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Features
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LAB4 - Exclusive HF interview on a decade in the industry and a preview to Laboratory "Experiment 2".
Reported by Steve Milton
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Submitted 29-03-04 12:19
Mention the name LAB4 and without doubt you’ll get an opinion, be it either positive or negative they’re a duo that’ll inspire a reaction. But 10 years down the line since the split of industrial metal band M.A.D. and the formation of LAB4 the guys behind the music are still going strong and next months “Experiment 2” could prove to be the pinnacle of all the years of hard work and dedication.
Outside of clubbing and the underground Hard Dance scene in particular you’ll get a resounding “WHO?” when mentioning their name. Hard House, Hard Trance, Techno and any hard style of dance music is, by definition, not going to be for the masses, so their anonymity outside of these genre’s is hardly unsurprising. However headlining arena’s at events such as Global Gathering and Dance Valley in front of crowds of thousands proves that within the genre they’re as big as they come and have remained true to the cause as proof that commercialism is not the driving factor in the LAB4 machine.
On the Easter Sunday of 2002 Lab4 presented their own party “Laboratory” at Camden Palace. The main room was solely the responsibility of LAB4 and included the “peoples choice” set, a combination of tracks, chosen by the fans through the LAB4 website and recorded for posterity. The party proved to be a huge success so Adam and Lez therefore decided to do it all again and on the 4th April “Laboratory, Experiment 2” comes to fruition. With the likes of Yoji Biomehanika, Sterling Moss, Ed Real, Proteus and Tara Reynolds also in the line-up it has the makings of something equally special and in fact Sunday afternoons may never feel the same again. As with the original “Laboratory” they guys will be performing a one off, exclusive 90 minute set that promises to remove the roof of the Shepherds Bush Empire.
Opinion within the industry regarding a daytime party on a Sunday was certainly sceptical, many promoters believing it couldn’t be done . . .red rag to a bull? You better believe it, so in true LAB4 style they set out to prove everyone wrong and create an event to rival anything in club-land and certainly one of the most exciting and challenging projects they’d ever contemplated.
Whatever your opinions of LAB4 I think it’s easy to see why they’ve remained popular and continue to drag in the crowds wherever they play. Their unique style of music is difficult to pigeon-hole, there’s large slices of hard house, trance influenced breakdowns, twisted acidy type riffs all mixed together in a techno blender with settings ranging from 150 to 165 bpm. Such diverse influences make for originality and I would find it very difficult indeed to name another producer who has a sound anything like that of LAB4, and when combined with the enthusiasm they show on stage it’s easy to see why 10 years in the industry have passed and they’re still at the top and hungry for more.
I caught up with the guys to find out a bit more about Experiment 2 and what makes LAB4 tick.
Nomi Sunrider: So what was the idea behind the original Laboratory event and did you achieve everything you set out to?
LAB4: Laboratory was the name of our music production company from about 7 years ago, through which we wrote music for adverts and TV (Reebok,BBC, Bacardi, Pepsi etc.) and we had always said that at some point we would put on a lab4 party under the same name. From the point of view of available time and finance to be able to put on an event the way would want to, we were sure that it was still a long way off for us when we were approached by Frantic about the idea of possibly collaborating on a Lab4 party. So that is how Experiment 1 came about, and whilst the fact that people are still talking about it is testament to the magic that happened that day, it was a long hard battle in that we had all these massive ideas which where just pushing the whole event over budget and in the end we decided to focus on the flow of the music through the day, from the first set to the last. We did not set out to create a big ‘lab4 show case event’ that centred around us, but a musical environment that would be a cool ‘hang out’ for a Sunday afternoon with plenty of entertainment throughout. Camden Palace is a great venue but it was very obvious on the day that if there was to be an Experiment 2, we needed to get the DJ’s out the front with the people on the dance floor to maximise the connection between dance floor and DJ. Although in some ways we didn’t fully achieve what we thought we were setting out to do, in hind sight I think we achieved a lot more in far more inspiring ways in that we have been getting emails from people for the last 18 months asking when the next will be and people have been buying tickets for Experiment 2 from Japan, Australia, France, Holland and Spain….
NS: Now you’ve the first one behind you is there anything you’ll be doing different this time round?
