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Features
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Keeping it Tidy with Lee Haslam
Reported by kafalicious
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Submitted 25-02-03 21:56
Coming to a crossroad in life and choosing the unchartered path is never easy. Faced with just such a decision, Tidy label manager, dj and producer Lee Haslam demonstrates what love for what you do, hard work and support can achieve.
 kaf: Where did it all start for you Lee? Did you have a moment one night on the dance floor when you thought….. 'I want to make a contribution to this scene?!'
Lee Haslam: It pretty much started back in 1997, week in week out, watching people like Steve Thomas, TDV, Ian M and basically really getting into the club scene. At the time I was a teacher but I was becoming very tired of my job and wanted a change. In July of that year I went into hospital for an operation and as a result had to have a month off work so I took the bold step of buying some decks and straight away got hooked. At first I did it for a hobby, never once did I think I’m going to be like TDV or Steve Thomas just enjoyed the idea of playing records. I used to cane them for four five hours every day!
By November my girlfriend had got me a few gigs and I was then starting to play in my local clubs and bars in my home town, Doncaster. It was only then that I decided to quit my job and started to take it a lot more seriously. For the next few months I had loads of shit jobs just to keep me going before a friend of mine finally introduced me to Andy Pickles in May 98.
Andy gave me job at the Music Factory doing cheesy commercial megamixes and the odd Jive bunny mix. I did that for a year before Andy took me on full time @ Tidy. I have been here @ Tidy now for three and a half years.
kaf: Today sees you manage Tidy Trax, DJ and produce! What do you do in your spare time?! 
LH: To be honest I don’t have a lot of spare time. I’m in the office from 9am till 7pm most nights. I also live an hour away, so by the time I get home I’m knackered. I do try and spend as much time as I can with my girlfriend Tree and also my family and friends but it is very difficult to say the least, as every weekend I am on the road as well.
kaf: Career highlights thus far?
LH: God there has been so many! Just waking up in a morning and doing a job I love is a highlight in itself. I consider myself very lucky to be doing what I am doing and also to work with the people that I work with.
Gig wise, playing to 6000 clubbers at GCSSS last year was amazing. Also playing clubs like Slinky Bournemouth, Sundissential and of course Frantic are always highlights. However I must say that the feeling you get when you see people going off to one of your tracks is immense. I remember the first time I heard “Music is the Drug” out was at Sundissential North and the Tidy Boys played it… without doubt the best feeling!
kaf: Any lows?
LH: Lots, I feel for the DJ’s who are trying to make it today. Handling rejection is hard especially when you know you are technically as good as anyone else but, you have just got to keep believing in yourself and your talent. You also need a lot of luck. I had a lot of help from my girlfriend and friends not to mention Andy and Amo who have been instrumental in giving me a leg up. I owe a lot to them all. The only time I felt low was probably when I decided to start playing the more “trancier” material, which was Feb 2002. My bookings did take a hit and I got a lot of shit from people saying why are you playing that style when you run Tidy Trax?!
Hard times for me but I came through it a lot stronger. Mark Foster and Johnny Dangerous have done a fantastic job for me at Tidy management and I am at the stage now where I am having to turn down bookings as I am too busy. If I didn’t work full time I could do them but I limit myself to 12 or so bookings a month as getting up on a Monday morning after a punishing weekend is really hard. By doing this I can manage both without killing myself.
kaf: First time I caught you playing was in the foyer at Heat’s NYE do at Brixton Academy. Gotta say, I liked your style! Tell me, how would you describe it and where do you see it progressing?
LH: I class it as hard uplifting music. It is very melodic but I believe it has the power of Hard House. I am a sucker for a big breakdown I’m afraid. I have loved the trancier side of things for years from my gatecrasher days.
