Britain’s next generation of dance stars

Britain’s next generation of dance stars

6 November, 2009 | 10.49AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: new talent

Britain, Britain, Britain. Where art thou my island that gave us so much?

It was not bangers and mash, or the bowler hat, that justified the Great before Britain to me, nor was it football, rugby, or the elegant cricket bat.

It was acid house and pirate radio, countryside raves and superclubs, stadium-filling DJs and Gatecrasher, drum & bass, breakbeat, garage, and prog.

It was BBC Radio 1 and the Essential Mix, Pete Tong and the ecstasy fix, living for the weekend and Orbital, white glove culture and nice one bruvva.

It was the hard dance of the North, the two-step rude boys of the South, dreadlocked weeders in the West, and naughty afterhours clubs on a Sunday in London’s East.

Now Britain’s status as the world capital of dance music lies in tatters. From the disastrous collapse of London’s world-class club scene last year, to the graceful decline of the country’s once influential dance magazines and labels, it seems something is rotten in Britain.

Yet, scratch beneath the gloomy fog and you will find, as Winston Churchill often spoke of, a resilient people. Never write off the Brits.

So grab a cuppa and a slice of lemon drizzle, as we present to you some of Britain’s next generation of dance stars (with a stiff upper lip, of course).

Hannah Holland

Ms. Holland is a proper product of London’s hodge podge club scene. She grew up in Sarf London on jungle, became a resident for East London’s much loved Trailer Trash night, and has played in Fabric, Ibiza, and at Manchester’s Warehouse Project.

She launched her own party in a pub in Bethnal Green called Bastard Batty Bass (alongside MCs Mama and Chickaboo), which has since become something of a monster with a popular podcast, record label, and clothing line.

However, what makes Hannah Holland special is the fact that she has developed her own very unique sound, which is as idiosyncratic as her curly blonde locks.

“I’m a bass driven lady,” she admits on her Myspace, and that shows from her remixes and solo productions, which sit entirely in their own category of club music.

A bastardised mix of garage, electro, dubstep, and tech house, HH’s music sounds like an eccentric British version of ghetto techno, which is quite odd, considering she’s a very sweet white girl.

Having recently moved to Berlin, it shouldn’t be long before Hannah Holland becomes an international mover and shaker.

Funkagenda

Obsessed with tea and Twitter, Maidstone’s Funkagenda is one of Britain’s most promising new producers, having delivered a large number of club smashes over the last two years.

Productions and cover versions are his forte, and alongside Mark Knight, he is responsible for a number of recent worldwide club hits including ‘Man With The Red Face’, ‘Flauta Magica’ and ‘Good Times’.

In particular, his solo reworkings of Paganini Traxx ‘Zoe’, and Fatboy Slim ‘What The F**k’ were huge for the Toolroom bulldog this year.

Where are you at musically, at the moment?

I think I am in the best place I have ever been. I am listening to such a wide range of music in my personal life and obviously this spills over into my production.

The track I completed recently (’Helix’) is probably one of the best tracks I have ever written. It’s a really nice fusion of styles and I am very proud of it.

The great thing is that since I have been playing it out people have been going off to it almost like it was a classic. That makes me smile.

As a producer, what do you hope to achieve?

The perfect record. Something that I will look back on one day and think, ‘wow, I did that’. I will probably never attain that, but one can dream I guess.

How do you feel about British dance music currently?

Well musically we have got some great talent. I just wish that we could inject a little bit of magic back into the clubbing scene. It used to be that clubbing was the thing that we all looked forward to at the weekend, but now people are looking for something more. Maybe we have lost the appreciation for a good breakdown?

How did you fall in love with dance music?

Well I used to be a keyboard player in a rock/jazz band but then I heard drum & bass for the first time.

The chords in it fascinated me. I actually thought that the guys were amazing musicians, until I found out that you could just sample a chord onto one note and move it around!

Then I started to learn more about the technology behind it all and heard ‘Voodoo Ray’.

That was the first 4/4 dance record I ever fell in love with. The sounds were amazing in it and the vocal was mesmerizing.

I started to seek out more and more house and techno stuff. I could list so many tracks, artists, and influences but we have finite space!

