Thumpa
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,607 posts
Joined: Feb, 2009
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 Posted - 2015/03/05 : 09:19:19
https://www.facebook.com/htid.official/photos/a.239965007219.135882.29210007219/10153158354457220/?type=1&theater
Here is our first artist interview for the upcoming Hardcore show HTID Concept on April 4th @Motion in Bristol. This time around we speak to one of the pioneers of Freeform DJ Thumpa and get his take on all things Hardcore.
YOU'RE BOOKED TO PLAY AT THE FIRST EVER UK HARDCORE SHOW, WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO ABOUT THIS CONCEPT?
Hi, first of all thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about this, I'm really excited for HTID Concept and can't wait to play! I think the days of dodgy sound systems and crap d?cor at big raves are over, ravers want a lot more from their night out now and want to have all their senses pounded by what's going on. Sound and visuals go so well together in a rave experience and I'm looking forward to seeing what HTID have got up their sleeve! Some of my favourite raves over the years have funnily enough been the ones where there was as much thought behind the production and d?cor as there was with the sound system, lasers and lights and entertaining things happening on stage are just as important if you want to immerse yourself on a night out. 4th April isn't just going to be some speakers and a DJ, it's going to be a sensory overload that will make people remember why they love hardcore raves!
HTID HAVE SUPPORTED FREEFORM FOR SOME YEARS NOW BUT HAVE REALLY STEPPED UP THEIR GAME SINCE LAST YEAR, HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT?
HTID have always supported this sound with Kev & Sharkey playing regularly over the years and live PAs from Nu Energy and the likes but after Kev and Jon 'retired' a few years ago there seemed to be a big gap when it came to who was pushing freeform the hardest, this is where I come in. I have run my label ReBuild Music for 6 years now and for these last 6 years I have really pushed to get myself and others on lineups. I started releasing freeform CD albums with all exclusive music and nice artwork and these CDs sold out in record time, each one sold more copies than the last and the label is hugely popular in the freeform hardcore scene. For a while these massive sales didn't translate to main arena bookings for us, I think some promoters are scared to rock the boat and break the night up a bit, whereas I think ravers want their night breaking up a bit and might want an hour of tough, acid fuelled and euphoric freeform madness! For the last few years I have been on a personal mission to get myself, A.B, Douglas, Arkitech and more on all the big raves as I think we deserve to be on there. Ajay at HTID was someone I've known of for a while and in early 2014 we got in touch, I told him about what I'd been doing and it went from there really! I've been playing freeform at big raves for 10 years on and off and been into freeform since 1997 but unfortunately I think after Kev there was no one there to step up and show what we do, I've made myself that person and intend to get freeform on as many lineups as I can! HTID have been really open minded about their lineups and I think they've cracked it, varied lineups with a bit of everything so it's not just the same tracks 4 times a night!
YOU HAVE CARVED QUITE A NAME FOR YOURSELF IN THE HARDCORE SCENE CONSIDERING YOU OPENLY ADMIT TO NOT PRODUCING, WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS GIVEN YOU THIS EDGE?
I am really old skool when it comes to DJ'ing, I think DJ'ing and producing are totally unrelated and you don't have to make your own tracks to get noticed as a DJ, you just have to play the right tunes. Whatever style I've played (UK hardcore at Uproar, freeform at Westfest, 300bpm speedcore at North, French hardtek at HTID, the list goes on!) I've always tried to progress a set and start somewhere and finish somewhere a bit different, whether its harder, faster, darker or just plain weirder. It's very important (to me) to progress a set and give people on the dancefloor a journey where they have light as well as shade. I think that's missing from a lot of sets, its just one style for an hour with no peaks or troughs. I also just think I'm a solid DJ, solid mixing and solid tunes with a bit of stuff you know and a bit of stuff you don't; I love breaking new music and seeing what the reaction is to something, anthems are there to be made not cained! I am also a rarity in hardcore, a DJ that doesn't produce music! This makes me unbiased in what I choose to play and I can stand back and look at what's good music and what isn't when it comes to playing tunes.
HOW IS THE FREEFORM SOUND EVOLVING AND WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR THIS MUSIC IN THE UK?
Freeform has gone down so many avenues over the last 15 years, it's exciting to see where it goes next! For me it has always been one step ahead of UK hardcore music, it is absolutely free from form (geddit?) and can borrow elements from loads of other styles without sounding like it's directly copying it. Over the years it's been influenced by early German trance (GBT, RSR), hard house (some Nu Energy), psy trance and hard trance (FINRG / Electronic), big room house / EDM (Stamina) and gabber (Uprising), with my label being a bit of a jumble sale for all those styles! It can dip it's toe into any kickdrum lead music and take elements from it and apply it within. This is why freeform is so exciting, there's a strong handful of labels that are always re-inventing and going in a different direction. It's also more of a worldwide sound, ReBuild Music has released music from 15/20 countries and sells CDs to over 50 countries!
The future of the music is hopefully looking bright. Freeform isn't a genre that can stand on it's own (yet), it has always been connected with hardcore as most of the freeform DJs started playing happy hardcore and moved into trancecore / freeform, people like Billy Bunter and Ramos (and later Kev) all started off playing happy stuff and I think there is a bond between hardcore and freeform that brings us together. I'd like to see freeform in the main arenas of all the big raves and for us to be taken seriously. Promoters take note, we are coming for you!
IF ANY ASPIRING PRODUCERS OUT THERE WANTED TO RELEASE ON REBUILD HOW COULD THEY DO THIS?
I am ALWAYS looking for new music to release, the next Aryx or jD-KiD could be right round the corner! I pride myself on releasing music by new, unsigned artists so please PLEASE send me your music if you want it heard. You can get me on [email protected] or message me on Facebook - www.facebook.com/OllyThumpa or www.soundcloud.com/rebuild_music so please get in touch.
Download an exclusive HTID concept mix here:
" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://soundcloud.com/rebuild_music/thumpa-htid-the-show-040415-promotional-mix[/soundcloud]
If you're looking for more info on freeform please search Facebook / Soundcloud for Stamina Records, Smiling Corpse, FINRG, Watchtower Records, Project Badass etc and artists like A.B, Douglas, Substanced, Transcend, Arkitech, Alek Szahala, Qygen, Lost Soul, jD-KiD, Andy Dee...you will like what you hear!
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Edited by - Thumpa on 2015/03/05 09:20:55 |
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