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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! | | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna |
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Kutski gets ready for his brand new residency @ Tasty - Love Muzik
Reported by Allan McGrath
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Submitted 29-01-06 20:47
The hard dance scene is bursting with new talents right now but few of this latest breed boast the skills, passion and dedication of DJ Kutski, the 22 year old scratch-master tipped for stardom by Billy Bunter for the last 4 years. Sure, others might boast the finely groomed hair pieces and designer wardrobes but even a cursory glance at Kutski's profile reveals something with a little more substance that the average over-marketed hard dance pin-up.
A true DJs’ DJ and a clubber’s hero all at once, his first run of genre-jumpin’ scratch’ groovin’ mix tapes had everyone from Bunter to Kevin Energy and Anne Savage elevating their eyebrows whilst his unrestrained hunger for all hard dance flavours — from relentless hardstyle to Euro hard trance and the happiest hardcore — soon earned him a prided and deserved Residency role on Radio One’s underground dance weekly.
Little surprise, then, that Bunter has not only installed him as Tasty resident but now offered him a totally free musical reign as resident at his latest promotional adventure, the monthly Love Muzik event at Hidden. Slotting in at times throughout the night, Kutski will be playing diverse, passionately sourced sets but don’t expect to leave unsurprised. The free reign also allows for some no-holds barred randomness. Something the quick-wristed talent is well known for – just ask anyone who’s heard him detonate House Of Pain’s rowdy party hip hop cut ‘Jump Around’ mid-hard house set at Sundissential.
“I don’t think there was anyone for the job,” relayed Bunter on his latest coup, “I’ve been working in music all my life and I’ve never met anyone that I can sit down with and talk about obscure funk and hip-hop records with the same knowledge and passion as Kutski. And at the same time he’s totally on every little new trend or sound that emerges in the hard dance sphere. The guy loves music, or should that be Muzik (?), it’s his life, his love and what he does.”
We got the goss from Kutski ahead of the exciting 17th February debut of his free reign to see just how far he’ll be pushing things at Love Muzik…
First of all, happy New Year John! What was the most entertaining moment of your festive period and how the big new year’s night itself for you?
Inside Out in Glasgow was a mental night!! I had a blinding set there, but probably the most amusing moment was trying to fill Jon Doe’s record bag with alco-pops on New Years Day!!
I’m wandering round in my usual automated semi-leathered daze but the world around me seems to be armed with resolution lists longer than Pete Byrne’s make-up receipts. Not to mention their newly detoxed, gym-hungry engines. Maybe, next year eh? Are you a resolutions junkie and what are your main goals for the year ahead?
I’m fairly clean living to be honest, I don’t smoke or anything and I don’t drink excessively so I get to duck out of resolutions at this time of year quite nicely!
I have knocked caffeine on the head though!! I drink loads of tea and coffee at work so I though I’d go cold turkey just to see what it did! The result: a bast*&d head ache for a week, but minty fresh breath from all the peppermint tea!!
In the first two months of the year, you’ll be rockin Tidy Vs Extreme Euphoria at Heaven and Brixton Academy’s colossal main room for Hard House Academy. Have you got a feeling that 2006 is the year that you break on to the London scene with a true vengeance?
Yeah, hopefully!! I’ve never exploded onto the London scene, just slowly built my profile over a good few years, but it’s getting to the point now where a lot of people understand what I’m about and where I’m coming from as a DJ. So now I’ve established my self, I’m hoping I can really make my mark!!
I recently heard someone say “there’s nothing wrong with getting butterflies before a big event... as long as you’re controlling where they’re flying.” Are you one to indulge that pre-set adrenaline surge or are you cool as a cucumber from start to finish?
I used to be really nervous!! I used to think “what if the needle skips in a mix?”, “what if the monitor cuts out?”... then when they all happen to you, you learn things like this are fate and you in the hands on the DJ gods!! Worrying does no good!! Hehe...
These days, I still get nervous, but it’s kind of a nervous excitement which I like!! If you not nervous before, I don’t think you’d get the same buzz when you on!!
Sandwiched between rave stalwarts like Darren Styles and Mark EG, you’re playing the Hardcore Heaven Vs Slinky party at the Opera House on January 27th. Despite a lack of bookings within the rave scene at large, you’re well known for your love of anthemic hardcore new and old. Will you be playing a cross-over set between hard dance and hardcore? Are you hoping to play more straight up hardcore sets in the coming months?
I love hard dance and hardcore, and I’m intrigued by where one stops and the other starts. I’ve been bridging the gap between the two in my live sets, but that’s only really consisted of finished off with hardcore or gabba. This set gives me the opportunity to fully bridge between the two genres!!
