An insight into the Future with Little Gem, Reece Elliot & Will Paterson
Reported by Guy Hornsby
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Submitted 15-06-05 03:18
Frantic are long established as one of the biggest brands in hard dance since the end of the 90s, well known for their huge shows at the Brixton Academy, and across London. Over the last two and a half years, Wildchild has gone from upstarts to one of the capital’s biggest success stories. The people behind the magic, Will Paterson, Reece Elliot and Little Gem have teamed up for one of the year’s most ambitious parties, Future @ Brixton Academy on June 25, which will see them entertain over 4000 clubbers together for the first time. We caught up with them to ask them how it came together.
Frantic have been doing Hard House Academy in Brixton for years. Have Wildchild ever put a night on there before?
Reece: We haven’t. It’s our first show at the Brixton Academy. Obviously we’ve seen the venue in operation many many times, and it’s something to be in awe of. And we feel very privileged to be given to opportunity to be able to step up at such a great London venue.
Gem: Wildchild have never had the privilege to hold an event at the Academy before, so to be involved in this event, is an absolute dream come true! The sheer size and appearance of the venue are amazing and it’s an honour to be able to take our brand there – bring it on!
From your perspective Will, what makes the Academy such a special venue?
Will: I think at the end of the day, there’s nowhere like the Academy, certainly in London anyway. It’s the biggest regular club venue you can use in London. The thousand seats up on the mezzanine level are really unbelieveable. When you’re standing there looking down at the main dancefloor there’s nothing really to touch it. It’s an unbeatable venue.
There’s a great range of DJs and live PAs on the night. Who should we look out for, and what do you think the ‘live’ element adds to a club night?
Will: I think the ‘live’ element is absolutely crucial to a venue on the scale of the Brixton Academy. Because you’ve got 3500-4000 people in the main room and the mezzanine level, you have to have people that are really charismatic, who are real showmen and entertainers, and that’s where the live PA comes in. They’ve really been perfected over the last three or four years in hard house and trance, and become something that’s a real showstealer when it takes place. The people I’m really looking forward to seeing most first of all are Nu Energy Collective. For Frantic events over the past year they’ve trumped everyone with their onstage antics. And I know Reece is really looking forward to Dogzilla and some of the other PAs.
Reece: Yeah, obviously the Dogzilla connection. We’ve been supporting a young DJ from the Serious roster called Simon Patterson, for many years now. He has been producing under the guise of Dogzilla for the past two and a half years. He’s had some of the biggest hits in the trance world over the past two seasons in Ibiza and in the UK, and now he’s got a complete show to showcase at Brixton Academy. It’s going to be the first time he’s done a full live act for 60 minutes. He’s gonna be debuting a smaller show at Escape in the Park with Paul van Dyk and Judge Jules a couple of weeks before then the Londoners will get the best treatment of all on the 25 June with Frantic and Wildchild.
Wildchild in particular has got a reputation for their fantastically giddy décor. What will the Brixton Academy look and sound like on the day, and how much work will have gone into it?
Reece: Obviously there’s a hell of a lot of work with regard to the setup and the production of the way the venue looks. It’s a matter of weeks and months of intense planning between the teams at Wildchild and Frantic, to get exactly what it’s going to be looking like absolutely spot on, so we can deliver an awesome spectacle for the punters. There’s gonna be thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds of production on show in terms of lights, sound system, lasers, visuals, and it’s worth noting that a large slice of the ticket money will go towards what it’ll look like on the night. In the past, Wildchild have had very high production values. We think this is going to be the best stage so far for us to showcase that.
Will: I think that the most fundamental thing you’re going to see about the show at the Brixton Academy is that it’ll be more akin to the shows you see in the West End, you know, Cats, Les Miserables… When we go into the venue it’s what’s called a ‘dry hire’ venue. In other words, there’s no stage, sound, no lights, no nothing. We have to draw it all out on paper. We have skilled professionals in all those fields that come together on the night. We’d be using equipment that, if you were to buy it on the open market, would cost somewhere in the region of half a million pounds. There’s 25 people over two days to install it all, and 20 on the night to run it in all the different rooms, so you’ll be seeing something like three huge lasers in the main room, 30 moving lights and a massive 150k sound system across all the rooms. It really is showstopping.
Do either of you get the chance to let your hair down on the night or is it all work work work?
Will: Reece does…. (laughs) I think you’d agree with that wouldn’t you Reece? I think on the night, we’re really working hard to make sure everything goes right and the punters are looked after. It’s only afterwards, perhaps the weekend afterwards, that we can let our hair down.
