DJ Brisk - Interview 2

Hello Brisk , Long time no speak , we thought it was time to have a catch up?
Hi guys.. long time no speak indeed!

So whats new with you since we last spoke a couple of years back?
Well, Stimulant is now up to a healthy 31 (soon to be 32) releases and the label has gone from strength to strength with a healthy fanbase around the globe. This has resulted in numerous tours and opportunities all of which we are very thankful for.

You started of Trancey, then Hard Housey and are now on the Hard Dance Buzz, how have you moved with the times?
To be honest, we have simply produced tracks that work for us. We have seen various comments about how we don’t do this style or that style like we used to but as producers we strive to keep re-inventing our sound and try new things. We live in the studio during the week (quite literally!) so if we were to continually produce the same style of music all of the time we soon go insane! Visiting other countries has also helped in shaping our sound as there are many different styles that rock the dancefloor equally well so we draw influence from these too.

We covered a lot of ground since the last interview , but I do remember the Hardcore scene at the time not being too healthy and the Hard House scene was at its Peak. Things have really changed since then wouldn’t you say?
For sure, but music simply moves in a big circle and as the Hardhouse bubble burst for a while and went back underground the Hardcore scene has witnessed a resurgence with new events and labels springing up all over the UK and beyond.

You have always been at the forefront of the Hardcore scene , but over the last 18 months it has really started to grow again.

Indeed it has. There has been more interest from the media with myself covering a small Hardcore section for Mixmag and numerous compilation albums have also helped to re-ignite interest in this style too. Internationally the Hardcore scene still has strong support in Japan, Canada, Australia and of course the US.

How is the scene is the UK at the moment?
The UK scene is really exciting right now with some great events taking place on a regular basis. We have a new wave of ravers sampling the Hardcore sound and with key Hard Dance promoters such as Tidy and Sundissential featuring Hardcore rooms at their events it goes to show that finally, people have recognised the close links between the 2 styles and that they do go hand in hand when staging a successful party.

I hear Hardcore is massive in Australia at the moment , with Yourself , Kevin Energy and Scott Brown ruling the roost, is it really that vibrant over there?
Australia has always had a good fan base when it comes to Hardcore and the key cities are Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Hardcore is not the biggest sound across Aussie but they sure know how to have it!

How are your Hardcore labels going and what plans have you got for the future with regards to your Hardcore productions?
Next Generation is up to 29 releases and Blatant Beats is now up to 38 releases with plenty more to come too! We are in the planning stages of second in-house compilation, ‘The Collection V.2’ and we hope to release this in the early part of 2004.

Hard House went all trancey , then techy incorporating all sorts of cross over stuff, how has it changed over the last several years within the Hardcore scene. Exactly the same?
Hardcore encompasses so many styles these days that it doesn’t lean in any one direction as people have such a great choice. We currently have the more experimental styles covered within Freeform, the harder styles from the New Style Gabber/Hardcore Techno scene, the happier more vocal orientated tracks are still in high demand and of course there’s the breakbeat sound too which sits alongside Old Skool. There’s plenty to choose from believe me!

Who is really doing it for you at the moment production and DJ wise in the Hard core scene?
So many to choose from currently but a good selection that are doing it for me include: Scott Brown, Kevin Energy, Sharkey, The Viper, The Stunned Guys, Neophyte, Breeze & Styles and of course numerous in house productions from our artists too.

And the Hard House scene?
Again, heaps to choose from Yoji Biomehanika, Oliver Klitzing, Lab 4, Max B Grant, Scot Project and Ignition Technician are all artists with exciting tracks out at the moment that push the boundaries without adhering to the ‘rules’.

Politics is unfortunately rife within the UK scene how restrictive have you found music politics when trying to increase your bookings in the UK , especially with the Hard House Circuit?
As much as we steer clear of the politics there will always be a degree of favouritism when it comes to bookings as certain promoters tend to work with act’s from certain agencies or labels. We believe that a good DJ or act should simply be booked on their own merits rather than any ‘behind the scenes’ arrangements that are in place but we don’t let it bother us too much.