I would say my top three most influential albums are:

1. BT ‘Movement In Still Life’- My favorite dance record of all time. The production on this album is still light years ahead of what most people are doing now.

2. Daft Punk ‘Homework’ - Sounds as fresh today as it did in 1996. Honestly if there is a better house album I would like to hear it.

3. Sasha & Digweed ‘Northern Exposure’ - One of the most brilliant mix compilations I have ever heard. Some of the tracks are so trippy. The whole thing is a journey.

What other British producers should we keep an eye on, and why?

I love what Adam Shaw is doing right now. He makes really great house music. Always dead playable.

My good friend Kim Fai is really smashing it at the moment too. I have known him for years now.

We used to make funky house together when I lived in Birmingham and we both used to play at a local gay club!

Also ThreeSixty are brilliant. I have signed a four track EP by them to the new label that I am launching later this year.

Which British DJs or producers in your opinion, were integral to the development of dance music?

Joey Negro, as a producer for sure. He is amazing and always has been. And he has had so many guises.

Everybody likes a Joey Negro record even if they don’t know he did it. Full Intention are also mind blowing.

I got their three CD compilation album ‘Connected’ a few years ago and it just blew me away. Every track was amazing!

Dave Spoon

Portsmouth lad Dave Spoon (32) leapt into the consciousness of the world’s club kids in 2006 with his huge crossover hit ‘At Night’, which was even played by trance DJs like Paul Van Dyk.

Another Toolroom success story, Spoon soon found himself remixing classics like Gat Decor ‘Passion’, as well as Madonna (alongside Pete Tong, whom he started a studio project with).

In 2008, Spoon launched his own label Televizion with Tong & Spoon’s ‘Gas Face’ as the label’s first release, which was soon followed up by the huge ‘Lummox’, which has just seen a new set of remixes.

Where are you at musically, at the moment?

Musically it’s an interesting time for me. I’m still doing the usual house stuff with new material coming on my label Televizion and also Toolroom, but I’ve found myself getting more eclectic, and rediscovering my roots a bit too.

I like to think I’ve been fairly versatile over the last few years but I’m now collaborating with an A-list house music name on a new album project that incorporates a ‘no rules’ approach - it’s really exciting stuff for us both.

I think you have to try and raise the bar slightly and not be scared to try new things. I’ve always been ambitious with some of my ideas in the studio even if they haven’t hit home perfectly!

Musical freedom is what it’s all about right now and I feel refreshed, as does my collaborator in truth. I’m not saying who it is just yet but you’ll know more when the time is right.

As a producer, what do you hope to achieve?

I’m lucky to have had a taste of the whole crossover thing with ‘Baditude’ and ‘At Night’, but as satisfying as those moments are it’s all quite basic - just make strong music you believe in.

Trends change and you can move in and out of them but it’s easy to get caught up and over-analyse what people think, believe me!

It’s a game of staying true to what you do and finding a balance, for me that includes my limited DJ schedule too. In future there are certain boxes I’d love to tick in the studio but I’m happy where I’m at right now.

How do you feel about British dance music currently?

It has been changing for some time but it’s nothing but exciting. Everything is crossing over so much and a whole new generation are now hooked.

House music has to regenerate every few years and it’s definitely doing that right now. Some exciting new producers are emerging (not just in house) and so many great bands are adopting the sound too, so it’s all positive stuff.

Things have to move on. Recent changes at BBC Radio 1 here in the UK reflect that too.

How did you fall in love with dance music?

I originally fell in love with electronic music from an early age, then dance music via rave tapes and the radio when it originally exploded.

I guess I’ve fallen in love with it all many times actually. I know a Carl Cox mix that was aired on Radio 1 in 1990 (pre Pete Tong) that really caught my attention. I heavily got into the UK rave sound and from there that led into drum & bass until 1995, when a Sasha Essential Mix fully converted me to house!

What other British producers should we keep an eye on, and why?

Boy 8-Bit for sure - a perfect example of someone who has emerged here recently with a new sound.

Also Adam Shaw and Reset Robot (Dave Robertson). Others away from 4/4 like Skream or Chase & Status are blowing things apart here too and have been for a while.

