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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! | | Goa based party animal and artist extraordinaire Nirmal talks punk concerts, metal sculptures, flying and rippin' it up on a High Tide! | | DJ Wired talks to us about the Rise of the Hope and parties, ahead of his upcoming set at Tribal Village on 14th January 2022! |
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Interview with the King of the Peachy Ravers, Graham Gold
Reported by Adam Symbiosis
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Submitted 29-04-05 10:56
I won’t bother starting with clichés, I’m sure you would have heard them all before. One man symbolises trance like no other, heading the army of Peachy Ravers. With a career spanning 30 years, there’s not much this guy doesn’t know. As he's appearing at Subsonica over the bank holiday weekend, I decided to get in there and find out just what makes Graham Gold tick.
Getting into DJing for the love of the music, “We used to have a Blues (Jamaican house party) happen in the house opposite where I lived when I was a kid, so my first DJ loves were reggae and James Brown Stuff,” Graham’s been intimately linked over the years with Kiss 100 (a London radio station) and Peach, both owned by EMAP. Lately he’s also started to put out his own tracks. “I’m a cunt! I didn’t see this whole producer thing taking over and I also never thought I could do it.”
Relying too much on an engineer has its pitfalls but when you’ve got mates like Adam White, John Fleming and Darren Pearce to help you through your first productions you’re on to a winner. “Right now it’s not important, it’s essential (to be a producer), especially if you are trying to find that first opening. You can be as ace as Eddie, but if no one hears you, you’ll be in the bedroom forever.”
Just like bread and butter, trance and Graham Gold go together. For many years he’s been main resident at Peach, even going as far as talking to people in the queue and welcoming them to the club. “I was the voice of Peach, but EMAP owned it lock, stock and one of those round things! If I’d known how mega it was going to be I would have insisted on it being a 50/50 thing, but in ’93 I was even more clueless than I am now! I have a connection with the Peachy Ravers as I actually care about them and used to greet everyone who came into the club and end up spending ages with them. They made the club, not us. Their enthusiasm, their individualism and their madness are what made Peach so fantastic.”
Peachy Ravers
He also tells me how he’d love it to return back to the spiritual home at Camden, the revamped Koko club. So in all this time of playing how has he seen the music he’s been playing change? “It has massively developed since the low period of ’01 when everything sounded the same. Thank technology and forward thinking producers and the new Virus TI when it comes out (hooray), a whole new load of sounds to play with.”
Crossing his fingers and waiting for a brand spanking new synthesizer for the moment and just like his mate, John “00” Fleming and indeed many other top DJs, Graham’s switched over to CDs, only using only industry standard CDJ1000’s and a DJM600 to pump out his musical selection. “I’m not James Z(abiela), fuck he is awesome on all this shit, but I’m not bad.” Quite an understatement I think many ravers will agree with, but what does he think about the thorny issue of the end of vinyl? “With CD players coming down, the cost of downloads as much as one tenth of vinyl, then it has to finish. If you’d asked me that two years ago, you would have had a different answer.”
Peachy Ravers
As I said you’ll be able to catch Graham in the intimate surroundings of the Rhythm Factory down in Whitechapel. It must seem like a world away from the filled to the rafters halls of venues like Camden Palace/Koko and fields of people, “I love small venues, love big venues, I fucking loved Camden because you could still work the whole crowd, though I love smaller venues more, you can connect more in a small venue. I don’t love the huge festivals cause if one person in 6000 or whatever is standing there looking miserable, they can make you feel like shit! But that said I still want to be on the bill! To be honest as long as I can just go and play my music to a brilliant up for it crowd, then it could be in my back garden for all I care.”
But if you fancy a sneak peak at just what he’s going to play then tough! “I don’t have a ‘set’. Original DJs play from their hearts, unlike a lot of producers who have to have the set worked out before they even get there. Sorry, but what the fuck is that all about? Isn’t DJing about spontaneity?”
Of course, as I touched on earlier, there’s the flip side to the Gold one’s DJing: his radio work. In the age of cheap and easy downloads, foolproof music making software and now even podcasting (also known as radio on demand) is there any room left for the trusty wireless? “I don’t think you can liken production software to radio to be honest. Radio will continue to be a driving force for music because we do have the net, we do have DAB. Mediums which serve people who couldn’t listen before. The broadcasters who are a legendary part of the dance scene are basically a trusted brand in their own right. They provide 2 hours of tunes they know their audience will want to hear or will hear and love for the first time, communicate with them, be mates with them etcetera etcetera. So radio will always play a part in people’s lives providing the specialist shows continue on Radio 1, Galaxy, Kiss, Juice, Vibe, whatever. And then when people get older, they turn to older stations like Heart or Magic, where the presenter still identifies with the target audience.” So don’t throw it away just yet!
To close off I wanted to talk about Graham’s own discoveries. A little known fact about Graham is he’s like the Arsene Wenger of the dance music world, sourcing soon to be world beating DJs and producers, having discovered classic “Liberation” written by an almost (at the time) unknown Matt Darey. He was also the first UK promoter to bring not just world number 1, Tïesto, but also Ferry Corsten and Armin Van Burren to our shores, so who else has he got up his sleeve? “The great thing about the people I’ve discovered was that they were hardly known at all. I haven’t heard any talent that would fit into that category lately, not saying there isn’t, but I haven’t been in a situation where I would have heard (someone). Some people already being talked about though include Adam White, Mark Etesone, Tektonik, Fred Baker and Kaste.” As he pointed out before, these days you need to be producing to just get your head above the parapet.
Peachy Raver
But there must be something that really excites Graham for the future, something to really get his bells ringing? “Getting a shag,” is one of them but just like a kid in a sweet shop, once he’s got his head around Logic 7 and Abelton Live down in his new studio, “Being able to produce like Ferry, Armin and PVD all on my own!”
Adam Symbiosis 
Photos courtesy of djsymbiosis and Graham Gold.
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Other Features By Adam Symbiosis:
Godskitchen Xmas Party: Reviewed
The Big Chill: Reviewed
Tiësto at Victoria Park: Reviewed
Lilly Allen: Reviewed
Digital Society May 2009: Reviewed
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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