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Features
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| Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna | | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022! | | TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022! | | A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London! |
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Harderfaster Introduces......Interview with Max Cooper
Reported by Andy T
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Submitted 01-11-04 22:09
When Harderfaster asked me to do my first interview on Max Cooper, my initial reaction was that I did not know who he was; and with the mission of bringing new talent to the masses of HF I set about finding as much as I could of this talented young artist. Enthused by the task of my first assignment and finding out more about a genre I know practically nothing of, I got my head down to do some serious research. It didn’t take me long to find out, that this 3 deck mixing, turntabalist/producer has been named as a Mixmag Future Hero, has many residencies including Lashed and Firefly and is soon to be jetting across the globe for a tour of Australia.
With an already substantial but ever growing discography behind him, and forthcoming sets for the UK & Ireland Lashed Tour, and also his residency for Firefly one of the countries largest Breaks and Techno events, it was now time for me to quiz this rising star, on himself, his sudden rise to fame, his future and the scene he is now a part of.
So Max, tell us three random facts about the real you?
1. I live in Nottingham
2. I was born and grew up in Belfast
3. My parents are Aussie’s
That makes me some sort of (halfbreed) freak I think.
I understand you bought your first pair of decks at the age of 16 whilst still in school. What inspired you to buy them, and how did you enter the world of DJ’ing?
I was always into dance music and clubbing, and when my mate (aka Boyd Sleator) bought some decks I had one go and knew I needed to get some of my own. I suppose I entered the world of DJ’ing from that point.
Which Artists inspired you the most when you first started out?
That would have to be DJ Craze, Qbert, DJ Noize and Babu, the masters of turntablism. I was exposed to them when I arrived in England, and I decided that turntablism was an aspect of DJ’ing that I wanted to follow and combine with my taste in electronic music.
Your first ever gig, where was it and how did it go?
It was for a mate’s birthday at some club in Belfast, no idea what it was called. I just remember loving every minute of it, so yeah it went well.
Tell us about your style then Max, you mix on three decks with lots of tricks and scratching, but how would you define the music that you play and how versatile are you when playing different crowds?
Well the side of my DJ’ing that I have been concentrating on recently is breaks orientated, but I also regularly play hiphop and funk sets. I have been known to dabble in some house, techno and drum and bass as well. Anything with some funk, filth and a breakbeat usually. There’s something in there for everyone, but the key is to make every set coherent and work well on the dancefloor. Only problem with having eclectic taste is my back gets ruined from carrying so many records to every gig.
What have been the best and worst moments of you DJ career?
Best would probably have to be playing at the Ballroom in Notts at firefly 14th feb 2003, it’s a little known venue which makes it all the better. Sort of a town hall with huge speaker stacks and about 1000 crazy people, it has to be seen to be believed. Worst would have to be playing downstairs at an unnamed club where the decks were broken upstairs. Only problem was downstairs was closed while upstairs was rammed. So playing to an empty room, with every so often to have someone come down and tell me it’s all kicking off upstairs. Nightmare!
Throughout your career you have played alongside major leaders in the breaks scene, like The Plump DJs, Fergie & Adam Freeland to name but a few. Is there anyone out there that you haven’t played alongside, you would like to be in a line up with?
Yeah, breaks wise I’d like to play alongside Christian J (Distinctive), as he’s a great producer but I’ve never met him or seen him play. Overall my favourite to be on a lineup with would have to be DJ Shadow.
Being named a Mixmag future Hero, and 4Clubbers ’breaks rising star’ is certainly a major accomplishment, where do you expect to go from here and do you have your sights on any other industry awards?
At the moment I’m concentrating on the production side of things because getting some good releases is a requirement in the breaks scene these days. I’ve been working with “Max Hedroom” (Gaz Williams, Mark Seavers and Myself) for a while now and we have some very promising material that you’ll be seeing soon. As for awards, I think aiming for them is the wrong idea, I just work hard at what I enjoy and if any awards come of it that’s all good.