Also if you love Drum & Bass, Logistics’ new album sounds hot!

Which British DJs or producers in your opinion, were integral to the development of dance music?

There are too many to mention for different reasons so I apologise in advance for missing some names.

Without the obvious Pete Tong, Sasha, and Liam Howlett types over the years, I’ve always admired people like David Holmes, Tom Middleton, Stuart Price, Charlie May, James Holden, Erol Alkan, Basement Jaxx, Dave Taylor, and right now we have a whole new breed doing amazing things with the likes of Annie Mac steering the ship.

Matt Tolfrey

Raised in Bahrain, but forged in the sweaty club scene of Nottingham, one fateful night Matt Tolfrey played before and after Craig Richards at Nottingham’s legendary night spot The Bomb.

Fabric resident Richards was so impressed with the youngster, that he invited him to play at the world famous venue, which Tolfrey gleefully accepted - he became the youngest DJ to ever play Fabric on a Saturday night.

After sacking off his degree to launch his future leaning label Leftroom Records, Tolfrey has since become one of the UK’s brightest new talents, spinning sets that draw on everything from deep house to wonky techno.

In 2007, he had an underground hit with ‘Shakil’ (on Leftroom Limited), and recently he has developed a strong studio partnership with artist Inxec, with a number of house releases on mumur, Cocoon, and Phonica.

(Read our part 1 and part 2 interview with Matt Tolfrey from last year.)

Matt Zo

With an accomplished violinist for a mother, and a famous oil painter for a father, Matan Zohar or Mat Zo, was always destined to create emotional pieces.

He played drums in a jazz band aged 11, and was a bassist in a rock band for a while, but after discovering Daft Punk and the Chemical Brothers, he switched to electronic dance music.

At the tender age of 17 he remixed trance greats Andy Moor, Markus Schulz, and DJ Tiësto, and he has since released a number of standout trance EPs on Armada and Anjunabeats, including the haunting ‘Subaquatic Dream’. The London-based producer is still only 19.

Where are you at musically, at the moment?

I’m all over the place, from trance to drum & bass. In my music I like to take influences from anything I like. 

This includes anything from hip hop to contemporary classical. I don’t believe in genre boundaries.

As a producer, what do you hope to achieve?

I want to make music that I can enjoy, and hopefully other people will like as well. 

I want to eventually start doing film scoring but not exclusively, I love producing dance music and I don’t think I’ll ever really stop. 

In dance music, I want to try and produce a variety of styles and play club sets with all kinds of music blended together. Surely music should bring people together not separate them.

How do you feel about British dance music currently?

Dance music in the UK is the most varied and eclectic in Europe I think. You have so many new styles being invented all the time, and I think it’s because of our vast cultural diversity. 

Maybe it’s even fair to say Britain is still at the center of the world for electronic dance music.

How did you fall in love with dance music?

I think I was about 8 and I heard Daft Punk’s ‘One More Time’ on a Canadian music channel that we used to get. 

I’ve had a love for electronic music ever since. I only really had my first club experience when I was 16, and that was when I played at my friend’s birthday party.

So my whole dance music experience has been a creative one. Nowadays when I go clubbing I tend to just sit down somewhere and listen and watch the crowd.

What other British producers should we keep an eye on, and why?

For trance, I’d say Mike Foyle has been one of my favourite producers in the past two years. 

His sound is both beautiful and haunting, kind of reminds me of the old Holden style, but updated. Really solid producer.

Which British DJs or producers in your opinion, were integral to the development of dance music?

I think groups like the Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada and Faithless were certainly integral to the development of me as a producer, as well as setting the standard for dance music all over the world. Imagine what it would be like without them!

James Talk

Out of the South Coast axis, emerges James Talk, the producer powerhouse, who’s capable of providing both mainroom-pleasing remixes, and underground acid dips.

His career began to snowball after John Digweed invited Talk to provide a guest mix for his Kiss 100 FM radio show, which soon led to James being supported by fellow Brits Sasha, Danny Howells, and Pete Tong. In 2006, Nic Fanciulli, Sander Kleinenberg, and Fergie named Talk as their ‘breakthrough DJ’ of the year in DJ Magazine’s Top 100 issue.