LAB4: The most difficult part for us with this event has been finding the right venue, and the choice of venue has been based on the ideas that we have been working on for the last year for our live set, as well as wanting to get the DJ’s out there with the dance floor. The whole concept of Laboratory is really about making a point of everything connecting – the people on the dance floor, the music , the DJ’s and the atmosphere so we set out to find a venue with a big stage as well as good sound system and lights etc. the first choice being the Astoria which was unavailable. The next choice was The Fridge but this plan was ‘crumbled’ for us when the Fridge changed hands in January and left us frantically searching for a venue. We ended up at Shepherds Bush Empire and it although it is a particularly expensive venue to use, it was the first venue that we walked into and could instantly visualise Experiment 2 . We are in a lucky position with Experiment 2 to not have to make a profit, which means we have been able to go for it a little more with some of our ideas.
NS: The line-up for Experiment 2 looks really strong, what is it about the DJ’s involved that lead you to choose them for this event?
LAB4: Originally we were discussing doing the next Laboratory in either Japan or Australia but when it occurred to us(some time in Jan 2003) that by the time we were going to get round to Exp.2, it would be 2004 and 04.04.04 happened to land on a Sunday and we felt we just couldn’t put the party on anywhere other than in London, on that date. We also wanted to keep what was the ‘nucleus’ of the event intact which was us, Yoji Biomehanika and Sterling Moss .Yoji is a real ‘soul mate’ to us on a worldwide scene, we have had so many amazing gigs with Yoji here, in Holland, in Australia as well as in Japan and to us there is no more perfect follow on from a lab4 set than Yoji Biomehanika. Stirling Moss has had his finger on the pulse from back in the legendary Club UK universe days (1994ish) and has also been on some colossal line ups with us here, in Holland and in Japan. He is a master of the ‘three decks,fx and 909(and then some!!’ set up) , taking what great DJ’s like Ritchie Hawtin have developed to the next level of intensinty. Sterling has also been closely involved with the production of this event, helping out with the basics of event planning (having been involved in many productions before - most recently ‘Tribal’ in London) and the technical side of making sure all the DJ’s get what they need. Meri had not been able to get to Exp.1 due to the clocks changing and some unforeseen commitments at The Country Club which is about 4-5 hours drive away so Spencer Freeland stood in (and did a great job) so we new we wanted Meri in on this one. Tara Reynolds played at Exp.1, but she was in the ‘back room’ and has since rapidly risen through the ranks to main stages round the world and having been particularly impressed with her sets recently as well as the tunes she has been writing we felt she should also stay aboard for Exp.2. Ed Real has been a friend of ours for a good few years, from back in the days of Nick Senteinces Band ‘Sentience’ playing with us at the Drome and has recently been playing a classy mixture of ‘Hard Stuff’ – a bit ‘punky’ and on the edge. And then finally our good friend (who’s almost Lab4’s little brother now!!), Proteus from Finland. Proteus has been another good friend of ours for another good few years and takes us out to Helsinki to play at his club ‘Sade’ a couple of times a year. He has built quite a following for himself over the last 18 months as a resident at Logic and has a style totally of his own. He is also a true showman and is there to share every beat and break down, to the max. Although we have found it so difficult again to ‘pick’ such a small line up from so many DJ’s who we play with each weekend, and love and respect, we are very excited again that this line up is going to be a real musical trip and we are equally as excited about the DJ’s as we are about the set that we have lined up.
NS: Was the original party exactly what it says it was, an experiment? And was it’s success what spurred you on to do it all again?
LAB4: I think I’ve answered some of that above, but yes, really it was. Frantic obviously know what they are doing when it comes to productions, so the ‘experiment’ was really in the collaboration and in giving us a slightly free reign. Our tastes musically are in many varying directions and we never really know when we are pushing or have pushed things too far. I guess we were lucky the first time round that it wasn’t our money that was being risked on lab4’s ‘vision’ of what a good Sunday afternoon should be, and it was the non stop feed back that made us feel that we needed to try to reach the next level. It is our money that’s on the line this time but that has just added another degree of excitement to the whole ball game!!
NS: A Sunday afternoon/evening is an odd time to hold an event of this type, what was the thinking behind this?
