Here's the interviews that have been done ahead of the release of the Nu Wave album, available from www.hmv.com.

BK on 4clubbers

BK on Data Transmission

Kutski on Harderfaster

Andy Whitby on IHouseU

Garbo on IHouseU

Cally Gage on Music-News

Mark H on Trancetribe

This is it – the day we’ve all been waiting for! BK’s new album “BK Presents The Nu Wave” is finally OUT TODAY on Traffic Records.

Now firmly established as one of the most respected and biggest selling artists in the world of Hard Dance, Technikal (aka Alf Bamford) has kept up the blistering form that first got him noticed, with a slew of classic productions over the last few years. Never one to rest on his laurels, he has pushed his immense production skills further by successfully producing acclaimed Hardcore tracks alongside his unique brand of Hard Dance, as well as producing Electro and Psy-Trance tinged material.

Producing from the age of thirteen, he got his first track signed at the age of seventeen - and has gone on to sell hundreds of thousands of records across the globe. Since being discovered by HeatUK’s Spencer Freeland and Marc French in 2004, Technikal has made a truly meteoric rise through the Hard Dance scene, working with the likes of Phil Reynolds, Steve Hill and Rob Tissera to name a few. He has earned the respect of his peers and is consistently cited as one of the most talented and innovative producers around.

With amazing production collaborations with the biggest names in the scene like Lisa Lashes, BK, Anne Savage as well as his work alongside relative newcomers to the scene such as MDA & Spherical all storming the hard dance charts, it’s easy to see why Technikal is the name on everyone’s lips over the last couple of years.

He has been runner up in the Best Producer and Best Remixer categories at the Hard Dance Awards for the last 3 years, and was named Best Producer 2 years in a row in the Harderfaster.net awards.

Now cool and confident behind the decks, his invigorating, peak-time blend of Hard Dance has seen him play coveted gigs like Tidy Weekender, Goodgreef vs Sundissential, Frantic, and his legendary midnight set at HeatUK’s New Year’s Eve Party at Brixton Academy in 2005/06. Further afield he has toured Australia’s biggest and best parties such as Progress and Masif, as well as the massive Impulz and Dance Valley parties in Holland. He also played for Polysexual NYE in Stockholm.

It’s unheard of for someone so young to conquer a dance music scene in such a short time, but Technikal’s production prowess is too mighty for the outcome to be anything less than this. Now fully in his stride, this young prodigy is setting the pace for the Hard Dance scene, and showing no signs of stopping his previous incredible form.

Website
Myspace
Facebook
DSI
Bebo
Youtube

Lab4 began their farewell tour in September of 2006, travelling from Sheffield to Oxford to Bournemouth to Wales – and gigging across Australia too. This was the end to a career that took in every big hard dance event (it doesn’t get much bigger than Brixton Academy) in the UK and beyond during their 13 years together, as well as bringing their own form of anarchy to festivals and more intimate venues.

Over the previous 13 years Lab4 had amazed clubbers with their Live Act – taking over a venue to build an imposing metal rig as a stage for their unique combination of instruments and electronic music. Their style of music is impossible to describe adequately – a fusion of industrial sounds with hard dance, trance, and a fast paced punk sound, they use samples and instruments to create something completely fresh.

They won many Best Live Act awards world-wide, as well as finding time to produce over 60 releases – from double albums to singles – and perform for John Peel’s live Radio 1 show.

But now for something different…Adam is back, solo, and has been continuing the Lab4 theme of hitting the road hard, showcasing his dynamic and downright thrilling new material at fundamental rave happenings from Frantic, Pams House, and Contact to Tidy, Tranzaction and Bionic.

His sound is similar to, but distinct from, the Lab4 sound. He still refuses to be pigeon holed into one genre, pushing boundaries and making sure that his music sounds good REALLY loud. With his roots initially in metal and industrial, along the way Adam has picked up influences of Hardcore, Rave, Trance, Hard House and
Techno and fused them all into his own style that is confident, cheeky, teasing, dynamic and emotional – as anyone who has heard his phenomenal new album “Drink Me” will testify! Download it at www.adamlab4.com

His gigs have been a huge success so far – he has made his Storm debut for their event with Goodgreef, travelled to Brighton to play one of his favourite small nights, Hard South and had the unusual pleasure of headlining 2 rooms at Overload At The Fort, and event held a mile out to sea in a fort! Feedback has been more than impressive, and with forthcoming gigs in the UK (including headlining the epic 8th birthday of Hard House Academy) and Ibiza already lined up, promoters should book soon to avoid disappointment!

Website
DSI
Myspace
Facebook

The only person to have won the coveted Best DJ award in the Hard Dance Awards 2 years running, the legend that is Proteus is the most famous hard dance DJ in Finland. He has been DJ’ing for 12 years and producing for 7.

