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Features
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| Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - 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! |
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Innovate 1st birthday preview: interview with promoters Nick Sentience and Craig Paxton
Reported by Simon Rutherford
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Submitted 12-07-05 01:37
Innovate: To begin or introduce (something new) for, or as if, for the first time.
Emerging from the stables of one of the UK’s leading hard dance promotional teams is one of the most consistent and forward thinking events in the capital – Innovate. Not content with following the tried-and-tested methods of bringing in the same crowds to listen to the same music month after month, an event policy based around only the most up-front and cutting-edge djs and music possible has ensured its clientele not only grow steadily in numbers, but also broaden in diversity from day one. 12 months on from its inception and we see it standing consistently tall as one of the most popular events in London.
This weekend sees their 1st year celebration at London’s favourite club The Fridge, so promoters Nick Sentience and Craig Paxton took some time out to explain the thinking behind what’s made Innovate what it is today.
For those that have had their head in the sand for the past 12 months, explain to us what ‘Innovate’ is and what styles of music it’s based on.
Nick: Innovate is about exactly what the word says; it is a party dedicated to any producers or djs that have been responsible for Innovation and pushing forward thinking dance music. This could mean you will hear a DJ play a set of brand new CDR’s that are fresh out of the studio or you may hear classic anthems form the Prodigy or Underworld. You can also expect breathtaking live sets form class acts such as The Edison Factor where James Lawson and Matt Williams will use an instrument like an electric guitar or a trombone to add a new dimension to their set. Basically you can hear your favourite all time tunes from dance music legends, and brand new material that won’t be out for 6 months.
Who’s involved in the promotion and running of the event, and who have you had assistance from over the year?
Craig: The promotional team for Innovate is like one big extended family and has continued to grow from the initial group of four: Nick, Nicki S, Trevor McLachlan and myself. Elz is an integral part of the team, and has been for quite some time, as well as Mark (adrenaline overdrive) and more recently – Anetta (anushka007) has come onboard as one of the promotional team and continually impresses us on a daily-basis with her drive and enthusiasm. Over the past year we have worked very closely with Terry from Visual Reality who has provided some amazing lighting shows and visual displays to blow peoples minds. Everyone at the Fridge and Most Wanted have been fantastic and very supportive and this event really is the culmination of a lot of people’s hard work and desire to provide something a little bit different and put on a party that everyone can enjoy.
Would you say your ideas have been significantly influenced by other events you’ve been to over the years, or have you made a point of trying to do everything new?
Nick: I would say that in music and life in general you can only perform on the basis of past experiences and then add to them. When I was 15/16, it was The Prodigy and Carl Cox in the breakbeat hardcore scene that energised me and made me want to do music. Then I loved the antipodean energy in the London hard dance scene when Nukleuz and Frantic were starting their peak, and now there are producers like Astrix and the Hom-Mega label that are blowing my mind with events such as Psychedelic Academy. Also the people I work with now such as Lee Bridle and Craig Paxton at Most Wanted, BK and Ed Real at Riot (where we are all in the same studio again), James and Matt at Edison Factor, Nicki S at Quality Trax and Damian at Heat. Plus many more close friends and colleagues who constantly inspire and collaborate to make Innovate a culmination of all our ideas.
Who are your resident djs and what were your reasons behind choosing them to represent Innovate?
Craig: First of all Nick Sentience was chosen as he has always been known across the board as the producer who constantly reshapes the harder end of music. He can turn his hand to all genres including breakbeat, trance, techno and harder styles. We wanted his vision to be represented in a club night, and his live shows, dj sets and input into the line ups and production have set the tone for the events from the beginning. Secondly, Phil Reynolds was taken on as Phil has rocked London for years and we believe this: if you have Phil, you have a party! He is a very talented producer and can always offer the perfect set to get the place rocking.
Nick Sentience & Phil Reynolds
In such a cut-throat industry it’s vitally important to give the clubbers something that will make them come back time and time again. How do you keep your events fresh, and what do you do to make them stand out from the crowd?
Craig: I think to add to the last question, the first point is that people know Nick and Phil will always deliver sets that have fresh material and enough classics that the clubbers hear their favourite tracks and new tracks that they will be buying in the shops in the coming months. Then with our other talented guests such as James Lawson, Nicki S, Ian Betts, Lee Haslam, BK, Andy Farley, Scot Project and many more that are asked to play the music that they really believe in and to express themselves creatively.
What would you say have been the highlights of your first 12 months?
Craig: Every event has been special, but a few have been really outstanding. The Nick Sentience live shows and his 3 hour set, Phil Reynolds playing so well that he was offered a residency, Nicki S delivering a superb finale set after Nick Sentience, Phil Reynolds and Andy Farley had just rocked it: that was a tough line up to follow, but she excelled herself. Also, consistently achieving great feedback on forums such as Harderfaster makes all the hard work worthwhile. It is basically just a club where all our friends and clubbers can meet up and have a great laugh with fantastic music!
Hindsight can sometimes be a bitch. Looking back, is there anything you would have liked to have done differently (or not at all!?!)?
Craig: No. The events have grown organically and we are all getting a lot of enjoyment out of them and the people we work with. In every business there are ups and downs but this is where the real fun is and your biggest learning experiences are.
A few of you are both dj/producers as well as promoters. Have you found that promoting your own event has been a positive thing for your djing careers, and have you followed a common route and used your position to offer set-swaps with other dj/promoters as is often the case (and sole reason with some!)?