You’re resident for Lashed in their breaks room, but Lashed is also one of the larger Hard Dance Promotions, Do you think that the Hard Dance Generation are changing their musical preferences more towards different styles of dance music such as breaks?
People get tired of any one genre with time, so yes, some Hard Dance clubbers will change their preferences to breaks and other things, and it’s up to the promoters to provide a range of musical styles to satisfy everyone. That’s why all the of the countries biggest nights today provide a range of music and purist nights of old are doing less well.
How would you describe the difference between a tuntabalist and your average DJ?
A turntablist can manipulate vinyl and DJing equipment in a way to produce a musical sound that is not already present on the tracks they are playing, i.e. scratching, juggling, building tracks off samples etc. So turntablists generally spend all their time practicing and compared to your average DJ have no dress sense, no aftershave, no money and no friends.
How do you see the future of turntablism in this new digital era of DJ’ing with vinyl slowly being faded out?
I think vinyl will always be alive to some extent, as people like to see a DJ scratch and mix with records. But technology like “final scratch” is probably the future of turntablism, allowing DJ’s to scratch with digital tracks using a real imitation record. When DJ’s scratch with CD decks or other digital technology, I find that people aren’t as impressed because they can’t tell what the DJ is doing, and what is being done for the DJ, by the equipment being used. It’s this factor that will keep analogue (vinyl) equipment alive (I hope). But turntablist’s have to embrace new technology as well if they want to keep up with other DJ’s.
You also produce under the name Max Hedroom, and I understand your tracks are creating quite a stir in the breaks scene. How long after you started mixing did you start producing and what inspired you to do so?
I was mixing for about 5 years before I started getting interested in production. I could never afford records and a studio, so it just happened by chance when I met Gaz Williams. Himself and Mark Seavers have been playing with their toys and making tracks since they were kids, and I’ve been learning from them. My inspiration to learn really just came from wanting another way to express myself musically.
Which do you find more fulfilling, playing to a crowd or producing your own music?
At the moment there’s nothing better than DJing to a wicked crowd, but I can see producing being more satisfying in the long term. Ask me again in 20 years and I’ll have the answer.
You’re soon to embark on the Lashed Tour of UK & Ireland, and next year also on tour in Australia. How does it feel to now be labelled an International DJ, and are there any other countries big in the breaks scene that you would like to play in?
It feels great, although I don’t know if I deserve that label yet, I’m still concentrating on UK gigs for the moment. As for other countries I want to play, Bulgaria and Spain are high on the list for the summer.
Most of the Harderfaster readers, are bedroom DJs and unsigned producers, what advice can you give to them to reach the point that you are at now?
First thing is hard work, there’s so many DJ’s and producers around these days that you have to do something special to get noticed. So unless you’re very lucky or very naturally talented (of which I’m neither), you just have to decide what you want to do and put in the hours. Then there’s networking, you’ve got to go to the nights and meet the people so you can get your material out there.
Thank you for your time Max, you have certainly inspired me to open my mind more to different genres, and I will definitely be making some time to watch you at your forthcoming London Gigs.
If you would like to see Max play you can catch him this year as part of the UK & Ireland Lashed tour: November 5th @ Heaven in London, December 3rd @ Air in Birmingham, December 18th @ SeOne in London, December 26th @ The Works in Nottingham. & also November 12th @ Gatehouse in Derby, November 13th Firelfly @ The Bomb in Nottingham, November 19th Firefly special @ The Bomb in Nottingham, December 4th Krash @ Zero in Stoke and Firefly @ Ballroom in Nottingham and December 11th @ Traffic in London.
Photo’s courtesy of Lashed
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Other Features By Andy T:
Addiction X Mas Ball @Hidden preview: introducing Norwegian hard trance heroes Adrenaline Dept.
Introducing the art of visual mixing: Addiction present VJ Meskalin
Addiction Boat Party preview with Spencer Freeland
Last Ever Fahrenhite - Review and Farewell!
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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