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Interview with DJ GRH
Reported by Allan McGrath
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Submitted 02-04-02 08:52
Northern hard dance jock DJ GRH (AKA Gary Holden) has been treating a varied selection of madder than mad Northern crowds for nearly two years now and his versatile and energetic approach, on and off the decks, has seen him receive a number of prestigious bookings in the capital. Fresh from his third successful set at the monthly HQ event in Amsterdam I caught up with the man himself to ask him a few questions…
Allan McGrath: How long have you been DJing for?
Gary Holden: I’ve had decks for something like seven years but I’ve actually only been playing out since I left university about two and a half years ago.
AM: What was it that inspired you to DJ? Was it a particular tune or DJ?
GRH: At the time it was the whole scene that attracted me, it was something different and exciting. At school all my friends were into indie or pop and clubbing was just a good underground movement.
AM: You’ve played a lot of high profile sets, in the UK, Ibiza and beyond but how did it all start? How did you get that all important first “break”?
GRH: It was actually a DJ competition run by the Student Union. At that time I was shitting bricks. I really didn’t want to do a thing but my mate came home one day and told me he’d signed me up for it. I ended up playing in the bar at the Student Union in the quarter final in Huddersfield, went through played the semi-final, won the semi-final and ended up winning the final. Through that success I secured my first residency which was as at Eden Nightclub in Huddersfield alongside people like Alex Pepper and Andi Durrant, both have shows on Galaxy 105 now.
AM: That must have been a few years ago now, before the big “UK hard house” explosion, what sort of tunes were you playing?
GRH: In those days I was playing a lot of trance and early hard house. Earlier Tidy Trax tunes and F1 style tracks, that sort of thing.
AM: Your DJing career has seen you play at some of the biggest hard dance events both in the UK and abroad, what have been your biggest sets to date?
GRH: Three gigs I’ve played stick out in my memory. In UK terms its got to be Frantic. Secondly, playing in California was a big buzz. Thirdly, I’ve played three times now for HQ in Amsterdam. As well as those three big ones I also played the HQ / Nukleuz party in Ibiza last summer, which was always fucking rocking despite a lot of strong competition out there.
AM: While you have a strong following in your native Northern territory you seem to have played a wide range of well respected nights in the capital. Tell me a bit about your bookings in London…
GRH: Frantic Timeless at Camden Palace is the big one. I played a funky style warm up set, dropping a lot Sharp Boys and F1 tunes and also their after party Provocation at The Office, where I played an experimental techie set, which went down quite well. Also during my second HQ Amsterdam set, Orange Peel tapped me on the shoulder to let me know I’d been booked for his long running Tsunami night at Mass. I played a 3 hour set the first time I was booked, which I really enjoyed. Other nights I’ve played are Epsilon at Crash, Submaniac at the 414, Qwench at Elektrowerkz, Insomnia at Camden Palace, Milk when it was at Imperial Gardens (and also at the 414).
AM: Is there one club in the UK you haven’t played that you would really like to play?
GRH: I would have said Frantic and obviously Sundissential, but I’ve played at them now. However one place that I haven’t played that I will be playing at is Conspiracy in Leeds.
AM: Conspiracy? Sounds intriguing, is that a new Northern night?
GRH: Yeah it’s a massive collaboration between Frantic, Base and Storm. Its all about the South sound and style, finally moving up North, which is something I definitely want to be a part of.
AM: Bearing that in mind do you think that the highly debated North / South, Tidy Trax / Nukleuz, divide is slowly breaking down?
GRH: Definitely. At one point, probably around a year ago, the Southern sound had a darker, even more intelligent style, whereas the North was all about offbeat basslines and crazy dancing. Finally they are meeting each other. I mean, we’re seeing Lab 4 getting booked for Sundissential and Tidy Boys playing Frantic nights. I think it’s probably more the case that the South has come up North than the other way round, but I haven’t got a problem with that because I’d say there’s generally a lot more professionalism in the scene down South.
AM: How would you describe your own DJing style?
GRH: I prize myself on versatility, generally playing all styles and forms of hard dance music. Anything from the harder end of funky house, Sharp Boys even the hard DJ Sneak filter disco tracks, through to full on having it hard trance. I’m basically into of different styles and I tend to play a lot of different gigs. I played a back to back techno set in London last year, I also love doing funky and techie sets and my end of the night sets, like the ones I do at Base (weekly residency at The Space, Leeds) every Wednesday often go right through to Lab4 style stuff and even a cheeky slab of hardcore.
AM: Out of all of those styles which do you prefer?
GRH: If I’ve got one preference it would probably be the hard and funky stuff, Mac Zimms, Olav Bosaski etc. A lot of people think it’s the harder stuff that I bang out at Base which I do love, but I have to say I prefer the funkier stuff.
AM: Hard house, progressive trance, happy handbag (!?). What’s your assessment of a lot of the media invented genres that get used to categorise tracks?
GRH: I like descriptions not genres. Genres have got a lot to do with the media, whatever the big thing is. That’s the beauty of DJing, breaking through a number of genres in a set to create your own “sound”.