Gem: Hmm, I can’t say I’ll be T-Total for whole evening, but I certainly won’t be knocking them back! I have got a job to do!
Reece: Obviously the logistics of running such a huge show are massive. We as promoters need to be on hand in case anything happens, and to run the event itself. Of course I’ll get the chance to let my hair down a bit but that’s only because I’m DJing. But of course that could be seen as work too (laughs). Back to back with Jason, that will be hard work! (laughs)
You and Gem are both DJing on the night. How much pressure is there playing a big event with so many top class djs on the bill? And do you ever feel competitive?
Reece: I don’t think at our stage it’s really a matter of pressure. I think it’s more nervous excitement. Obviously it’s a huge stage to play on. It’s the kind of thing you dream about when aspiring to be a DJ. So now to be given the chance to do it, it’s just a case of getting up there and giving it your best. And that’s what everyone wants to be a DJ for at the end of the day. So we’re extremely proud to be doing it.
Gem, you’ll be playing on the night… is this your first time playing at the Academy? How excited are you about playing alongside so many other top DJs at Future?
Gem: I have played at the Academy before, it was back in February at a HHA event. I played in the foyer which was wicked, but this time I’m in the main room, so it’s going to be loads different and pretty full on – can’t wait to get on those decks!
As well as the bosh, there’s a room of funky and electro stuff going on. This has become a feature of Frantic and Wildchild events over the last couple of years. What prompted you guys to start using this sort of music?
Will: Well I think for us it was two things really. First of all, we were very much inspired by the funky room at Sundissential North over a number of years. We’ve been going there, and talking to our punters who’ve been there as well, and they really enjoyed the addition of funky house to what were effectively first and foremost hard house events. And people who hadn’t been to Sundissential North were saying “actually, when we’re not listening to hard house we’d like to listen to funky house, dirty house and electro” so really we’re responding to customer interest. And when you’re doing a four room event, it’s certainly interesting for the punters if you’re doing three rooms of trance and hard house to then do something different in there, and it’s the natural ally to the sort of music we play.
Reece: Totally agree. I think it’s important these days to Frantic and Wildchild, over the years, offering multi-arena events, that you can sell as much variety and quality as possible. Obviously house music is absolutely massive around the globe, and it’s a huge selling point to our audience.
How long have you been planning Future?
Will: From literally the week after November the 27th, which was the last event together, me and Reece have been talking about it. We’ve talked about it with Rich, and Amanda and Gemma, and everyone else that’s involved with Frantic and Wildchild. We were working on a follow up to the last event and the line up for the 25th June was so amazing we had to go for the big one and persuade the Brixton Academy to let us do it. So really we’ve been working on it for six months.
Has it been a smooth run or have there been any moments when you’ve thought you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?
Will: (laughs) I think it’s had its up and downs. Inevitably when you’re doing a show the size of the Brixton Academy, I think people may think as we’ve done it before, in the case of Frantic, and you’ve done other big shows in the case of Wildchild, that it comes easily to you. It’s never completely straightforward. Firstly we had to book over 40 artists. Then we had to persuade the Brixton Academy to open up all the areas to accommodate these artists. We’ve been toing and froing for a long time to produce this 12 page flyer booklet, our biggest ever. Different sorts of e-flyers, just trying to make every single aspect of the event different. And for that reason alone it’s been a real challenge.
What’s the most difficult part of running an event like this? Selling tickets? Booking DJs? Production? Something else?
Reece: Each area has its own potential headache, which is why when you look at the teams involved and the amount of manpower we’re using there’s justification for the hours we’ve put in and for an event like this. The whole scale of the operation we’re trying to put on is absolutely huge.
Will: I think that each aspect is difficult in its own way. But I certainly think the biggest challenge is the marketing. And like any other event, with the Brixton Academy you’re going to aim to sell 90% of the tickets in advance, and for this that’s close to 4000 tickets. That’s a challenge. At any normal event that’d equate to 5 or 600 tickets, so you can see what a huge task it is. There’s no definite 4000 people that want to come to your event, you’ve got to go out there and basically persuade 4000 people, which is a long hard slog.
What are you most and least looking forward to on the night?
Gem: Most of all, my set! Least of all? Getting everyone in and out of the club quickly, safely and quietly!
Reece: I think what I’m most looking forward to is being in the main room when it’s just going off. About midnight, one o’clock, the majority of people will be in the venue. The atmosphere will be top notch, the place will be absolutely buzzing, and it’ll be good then to just stand back and enjoy the night.
I supposed the thing you least look forward to is the sheer amount of hours. I’m getting up 8 in the morning and you have to work til about 7am the next day. That’s a good 23 hours solid work, not good for the beauty sleep. Not that I need any!
