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Features
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| Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - 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! |
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Interview with a new hybrid dj & producer - Kutski
Reported by Wiggii
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Submitted 20-05-05 00:39
Unrest in the scene is growing. You may not have felt it yet, but the human instinct to pioneer and search out new things is as prevalent in the hard dance scene as every other aspect of human civilisation. Clubbers are once again looking for the next best thing. The next ride to take them through their weekend manoeuvres! Don’t get me wrong… the big names are still rocking the floors of the nation every weekend, but now more than ever the pioneering new artists are being given chances to make it to the top!
Leading from the front is a new hybrid dj/producer. Kutski is no stranger to the London scene having made storming appearances at the likes of Tasty, The Purple Turtle and the awesome HardHouse Academy, but he is about to go supernova and we wanted to be there for the rerun of the big bang!
Few artists can claim to be so diverse when it comes to their musical preference. Sure you get djs and producers who may claim to like other styles other than the one they built their name on, but how many can claim to be as immersed in all as Kutski?! Hard dance, hip hop, Dutch hardstyle and newskool, German hard trance… the list is endless and he has a finger in all of them!
Whatever your tastes it is hard to deny that this style of artist is a unique entity and proves that evolution within a scene is alive and kickin! We caught up with the man with about 10 different plans to chat to him about everything from previously undiscovered scratching techniques to his headline slot at Basic this weekend…..
We last caught up with you in the summer of 2004. What’s been the biggest thing for you since then?
I’d have to say getting the show on Radio One! If you’d have said to me back then that I would ever have had a show on Radio One I’d pissed my self laughing, let alone within 12 months!!! It’s an amazing opportunity but very surreal.
There have been various jokes about how you might be related to ‘Normski’. Time to set the record straight – how did you get from your John to Kutski?
Kutski came about because Normski is in fact my mum’s cousin, auntie’s, step bother's, nephew!!! Twice removed 
London best knows you for your appearances at the Purple Turtle and for larger events such as Tasty. Out of any London gig you are yet to play which one would you get the most excited about?
Playing main room in Hard House Academy would be wicked!! Although I reckon I'd be shitting it before I went on! The size of that arena is mental!!
I know as much about how to scratch as most people know about quantum physics. Can you give us a crash course on what terminology like ‘baby scratch’, ‘bubble scratch’ & ‘chirp scratch’ means… etc?
Baby scratch = a basic movement of the record, without use of any faders.
Chirp scratch = a short fast movement of the record, cutting the ends of the sound out, with the fader giving an effect like a bird's chirp.
Bubble scratch is a new one to me! If you find out anything about it please let me know. I imagine it will involve a balloon of some sort, and a bottle of fairy liquid.
Unlike some other hard dance scratch djs you actually produce and mix hip hop, as well as hard dance. I remember hearing some of your hip hop scratch demos and they are superb. Is it important to you that you maintain a passion for both styles?
Yeah, I have a really eclectic taste in music, and I recon that’s a good thing to keep everything fresh with different influences. I’m really passionate about it, all the music I’m in to, and I’m always trying to find new obscure stuff. At the moment I’m really into a guy from Brighton called Shitmat. He produces stuff from abstract D’n’B like Squarepusher, through to 300bpm gabba sampling Snow “Informer”!
A lot of djs have specific scratch records that they use when scratching over hard dance, such as ‘Dirt Style’. Do you use any in particular and which is your favourite if so?
The amount of battle records I have is criminal so I use a lot of different ones! Dirt Style is Q-Bert, Flair, Shortcut etc… output for battle records and if they’re good enough for pioneering turntablists like them, there a good place to start! “Shampoo Breaks” is a good ‘un on Dirt Style. Also check DJ Rectangle’s DJ tools as well. They’re all tight!
London is very fertile at the moment with numerous intimate parties being conceived and slowly growing to success. Basic is undoubtedly one of these events. Looking forward to it? Have you played at Heaven before?
Yeah I’m well up for it!! I’ve heard a lot of good things about the events they’ve put on so far so I’m looking forward to being a part of it! I played Heaven last year with a lot of guys from Europe. The venue was wicked and apparently the main room wasn’t even open, so I’m intrigued to see what it will be like!! Should be a corker!!!
Your agency is the ever-growing ‘Fresh Djs’: they are fast becoming a potent agency and have some amazing talent on their books including yourself of course. What is it they have that others don’t?
How much did Fresh pay you to slip that one in Seriously though, the guys at Fresh are really cool. I think they’re doing well because they work closely with promoters, and help cut them deals etc, on the understanding that if the nights are successful, the scene is better and we’ll all be successful at what we do rather than fleecing a club for a one off big payment.
They were the obvious choice for me ‘cause I’m quite weird with my music. When I talked to other agencies they where trying to ‘guide me’ in directions, but I’m a stubborn git and Fresh just let me get on with it and promote me on what I’m doing!
