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Features
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| 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 | | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022! | | TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022! | | A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London! | | Goa based party animal and artist extraordinaire Nirmal talks punk concerts, metal sculptures, flying and rippin' it up on a High Tide! | | DJ Wired talks to us about the Rise of the Hope and parties, ahead of his upcoming set at Tribal Village on 14th January 2022! |
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Interview with Andy Farley
Reported by tom
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Submitted 07-10-02 19:37
Andy Farley is at the very forefront of the UK hard dance scene with residencies at Frantic, Sundissential, Storm, Insomniacz and Progress and headline spots this year at 3 of the summer's biggest dance festivals, Gatecrasher, Godskitchen and Holland's Dance Valley. He's built up an almost fanatical following amongst clubbers and at the same time he's also become very much the DJ's DJ showing breathtaking skills on the decks. HarderFaster shot a few questions at Andy before his set at this weekend's Timeless.
Background
HarderFaster: Andy, you were born in Brisbane, Australia but moved to England at an early age... do you consider yourself to be English or Australian ?
Andy Farley: I’ve lived in England all my life so I guess I’d have to say English, but I do have an Australian passport!!
HF: Your first major break was when Tony de Vit was resident at The Nightingale Club and had switched from HiNRG to playing Belgian rave. You were asked to step into his shoes and play HiNRG - what was that experience like ?
AF: Well my first gig there was a bit of a disaster because they were having the DJ box refitted, so I ended up having to DJ on a temporary set up on the stage, but they were good enough to offer me a second gig because of this, and after that I was resident there for 4 years!
HF: How would you say the Andy Farley sound has changed over the last 5 years and where do you see your style going in the next year ?
AF: My sound consists of a mixture of techno, hard house, hard trance, trance and house depending on where and when I play!! I guess with the advent of harder clubs, I do get less opportunity now to play slower house and funky hard house and techno, simply because of the time that I am booked for. That was one of the main reasons for starting the Release night at The Viaduct with Ben, to give us the chance to play the records that we don’t get to play anywhere else. As for the next year, I’m just constantly on the lookout for new and interesting sounds, the most exciting of which at the moment being the techno stuff.
HF: After 14 years DJing there must have been a fair few ups and downs over the years... what did you make of the drop in numbers attending clubs in London in the spring of this year?
AF: I can’t honestly say that I really noticed a drop in numbers in London, more so in some of the Northern clubs. But it’s not just in hard dance clubs; it’s across the board. If anything, harder clubs are the busiest I’ve seen
HF: From a DJs perspective do you think clubland is recovering now ?
AF: I think so. A lot of the problem is the segregation in clubland. Hard house clubs, trance clubs, progressive clubs etc. A few years ago you could go to a club and hear different music from different DJs, but now you just seem to one sound all night. Again this is why we started Release, where you can hear the music progress during the night from tough house to full on harder house, trance and techno at the end.
HF: What has been the highlight of the year so far for you ?
AF: Doing all the big festivals, Dance Valley, Gatecrasher, God’s Kitchen & Creamfields. Tidy Weekender, Mainframe, Trade Tdv memorial, Tin Tins reunion in Birmingham, Frantics and Sundissentials all top the list!!
Production
HF: We understand you're acting as the A&R scout for the Frantic label... which of the Frantic releases did you uncover and can you give us an idea of what's in the pipeline at Frantic ?
AF: Apart from my own releases, I sighted the Chrisrtiaan and Defective Audio releases for the label. Now that the traditionally lean time for music over the summer months is gone, the label is on the look out again for new stuff.
HF: Hard trance has dominated the scene over the last 12 months... where do you see the sound being heard in clubs going over the next 12 ? Is hard house due for a comeback ?
AF: Hard house has never really gone away, not as I perceive hard house anyway. Yeah, the hoovers, sirens etc are less evident, but they’d been done to death anyway. The German trance sound has been big, but for me it’s not something I’m particularly into as it’s nothing new, and after three records you realise that it all pretty much sounds the same. The thing is for me with any type of music, if you don’t mix it up enough it gets boring. That’s why I don’t just play hard house, or just play hard trance etc etc.