Citing Lab4 and Captain Tinrib as his influences alongside industrial band Skinny Puppy, intense singer Nick Cave and obscure Finnish metal band Nightwish gives you some indication of how diverse and unique a Proteus set will be. He takes strands of each of these genres and somehow makes them all come together to produce the kind of floor-shaking, ear-splitting hard dance that he is known and loved for.

He doesn’t just DJ, he puts on a show – he’s a true entertainer. This is what makes him popular with so many clubbers and promoters alike – people value a Proteus night as you’re always guaranteed a performance like no other. He sets clubs alight with his energy and amazing technical ability, backspinning and scratching to add even more impact to the tunes he plays.

Some of his major achievements are being named in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs in 2 consecutive years and warming up for none other than Prodigy and Juno Reactor.

He has played the biggest UK events like Global Gathering and Creamfields, as well as wowing the crowds at international events like Impulz, Defqon 1 and Laserpoint. Australia, Switzerland, Japan and Malaysia are also amongst the countries encompassed by his tour.

Proteus has collaborated with many of the scene’s big hitters to make dark-edged hard dance tracks like “Full Metal Jacket” with DJ-X from Lab4 earlier this year and 2004’s “London Helsinki Underground” with Kevin Energy. He has mixed several compilations for release in Australia and Finland, and his set with Mark EG at the amazing Groundzero festival in Holland in 2007 was released in 3 CD/DVD format to great acclaim.

His 2 hour long radio show on Finnish station Basso Radio always pulls in a large crowd of listeners, and is just another string to the bow of his many talents, proving how hard working and dedicated he is.

2008 has seen the launch of the Proteus webstore, selling his own range of clothing, and his eagerly anticipated artist album “Nature of the Beast” will be released later this year. He has also been given the honour of mixing part of the latest instalment in the popular Frantic album series, due to be released in the Autumn.

With his plans for huge UK gigs like Hard House Academy at Brixton Academy in October, Global Gathering, Amsterdam’s immense Dance Valley and another gig at Ground Zero lined up throughout the year, Proteus is ever popular in the UK and beyond – always gaining new fans and amazing the clubbers with his dedication and enthusiasm.

2008 looks set to be his biggest year yet, taking his own brand of insane hard dance to new audiences and old favourites alike. He is a welcome addition to any line up and makes clubs come to life during his sets. He is guaranteed to rock any venue in his own inimitable style!

Website
Myspace
DSI

2007 saw the creation of a hard working, formidable but fun new b2b duo: Matt Pickup & Andy Rise have been friends for years and first DJ’ed together in 2003, but they made things official (no, they didn’t tie the knot!) in 2007 and DJ’ed together most weekends. 88 Sets, over 100 hours of music in 35 venues across 19 towns and cities in 3 countries to be precise.

Production-wise 2007 also saw them make waves on big labels like Deprivation, Nosebleed, Breed & Oktane and they have more releases lined up for the forthcoming months.

When you go to see the boys expect a pinch of high paced NRG with some tasty bootlegs and mashups with a side order of scratching, served up with lots of bouncing around and interaction with the crowd!

They are also well known for their groovy warm up sets and have a reputation for being down to earth and tongue-in-cheek and never failing to entertain.

With joint residencies for superclub Frantic and smaller night Summit as well as their separate residencies the boys have already made their happy, smiley mark across the hard dance scene. They also hold regular slots at famous afterclubs Shine and Twist.

Notable gigs so far include Sundissential’s 11th birthday, Tidy Extreme Euphoria, Storm, Polysexual and Timeless, but the one that really rocked was playing main room at Tidy Weekender 14 earlier this year!

They have also launched their own labels – “Hard Up Digital” and “Hard Up Funk”, claiming the much sought for Christmas Number 1 slot on Tidy Digital with one of their releases (better than Mr Blobby!)

So far in 2008 they have seen the year in in style by playing Frantic NYE, been signed to UDJs and mixed the new Frantic Residents Album. With all this as well as being booked to play huge venues like Koko in London and more intimate gigs like Hi Oktane in Leeds, they’re definitely working hard.

2008 is without doubt their year, as main room debuts at Polysexual, The End, and the most famous club in the world, Ministry of Sound, confirm what many have thought for a long time – these boys are going places, and having a lot of fun in the process.

DSI
Myspace
Andy Rise DSI
Matt Pickup DSI
Andy Rise Myspace
Matt Pickup Myspace

In just a short space of time, Cally Gage became one of the biggest names in the UK hard dance scene. She won the Tidy Summer Camp DJ Competition in July 2004 and since then has achieved more than most DJs achieve in a decade. The Crown Princess of Hard House is working her way to the very top...

