DJ Brisk - Profile - Part 2

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It was a series of re-mixes that made DJ Brisk what he is today, other top labels quicklt recognising his production talent. Scott Brown's "Now Is The Time" received the DJ Brisk touch making it even more popular than it already was. It may have been that he respected Slipmatt, Force & Styles and Hixxy, but Brisk's remixing skills were so much in demand that he gave birth to his own label, Next Generation Records'. Instead of writing material for other people, which he still enjoys doing, Next Generation was Brisk's master plan to express himself musically. NGR was initially planned for launch in late 1996, but due to his workload this was put on hold but it is now fully operational and ready to do damage on the hardcore scene. The whole project is a joint venture with DJ Ham, "who I rate totally. A very talented and innovative producer with whom I share the same musical vision".

DJ Brisk's sets are often very diverse, he admits that if he could get away with it, there would be a mixture of Bouncy Techno, Gabber, Happycore and Hard trance. Evolution, Quosh and Universal are just some of the labels you can find inhabiting his record box. "There's so many labels I respect and follow" and foreign labels such as Ruffneck, Industrial Strength, EDM, Inferno and Samurai are amongst his favourites. Foreign labels very often don't get picked up and pushed but Brisk recognises their potential and uses them accordingly.

He doesn't like to distinguish between small parties and large events either, "to be honest as long as the crowd are enjoying the music then I really don't care. I like to see people getting off on the music, whether this is at a huge out door event or in a small club it just doesn't matter". He does, however change his set depending on the area in which he is playing. "I find the Northern clubs the crowds are a little more into the harder side of things, in that I can play more aggressively. If I then hit a club in the South I have to lighten my style slightly as they tend to go for more "happy" material. It would be nice to play a similar style all over so I can open a few eyes and ears, but you have to remember that the crowd vote with their feet and an empty dance floor means you aren't hitting the spot. That's how it is but I'm cool with it".

Both DJ Brisk & Ham are writing 24-7 at the moment as their North London based studio lines up an array of tougher than tough hardcore releases. "Hardcore music should be just that, hard!

A ruff and tuff selection of sounds pasted over a hardcore rhythm section at around 175bpm, the perfect tempo!". Most DJ's comment that the music should be slowed down, but Brisk is not of the same opinion. "It's hardcore and should be just that hard. This is what distinguishes our sound and keeps it an extreme form of dance music. Some of the other forms of hardcore can touch 300bpm, now that is pretty quick and would be hard work to dance to but 175 isn't too fast. I don't really understand what all the fuss is about but people are entitled to their own opinions of course". His hope or producing are very high and he plans to take Next Generation and their artists "as far as they can go".

As producers start to experiment, they get noticed by other record companies, for their production talents, for example Sharkey, now signed to React, Slipmatt with XL and so on.

This will inevitably mean that Hardcore music could be chart bound, reaching a far wider audience with the injected promotional cash from the larger record companies.

"There's this big fucking debate regarding the commercialisation of the music at the moment, will it have detrimental affects or not ? Personally I think it can only help the situation. It mean our music will be taken to a much larger audience and prolong its longevity. Yes, we might get categorised as "pop artist" but as long as the music retains its original format and doesn't get watered down then I see no problem with it. Artists such as Goldie, Grooverider, Alex Reece and Adam F have all remained true to their music in as much as they haven't tailored their sound simply to obtain a huge advance from a major label so why shouldn't we receive the recognition that they get? We all work just as hard".

Could it be that we are to see the names Slipmatt, Dougal and even Brisk on the front cover of many an international magazine?

DJ Brisk agrees that he would be thrilled if his music achieved such status but stressed he would never water down his material to do so.

We were after some juicy comments, controversial statements but "there's no-one who I have any beef with to my knowledge", and knowing Brisk like I do, he's not into insulting anyone anyway. He is a very approachable person who always has time for the ravers, enjoys playing out more than anything and who believes firmly in his music. Some would say that his music and beliefs are the perfect partnership, some would say it is destiny. From the streets of Southampton to the CD compilations sitting on the shelves of record shops across the planet, Brisk is a true success story. With the DJ schedule and Next Generation Records under his belt his pace in going to be increasing a great deal, a sprint rather than just a brisk walk!

By Magika.