LAB4: We weren’t overly sure about the Sunday afternoon thing the first time round, but it was the date that was offered by Frantic for us to try this ‘lab4 party’ idea and so we trusted them as promoters and they were right, Exp. 1 sold out and we have had emails ever since about how great it was to have such a party on a Sunday afternoon. It has also given us some ideas that we may not have had if we put the event on through a night time, this is not just another ‘club night’, nor is it lab4 bigging themselves up. Because we are not going to be doing this as our regular business we have been able to try out ideas and plans that might be just beyond what most promoters who need to guarantee that people come back next time, would be prepared to risk (ha ha ha…… not that we want any one to leave thinking ‘that’s the last time we humour lab4!! ) The funny thing is that the two major promoters that we did discuss collaborating on this event with, turned us down based on the fact that it’s a Sunday and not a bank holiday the day after AND that it is Easter the following week - our answer to this was ‘in the year of our tenth birthday, this date is surely ours, we can’t possibly move it to the day before or the weekend after!! So we are just hoping that our faith in the TRUE party loons that we know and love isn’t unfounded!!
NS: Moving on slightly . . . 10 years is an awfully long time to be in such a fickle industry. Looking back could you ever have imagined still being such a major player in the scene this far down the line?
LAB4: No. It has been hard work, but we really did only expect it to go on for a year or three – the usual semi professional (as we were when we started) band’s life span.
NS: At what point in your career did you stand back and think, “bloody hell, we’ve made it!”
LAB4: I think we are still here because although we have had a few moments where just the two of us have been sat in bars in Japan or Australia, or some where a long way from home and we reflect on the days when we were having to sell our equipment to pay our rent etc, we still make our judgments on the last couple of gigs and how well they went. I don’t know that if you are truly into music for the sake of the music and sharing it with people, you can ever really feel that you’ve ‘made it’ - it almost suggests that there is nothing left to do or shoot for.
NS: OK, 10 years further down the line, 2014 . . . what do you see yourself doing then?
LAB4: Wheel chairs ?….. with keyboards fitted on them?
NS: What advice would you give to someone just starting out in production and in your opinion what would be the best software/kit to use?
LAB4: This is a really difficult question these days because there is so much good software and equipment out there and some of the best tunes have been written on some of the most basic software. The best advise we would give is to listen to everything, every style of music, bits of machinery, film scores and sound design and then what every equipment you are using, try to use it in a slightly or even completely different way than it is intended. Try to imagine a sound that you have never heard before and then make it or use an every day sound and use it totally out of context and see what you get. Instead of trying to write a track that sounds like your favourite track, try to write the sonic version of something you just saw happen – like a car crash or a row in a super market – anything, but let you imagination go.
NS: What’s your favourite ever production over the last 10 years, both your own and that of another producer?
LAB4: That ones nearly impossible to answer!! Of lab4 tunes, Candyman is a tune that has just grown and grown over the years as much for us as for most lab4 fans. It wouldn’t be our favourite but it definitely has something more to it than the sum of what we put in. Otherwise though we both listen to so much music and it’s all so inspiring in so many different ways.
NS: Having played all over the world do you see any difference in the crowds from say Europe to somewhere like New Zealand or Japan and if so do you think this has anything to do with the different cultures involved or are hard dance fans the same world over?
LAB4: So far the only crowds that we haven’t enjoyed so much are in the USA, they really just didn’t seem to understand what had just hit them! The Dutch crowds can seem to be a little more laid back (maybe a little stoned?) but other wise for the most part; hard dance (or what ever you want to call it) now seems to be a pretty universal language.
NS: There’s been lots of talk about the so-called demise of club culture yet it’s still here. What’s LAB4’s take on the evolution of the hard dance scene and what future part do you think you’ll play?
LAB4: It’s nonsense. There was a couple of years just a while back when there may have been a few more people going clubbing and a few more clubs and a few more record labels but there has been a good ‘cleaning out’ period recently and hopefully what we have been left with is the quality stuff. There maybe more kids getting into guitar again rather than 1210’s but that’s a good thing. To us the whole scene is still bigger than it was when we started in 1994, yet some people will still preach that things were so much better in those days… It’s often the people that are growing out of clubbing, that feel the need to make such statements!
NS: There seems to be a rise in collaborations between promotions, resulting in multi-room events with different of styles of music on offer in larger venues. Do you have a preference as to which type of event you play, multi room or single?
LAB4: Probably ‘multi room’ events, because it gives people a bit of variation based on what mood they are in at any given time of the night, although that is dependant on how well the billing has been arranged! We were hoping to have two rooms for Laboratory, but there is something nice about keeping a degree of focus to the flow of music. I guess we have no preference really, the party is either going off or it’s not.