A lot of DJ’s bookings have been suffering over the last year , with the A-List cleaning up and everyone else fighting for scraps , how are the Stimulant DJ’s doing?
I cover all the Stimulant DJ’s bookings myself and overall I’ve witnessed an upward trend on my workload of late which is great. Domestically things have picked up and the international demand is as strong as ever. So far this year I have toured various parts of the US, Canada and took in a fantastic 2 week tour of Japan courtesy of Yoji Biomehanika. The back end of the will take me back to the US for a short period before embarking on another 4 week Australian tour to close the year off before heading back to host the Hardcore room at Tidy’s huge NYE show at Magna.

I’d like to concentrate on the UK in 2004 as I feel we have a lot offer to UK clubland with some exciting projects planned, watch this space!

Is it more healthy internationally?
I’m not sure if ‘healthy’ is the correct term but it certainly does differ from place to place. Japan, for example, tends to attract people who go clubbing purely for the music without the need for drugs to fuel them through the night which results in incredible audiences who are so very appreciative. I suppose in that respect Japan is certainly more healthy than most places!

I hear the Australian Hard Dance scene is thriving at the moment , especially the Hardcore scene , you have being playing over there a lot haven’t you?
I tend to make 2 annual trips over to Australia, one in the winter and one in the summer. The scene down under really is magical and one of my favourite places to visit for sure. They have some seriously cool venues and the crowds are always more than up for it.

How do the crowds differ?
Not a great deal in terms of demographics but they always seem up for it in Australia. Whether this is due to the fact that they are aware I’ve travelled a long way to play and make more of an effort I don’t know but Aussie crowds are legendary in my opinion. There seems to be a really positive attitude towards DJs and the music which is really refreshing.

How does the politics differ?
Politics are politics the world over I would say.

What are you thoughts on the Australasian scene and where it is headed over the next several years?
They have some serious home grown talent by way of DJs and producers down under so I can only see things developing for the better for them. Each city tends to have it’s own prevalent sound but you can find a good blend of different styles of dance music across the board so there is something for everyone.

Where else Does DJ Brisk feature internationally?
I regularly visit the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and pockets of Europe and currently have numerous enquiries for a tour of South Africa which sounds interesting.

How much do your sets vary from country to country?
I don’t really vary my set from place to place as what you see and hear is what you get regardless of country. It’s taken a while to develop my style and sound and I’m happy where it is right now so I don’t tend to tailor it by location.

Tell us a bit about your production and DJ partnership with Ham?
Myself and Ham set up our company, Next Generation Records, in 1996 as a result of meeting through a label we were both producing for at the time. Pretty much everything that comes out of our studio is a result of the pair of us as we find our ideas tend to gel really well together. We’ve had some turbulent times over the years with the ups and downs of running the business but we both have a common goal and work together to achieve our targets. We’d like to spend more time on production but with 3 labels to run and all the admin side of things to handle our time is quite limited.

Do you two regularly DJ B2B in the Hardcore scene?
Actually we don’t! Both myself and Ham have our own styles of Hardcore when it comes to DJing and unless specifically requested we tend to play independently of one another. This works best when we host our ‘Next Generation’ nights at various venues as it offers more musical variety for the crowd.

As a DJ in your own right Brisk , you are respected worldwide , how do you go about your sets, or do you just go with the flow?
I basically make sure I have a good spread of different styles in my bag and then play it by ear when I hit the venue. I might play a slightly ‘lighter’ set if I am on last at an all nighter (as you have to take the crowd fatigue into consideration) or maybe crank it right up if I’m on earlier but it all depends on the vibe when I get there.

