Vaccine goes one up: interview with Frase, Alex Buck and Gary Optim
Event: VACCINE 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!
08.03.2007
Vaccine goes one up: interview with Frase, Alex Buck and Gary Optim
Reported by Vaccine / Submitted 09-02-07 00:02.25
After a storming year of awesome monthly nights at The Gallery, Vaccine celebrates its 1st Birthday in style this Friday by taking over the whole of Turnmills for another spectacular one of a kind event. The formula of cutting edge dance music from the world’s best DJs and producers showcased to die hard trance fans, whilst supporting local and home-grown talent, has seen Vaccine ram out T3 month on month at The Gallery. It has also won a legion of fans from loyal clubbers, trance enthusiasts and leading DJs, such as Eddie Halliwell and Judge Jules.
Since Vaccine launched in T3 at The Gallery, it has showcased the likes of Ronald van Gelderen, Kyau vs Albert, Martin Roth, Kuffdam and Plant, Signum, Fred Baker, Alex MORPH, Sean Tyas, Niklas Harding, Cosmic Gate, Simon Patterson, Lange, Yves Deruyter, Dumonde, Jon O Bir, Phynn, Cor Fijnemon and many more, often being the first night in the UK to book many of them. Vaccine has also always supported local home-grown talent, eager to give opportunities to those who deserve it, such as Frase, Jurrane, Ben Gold, Karl G, Mike Harris, Paul Mayes, Alex Buck, Gary Optim, Mat Lock, Joey V, Alan Banks, Simon Bostock, Adam Coppack, Owen Clark, Dan Stone, Greg Blaquiere, Dav Gomrass and many more. The first birthday celebration on Friday 9th February will be no different in terms of pushing the boundaries.
Vaccine has come a long way and won many fans in its efforts. Evidence of this can be seen in the range and quality of those who have worked with the night, including collaborations with Serious, Black Hole Recordings and Recoverworld (Discover). Vaccine even attracted one of the stars of 2006, Sander van Doorn, who gave up his Saturday afternoon to fly in as Vaccine’s special guest at the HarderFaster 2006 Xmas Party.
Vaccine is proud to be different, proud to be one year old and proud to present an interview with the new breed jocks represented at the birthday this Friday 9th February.
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First up, we welcome rising trance star and producer extraordinaire Frase to the table to see what he has been up to and his future plans. Having just won HarderFaster Best New Producer of 2006 and winning plaudits from the likes of Armin, Van Dyk and John Askew, Frase is a serious talent to watch out for. We can’t wait to showcase him in our Live room between 4.30 am and 6.00 am…
Frase
Frase you are returning to Vaccine on Friday Feb 9th for our 1st Birthday Party at Turnmills. For those who don’t know what to expect from you, please give us a little teaser.
Well, first of all I can’t wait to make my return to Vaccine, as my debut back in October was a memorable night. The line up for the birthday is fantastic, a really forward thinking and diverse trance line up. It’s good to see a club night sticking their neck out on the line and booking DJs no other promotions would dare think of.
For the birthday night I’m going to bring some good music along the way, some banging uplifting trance — Frase style!!
You have had a massive 2006 and 2007 looks set to be huge with productions and gigs galore. Please fill us in a little on what you have coming up.
2006 was a really good year for me, I started to make the foundations for where I want to be and received some wicked support from the likes of Paul Van Dyk & Armin Van Buuren. This year I’m hoping is going to be even better than 2006…
Release wise in 2007 I’ve got my next single ‘Module One’ forthcoming on Eve Records. On other fronts, my remix of Above & Beyond’s ‘Tri-State’ is seeing a release on Anjunabeats. I’ve just recently done a remix for the act of 2007 in my opinion, Aly & Fila, and I also have a remix in the pipeline for Discover. Also for the Frontline fans, Ben Gold and I will be working on the new Frontline single in the next few weeks so keep your eyes and ears peeled!
For you, who else is part of the emerging UK trance scene which we at Vaccine feel you are one of the leaders of?
It’s an honour and a privilege to be classed as a leader of an emerging trance scene. The UK has some really good and exciting talent coming through. It’s refreshing to see that after all these years of the European artists taking control of the scene, now the UK has some quality producers and DJs that are coming through the ranks.
The guys to keep an ear out in 2007 are Ben Gold, The Viceroy, Darren Williams and Koto. They are producing some awesome music at the moment and I think this year will be a hugely successful one for all of those artists.