For your Love Muzik residency at Hidden, Billy Bunter has handed you an entirely free reign to play whatever you want. Is the free creative reign in any way daunting and how far into the realms of randomness are you prepared to push things?
I respect Bunter so much for everything he has done over the years from his hardcore days to pioneering trancecore, then hard house and UK hard trance, so to have someone of his stature telling you to just "do your thing" is probably the biggest gesture you could be offered!
Me and Dan both play a wide range of music, and as residents we be playing a range of set times which will be reflected in the music we play! I.e. early set could be euro hard trance, a bit later, hardstyle, later in the night a driving UK set, and to finish, bang it out with the hardcore!!
That’s what will be so fresh about Love Muzik. A really progressive and eclectic music policy within hard dance, all the one hard dance room!
Your love of all muzik styles — from 70s funk and early hip hop to the most head bruising gabba — is well documented...your recent ‘The Sh** Mixtape’ blending the shimmered synth pop of ‘Sweet Dreams’ with Prodigy’s snarling rave classic ‘Charly’ amongst gabba, hardstyle and early 90s dance gems. Does the close mindedness of certain hard dance floors ever frustrate you and have you ever cleared a floor by dropping something truly off-the-wall?
Yeah I’ve cleared my fair share of dancefloors in my time! A lot of promoters book me last set for this very reason alone. Seriously though, you live by the sword, you die by the sward! You can’t expect to try and do radical and different things without the wheels coming off now and again!
With time though, you learn the art of DJ’ing and you can feel things out! As much as it’s important to do your own thing, and push what you believe in, you have to remember people have paid money to see you so it’s not fair to force them to listen to something they’re not interested in for an hour or so! It’s all a balance of educating and entertaining!! Be suggestive with your sets, but don’t loose the crowd! That’s my damage limitation strategy that stops me from killing too many dancefloors these days.
I’ve played some really off the wall stuff at hard dance gigs recently and it’s all been really well received to be honest! As I said earlier, I think people are starting to understand me, and know what to expect! It also shows the increasingly open mindedness of hard dance dancefloors which can only be a great thing!!
Is there any chance of the wise old Bunter ever letting you dropping a similar cut-and-paste anything-goes eclectic set in the club classics room at either Tasty or Love Muzik...? Or would you dare take up the free reign you’ve been handed and go the whole hog in the hard dance room?
There is always the possibility if the crowd is up it, but as it is the hard dance room, people will be looking for hard dance. So more than likely it will be hard dance peppered with eclectic classics!!
I know Bunter will be up for that! It’s actually quite bizarre, I was just listening to old 80s records one day, and while playing Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love’, I thought, if I was a clubber and someone dropped this I’d be loving it!! So I did, and it blew the roof off! The strange thing is, I found out over 10 years ago, Bunter was finishing off his sets at Labyrinth with that very same original track!! Great minds think alike and all that innit.
Do you ever get a chance to drop sets like that elsewhere outside of your bedroom?
Not as full on as that!! I like to drop a few bits into my sets but I think it would be a bit much as a full set! Although saying that I think it could work well in a back room where people are just chilling and listening, and having a bit of a boogie when a track takes their fancy!!
Your sharp-wristed dexterity and awe-inspiring scratching displays have long been winning over hard dance fans the country over. Have you ever put your skills to the test in a national DMC championship? If so, how did you do and if not, why not?
I loved DMC in a big way back around ‘98, cause it was all so exciting, but I feel at the moment the technical aspect of the art has over powered the reason for the development of it, music!! Personally I feel the tuntablist scene has moved back to the clubs, and the pioneers are the like of DJ Shadow and the Scratch Perverts. The way they use all the latest technology and technical skills to cut, blend, re-arrange music seamlessly is what inspires me at the mo!
I have contemplated entering and keeping things fairly simple but effective musically, i.e. proper records, not break albums, crowd rockin’ tunes, but it’s a matter of finding the time to put together a tight routine!
How taxing is it to tread that careful middle ground between dropping some skills to lift a set.... and overdoing it completely? Are you always mindful to add to the hard dance groove rather than overpowering it?
Yeah it’s a fine balance and you just have to feel your way when you go on!! Some crowds love it so you can really show off, then there’s other gigs when people aren’t really into it, so if you over kill it, you can kill the dancefloor!! Another strange one can be even though the crowd like it, they stop to watch so you can kill the groove on the dancefloor, even though they where into it!! Crazy stuff!!
Are you still building up your production discography and can you tell us a bit about your latest creations?