On the production tip, James Talk has released a number of club hits this year including a cover of Pet Shop Boys ‘West End Girls’ (alongside Ridney), which was approved by the band, and a remix of Humanoid’s old skool anthem ‘Stakker Humanoid’. His dirty acid groove ‘The Beat’ on Plastic City was particularly filthy.

Where are you at musically, at the moment?

Dance music has become very exciting again. Old school drums are coming back, but tweaked with modern production. So you get awesome funky grooves with a raw, live sound and the punchiness and loudness of current production techniques.

I always just want to play house, and through the years, whatever form that takes, either deep, tech or acid.

How do you feel about British dance music currently?

I love it, more and more new producers are emerging, an economic downfall does tend to bring about some of the best art, as people get creative when they don’t have any money to go out and party.

How did you fall in love with dance music?

The first dance record I heard was in 1992, I was 10. I didn’t understand anything about the scene, or even knew DJs existed but I loved the energy of the tracks.

My best friend had a dance CD compilation, and one of the tracks was The Shamen ‘Ebeneezer Goode’.

Shortly after I got a tape copy of The Prodigy Experience. It probably changed my life. Hearing records like ‘Fire’, ‘Charlie’ and ‘Everybody in the Place’, had a profound influence on my 11 year old ears.

What other British producers should we keep an eye on, and why?

Reset Robot is by far the best producer on the South Coast. People have heard his records and not even realised that he was behind them.

He engineers for some of the hottest names in techno. But on his own he creates records that sound like no other, he has so much groove and funk.

Which British DJs or producers in your opinion, were integral to the development of dance music?

I think many people have had a hand in dance music becoming what it is today, and it feels like it’s ever evolving. So there are modern dance music heroes like James Zabiela who have paved the way for the future of the scene, as well as the Godfathers who were there from the birth, like Pete Tong and Carl Cox.

Ridney

Another South Coast boy, Ridney first got spotted by James Zabiela via a mixtape in 1997 - JZ asked him to play at his local club night in Southampton.

By 2000, he began producing, and in 2006 he did a guest mix for the Trophy Twins on BBC Radio 1. In July 2008, Ridney scored an Essential New Tune on Pete Tong’s BBC Radio 1 show alongside James Talk for their track ‘Sunshyne’, named ‘Track of the Year’ by Carl Cox in DJ Magazine.

Then in July this year, Talk and Ridney scored their second Essential New Tune together for their cover of ‘West End Girls’.

Where are you at musically, at the moment?

Almost in a circle! When I started DJing 13 years ago I found myself addicted to everything with a French sound – tracks from labels like Roule, Crydamoure, and 2000ST.

Right now (after all the electro of the last few years), I find myself back in love with a tough French feel – the bonus is that everything has progressed with productions being executed to a devastatingly high degree.

My Macbook can be loaded with Ableton and Logic and I can re-edit and produce brand new tracks and road test them right away.

As a producer, what do you hope to achieve?

I honestly keep it as simple as someone liking your record! You have to make tracks that you love - and if other people love them too, then great! If a producer you respect drops you an email to let you know they like it too – it can be the real drive you need to keep making the music you love. 

I think as a producer, the ultimate high is to play your own track out at a gig, and for it to get a massive response – especially if that crowd hasn’t heard it before.

How do you feel about British dance music currently?

It’s pretty good right now. The UK is always full of so much diversity. New sub-genres are always appearing with producers trying to do something different – that in turn makes you re-think the way you write/produce music.

How did you fall in love with dance music?

I can’t really remember when it started. It has always been there. My auntie is one of my biggest inspirations with an incredible collection of vinyl albums and singles.

As a kid she would play loads of different tracks to me. This in-turn influenced the first real single I can remember hassling my parents to buy me in WH Smith, Southampton.

It was a 7” of Ultravox ‘All Stood Still’.

What other British producers should we keep an eye on, and why?

Anyone from the South Coast – it’s incredible the amount of respected DJs and producers we have down here, all of whom are making fantastic music and all with a unique sound.

This has all grown out of a real good network of people who support what each other is doing. My favourites include Dave Robertson, James Zabiela, Tom Budden, Alan Fitzpatrick, Dave Spoon, and Matt Samuels.