Will: I think what I’m most looking forward to is the quality of the show that people are going to see in that main room. I know Richard and Gary, who’ve been working on it for Wildchild and Frantic, are going to come up with something really really special. As Reece said earlier on, something like half the ticket money goes on the show. Spunking something like 20 grand up the wall just on the show, but it’ll be certainly worth seeing it for those 8 hours!
What I’m least looking forward to…. I think what always worries me about the event is making sure people are looked after, from making sure the sound levels are right in every room, esp people putting the sound up too loud, abd making sure people are looked after by the venue security and staff. So really for me, I’m always nervous how that many people in one place, what their level of enjoyment is.
You’ve been working together closely for a couple of years now, which must cause some tension at times. How do you cope when you’re getting on each other’s nerves?
Will: We usually blame Reece (laughs). I blame Reece, Gem blames Reece, then Reece is unbelievably a great mediator, and sorts it out. I think it’s just talking it through really, joking aside, whoever you work with, and I’ve worked with a lot of promoters, inevitably you’re going to have tension. The tension comes from nervousness about the event, and the bigger the event, the more tickets you’ll have to sell, and the bigger the pressure. But also people are used to getting things their own way, but with an event like this, you’ve both got to give a little bit for it to work.
We’ve talked about the music, the production, the venue… anything else you’ve got in store on the night?
Reece: For that one I’ll have to say to the punters: early bird tickets have sold out, Savers have sold out, £21 tickets are selling out now. Get in there and buy your tickets and see the secrets that are in store!
Gem: Of course Wildchild will be bringing the usual mayhem of the parade and giveaways, but scaled down slightly as it’s going to be extremely difficult to get through the hoards of people in the venue as it’s simply going to be so busy!!
Will: I think the big thing they’re going to see there, that we’ve already talked about is what’s been unique about the Frantic and Wildchild parties before which is both of us putting our music policies together. Yes, Wildchild is trance and hard house, putting an emphasis on trance. I don’t do trance – you can quote me on that – the punters are going to benefit from people that are serious about trance, serious about hard house, and have a really thriving interest in funky house and electro. So with the sum of the parties you’ve’ got a really cutting edge line-up for anyone that loves music above 130bpm.
It’s going to be a very busy summer with a load of dance music festivals happening. What do you think sets Future apart and makes it special and unmissable?
Reece: I think the amalgamation of two of London’s greatest club brands at the moment, and the awesome line-up which has taken months to put together, I believe it’ll be a show that will simply blow people away.
Will: It’s the best venue in London, the greatest line-up you’ll see all year for hard house and trance. You’ve got the coming together of two brands that are well known for looking after their fans and putting on a great show. You’ve got the show itself, half a million pounds of lighting, sound and visuals. And because it’s an event on this scale, you’ve got punters coming from all over the UK, and some even from Europe, who are very committed to their music. And what that means when you get them all in the main room is a massive, massive atmosphere and a level of enthusiasm you’ll find hard to beat any side of the festivals.
Gem: Future is special because Wildchild and Frantic only team up for limited events throughout the year, so there’s no better time to see them together, than at the amazing Academy. For this reason, it’s simply unmissable!!!
All photos courtesy of Frantic, George Thatcher, Kiko, Pink Kitty, Wildchild and the HF archive. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Frantic & Wildchild Present: FUTURE
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On:
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Saturday 25th June 2005
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At:
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Brixton Academy [map]
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From:
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20.00 - 06.00
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Cost:
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Very Limited Early BirdTickets £14.50 SOLD OUTSaver Tickets £17.50 +BF Standard Tickets £21+BF
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Website:
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www.wildchild-uk.com
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Ticket Info:
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Very Limited Early Bird Tickets £14.50+BF SOLD OUT
Saver Tickets £17.50 +BF Standard Tickets £21+BF
Ticketweb on 08700 600 100/ www.ticketweb.co.uk
Clubtickets on 0870 246 1840/ clubtickets.co.uk (Group Discount of 1 FREE for every 5 tickets you buy)
COACHES
NORTH: Leeds / Sheffield
Call: Dave - 07921103598
MIDLANDS: Coalville / Leicester / Daventry / Hemel Hempstead Northampton / Rugby / Watford
Call Vince - 07835 626226
SOUTH: Bognor / Bournemouth / Brighton / Fareham / Portsmouth / Sounthampton
Call Phil - 07971 063740
FRANTIC HQ - 07949 618 035 / Amanda@franticuk.com
WILDCHILD HQ - Phone - 01708 229836 / info@wildchild-uk.com
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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It’s time for Frantic and Wildchild to once again join forces and give the capital a night of cutting-edge high-energy dance music – the biggest ever hard house and trance party that Brixton Academy has ever witnessed. Building on their critically acclaimed parties of previous years, these two dance music giants will be teaming up to provide a truly memorable night of exhilarating dance music, with a best-of-both-worlds line-up complimented by the most exciting audiovisual experience that the Academy has hosted yet.