NS: Adam, we occasionally get to see you behind the decks doing the odd DJ set, is this something you’d like to do more of or is it just an pleasant alternative to the live PA’s?
Adam: No, it’s just a nice change now and then to be able to play some of the tunes that you wished you’d written! I started Djing about 6 years ago when we were considering taking a break from lab4 for a while and I still needed to have some money coming in, then Yoji took us to Japan for the first time and with regards to lab4 gigs, we haven’t stopped since. For me the live stuff is where it’s at.
NS: Lez, is the DJ thing something you’ve never fancied? I have visions of a LAB4 back to back set!
Lez: I do mix at home but at the moment it’s not something that I really want to take on with regards to playing out. Have discussed the possibility of playing b2b at some point but at the moment it’s not too high on the list.
NS: Any final comments for all those looking forward to the 4th April and those who’ve supported you over the last decade?
LAB4: We are honestly honoured that there are people who have followed us for the last 10 years but also that we speak to people every weekend who have just seen us for the first time and have had one of the best nights out of their lives. We have been planning Laboratory between us, our trusty sidekick Kym, Moss and Yoji for the last year and are just hoping that what we have come up with this time is going to create the magic that we were lucky enough to summon up last time – hopefully a little more!!! Last time we had already played two gigs that weekend and had not slept the night before, this time we have taken the weekend off and are already buzzing !!!!SEE YOU THERE.
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Laboratory (Experiment 2 Engineered and Presented By Lab-4)
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On:
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Sunday 4th April 2004
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At:
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Shepherds Bush Empire [map]
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From:
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2PM-10PM
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Cost:
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£15+BF (In Advance)
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Website:
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www.laboratory4.com
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Ticket Info:
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Info 0044 (0) 7970 021939
This Event will sell out, Early Purchase Is Recommended To Avoid Disappointment
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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THE PERSONAL INVITE AND SOME FURHER INFO....
So here we are ready to launch into our tenth year as LAB4, and a year containing a date that was surely created by the God of Dance just for us!!
The first Laboratory was an overwhelming success that has followed us over the last two years in the form of questions and requests for a follow up. Many discussions between the LAB4 camp, Yoji Biomehanika and Sterling Moss have also been with regards to a follow up experiment, and while plans for Laboratory Japan and Laboratory Australia are in the pipeline, we felt that whether it would end up the second or third party, that we just had to spend 04.04.04 in London.
Experiment 1 was brought to you in conjunction with Frantic, who aided us with their `second to none' experience of arranging and launching new and one off events, and whilst there were discussions this time with regards to a co-production again, our insistence that this date was a gift from God to us and our fans and that we could not possibly use another date, made it very difficult for our prospective partners, so we had no choice but to jump in at the deep end and go it alone.
On board with us this time on a slightly more evolved level (along with our long suffering and indispensable little Kymbo!!) is Sterling Moss - who along with his partner Tony Heward ran `Tribal' in London for a few years. As well as being one of our valued core line up on the day and who will continue to be part of the nucleus of future Laboratory experiments, Sterling has been helping out with advice and creative ideas as well as acting as our technical adviser on behalf of the DJs.
As with the first Laboratory, our most difficult task is choosing the line up. We feel very honored to have so many close friends amongst some of the top DJ's in the world - and again if we were to try to base our choice of DJs on whom we think `deserves' to play, we would need a solid week of Laboratory (maybe a couple of years off yet!!!!). So again as with the first our line up, this has been picked from friends whom we consider will give you a full journey of sound, style and entertainment throughout the day.
Laboratory is a calibration of what we love about the club scene - of different styles, of expression and entertainment and of our appreciation of all those elements including you.
We are going to start the night with our old friend Meri, who was billed at the first event but unfortunately was unable to attend due to the clocks and his set time the night before being changed!! Meri is the reason that you MUST be there right at the start of this event. Building his reputation at the Country Club in Dorset (and our respect and love) as one of the few remaining DJ's who totally understands how to truly create a `warm up' set - he focuses on playing the best from a range of compatible styles including Breakbeat, Progressive, Trance and Techno.
