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JANUARY 18, 2010
Halo-iS Interview
By Tatu Vuolteenaho
T: You got the techno & hard house bug when you met the legendary DJ Tony De Vit and started to go to clubs like Trade, FF and Melt. What kind of music did you listen to before that?
H: I've always been passionate about music and have been through various musical phases in my life. I like to use music as a tool, listening to different genres according to whatever activity I'm invloved in; for example it would be Ian Drury, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin or Queen for housework & motorway driving. Cowboy Junkies, The Mamas & The Papas, Streisand, Lou Reed, Tracy Chapman, Anita Baker, Annie Lennox and Alison Moyet for singing along to and to ease the stress of inner London traffic. When I was a teenager Motown, Bowie, Roxy Music and Donna Summer (Georgio Moroder is a hero) would blast out whilst I was getting ready to go out partying and in my early twenties we loved the underground parties where soul, blues, reggae and ska would be the order of the day. I adore music that can move me, make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck or make me cry. There are so many more that I have not included which I loved then as I do today. I also love what is termed as 'classical music', at the moment I have Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor playing on loop in my car, it is an outstanding piece. Good music is timeless. One of my earliest musical memories is when I was about 6 years old sitting on the floor in front of my Grandparents' gramophone player, raiding their collection of old 78s and listening to the likes of "What a wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong and "Stranger on the Shore" by Acker Bilk. I love getting dub plates, the smell of them transports me straight back to that time. I still adore the Blues.
T: What was in that scene and music that got you hooked?
H: Primarily it was the physical and emotional effect that the music had on me; it lifted me higher than I had ever been before, removed me from the mundane and took me to some magical new place in my head. On my first visit to the legendary TRADE in 1992 I was literally transported to a place that was a physical manifestation of the music. Everything came together there; the music, the stunning visuals, the amazing people, the hedonistic atmosphere. I have never experienced anything like it, before or since. I was there every single Sunday morning for the first 2 or 3 years, weekdays were a blur, we lived for the weekend. We were all aware that it was a very special place and time and we appreciated every moment that we spent there. I feel utterly privileged to have been part of such an amazing phenomenon. TRADE and the music I heard there changed my life.
T: You play just vinyl. Compared to buying mp3s on the internet, vinyl shopping is much more difficult. How do you find the great tunes you play?
H: l am hanging on in there as long as possible although it is much more difficult to find good new tunes on vinyl. I had the opportunity to buy the record collections of two of my friends/heros; Mrs Wood and EJ Doubell have both retired from DJing to pursue other avenues and I was lucky enough to be able to raid their record boxes and fill most of the gaps in my own collection. Since the demise of the independent record shop I really do miss the excitement of spending the day lost in my favourite store discovering new gems and rushing home with carrier bags bursting full of treasures. I do buy vinyl on line but it is just not the same, you can only hear a small sample of the music and there is no personal interaction. It used to be a real adrenaline rush to arrive at the shop and be handed a pile of tunes that the guys in the shop had squirrelled away just for you and loving every one of them. I once went record shopping and overspent my budget by about £200, I felt so guilty that when I left the shop I was physically sick and hid the tunes in the boot of my car for several weeks. When I eventually did get them out and play them every one was fantastic; I was vindicated! I still play loads of those tunes today. I am nostalgic for those days.
T: How to describe the music you play?
H: I used to describe my music simply as "hard" but the newer records I am buying are less so and certainly the extremely hard tunes I used to play are too much for the taste of many people these days. I prefer to keep it hard but bouncy and uplifting at the same time. I like to play old and new tunes together and mix genres within a set to keep the crowd guessing. I want to make an impact on the dancefloor when I play and hope that people can recognise when I come onto the decks in a club.
T: Tell us about your weekly radioshow. When is and how to find it on the internet? Do you just play unplanned or do you have themes and guest DJs?
H: I have been playing on interFACE http://www.pirate-radio.org for about 12 years, my show goes out on Monday nights at 22:00 - 01:00 GMT. My Step-daughter Emma has been DJing for a couple of years and now plays the first hour, she usually spins US garage and Drum & Bass and goes by the name of DJ Champsy. The second hour between 23:00 - midnight is occupied by a guest, I have a few regulars and have had many special guests over the years. The guests can play whatever music they choose, the only criteria is that they are passionate about their tunes and that they don't play mainstream sounds, it gives them the freedom that you don't get in most clubs where a narrow music policy is usually applied. I play the final hour and am often led musically by whatever the guests have played, sometimes we play back to back too. The beauty of playing from my studio at home is having all my records to hand. This means that I can even take requests, like a global jukebox. There is a chatroom on the site where the listeners can post comments, chat to the DJs, get help and advice with music or technological problems. They are an extremely open-minded audience, some are very knowledgable about music and technology. The station does not accept advertising revenue, so we have complete musical autonomy, which is fantastic.