Some question about MySpace — use your jedi promotion powers to conjure up a question about it while I think about one…
Yeah I’ve now adopted a serious addiction to Myspace! I originally set it up as a focal point so people could pick up information about my latest gigs and productions, but now it’s turned into a healthy habit and a good online community! So if anyone reading has MySpace get in touch & add me as a friend! The address is www.myspace.com/frasedotorgdotuk
Rumour has it you’re starting a new podcast, could you tell us more about that?
My podcast show is starting to shape up very nicely. It’ll be called ‘The Transmission Podcast’ and it will feature the latest and best in trance and will also feature exclusive guest mixes from some of the biggest and upcoming names in the world of trance from the UK and beyond. I’m hoping it’ll bring something different to the podcast world!
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Secondly, we welcome London rising star Alex Buck who makes a welcome return to the Vaccine fold. Having been spotted by Vaccine management early on, Alex has gone on to play at the very best parties across the capital, earning a reputation for quality music and a technical ability that is second to none. Warming up the Live room in T3 may we introduce, Mr Alex Buck…
Alex Buck
Mr Buck, you are warming up the Vaccine Live room at Vaccine’s 1st Birthday, for those who may never have caught one of your sets, could you fill us in on what to expect and a little about you?
Well, the story goes that I got my first booking in January 2006 through K.A.R.L. playing for One at South Side Bar. I was as nervous as a schoolboy during my set but I got through it and, luckily for me, you were on the same line up and we got chatting. I then recall coming down to the first Vaccine at The Gallery in February and handing over my demo, but didn’t expect to hear from you to be honest! I guess I hit the mark with that demo and it gave me the impetus to badger other promoters for bookings.
I’m basically a lover of all things trance, whether it be progressive, euphoric… whatever really, as long as it is interesting or different. Formulaic trance generally bores me.
You have had a storming 2006, playing at heaps of high profile events across the capital and are one of the few DJs to be invited back a second time to Vaccine; why do you think that is?
I thought you said you wouldn’t ever mention the back-hander? And anyway, I’m astonished you’re having me back after I managed to somehow break a CDJ-1000 at the start of my last Vaccine set! Seriously though, I think it’s because I’ve paid attention to what promoters are looking for from a DJ newcomer. We’d all love to play the peak-time sets, but be a realist — it’s most likely your initial bookings will be for warm ups. I adapted my sound for exactly this reason and love crafting a DJ set that progresses through various trance styles. Life below 140bpm does exist.
What do you hope 2007 holds for you and what are you most excited about?
To be booked for Vaccine’s first birthday is an absolute honour in itself and I’m majorly excited about that right now (can’t wait in fact!). You will no doubt have noticed this as I’ve run round Turnmills waving the flyers with my name on.
For the rest of 2007, I’m hoping that I’ve become well known enough in 2006 to get bookings for some of the other bigger London trance promotions — I have my targets! The buzz of an up-for-it crowd loving the tunes I’m playing — more of that please!
You are playing alongside some of the world’s cutting edge talent. Who for you is a particular favourite you are looking forward to catching?
I’m a big fan of Martin Roth’s current crop of remixes, so that’s one set I’ll be down at the front for. It will also be comedy to see (or not see) Mr Roth in the main room DJ booth, as he is somewhat vertically challenged. He’ll have to get up on that Reebok Step they put in there. I’m going to miss Gary Optim as we’re on at the same time, which is a shame as I haven’t seen him play yet. Also, I reckon Frase and Ben Beaton will rock the show — they both play the sort of trance I love. It’s all good to be honest!
Who else from the London scene do you think looks destined to have a storming 2007?
The obvious ones for me are Jurrane and Alan Banks. They both have a dedication to the trance scene that is nice to see. Jim’s got imminent releases on some major labels and Alan is busy working hard on his production skills. Frase and Ben Gold are on their way to the top as well — established DJs in their own right, but with some brilliant productions and remixes behind them.
And last but by no means least, your worst memory of a birthday party?
No particular party springs to mind, but any of those that I went to at home in Burnley aged about 16 or 17, hosted in the back room of the local dive of a working men’s club, were awful. They’d have a choice of bitter, mild or stout and a finger buffet consisting of mushroom vol-au-vents and egg mayo sarnies made by grandma. They say it’s grim up north but it’s not, I promise.