Meri has now moved on to play to 4000 + people at the likes of Q-Dance at ClubTempo in Amsterdam, and has teamed up with old pals Jon the Baptist and Iain Cross to form the production team, "The Elite" - dedicated to the harder side of trance and techno - leading them to be signed to Italian Hardtrance/Hardstyle label "Future Sound Corporation". Meri will wake you up, get you in the groove and tease you into Experiment 2 like no one else can - DO NOT MISS THIS MASTER AT WORK - who although he rarely does `warm up' sets any longer, is honoring our request to again get the party rolling, and for this we ARE truly honored and grateful.
Next up is the lovely Miss Tara Reynolds, making an appearance partly on behalf of the girls on the scene but also as a celebration of having moved from the second room at Experiment 1, on to the main stage at countless events over the last 18 months, not just in the UK but all over the world. Tara's job on this God given date is to kick the party into gear and give you the first `pummeling' for the day - there will be no excuse to not be warmed up and ready party for the next 6 hours!!
Sterling Moss will be taking over from Tara and treating us to 3 decks, effects and 909 (drum machine) plus maybe a couple of CD players and maybe the odd sampler or so........ Sterling Moss has been with us from the VERY start at the legendary Universe nights at Club UK in 1994. He has also been one of the Headline DJs at the 100,000 strong Dance Valley parties in Holland as well as running his own record labels, "Raceway" and "Race Trax". His style is a unique mixture of Techno, Hard Dance and Trance along with a large dose of total funky driving hardness for good measure.
Sterling is going to stir you up a little before it's our turn to hit the stage and we can promise you that we will be giving you a show that you have NEVER seen before and will almost definitely not see again until Experiment 3 (and then you might have to travel to Japan or Oz to see that!) Again we will be trying to include as many requests as we can so start sending them in now, and we will also be recording this exclusive 90 minute set for the next Laboratory album (providing you make enough noise on the day!!)
Since the last Laboratory, Yoji Biomehanika needs no introduction; he has played at countless sold out events with Tidy, Frantic and Gatecrasher as well as having been voted number 70 best DJ in the world in MixMag and winning best hard dance DJ for 2003 at the recent London Hard Dance Awards. As well as having just released a monster new album `Tales from the Big Room' Yoji has also become a proud father. He is without a doubt unique and as well as being very inspired by him as a DJ and musician, we have been honored enough to call Yoji a good friend for more than the last 5 years - during which we have had many of our best gigs with him - in the UK, Japan, Holland and Australia. Yoji mixes everything with everything and you can guarantee that you will be hearing lots of new and exclusive unreleased tunes from our favorite Samurai Keyboard Cowboy!!!
Ed Real, long time label manager at Nukleuz has now moved on to focus on his DJing career. He has recently been on a non stop global 'Ed real awareness campaign' which is winning him respect as one of the worlds classiest Hard Style DJ`s. Again a long time friend, we pulled Ed in to give you the hard stuff, to keep you up there where Yoji left you dangling.
And last but totally not least, and again a man who really needs no introductions in London, but for the benefit of any of you who haven't been treated to the experience yet - we give you Proteus!! We have had the pleasure of working for and partying with Proteus for many years in Finland. He is hard, uncompromising and a true entertainer. Proteus is here to SHARE this last magical hour with you in a way that only He can! Proteus has spent the last 18 months as a favorite resident Headline DJ at Logic in London. Recently you may have caught him around the UK with us, or in Holland as Dance Valley's latest new Superstar. Trust us, you will be seeing more of this Finnish Looney over the next twelve months and he is guaranteed to leave you NEEDING to go home!!!
Added to all the onstage entertainment, throughout the day we will also have shows from Cyberstien and Visual Rhythm UK as well as laser and light shows by Kaos Productions and projections etc by Craig @ VJFX. The FRAGILE ONLINE RECORD STORE LIVE will also be present with new and exclusive Laboratory merchandise as well as the launch of our latest CD, Devilution 3.
So there you have it - Laboratory - Experiment 2, our opportunity to invite you to share a day of hanging out with us and some of our friends from all around the world, to be entertained and hopefully inspired and to enjoy 04.04.04 in TRUE LAB4 STYLE. We sincerely hope to see you there!!
Love and Respect,
LAB4
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Other Features By Steve Milton:
The Final Zoo
The Death of Clubland?
Trousers, Caps and Trance Anthems - It's Dave Pearce!
Boom Box, Bulldog Breaks and V1 - It's Time to Reload with DJ-X(lab4)
Clubbers Guide to Photography: Part Two
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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