I’ve never been mad heavy on production, but tracks are coming as and when I have ideas or am inspiration to get in the studio! I think its better this way than forcing things just to have tracks out there. I recently did a new track with Frank Sieben and Ollie from Warp Bros/Dons over in Germany, called ‘The Underground’. That’s really dark Euro Hardstyle. I’ve also done a new track with my old muckers Nick and Jake SPX (12 Inch Thumpers) called ‘The Darkside’ which is more on a UK hard house tip!
Are there are plans in motion for collaborations over the coming months and who are you most looking forward to getting in the studio with?
Yeah, me and the Sharkey are planning on clashing heads in the first part of the year which will be very interesting!! We’ve already talked a lot about it and we have a lot of creative ideas so watch this space in a big way.
You were once tipped as something of the ‘bright young thing’ by the hard dance insiders, most notably by Billy Bunter but also by the likes of Kevin Energy, Anne Savage and anyone who’d had the pleasure of seeing you mix live! Which of those now on the cusp of breaking through would you tip for the top in 06 and beyond?
A guy from Manchester call Mark Smith (Not THE Marc Smith) is wicked! He plays hardstyle/techstyle, but he really understands the music. How to build set, what records to play, and is generally a really intelligent DJ. That’s quite rare in UK hardstyle DJs.
Also Chuck-E from South Wales is wicked! He’s been around for a good while and is big on the South Welsh circuit, but now with some excellent production under his belt, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him really spread his wings this year.
Finally, what tracks have really been doing the damage so far in 06 and are there any that are certain to be in your box come the 17th February?
D-Block & S-Te-Fan — ‘Fresh New Beat’
Morphyst — ‘Dust to Dust’
Balistic & The Beholder — ‘Nuclear Reactor’
Trilok & Chirin — ‘Devil’s Night’
Photos courtesy of Kutski. Not to be reproduced without permission.
TASTY launches LOVE MUZIK monthly
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On:
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Friday 17th February 2006
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At:
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Hidden [map]
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From:
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10 pm to 6 am
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Cost:
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£10 early bird / £13 paying guest list / £15 door
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Website:
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www.hiddenclub.co.uk
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Ticket Info:
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VERY LIMITED EARLY BIRD TICKETS ONLY £10 + BF FROM WWW.TICKETBANK.CO.UK / 01702 345 050 OFFER ENDS 5PM MONDAY 6TH FEBRUARY
PAYING GUEST LIST £13 EMAIL ALL NAMES TO TASTYEVENTS@HOTMAIL.COM
£15 ON THE DOOR ALL NIGHT LONG
INFO LINES 07976 418 522 / (01707) 375 795
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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WHO LOVES F***IN FRIDAYS!!!
Tasty presents Love Muzik our brand new monthly concept at the all new intimate “super club” Hidden. On the 3rd Friday of every month we will be bringing you the best sounds club land has to offer “past, present & future”. Party to the sounds of Love Muzik residents Billy “Daniel” Bunter, Kutski, Mr Arkoss, PhilGood & Ram, P.K, Twista and a host of special guests from the world of “Hard Dance, Funky House, Club Classics & Old Skool” Love Life, Love To Party, Love Muzik.
3 UNIQUE ROOMS
2 MEZZANINE FLOORS WITH LEATHER SOFAS
STATE OF THE ART SOUND
FULL PRODUCTION AND LAZER LIGHT SHOW
FREE TASTY/LOVE MUZIK MEMBERSHIP
CD GIVEAWAYS
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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. Euro Trance. Hard Trance. Tech Trance. Psy Trance. HardStyle. House. Deep House. Funky House. Hard House. Tribal House. US House. Vocal House. Breaks.
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DJ's:
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LOVE HARD DANCE
Billy Daniel Bunter
Kutski
Roosta
Lisa London
El Greko
Dimitry
LOVE HOUSE
WITH THE PASSION FUNKSTERS
Mr Arkoss
Phil Good & Ram
Nicky T
& SPECIAL GUESTS
Chris Rayner
Red & Blue
LOVE CLASSICS
Piqué
Twista
Billy Daniel Bunter
Niki Dimensions
E.s.p
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Other Features By Allan McGrath:
Hardcore Euphoria preview: Bonkers about Arkitech
Mark Ashley vs Eryk Orpheus: the festive show down
Freeformation Chris-Mess Rave-Up Preview With Type 1
Tasty preview with Roosta
A Tasty interview with Billy ‘Daniel’ Bunter
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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Comments:
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From: dimitry on 30th Jan 2006 10:52.15
can't wait for this !!!
From: *cheeky chick* on 30th Jan 2006 15:04.12
Go Kutski 
From: sunvisordude on 1st Feb 2006 11:49.07
this guy knows what he's talking about, and he has a feel for PROPER hard music yet still not loosing its soul. He is a dying breed!
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