Your style not only combines cutting, scratching etc but also draw a lot from the Hard European Trance or Hardstyle sound. How did this develop for you in a Hard House & Hard Trance based country?
I’ve always been into Nuskool Gabba from Holland, and thought it would be wicked to make an experimental track that’s kind of a cross between that and Hard House. Then I heard a Hardstyle track and though, “shit, someone beat me to it!” There is so much good hard dance from all over the world it seems mad not to play it! + I get a load of massive tracks that a lot of DJ’s will miss in this country which helps me maintain an original sound.
You play so many genres of music at the moment. Which one are you concentrating most on and what separates this one from the rest?
I wouldn’t really say I’m concentrating on anything particular! What ever I feel like at the time! I’m working on more Hip Hop projects with Nick & Jake (12Inch Thumpers), Hard Trance with Roosta, I’m going back over to Germany to do a follow up to “Nightmare Man” with Ollie from Warp Brothers. Also I’ve been getting the content for my first radio show together which includes Hard Trance, Hard House, Hard Style, Hardcore, Freeform, and Gabba!!!
Do you think that hard dance production is a bit stagnant at the moment, i.e with most of the new tunes being released all sounding the same or would you say it was quite the contrary and a lot of new sounds are evolving?
To be honest, I think things have been a bit stale recently, but that is defiantly changing. I think too many people have been trying to make the music cool and credible, when it should be just be fun! That was proved by the bounce revival! The music was getting too serious and people looked at how it used to be and thought it was better. With producers like Gaz West and Teknical though, things are back on the up!
Out of all the different genres you currently play, if were given the choice to choose and play only one of them for the rest of your career, which one would it be and why?
Eek! That’s a hard one, ‘cause its not like I play a hard house set one week, then a Hardstyle the next. I play it all mixed up together, so I guess if I did pick one specific genre, “Kutski” as a DJ would cease to exist!
I have seen a press release that mentions that you will be hosting a new show on Radio 1. Can you tell us more about this and give us a reason why we should all tune in?
The show is called “The Residency” and is on Saturday night/Sunday morning, 3-5 after the Essential Mix on Radio One! The show will showcase 6 djs on weekly rotation, representing different genres of dance music. I’ll been playing my usual eclectic mix of hard dance/ hardcore! My first show is on 22nd May and every 6 weeks there after!
You should tune in for safety reasons, because you won’t be falling asleep at the wheel on the way back from a club with 170bpm Dutch hardcore in the car :-P
Last, but by no means least, can you give us an insight in what you have in store for us when you make your debut performance for BASIC on Friday 20th May, or will we just have to wait and see?
If variety is the spice of life… expect scotch bonnet peppers ;-)
Thanks to Kutski for his time and Fresh Djs for the use of their photos.
BASIC
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On:
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Friday 20th May 2005
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At:
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Heaven [map]
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From:
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10pm - 6am
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Cost:
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£10 Advanced tickets / More on the door
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Website:
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www.basicuk.com
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Ticket Info:
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::Ticket Info::
£10 + bf Advance / More on the door
Guest lists
lists@habittzinc.com
07906 091 769
::Where to buy::
www.ticketweb.co.uk
08700 600 100
www.clubtickets.co.uk
0870 246 2050
www.e-listlondon.com
07908 809 077
Mad Records
0207 4390707
Cyberdog Camden
0207 4822842
Maria
07813684399 / 020 83520705
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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Habittz Media Proudly Presents:
BASIC
Friday 20th May
Heaven
10pm – 6am
Under the Arches, Villiers Street, Charing Cross, London
BASIC’s rise to prominence has seen it go from a small party in an unknown, underground venue to one of London’s biggest and busiest clubs, Heaven in Charing Cross! BASIC has come a long way in ten short months and is quickly becoming a promotion that has earn't it’s respect in the hard dance scene and one who’s reputation far exceeds it. With it’s unique and mind blowing line-up’s to it’s no politics attitude and electrifying atmosphere that is sure to get your toes twitching and your bum wiggling and leave you smiling at the end, you now know where to be on May 20th 2005!!
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Flyer:
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 - 
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Region:
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London
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Music:
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Trance. Hard Trance. Tech Trance. Psy Trance. Nu NRG. House. Deep House. Funky House. Prog House. Tribal House. Vocal House. Breaks.
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DJ's:
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::Hard Trance Arena::
Kutski
Steve Blake
El Greko (Basic)
Nick Basic (Basic)
Stretch (Basic)
Stu Cox
::House Arena::
Phil Able (Cyberdog)
Alex Parsons
CD
Roffie (Sweet As Taboo)
Steve Haines (Bounce)
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Other Features By Wiggii:
An audience with Paul Maddox
10800 seconds with Mr Simon Rutherford before his world exclusive 3 hour set
Interview with a UK hard trance legend - Steve Blake
Interview with a born and bred scouser - GUFFY
Interview with The Greek - EL GREKO
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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