Her invigorating blend of Hard House and Hard Trance combined with her cool and collected stage presence have earnt her a loyal and loving fanbase across the country and praise from some of the UK’s most popular club promotions. Her friendly and down to earth attitude also makes her the favourite of many promoters and clubbers alike.

As Frantic resident, she always rocks the main room at the biggest hard dance events in the Capital, having already played at Heaven and The End this year. She will again be playing the main room at the 4500 capacity Brixton Academy Hard House Academy, and is of the artists chosen to mix the Frantic 2008 album, due to be released in the Autumn.

She also has regular high-profile slots at the UK’s biggest Hard Dance clubs, such as Storm, Pam’s House and Slammin’ Vinyl. Cally also shows her even harder side in her role as resident for Twist, London’s number one afterparty, playing filthy hard house and NRG. She has also received the support of the best of London’s smaller nights, such as Summit and Total Mayhem.

Cally has played the biggest of the big festivals with consistently good feedback – from Global Gathering & Escape Into The Park to Global Energy and Sanctuary she is comfortable on the largest stages in hard dance. Her faultless mixing skills and ability to adapt to any event have also led to her playing abroad. She made her Ibiza debut last summer, playing at the amazing Es Paradis for Tidy vs Extreme Euphoria. This year she will be jetting off to Lloret de Mar to play for HTID In The Sun, as well as having 3 dates for Advanced Tidy at Eden in Ibiza. She has recently stormed the Monday Bar Cruise for Polysexual – taking in the sights from Stockholm to Estonia.

One of Cally’s major attibutes is her ability to adapt not only to any size of event, but also to any venue, many different set times and several different styles of hard dance – from right through the spectrum of hard house and hard trance to being able to fit into a hardcore line up, Cally can do it all.

Cally has embarked on what promises to be an illustrious production career, having worked with the uber-talented Greg Brookman on the fantastic Remix EP for Masif Records (Steve Hill’s legendary imprint). Her tracks will reflect both the uplifting side to her sets as well as her no-nonsense filthy sets. This year has already seen her in the studio with BK making a track called “Get With This” – available on Riot! later this year and included on BK’s own album. Many more collaborations are lined up, including: Tom Parr, Kye Shand & Paul F, Greg Brookman and the Tidy DJs.

Her first commercially released mix CD came out in 2006 (Frantic 06) and was met with high praise from the hard dance community. She followed this with missing part of the Hard Dance Revolution album in 2007, and part of the Frantic 2008 album – due to be released in September.

With her full-on tune selection, impeccable mixing and sunny, crowd-pleasing personality, Cally can make any night her own – she is a certain crowd puller, and guaranteed to perform a brilliant set at any night, large or small.

Website
Mix site
Facebook
Myspace
DSI

Andy Whitby has achieved much more than most people his age – in 4 years he’s gone from being a professional basket ball player to owning his own record label, running his own night and a releasing his own clothing range, so it’s no surprise he’s one of the biggest stars of hard dance!

He’s been DJ’ing for 10 years already, and started as he meant to go on during his first ever gig at Addiction by blowing the sound system after just 2 tracks! Luckily this didn’t put Will Paterson off booking him for Frantic, and he made his debut in March 2004 at Timeless. Since then Andy’s come a long way – he’s something of a cult hero with people dedicating hours to making special “We Love Whitby” outfits before his gigs. He always has a huge crowd of followers and tickets for his gigs usually sell out well in advance.

The Andy Whitby style is energetic, driving bouncy hard house and hard trance with many of his own productions making it into his sets. When he’s on the decks the dance floor fills & the energy of his music translates to the clubbers, making them stomp right to the end.

He’s now played at every major hard dance night across the UK – with events like Sundissential, Parlez Vous? and Goodgreef snapping up his talents regularly. As anyone who saw Andy’s full on 2007 Global Gathering set will know, he is passionate about playing the UK festivals. He has also played Creamfields as well as events like crazy Russian festival Wonderlake and Impulz in Holland. Escape Into The Park is also a favourite of Andy’s – the crowd this year went mad for his hour-long set.

The festivals aren’t the only international gigs that have filled Andy’s calendar – Tokyo, South Africa, Ibiza, Australia and many Canadian cities have also Kept It Whitby!

The last 3 years have seen the awards deservedly mount up for Andy, with wins for Best DJ, a Best Album triumph and a Best Resident award at the Hard Dance Awards since 2005.

Mr Whitby is also at the top of the production scale – his AWsum label has monthly releases, usually collaborations between Andy and his favourite producers, which consistently top the download charts on various sites. Among the best are Rock It, U Ready and Rokk Ya Body which came out on Nukleuz. His tunes have also been released on Tidy, Nukleuz and Masif – not many people can say they’ve achieved the hard house hat trick!