Which British DJs or producers (in your opinion), were integral to the development of dance music?

Pete Tong, for his consistent service to UK dance. He introduced me to tons of music via his radio show. He has always been in the right place with the right tune.

James Zabiela for proving that you can “make it” as just a DJ – rather than by getting gigs off the back of productions (arguably, he took the much harder route).

He has also inspired many other Southampton-based DJs and producers (probably why there are so many now!). He has also been a strong element in the way DJing technology has moved forward over the last few years.

The Revenge

Glasgow man Graeme Clark aka The Revenge has risen through the ranks of Scotland’s disco and deep house scene this year, with ‘The Soul Part II’ EP on Delusions of Grandeur in particular gaining widespread critical acclaim, as did his collaborative effort ‘Hit ‘Em’.

London’s Phonica grabbed The Revenge to remix JC Freaks’ house bomb ‘Dub Praise’ in July, and in August he teamed up with Sub Club’s Harri to remix And If’s ‘Beyond Senses’ which he cut into a clever dark disco burner.

Perhaps a sign of things to come, The Revenge was chosen to play at Fabric’s 10th birthday bash a couple of weeks ago, following Ricardo Villalobos and Craig Richards, a club honour if ever there was one.

Jim Rivers

Supported by fellow Brits Dave Seaman and Paolo Mojo, Maidstone-based Jim Rivers is fast becoming Britain’s new progressive house one-to-watch.

Global Underground’s Andy Horsfield resurrected the Nubreed compilation series on his high profile record label this year with Rivers at the controls, describing the occasion as “...a long search, but finally I’ve found a DJ worthy of the Nubreed series...Jim’s DJing, original productions, and remixing make him stand head and shoulders above the current crop of DJs. He’s a true star.”

His productions are dark electronic house excursions, that twist through intricate melodies and deep hypnotic chords. ‘Empathy’ on John Digweed’s Bedrock was a minor underground hit last year, and this year Rivers expanded into deep tech house territory with a standout EP ‘Forget About It’, on respected Bristol-based label Four:Twenty.

Where are you at musically, at the moment?

Music seems to move so fast now, it’s hard to keep up. I’m writing and playing pretty much everything across the house genre - whether it’s deep house for Four:Twenty or techno for Tronic, so I’m always keen to do a range of stuff.  

I do love the new approach to house at the minute though, some great music and grooves coming back into a lot of people’s styles, which I think is brilliant! The re-injection of tribally stuff too has been good.

As a producer, what do you hope to achieve?

Well I’d like to technically produce to the highest possible level.

This is always a learning curve, but I definitely strive to match up to some of the producers who I think are on another level.

There are certain labels that I would love to work with so those goals evolve as your style and taste evolves.  

I’m also at the moment starting to write more non dancefloor stuff, as I look to broaden my production style.  

I think most producers agree that it becomes an obsession and just part of who you are, so I will always be writing stuff.  

I’m open to different projects really, with quality always being the key.

How do you feel about British dance music currently?

There is a lot of talent coming through. Even though a lot of people look to Germany and Europe now, there is a lot of respect for the key artists here I think.  

I guess a lot of people look at the British music industry as one of the leading lights, and dance music has always been a big part of that, often bringing the freshest music and creating unlikely heroes in the process!

I think one thing that has changed is the clubs. A lot of good places have gone which is a shame, but I guess that opens the door for new people to stamp their mark.  

It will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of years.

How did you fall in love with dance music?

I used to be a regular at Club Class in Maidstone. I got to see some of the world’s biggest DJs there, from the leaders of the trance boom in the 90s, like Oakenfold and Ferry Corsten, through to people like Mr. C and Carl Cox.  

A seminal moment for me was seeing Coxy play for the first time on three decks. That was my where my relationship with the more underground sounds really began.

What other British producers should we keep an eye on, and why?

A couple of guys that I have been supporting are Tom Budden and Clinton Brown.  

Both have different sounds - Tom has his own Alive Records, which puts out some great deep tech house fusions, and Clinton makes really groovy techy house with a rejuvenated tribal edge.  