2002 was a huge year for my sound but this year I think it will change as a producer, I am looking to constantly develop my sound. I’ll still be keeping the trance in there but being a bit more unique with arrangements and sounds I am using. It’s very easy to do a big breakdown and big riff but to play a few records in a row like that and you loose the impact of the record so for me I want to incorporate new styles into my sets and my general sound. I think music in general this year is going to be amazing across all genres. Productions just keep on getting better, and the amount of young talent coming through now is really exciting.
kaf: How was your NY’s? Fave party?
LH: I enjoyed them all really. Heat was good. I enjoy playing in the Foyer as you can get a good vibe going but I must say I am looking forward to playing the main stage. Frantic was really good and I enjoyed my set so much even though I had the worst hang over from the night before!
kaf: I hear you’d like to play Australia! I’m thinking that you would be very well received with the Aussie crowds. From memory last year Ingo and Paul Glazby toured Aus as a part of the Gatecrasher Digital Experience Tour, of which Tidy Trax were affiliated. Any likelihood of you doing something like this?
LH: I would love to play Australia and it is one of my goals this year and I believe it is happening. We still do things with GC out there but I haven’t heard of anything they are doing this year. I couldn’t go to the last one as having two weeks out of work to go and play is very difficult. However, I have heard that I am going out in November or December with Sundissential so fingers crossed.
kaf: I see from the Tidy website that the Tidy Weekender to be held 4th, 5th, 6th April in Prestatyn, North Wales is SOLD OUT! The Tidy camp must be very happy! Do you feel this success is indicative of the ‘rise and rise’ of Tidy? Are Tidy planning to hold more of these events to satisfy the punters; like those of us who have missed out on tix to this one?!
LH: Yes we are delighted - the event sold out in January in only three weeks. What's more, January is the typically the worse month for clubs and we estimate the waiting list for spaces will outstrip the capacity again
In a way its linked to Tidy's ongoing success - but it I feel its more to do with the event going back to basics of what clubbing is all about. Its kind of a sense of belonging of being in a tribe and total escapism - being able to say fuck the world for 72 hours.
An even bigger compliment is how far people will travel to the event - from Plymouth to the top of Scotland
kaf: Next weekend the 22nd of Feb, Camden Palace is holding The 60 Minutes Edition where “Each and every DJ has just 60 minutes to make your night and change your life! Each record is his or her weapon in the battle to make you dance like never before. Each minute a battle against the clock to push you one closer to clubbing heaven!” Sooooo, what’s in store for us from you?!
LH: That would be telling and I don’t want to give my tactics away to my opponents. You will have to wait and see.
kaf: Tidy London is to hit London's Se One club on Saturday March 1st to celebrate the 1st Birthday of Tidy Trax’s sister label, tidytwo. This must be pretty spesh for you. Like to elaborate on what we can expect?!
LH: Indeed it is. Tidytwo is my baby really. From the early stages when Andy, Amo and I were talking about the idea, to the labels first release I was very excited and still am today. I think Tidytwo brought a new dimension to the labels existence.
The label came out at just at the right time when people were looking for something new. Hard House was having a lull and the anthemic hard house was born really. Some of the “so bloody serious brigade” says the label is shit and cheesy but if we all released the same material it would be a very boring world. Looking back on Tidytwo releases, I can see the label has gone from strength to strength. Currently it is outselling Tidy, which is a massive achievement when the label is only one year old and was launched when record sales had dropped by 40% across the board.
The label, from its early German influences, has grown now to the point where we have home grown talent such as Guyver, Lee Pasch, Paul Maddox and myself all doing top notch material. It is a very special time as a lot of effort has gone into the label. As you mentioned, March 1st is the labels 1st birthday bash which will be a great night and I’m sure plenty of vino will flow The line up is shit hot and also with the launch of the label’s first compilation I am confident there will be many more birthday parties to come. The compilation covers the first 14 releases of its history and was cleverly mixed by Amadeus. The actual album will only be on sale at Tidy.com (which gets 5,000,000 hits a month now) and of course our events so if you want a copy make sure you grab one while you can.
kaf: Tidytwo’s new album is to be out shortly. Care to share what’s on it & what audience it’s aiming for? Will Tidy be touring it?