AM: Dance music these days has a bit media interest, with even some of the harder mix compilations on the market hitting the national top ten. In short, there is an undeniable and very big commercial element to it all, is that a good thing in your opinion?
GRH: Definitely. I think the scene in the UK is superb at the moment because you’ve got a lot of good underground elements with a strong healthy commercial backing. I think there will always be good quality underground dance music for those willing to find it. OK, it’s very annoying when you buy a certain track and then it gets signed up to a major label and then somebody does a remix which you hate and Radio One cane the fuck out of it, but then there’s always good stuff to fall back on and you can always dig deeper underground. I love places like Cream and Gatecrasher just as much as I love some illegal warehouse rave, I just love the whole thing. You know, one week, if I’ve got the week off, I’ll go out on the gay funky house scene, somewhere like Speed Queen (gay friendly funky house night in Leeds) and the next week I’ll DJ at somewhere like Cypher (underground rave night in Leeds) and end up dancing around to Nu NRG and hardcore.
AM: Obviously with all this commercial and media interest, there must be a lot of people desperate to make it as a DJ…
GRH: These days decks are outselling any other musical instrument so there’s a lot of DJs and a lot of competition out there. So whereas 5 years ago a good tape would have got you a gig these days you’ve got to show some form of originality. There are a lot of different elements to it all now. I mean a lot of the gigs I got in Los Angeles were down to the help and support I gave to promoters, people respect that. Unfortunately there are also a lot of promoters who are just out for themselves but thankfully they’re the ones that are going down.
AM: Which DJ in the hard dance scene do you rate the most?
GRH: Andy Farley. Cutting edge, very intelligent, and he always seems to know exactly what the crowd want. He’s also one of the fucking nicest people you’re ever likely to meet. Great bloke, great DJ, he deserves his success. Saying that he does think I look like David Beckham with my new haircut – not funny Andy!
AM: These days it seems everyone wants to make a dance record, hell even Bob The Builder has had a go. Any plans to try your hand at the production side of things?
GRH: I’ve had a few offers from people like Paul Janes and Chris C but at the moment I don’t feel ready. I’ve got lists of little innovative ideas that I’ve thought through, but I don’t feel confident enough to portray them to a good engineer.
AM: Any particular producers or engineers you’d like to work with?
GRH: I’d like to work with Sean Stanley (Eufex), because I think he’s wicked.
AM: What style do you think your production will take? Will it be that hard funky style you prefer to DJ?
GRH: Yes definitely. Check out Alan Thompson’s earlier sets at Trade, kind of hard disco, a lot of hard loops, filters that sort of thing. But saying that I would have to make hard as nails stuff as well. Once again I’d love to be really varied, I really would.
AM: What are the maddest crowds you’ve encountered?
GRH: Clubbing in New York was fairly mad, people generally are seriously mental over there. Trannies, skater kids, candy ravers, you really do get some insane characters out there. There’s also a hell of a lot of drug use over there though. In fact the US scene in general is pretty nuts. When we were out in California we basically got an email on the Saturday night basically saying there’s 100 of us and we’re going up into the middle of the Mojave Desert to throw a big free party. We ended up driving three hours into the desert to play a deep house set on a huge sound system, with rattlesnakes and shit like that all around. That’s what I call underground.
AM: Drugs will always play a huge part in the dance / club scene but do you think that drug use ever gets out of hand in the hard house scene?
GRH: Definitely, 16 year old kids taking far too many pills, then doing Ketamine, then doing GHB, is just not normal. Ending up in hospital, whereby that’s an achievement for them, expecting some sort of respect, just isn’t right. They certainly won’t get any respect from me. This is why in many ways I prefer it down South. It’s an older, more mature crowd, people going out, taking drugs but having a good time without going beyond your limits.
AM: Anything you listen to apart from Dance music? Is there a secret Steps and Westlife collection in the Holden household?
GRH: No Steps unfortunately but if I’m chilling out I might listen to a bit of Bob Dylan, anything really. My Dad used to be in a band so I’m quite into his CD at the moment, its got a bit of a Hendrix style, which I’m into. Always liked Charlatans, Happy Mondays, mid 90s indie sort of stuff.
AM: You’re well known for interacting with the crowd, even after your sets have finished. It’s always good to see DJs who are clubbers first and foremost. What’s your most memorable moment as a clubber?
GRH: Walking into Twilo in New York city was mind blowing. It was a club I never thought I’d visit. I used to read about it and there seemed such a huge distance between me and the club. So walking into the club to see Sasha and Digweed was just absolutely phenomenal. The first time I walked into Trade was also special. In fact the first time I heard the Paul Janes remix of “The Dawn” was at Trade. No one had ever heard it before but as it broke it was amazing, people were standing around absolutely motionless as the main riff came in. It really was one of those moments in time.
AM: Finally, I know it’s a hard one, but if you had to name an all time top tune what would it be?
GRH: I can’t – I really can’t. I am influenced by so many different genres of music and play such a wide variety of dance music that it’s almost impossible. OK, if I am pressured I have to say that Energy 52’s classic ‘Café del Mar’ has a special place in my heart.
For Gary's full DJ biography, please take a look at his page here. Gary can be contacted at gary@djgrh.com
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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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