In between his gigs and production, Andy has found time to mix 7 compilation albums; including 2 Frantic Residents albums, 2 Euphoria CDs on the Ministry label and the 2008 edition of Tidy’s Music For A Harder Generation.

Not happy with just being a respected DJ and producer, Andy turned his hand to promoting and had his debut AWsum night in London in December 2007. This was followed by a sell-out night at the world’s most famous club, Ministry of Sound, in May 2008. The night was a huge success, with many clubbers calling it the best night of their year so far.

Whitbywear has been launched this year and is set to expand, with outfits designed by the man himself! So if you’d like to be dressed by Andy Whitby have a look at www.whitbywear.com

His driving energy, cheeky manner, insane interactions with the crowd and consummate professionalism behind the decks make Andy a must-have for any promotion.

Portal
Website
Mix Site
Facebook
DSI
Myspace
Bebo
Youtube
AWsum DSI
AWsum Myspace

From her origins playing lead guitar in a punk band, to playing huge illegal raves at the height of the free party movement in the early '90s, to being the first female UK DJ to play in Canada, to spearheading the rise of the hard dance scene - Anne Savage has never been one to stand still, keeping moving with the times and constantly pushing herself to evolve and grow as a DJ and producer.

15 years on from her first big break and she's looking and sounding more exciting and vital than ever before, with a more accomplished and diverse CV than most DJs could dream of.

Music has always been a big part of Anne's life, with the young Miss Savage training in classical guitar during her formative years, before showing her first signs of musical rebellion by playing lead guitar in punk band The 53rd State.

Her DJing career commenced in the unassuming town of Accrington in the North of England back in 1988, at a night called Alternative at Kerfew Klub. Before long her confidence grew and she was playing at various clubs and parties in Italy, around the birth of the rave era in 1989/1990. As the illegal rave scene peaked in the UK between 1991 and 1992, Anne was playing huge parties in Lancashire, before getting her first major stepping stone into the world of professional DJing with a residency for Angels in Burnley. Here she played alongside heavyweights of the era, such as Carl Cox and Joey "Energy Flash" Beltram, before being taken on as resident for the Leeds-based rave-up Ark, where she shared the bill with DJs like Sasha and John Digweed.

Over this period she worked at Eastern Bloc record shop in Leeds, and then as the manager of Flying Records in London. She began to produce at the same time, with her Northern Scum track "Round & Round" a major fixture in Pete Tong and Judge Jules's record boxes. As her fame spread, international bookings soon came into the picture, and she became the first ever female DJ from the UK to play in Canada, headlining huge events such as Better Days and even DJing for the British High Commission in Ottawa.

As her beats got tougher and faster and the sound of hard house began to enjoy unprecedented levels of popularity, she was taken on as a resident at the debauched Sundissential North parties, as well as being given the title of official Tidy Girl - working with the biggest label in the scene, Tidy, to produce the classic 'Real Freaks' for their "Tidy Girls EP", which went on to become the biggest selling hard house EP of all time.

Working with the likes of BK and Paul Maddox on further anthems for Tidy (like the storming "Hellraiser") and Nukleuz Records ("Instantly"), she carried on her studio activities while also mixing several highly successful mix compilations. Her Frantic Euphoria CDs have sold 100s of 1000s of copies, and have won her two Hard Dance Awards for Best Album.

She has also been ranked within the DJMag Top 100 DJs poll in 7 consecutive years, and was chosen by The Independent as one of their Top 10 UK DJs. She has also played at Glastonbury and toured Asia with her "Dumb Blonde" sets, playing a versatile range of electro, breaks and tough house, and producing alongside hotshots Coburn for some of Europe's coolest labels.

Anne's DJing has taken her to virtually every part of the globe, playing the world's most highly rated festivals and clubs, as well as playing at glamorous affairs like the Malaysian Grand Prix afterparty back in 2005. Her glamorous style and bubbly personality have also helped her to achieve success as a confident and highly-rated presenter - with her role as a tutor teaching a classically trained cellist how to DJ on the Channel4 programme "Faking It" helping the episode to receive a prestigious BAFTA Award.

Further appearances on Channel4 shows were bolstered by presenting work for the BBC, MTV Europe, MTV Dance, Rapture and Sky One, with a cameo appearance in the 2005 clubbing flick Hot Dog to boot. She has filled in for Dave Pearce on his massive Dance Anthems show on Radio 1 (listened to by over 2 million people).

2008 sees Anne continue in this blistering form, with gigs across the world including festivals in the UK and abroad. With a new management company behind her to boost her profile and launch her full thrust into the world of online marketing, this looks to be one of her best years yet.

Portal
Website
Mix Site
Facebook
Myspace
DSI
Youtube