Do you ever mix on three decks using F/X etc?
I have used 3 decks before but with today’s Hardcore sound this isn’t very practical as the arrangements and musical content don’t really allow much room for running 3 decks. I think the best style for 3 decks would have to be Techno. Percussive drum tracks are ideal for letting loose as you have far longer sections of straight up beats to play with, work the groove and add effects to.

Have you any plans to take Stimulant DJ’s or Brisk on Tour doing a live show?
We’ve actually been offered a live Stimulant gig but we declined! I don’t think either of us are that keen on dusting off the keyboards and standing on a stage which is quite bizarre as we both happily play to huge audiences across the globe on a regular basis! I think I’ll be sticking to the DJ sets personally but you never know..

For the more technically minded EUK reader can you please tell us what KIT you have in your studio?
Actually, we now have a large amount of redundant hardware as we are using an almost total software set up! Our trusty synth selection includes the Access Virus B, Nord Lead 2, Supernova 2 and the Alesis Andromeda A6 and we are running Logic 6 powered by a Mac Dual G4 1.42Ghz with all the plug ins we need (too many to mention). We plan to move up to a G5 Mac as soon the second generation machines become available too. Monitoring comes via our powered Mackie HR824’s with a set of Yamaha NS10’s for reference. It’s fair to say we don’t have the world’s most elaborate set up but we are very happy with the overall performance.

Do you see the Hardcore and Hard House scene becoming closer over the coming years. Brisk at a Frantic perhaps?
He he, let’s work on Stimulant DJ’s at Frantic first! I don’t really see the 2 scene’s as being that separate as they both easily fall under the category of ‘Hard Dance’. I think a Hardcore set would work incredibly well in the main room at one of the big Hard Dance events,  it’s just having the balls to put it in there. I’m sure promoters would be delighted with the results if they gave it a go. I think a good way of working this would be to have a DJ play from Hard Dance through to Hardcore over say, 2 hours so it’s a nice steady build. I’ll have money on it that the crowd would lap it up.

It would be interesting to see how a hardcore set would go down at the end of the evening , would certainly be fresher than the usual line-ups?
Yes, agreed, why not send the night out with an almighty bang?!

Please tell us a bit about your Future plans with Stimulant DJ’s and as Brisk?
On both counts I aim to continue releasing the best music I can and taking all the labels to the next level. 2003 has been a great year for us despite numerous labels folding and/or reporting much lower sales. I think we really need to raise the bar again on our production and make our presence felt in the forthcoming months. As well as the aforementioned second Hardcore album we are planning a ‘Stimulant DJ’s album which will included many of our finest Hard Dance moments so keep an eye out for that too.

What goals have you left to conquer?
I guess worldwide supremacy is something to consider, he he! Actually, there are numerous territories I would like to play. The world is a huge place after all and I’m far from done in terms of spreading our sound so there is still plenty to achieve. Having been in the DJ Top 100 once or twice but never above 82nd place I’d like to certainly get into the higher numbers at some point too!

Where do you see the whole dance scene heading over the next five years, is it in danger with all these labels/clubs and promotions folding all over the shop?
I feel the blatant abuse of people’s copyright via MP3 trading is the biggest thing to fear. So many people can obtain music for free over the web and there are numerous software DJ packages you can pick up enabling you to mix the files as you would vinyl. I have spoken with many people who could quite easily play a full set from a laptop only! This is scary for the small independent labels as any loss of sales in the current climate could be crippling for them.

As for clubbing I think here in the UK we are spoilt for choice and sometimes there are simply too many nights on so inevitably some are quite whilst others are busy. I think promoters could work together more to avoid these situations.. not an entirely likely scenario but perhaps one the could help to make a difference?

I’m sure we’ll all be here in 5 years though.. I bloody hope so anyway!

Any final comments for our readers?
Thanks for all your continued support and for keeping the scene going. I know it’s been said before but none of us would be here without you so thank you all very much.

Thanks for your time Brisk.

Interview with Energyuk.net - Nov 2003