HF: What tracks are you currently working on / have recently finished ?
AF: I’ve had a break over the summer as I’ve recently bought a house and have needed the time to get things sorted. I’m back in the studio with BK this week, and then will be doing some more production work with Paul Janes. I have done a remix of K90’s ‘Chemical Love’ for Recover Records, and also a remix of Singum’s ‘First Strike’ for Jinx
HF: What's been tune of the year so far for you ?
AF: Prime Mover’s ‘Black Dogs’, BK’s ‘Revolution’ and his remix of the new Darren Tate track, and Dave The Drummer’s ‘Coke & Amphetamines’.
DJing
HF: Your 3 hour set at Farleytime was one of the highlights of the year for us at HarderFaster... what was the experience like having an entire night dedicated to you ?
AF: It was wicked! Because I normally play the last hour and a half, it’s pretty much a case of bang it out and keep it going till the end, but Farleytime gave me the opportunity to take people on a bit of a journey, drop in a few classics, and show people that I can do more than just hammer it out!!
HF: Some of your DJing tricks such as playing two copies of 'Revolution' simultaneously are widely copied amongst other DJs... do you feel the pressure as someone at the head of the scene to continually innovate or is it something that comes naturally ?
AF: I just try and do things to spice up my set really, most of the time it’s on the spur of the moment as I’m playing. With ‘Revolution’, because it was being played by everybody, but is still a good tune, I decided to spice it up by doing something different with it.
HF: Do you actually spend time working out new things at home on the decks or is all your development done live in the clubs ?
AF: I had the Revolution idea in my head before I did it at Frantic, but didn’t practice it, just jumped in feet first on the night!!
HF: Which DJs do you regards highly outide of the UK hard dance scene ?
AF: Umek, Marco V, Alan Thompson, Ziad, Malcolm Duffy, Steve Thomas
HF: What's the strangest request that's ever been made to you in a DJ box (keep it clean  )
AF: Hmmm well been asked to play Garage before now, also signing body parts is always a bit strange!
HF: What would your advice be for any up and coming DJs trying to break into the scene ?
AF: Loads of practice, do loads of demos and send them off, but most of all be different. Too many DJs are trying to break on to the scene by just playing the same as everyone else. The scene needs some new innovative blood!!
HF: What's been the most enjoyable set you've played to date ?
AF: That’s quite hard because there have been so many good ones this year, but I guess playing at Trade for the first time which has always been an ambition of mine will be the one that stands out.
HF: You're playing Timeless next weekend for Frantic - what does Timeless mean to you and what do you have lined up for us ?
AF: Timeless for me means a time to bring out the classics of course!! I always try and drop the best from the last 4 years, but also drop in a few from further back. For example at one timeless I dropped the Baby Doc mix of ‘Lost In Love’ from 1995. Everyone knows the track, but not the mix. I think it’s important to show people where the music came from as well as just playing the obvious classics.
HF: Finally Andy, which are your top 3 dance tracks of all time ?
AF: Ok this is always really hard to do because there are so many, but here’s what I came up with!
1. Are You All Ready - Tony de Vit, Jump Wax Records
2. Hold That Sucker Down - OT Quartet, Cheeky Records
3. Schoneberg - Marmion, Superstition Records
With thanks to Andy Farley for his time
Andy Farley plays Timeless on Saturday 12th October for Frantic. For full details on this event please click here.
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Other Features By tom:
Interview with Guffy
Interview with Energy Dai
Interview with Tara Reynolds
Interview with Anne Savage
Interview with James Lawson
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: Ricky Smirnoff on 8th Oct 2002 17:57.51
nice 1 son!
From: klosed on 15th Oct 2002 10:04.11
Timeless rocked!!!!Absolutely wicked night :o)
From: robbie muir on 18th Oct 2002 12:33.39
Met Andy at the weekend at a Nukleuz tour night before he went to Timeless- had all the time in the world.
From: LiQuid_*J on 8th Dec 2002 19:28.29
Saw Andy right on the end of November at Time Flies in tiny Aberystwyth. Couldn't believe we had him there. Wicked stuff, can't wait to get to Timeless again. Top bloke, talked to us for ages, despite being fucked!!
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