensation came over me… Good shit this venom!
TA: You co-produced one of the biggest dance anthems ever, the timeless classic Binary Finary track '1998'. Tell us about what the experience of that was like as it blew up to be such a huge tune. At the time that you made the track did you realise that you had a masterpiece on your hands?
NI: The first time I heard the melody it was an ambient track demo with this huge original classical progression and I was asked if I could turn it into a Trance floor filler. To be honest, it was a difficult heavy pressure studio session because we didn’t have much time booked; The best tunes demand blood! It was so musical that without the right concept it would turn into a massive cheese fest. I don’t think myself or Matt Laws saw it as a masterpiece that tired morning when we got out of the studio after a 17 hour session! That only became apparent when I saw it absolutely explode on the dance floor. Incidentally, after 7 years, I will be going in the studio with Matt again in the next few months… watch this exiting space!
TA: What's your opinion of the many, many remixes of this track, official and bootleg, that have been done over the years.
NI: I liked the Matt Darey one and PVD’s was good too. Mauro Piccotto also did a version in my mind but he called it something else! It’s all good, let them toy and have fun!
TA: Most (if not all that we can tell) of your productions have been original tracks. Is there any particular reason that you've steered away from remixes - the only one that we can think of that you've worked on is 'Flash' on Nukleuz? You also mainly only appear on records signed to your own label - again, is there any particular reason for this?
NI: You are only half right matey! A month or two before “Flash”, I remixed Barthezz “Infected” for Positiva and straight after that it was X-Japan “Scars”. I remixed K90 “Deliverance” for Eve Records, the Shamen for One Little Indian. I also remixed Thomas Heckman “Amphetamine” and Silvio Ecomo for Hooj but it was tooo hard for them boys so they didn’t come out.
I also remixed stuff as part of Sourmash like Marmion “Schoenberg” etc…
Where you are right is that original tracks is what it’s all about for me. The way I do music, the time and energy put into a remix is the same as an original track but an original track is my own expression and that matters more in a way. How often is a remix truly better than a classic original?
Finally about my releasing mainly on WellWicked, it wasn’t always so. I have released material on different labels earlier on like Zoom, Aquarius, EAR, Plink Plonk, Matsuri, Cosmic Communications but I am quite a difficult artist because I do strange things like producing magical things for art as opposed to strictly feed a market… I’m sorry! With hindsight some of my most successful tracks were turned down when I punted them out. It’s easier to paint the whole picture with my own label and when I had a chance to do it, I did. Although I am quite prolific I suppose if I could really churn the tunes out I would work with more labels but that’s not the most important for me.
TA: You released your solo album recently, 'The Sound of Light'. What kind of reaction did that get and are there any plans for a follow up?
NI: I was anxious because the mix started with my deep and softer sounding progressive sounding tracks and moved on to my harder and more uplifting tunes in the middle and I thought I would alienate both markets. But people and reviewers are very receptive to good music and they loved it so all is good! Last year I also released a metal box limited edition CD, live at Sundissential. As I mentioned earlier I am working on another album at the moment, but yet not sure when it will be finished, October or so.
TA: So, what next for Nuw Idol? How do you see your show progressing over the next year or two? Are there any other sounds, genres, or influences that you'd like to incorporate into your work?
NI: The first thing is that I’d like to play a little longer than one hour sometimes, which I have already done a couple of times in the last few months. It is getting increasingly harder to incorporate enough of my classics with new tunes and form a cohesive set in that time.
I have always been a sponge for different influences and my tunes have been reviewed under so many genres it’s crazy. I have many ideas working their way down my sleeve but you just gonna have to check me out and listen out for it!
TA: What are you working on in the studio at present?
NI: I’m editing my next release and reworking some unreleased tunes I wrote in the last few months.
TA: Finally Michel - you're performing live on stage at Hardhouse Academy: LIVE this bank holiday weekend alongside K90 and the NuEnergy Collective... what's going to make your live show stand out from the rest?
NI: I hear I might have to play earlier than usual there which I am a little anxious about but I’ll do my absolute best to compete if that’s the way you see it! To cryptically answer your question, I will be like the third rail…
TA: Thanks for your time Michel!
NI: Thanks coming right back at you and respect to the HarderFaster Massive!
Hardhouse Academy: Live!
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On:
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Saturday 29th May 2004
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At:
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Brixton Academy [map]
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From:
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20.30 - 06.00
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Cost:
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First 999 £10 +bf / then £15 +bf / then £22 +bf
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Ticket Info:
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Ticket Information:
There are 999 Early Bird Tickets on sale at £10 +bf.
These go on sale to Frantic Members on Monday 5th April 2004.
Any remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday 12th April 2004.
When these tickets sell out the next 2000 tickets are priced at £15+bf
The final 1000 tickets are priced at £22 +bf.
The Earlier you buy your tickets the cheaper they are!
The Four Ways to get your tickets:
1. Frantic Office
Credit / Debit & Cash Sales // XL Group Discount (1 free per 5)
Call 07949 618035
2. Ticketweb
Credit/Debit Card Sales // 24hr Hotline & Online Sales
Call 08700 600 100 or logon to www.ticketweb.co.uk
3. ClubConnexion
Credit/Debit Card & Cash Sales // XL Group Discount (1 Free per 5)
0870 246 2050 or logon to www.clubtickets.com
4. Cyberdog Stores (London
Camden: 0207 4822 842
Covent Garden: 0207 836 7855
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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HHA goes LIVE!
A DJ spinning records is one thing. A Live act putting 110% into a performance is another thing completely.
For the first time ever HHA will be bringing to you not 1, not 2 but 3 Acts Live & Direct from the amazing Main Arena at HardHouse Academy!
As well as the usual A-list, Hard Dance DJ Royalty we will be inviting a selection of stage shows to overwhelm your senses with track after track of custom built, floor burning, foundation rocking tunes!
K90 is arguably the Worlds Premier Anthem Machine! He is the only artist that is virtually guaranteed to produce and Anthem or Classic each and every time he enters the studio! We’re talking tracks such as Bomb Jack, Deliverance & the immense Red Snapper! If you’ve seen the man in action then it isn’t something you will forget in a hurry…if you have yet to see him then you are in for a roller coaster ride of bass driven euphoric energy!
Nuw Idol a.k.a Michel Spiegel is one of the most innovative producers and artists the industry has ever seen. Having worked with the likes of the Shamen & Mr C, remixed the likes of BK & had his tracks played by Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Judge Jules, Andy Farley & Nick Sentience his pedigree speaks for itself! Overwhelming enthusiasm, wild costumes and above all musical brilliance all combine to produce one of the most inspirational stage shows you will ever see!
The Nu Energy Collective has taken London and the UK by storm this year! Kevin Energy, K-Komplex, Sharkey & AMS are all established artists in their own right but together they form a hybrid act that is packed with high octane energy and custom made tracks to produce an unforgettable performance. Billed for the top in 2004 they have already stolen the show at Logic, Atomic Energy & Pendragon! This will be their debut performance at HHA!
With 4 arenas, 3 live acts and one of the most varied and exciting DJ line ups HHA has ever seen the Spring Edition is set to take London to the next level in Hard Dance entertainment!
Be there.
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Other Features By Tom Allen:
The Thirsty DJs Interview with DJChewy
Lashed Preview 2: Interview with Charlotte Birch
Interview with Nick Rafferty
Interview with Jana
PhilTime Preview: Interview with Phil Reynolds
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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