T: Some people love hard house and harder dance music in general. Some people, even some that like 'regular' house can't stand it. Is there some sort of different philosophy or attitude in getting it?
H: I am not a Scientist, but I believe that various types of music affect peoples' brains in different ways; for example I get the same physical and emotional reaction when I listen to techno as I do with classical music, I feel the music reaching my brain and stimulating it in a positive way. By the same token I cannot tolerate what I describe as "twiddly diddly jazz"; Courtney Pine's saxophone playing irritates me to such a degree that my mood can change from passive and happy to furious in approximately 60 seconds! I appreciate that hard music affects others in a similar way. I also believe that chemical stimulii and memory plays a huge role. Clearly many people use alcohol and other mid altering substances when they listen to dance music. In the early days it was mainly ecstacy which responds well with hard music, however there are many more different stimulants in clubs these days which may be more compatible with other types of music. I think that people who have happy memories of clubbing in the early 90s will respond positively to the music from that time (whether they are high or sober).
T: You play a lot at fetish clubs. Are you yourself into any fetishes?
H: Haha, I am probably the most 'vanilla' person in the clubs; my personal fetish as you have probably gathered is musical rather than sexual - oh, and I do own rather a lot of shoes! I find sexuality very interesting, I am facinated by some of the more unusual fetishes and how people become involved with particular activities, but not usually interested enough to join in!
T: Hard-on club in London where you are a resident DJ is one of the most extreme fetish clubs. People dance there, but do all sort of other thigns as well... When you play your tunes do you think for example hmmm, this might be a good tune for some dildo play or do you just play for the dancefloor?
H: I think that the music I play is good for dancing and for sex. I do play for the dancefloor, but I am aware that the music I play is also pumped through to the playroom where the members are busy not dancing. Sometimes when a record is playing I am conscious that it has a particularly sexual vibe. For several years we used to have a performance in the room where I played, if the performers did not provide their own soundtrack I would usually be given a brief in advance and tailor that portion of my set to the performance. I do have some records which are very pertinent to such performances.
T: In those clubs you can see people getting very sexual on the dancefloor as well. Does these kind of views affect on your playing? If so, how?
H: No, not really, I have seen so much public sexual activity over the years that I honestly don't notice it most of the time. In the early days I once turned up for work to find a giant video screen directly in front of me with VJs mixing images live during my set. I found that quite distracting more because of their technical expertise than the content, but by the end of the show I felt empathy with an inspector in the piston testing department of a car factory,
T: I read that your mission in life is: 'Play tunes and make people happy'. I have experienced and seen people getting wildly happy on the dancefloor when you play? How do you do it? Is there some secret skills and methods other than playing a good tune after another?
H: There are no secrets, I play what I love to dance to myself. For me it has never been about being a DJ, it has only ever been about playing my tunes. I am glad that it does make people happy.
T: Could you explain, how does it work if you play dark, mean and scary hard techno... and people are getting happy?
H: I think it is about balance, using a mixture of dark, mean and scary techno in a minor key alonglide tunes with plenty of strings and happy sounds, a whole set of the dark stuff would not work for me.
T: Congratulations, you have won the Fetish Dance Club DJ of the Year award. How did that came about?
H: Hard On is regularly rated as the best fetish club in London and I am privileged to be part of the Hard On team, I guess that my nomination for the award was due to my involvement with the club. There are very few DJs still playing hard music in London, I have a very enthusiastic and supportive group of club members who really like the music I play and give me very positive feedback after every event, I have to thank them for voting for me.
T: You are also a resident DJ at Kaos. Please tell us more about that club.
H: KAOS is a magical place where the most amazing people on the underground London scene gather together for 12 hours of solid partying about 10 times each year. The music is fantastic, begining with good deep hard electro, through hard house, hard trance into industrial and gabber, the theme is definitely hard! The crowd is unique, being a mixture of trans people, punk boys, clubkids, fashionistas, truck drivers in Oxfam dresses, minicab drivers looking for a late drink and accidental tourists who stumble in by accident. Most people really make the effort to dress up and I have seen some of the most spectacular outfits in my life on the KAOS dancefloor. I am privileged to be a part of KAOS.
T: You play also in some big hard house clubs, not just in the fetish scene. Do you play different music there? How do you dress up when playing in those clubs?
H: I usually tailor my music to the crowd I will be playing to according to the promoters' brief, most of whom are pretty specific in what they want their club sound to be. I believe that it is very important to make the effort and I always dress up wherever I play. My costumes vary depending on the club I am playing in and also how I feel on the day. I keep the fetish gear in the cupboard when I am in the more mainstream clubs but I do love to wear corsets whatever the venue, they make me feel very feminine and ready to cope with any eventuality.