LH: I think I have answered most of this above. As for a tour, no we have no plans at this stage to do a full tour for the label. We have so many big projects on the cards at the minute I think this may be an option next year. We are not big fans of the typical tour concept – one crap old banner does not make a tour night. We would rather go for a whole clubbing experience.
kaf: The state of the current hard dance scene in the UK seems to be a hot topic at the mo’! From what I’ve seen I think it’s all-good! You?
LH: I think the dance scene is strong at the minute. I think a lot of smaller clubs have gone by the way side and a lot of the bigger clubs are consolidating things by going monthly or holding bigger events. At the end of the day, I don’t think a lot of people can afford to go clubbing every week so for a lot, a monthly thing is better.
In the clubs I have played in they have always been very busy so from my stand point the club scene is good. If you want to talk about retail then this is a different matter as any label boss will tell you, the arse had fallen out of the market. In early 2002 we would be selling 8 to 10,000 copies of a release without breaking a sweat. Now I have to really work hard to get 4 to 5,000 which obviously is a huge fall.
Lots of labels are doing things differently now. Nukleuz are trying to get a lot of stuff in the charts, doing multi disc formats and re-releasing old material a few times with new mixes and this seems to be working for them but from Tidy we are wanting to take it back underground. If a track makes it into the charts then great but we are not pushing things anymore. We are keeping things tight and doing what we do best and releasing top quality dance music. The benefit that we have is we control and create our own events out of our own management, which includes some of the major players in the scene. We are also getting very strong on the international scene so as an all round brand, we are stronger than ever with huge things planned for the future.
kaf: What’s hot on your playlist right now?
LH: Big tracks for me at the minute are the unreleased TDV track “Give me a reason” which will be out on Tidy in May as well as the Firestarter bootleg, which is still massive for me. I have recently been in the studio with Paul Maddox and produced a new collaboration under the guise of Tomorrow People. We have done one track called “Scared”, which I am really pleased with and we are doing the flip soon.
Also doing remixes soon for Stimulant Records as well as Tripoli not to mention the follow up to Music is the Drug in March - so look out for that.
kaf: What do you feel makes a dj ‘great’?
LH: Being able to ready a crowd and tune selection. Knowing what to drop and when to drop it. There are so many outstanding talents out there you can’t afford to be complacent.
kaf: To MC or not MC – what’s your stance on ‘em?
LH: Not…Not a huge fan but I think Paul Glazby would disagree
kaf: Current residencies, where can people catch you play?
LH: I don’t really have any residencies only gigs where I play on a regular basis. Obviously I do play virtually once a month for Frantic, Sundissential, Slinky Bournemouth & Bristol, Dance Academy, Goodgreef, Golden and Promise.
kaf: How about a few closing words for the punters!
LH: Well, thankyou to everyone who has supported me. I know when I came to London a lot of people were unsure about my style but the feedback I get now is great. Thanks to Will and all the Frantic team for having faith in me and featuring me in their plans.
Also a huge thankyou to the whole Tidy team for their continued support!
kaf: Thank you for your time, Lee.
Lee Haslam plays Tidy London at the SE1 club on the 1st March and in the Frantic Dream Team at the Camden Palace on the 8th March.
Relevant Links
www.tidy.com
www.franticuk.com
Lee Haslams's HarderFaster DJ page
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Other Features By kafalicious:
Interview with Ingo
Lab4: always keeping it real
Hardhouse Anthems 4 Launch - Interview with Rob Tissera
Searching for the perfect wave with Martin McHale
Interview with Danny Gilligan
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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Comments:
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From: princess tidy on 4th Mar 2003 16:57.23
I think it's fair to say that lee is the best had trance dj on the scene at the moment!!!
From: ReBirth on 5th Apr 2003 20:42.03
Yup, I second that...butthen there's always Guyver...
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