The majestic 3500 capacity main arena at Brixton Academy will play host to a full-on Frantic vs Wildchild soundclash –The Biggest Stage In Hard House and Trance on the planet. On the trance tip, the hotly-tipped Dogzilla perform an exclusive live PA will be showing why trance music is such a blisteringly hot commodity in 2005, with Wildchild’s trancemasters JFK, Reece Elliot and Little Gem bringing the ultimate in euphoric sounds to the most intense main room in the country. At the harder end of the scale, Lab 4, Nu Energy Collective and Organ Donors will continue the live theme, with invigorating performances to demonstrate the awesome power of the live hard music experience, with support from Frantic’s most exciting DJ talent to boot. Half of our main room line up will be playing exclusive Main Room Academy sets for the very first time, joining the long and distinguished list of highly talented dance music figures from over the years.
Don’t forget that both Frantic and Wildchild place enormous importance on not only the music at their parties, but the production that ensures that their parties are taken to a higher level of entertainment. Our highly skilled technicians amass a crew of 40 people to install the sound, light and décor into the Academy over the space of the 2 days proceeding the event, and the preparations for their installations began back in December, with the first of 8 visits to the venue by the production managers to ensure that the venue is used to its full potential. More Funktion One in the Main Room than ever before, and our most dramatic laser show ever, featuring a laser twice as powerful as the one we used at Hard House Academy in February 2005, but also special fibre optics to light up the Academy in a blaze of colour and light, as well as a massive stage set up to rival even those of rock ‘n’ roll arena tours! Half a million pounds worth of sound, lighting, and visual equipment, some of the best sound and lighting technicians around with combined experience totalling over 200 years, the biggest Mezzanine level in the country with over 1000 seats, the biggest main room in the country, and an unrelenting desire to provide the best production ever seen at a dance music event in this country equals something more than just a club event. Think big – Las Vegas, West End Shows – and you’ve got a ballpark of what is being aimed for.
The Foyer will rock like never before – Life In The Fast Lane powered by Funktion One’s latest innovation, the brand new Dance Stacks series. You will never, ever have heard Hard House sound this good! A blistering, faultless line-up of the country’s most popular hard house DJs topped off with two exclusive live PAs – a world exclusive from hard techno practitioner Alex Calver premiering his live experience for us, as well as a seldom-heard performance from Gaz West – a.k.a the immensely popular Dark By Design! The foyer is unlike any other club space in the country, possessing an ambience and charm all of its own. When this place goes off, there’s nowhere a hard house lover would rather be.
Upstairs things are guaranteed to get hot and sweaty in House Heaven with Kinky U– the nirvana for all lovers of funky, dirty and sexy house music, with a cast of some of the country’s finest up-and-coming funkateers slogging it over of the course of the night. A certain Mr. Arkoss from one of the capital’s foremost pirate radio stations Passion FM will be providing some of his best DJs, as will be those crazy types from 4Clubbers.net. The VIP Room plays host to The Good and The Great – the best from hard house and trance from across the country. North and South come together to battle it out and see who is best once and for all! Hard House legends such as Charlotte Birch and Phil Reynolds knock heads with young exciting talent such as Daley and Garbo in a soundclash that will be firing on all cylinders throughout the night.
The fun doesn’t stop with the music though – a dazzling array of stalls will be selling merchandise from photo souvenirs to the latest releases from top Hard House labels such as Vicious Circle, Tidy, and Nukleuz, 10 bars and 4 cloakrooms to ensure queues are kept to a minimum, more clubbers than at any other venue in the country who will be travelling from all over the country especially for this event (with coaches running from The North and The Midlands, as well of van-loads of nutters from Wales, The South Coast and East Anglia all making the pilgrimage to see these two dance music deities battle it out). As if this wasn’t enough, the fun will continue down the road at The Fridge for the official Future Sound of London Afterparty, with Twist’s mighty resident DJs providing the hard stuff alongside the Gurn.net Crew over in room 2 providing the sleazy and sexy beats as a warm-up for their busy summer festival season. That’s 20 hours of non-stop, block-rocking, headline-grabbing Hard House and Trance action to start the holiday season with a bang. The summer has landed! No-one parties like Frantic and Wildchild: seeing is believing!
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