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And last but by no means least, we welcome Mixmag Bedroom Hero supreme Gary Optim. Not only a regular at the likes of Prehab and Maximal across the capital, Gary is the perfect mood setter for the legendary Matthew Dekay, bringing with him a critical ear for groundbreaking and innovative music that will warm the main room perfectly. He’s responsible for setting the tone for the nine-hour journey from house to progressive to trance to tech trance and everything in between. Get down early to catch the 10.30 till 12.00 main room warm up merchant that is Mr Gary Optim…..
Gary Optim
Mr Optim, how the devil are we?
I’m very well thank you! Things have been going really well since I had my last outing at Turnmills on the other side of the decks back in the summer. I’ve also probably been out on a weekender every single weekend since then and I’m loving every minute of it!
You are warming up the legendary main room at Turnmills for Vaccine’s 1st birthday; for those who have never had the pleasure, what can we expect from your set?
They can certainly expect to see a young man in his element having the time of his life! My style is constantly widening and taking in influences from different areas. I absolutely love playing warm up sets for that reason, as I can really be expressive and experimental in what I play, and to be in charge of my favourite club room in the country warming up for a hero of mine and on my birthday night out… it’s gonna be a night to remember!
As always I’ll be packing a full CD wallet across the spectrum, but I’m gonna keep things proggy... deep, dark and minimal for the most part, with plenty of beautiful melodies sprinkled about too — I was raised on trance remember! I’ve always been very proud of how I program my sets, creating a vibe, and I love the responsibility that comes with playing a warm up set, surveying the room and building a mood, feeling the atmosphere build as the club fills up and I turn up the heat. Hairs on the back of my neck are standing up just thinking about it! I’m gonna be packing in plenty of my cheeky Optim edits and I’ve got some rather tasty exclusives both from myself and some international talent which may well come out as well.
You have steadily been building a reputation as one to watch, including winning a Mixmag Bedroom Hero competition. What else have you got lined up for the rest of 2007? Have you been busy in the studio of late churning out any new nuggets of niceness for the dancefloors of the world?
I’m just to continue doing what I’m doing on the DJ front really. I’m getting some good gigs now where I can really show what I’m all about and have people appreciate that. I’ve got lots of stuff in progress on the studio side of things which I’m really proud of which I want to break this year, and collaborations with my studio partner Michael Walken and a tougher techier tune with Dave Irvine. Me and Michael are working on a few different projects at the moment which will be dropping soon — keep an eye on my Myspace page.
I’m gonna keep rocking it with the Prehab residency and promoting that and building the brand. Plus there’s my fresh residency for 2007 for the Maximal boys @ The Key and forthcoming midweek parties, with some big name guests down at the Medicine Bar in Shoreditch, which is also set to be a huge success this year.
You are part of the successful promotion Prehab. Tell us a little bit about what Prehab’s been up to of late and what it has planned for the rest of the year?
Well it’s been a dream really. As I’ve said so many times before, I’m so proud to have been a part of it right from the get go. It’s the fairytale really... the group of mates who go from putting on free parties on Saturday afternoons purely out of their love of music, to holding a residency at one of the country’s most respected club nights, and to see it do so well!
The Turnmills residency has been off the hook so far and it’s great to have people like Jon Gurd and Ali Wilson down to play and for them to say it was one of the best parties they had played last year. Also to be working with such a talented and passionate pair of promoters as Dave Irvine and David Murtagh, both of whom are going from strength to strength at the moment. The rest of the year is gonna blow up for us to be blunt! We have got some serious guests lined up, including a UK exclusive debut — so keep your ears to the deck for details on that.
Which producer and or what tunes are really doing it for you at the moment?
Well the one man who truly has a place in my heart at the moment is Eric Prydz. I could honestly write you an essay here singing his praise. As a producer I don’t think anyone can touch him for that epic prog sound. Constantly over the last year or so my charts have been dominated by his productions, and DJ-wise as well he has blown me away on numerous occasions.
On a slightly more underground tip, Manual Sofia aka MOS is really on form at the moment, and his up coming material that I’ve heard is awesome. More in the ball park of what I’ll be playing on the 9th, I’m really digging the new Hugg and Pepp stuff, Extrawelt, Audiofly, Fex, John Aquaviva, all the stuff coming out on Traum, Get Physical etc. The new Chems’ ‘Electronic Battle Weapon’ double A is seriously floating my boat as well! It’s a very good time for music!
And finally, your favourite birthday party game is?
Depends who I’m partying with! Spin the bottle?