T: On your Myspace it says that your occupation is DJ, editor, filmographer. Tell us also a bit about your work as editor and filmographer.
H: I made the conscious decision not to rely on DJing for my livelihood, there are so many unscrupulous promoters out there, I wanted to retain autonomy and be able to decline jobs I felt uncomfortable with. The only DJ gigs I play are for promoters I respect, that way it never seems like work. I would hate to experience that feeling of dread you can get when going to work somewhere you are unhappy. When heading out for a gig I am always really excited. Having said that, I also love the video work I do during the day, it is so varied, I make corporate videos for lawyers, big commercial and social institutions, charities, training and marketing seminars and numerous other commercial clients. I have made a couple of clubbing videos too, my colleague filmed the Hook'd Tony DeVit memorial night and I edited it. You can see the result here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pRS50XX8Uo I love the editing process, it suits my pedantic nature. The corporate work is lucrative but would like to do some more creative videos in the future.
T: I read that you were or have been... or still are? ... 25 years as teetotaller. So you don't or didn't drink alcohol at all? What made you give up the booze altogether?
H: When I was 17 years old, I bought a car, learned to drive, became the group chauffeuse and gave up drinking. I still prefer to drive myself everywhere and so obviously cannot drink. I have a very low tolerance to alcohol too, so I only occasionally have a glass of Champagne or red wine if I am staying at friends' over night. I did have a little too much Bailey's over the Xmas holiday, so won't be drinking that again for a very long time...
T: Do you make music too?
H: I have collaborated on a couple of tunes, but have yet to try producing anything on my own. It is something I would like to get into, I expect that when I can no longer buy vinyl and move to digital mixing I will make the effort and set aside the time to produce music of my own. Making the time in my busy life is a huge problem.
T: Many people who are into harder dance music are often also very spiritual. What are your views on this connection.
H: Music is definitely a spritual medium, you can witness the effect of different types of music in danceclubs and religious institutions alike. I think that a lot of spiritually minded people are drawn to the camaraderie offered amongst the hard dance enthusiasts, particularly on the Goa/psychadelic trance scene.
T: Lots of the music you play have these parts that build build and build and whoaaaaa! Release. And then somer more! This to me is very easy to connect with visualisation, and energy. When you play do you feel like you are also channelling some energy?
H: I don't consciously set out to do so, but I am aware of the extreme power of the music. If the crowd are really in tune with it there is no better feeling in the world, it takes you higher than you believe possible.
T: Have you been to Finland before? What kind of thoughts do you have about your up and coming gig at Trip @ Playground in Helsinki?
H: I played in Norway some years ago but I have never been to Finland before. I am so very excited about playing at Trip @ Playground, by all accounts it is a fanstastic club with a really enthusiastic crowd. Some of the clubbers from Trip who come to London too have already emailed me and told me they are looking forward to hearing me play in their home town. That is a fantastic buzz for me. and I am really looking forward to visiting Helsinki.
T: Any future plans you would like to tell us?
H: There are a group of listeners to my radio show who are based in San Francisco, they have invited me to go and produce my show from there, so that is under discussion. Also I would love to play at Mardi Gras in Australia and in Brazil at some point.
T: Do you have any artists and labels that you play a lot? If so, which ones?
H: Tony DeVit was my inspiration and hero, I still play his tunes regularly. I play loads of white labels and one off labels but with respect to the more prolific labels, I love Pounding Grooves, d.a.v.e the drummer's label Hydraulix and Stay Up Forever for techno and acid techno, Tidy Trax, Tin Rib, Tripoli for hard house and Nukleuz & Recover for hard trance.
Halo-iS All time top 10 @ 14.01.10
1. Click - Genatenik
2. Nexus 6 - Tres Chic
3. The Head Hunterz - Son of the Devil
4. Tony De Vit - I Don't Care
5. Mark Sinclair - Every Morning
6. Mauro Picotto - Buaguette
7. Yoji Biomehanika - Anastasia 2001
8. Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings ( Steve Hill & Technikal mix)
9. Breather - Come On (Prime Mover remix)
10. Jones and Stephenson - The 1st Rebirth
Halo-iS Current top 10 @ 14.01.10
1. Underworld - Shranz Slippy (white label unknown remix)
2. Gaiden - Point Blank (Speedy J remix)
3. Organ Donors - 99.9
4. Polygon Window - Quoth
5. [DK8] - Murder was the Bass
6. Paul Glazby and Abandon - ortured (Defective Audio remix)
7. DJK - Metroplex
8. BK & Mark Sherry - Amino
9. Jon BW - Alpha (Andy Farley mix)
10. Ian M - Crazy Pills
Links
http://www.halo-is.com
http://www.myspace.com/halo-is
http://www.facebook.com/dj.halo
http://www.hardonclub.co.uk
http://www.kaoslondon.com
TRIP
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