The simple reason of why to keep an eye on them is they are both genuinely talented and work hard. Also No Brainer and Reuben Keeney have impressed me a lot recently.

How old are you? 
I’m 29, but most people are shocked when I say that. I look a bit younger to be honest and when I was on tour in Oz recently, a magazine published a massive poster of me with the tag line ‘the baby faced assassin’. Thanks for that!

D Bridge

He’s been around for many years, but Darren White aka D Bridge’s new experiments in drum & bass are likely to push him much further into the spotlight than he has been before.

Even as one quarter of the drum & bass supergroup Bad Company, Darren White generally kept his head down, but with a new found enthusiasm for singing, and his collaborative efforts and Autonomic podcasts with production duo Instra:mental gaining plaudits from dubstep and techno futurists alike, he’s quickly being re-cast as a brave sonic explorer.

This year’s ‘Wonder Where’ in particular, was a magical cut of dark experimental vocal jungle.

(Read our recent interview with D Bridge here.)

Burns

The internet made 23-year-old Burns a star, when his fever-inducing electro house productions created the perfect blog storm.

He was a regular fixture in Hype Machine’s Top 3, before Kasabian, Empire of the Sun, Late of the Pier, Filthy Dukes, Gossip, and Calvin Harris asked him for remixes.

It wasn’t long before Britain’s radio protagonists jumped on the Burns wagon, with Zane Lowe, Annie Mac, and Eddie Temple Morris all trumpeting him as the next big thing.

But perhaps most significantly of all, is the fact that Canadian superstar Deadmau5 asked Burns to accompany him on his 30-date North American tour, which will surely make him a worldwide star by the time it finishes in November.

Be sure to check his recent ‘Teknique’ EP for some quality electro disco grooves.

Kim Fai

Kim Fai swaggered out of Birmingham’s club scene in 2007, immediately catching the attention of Mark Knight, who asked Fai to remix Funkagenda’s ‘San Francisco’.

That was soon followed by his debut longplayer ‘Kissing In Krakow’ on Toolroom’s sister label, Leaders Of The New School.

This year the 25-year-old remixed Steve Angello’s club hit ‘Isabel’ on the Swedish House man’s Size imprint, as well as drop a solo 12-inch called ‘P.O.V.’.

Most notably in 2009, he also reworked Inner City’s anthem ‘Good Life’.

Where are you at musically, at the moment?

I’m in a very house orientated place. I’ve just finished a new EP for Toolroom.

And I’m also just about to start on the follow up for ‘Good Life’. I’ve been doing a lot of remixing this year so it has been nice to finally be able to get some original stuff done.

I’ve also just finished a collaboration with Funkagenda which has been a long time coming so I’m looking forward to that.

As a producer, what do you hope to achieve?

I never think too far into the future, I just take each project as it comes.

I set myself personal goals which I think are important in whatever career you’re in. One was to get a No.1 on Beatport - I’m sure that’s a goal for many people) and I almost did that with ‘Good Life’.

How do you feel about British dance music currently?

I think it’s in a pretty good state. There’s so much music being produced by people of all ages now.

I get sent tracks by guys who are still at school and I’m like WTF!

Most of them are really good too. It’s good to see so many people wanting to write their own music and be creative.

How did you fall in love with dance music?

I think the pinnacle moment was purchasing one of Pete Tong’s Essential Selection CDs (the one with yellow strawberries on it).

I’ve liked dance music since I can remember but listening to that CD really opened my ears to a side I’d never heard before.

That CD also got me into DJing, because I remember I had Mousse T ‘Horny’ on single but it was also on the CD at a lot faster speed. I was like eh?

Someone explained things to me and within a few weeks I had my first set of dodgy decks!

What other British producers should we keep an eye on, and why?

Adam Shaw is a real favorite of mine at the moment. He’s got the tech house sound down to a tee. Definitely one to watch out for!

Which British DJs or producers in your opinion, were integral to the
development of dance music?

Again, for me it would have to be Pete Tong. When I started to get into real dance music I was like 11 or 12. I wasn’t old enough to go to clubs or anything so his Friday night shows on Radio 1 were my saviour.

I would search the net for the tracklistings and head straight to my local record store to try and buy some of the tracks with my pocket money.

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