Nick: We don’t do dj swaps. This isn’t a political party. We put it on to express the music we love and we invite guest djs that we genuinely want to hear and because they will add something to the night be it their superb mixing skills, productions, musical, selection, whatever makes them innovative and inspires us.
For a few years now ‘hard dance’ has been a crossbreed of house, techno and trance, but these genres in their pure form seem to be making a massive mark on what’s being heard in the clubs around London at the moment. Do you think the ‘hard dance’ sound has reached its creative peak and at a loss for fresh ideas and sounds, or do you think it’s as strong and innovative as it ever has been?
Nick: I would say that while society is structured into a system where the majority of people have to work very hard Monday to Friday 9-5 jobs, there will always be the need to let loose at the weekend, and for this reason, clubbing and especially euphoric, uplifting, banging dance music will always be in demand and keep growing. Everything will move in cycles and there will always be peaks and troughs as new parties and producers and djs come and go, but at the end of the day, people want to have fun and hard dance music in whatever form – techno, trance, hard house or breaks will provide that niche. Long may it live, I say. I have heard people say for 5 years “hard dance is dying,” but we’re still here, and from what I just saw in Ibiza, the demand for it is at an all time high. People just want to have it large on the dancefloor with their friends.
How do you see the ‘hard dance’ scene evolving over the coming months?
Craig: I see the producers and djs with more energy and enthusiasm than ever. Nick Sentience and BK have just moved into new studios next to each other to work together more and we all know where that can lead! James Lawson, Ed Real, Andy Farley, Nicki S, Matt Williams, Anne Savage, Lisa Lashes, Tidy Trax, Most Wanted, Extreme Euphoria, Marco V, Eddie Halliwell, Judge Jules, Mauro Picotto, and many more will continue to bring new ideas to the table, and with clubs like Amnesia, Eden, Es Paradis, Turnmills, The Fridge and The End backing the sound it can only get better.
Another genre currently making its way into the Hard Dance scene in a big way is one of the most underground scenes of the past few decades – psy trance. Some say it could spoil the psy scene by making it too ‘commercial’, whilst others argue it can only be a good thing as it opens itself up to a whole new generation of clubbers that have been none the wiser for too long. Which side of the fence do you sit on, and is this a sound you’re keen to take on yourselves?
Nick: Personally, Astrix, X-noise, Xerox and Illumination and the other Hom-Mega artists and new wave psy-trance acts have blown me away. Ed Real and James Lawson introduced me to it, and we’ve all been playing it all over the world. I think their production and fresh ideas kicked hard dance up the arse in a big way. Some people will always complain about everything, but I’m interested in open-minded people who want to share ideas and keep everything fresh. Psy-trance has added more ideas to the pot and that can only be a good thing. I say to people who complain about these things: stop bitching, get on the dancefloor with your friends and have some fun, because you only live once!
Moving forward, what do you see being your biggest influences musically and where would you like to take the sound of Innovate?
Craig: Our motto and music policy is ‘Inspire – create – innovate’. We plan to keep pushing the harder sound of dance music be it trance, techno, psy-trance, hard dance. You will find the newest and freshest productions from the worlds top dance producers as well as the music that has inspired the scene to get to where it is today.
Are there any big-name DJs you’d like to have play for you?
Craig: We’ve already had a lot of our favourite artists down to play such as: Andy Farley and BK but we love the work of Marco V, Astrix, John OO Flemming, Tim Healy aka Coburn, John Askew and Goodgreef resident, Eddie Halliwell. Over the coming years we would like to invite artists such as these down for a set.
Any plans on taking Innovate further than just London?
Nick: There have been offers from Australia & USA promotion groups to take Innovate abroad. But at this stage we are content with focusing on London. London is and always has been at the forefront of the music scene. It’s a hub of creativity. All the djs involved regularly play all around the globe, Innovate provides a home for them. A place where they can get to know the crowd and diversify.
And lastly, birthdays are traditionally all-out parties where the stops get pulled and anything goes. What do you have in store for us for the 16th?
Craig: We have the musical geniuses James Lawson & Matt Williams performing their show stopping, mind blowing & roof raising Edison Factor Live Show. No live show is ever ordinary but this duo raises the stakes and push things into a new dimension. Not only are they two of the scenes most talented producers they are also accomplished musicians and blend the use of live instruments (drums, guitar and trombone) plus live vocals into their performance. Seeing is believing, and it’s all class.
The Edison Factor – James Lawson & Matt Williams
For a very special birthday treat, Innovate resident, Nick Sentience will be pulling out all the stops with an exclusive 4 decks + fx + drum machine set. Always at the forefront of innovation, he never disappoints. For the birthday, Nick will be abusing dj technology to the extreme and pushing the floor to new levels with this virtuoso performance. Expect to hear the most cutting edge hard dance music blended with all your favourites and a few surprises that he has up his sleeve.
All of this along with a world class dj line up: Phil Reynolds – a man who needs no introduction; Lee Haslam – Tidy Trax label manager and star of the North; Ian Betts – Fresh from rocking Cream @ Amnesia, Ibiza. Plus the very best of local DJ talent!!
And there’s still more . . . but you’ll have to get down and check it out yourself!
Thanks very much for your time guys and I wish you all the success in the future. See you at the bar!
Photos courtesy of Most Wanted
INNOVATE’S 1ST BIRTHDAY!
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On:
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Saturday 16th July 2005
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At:
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The Fridge [map]
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From:
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10:00pm - 6:00am
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Cost:
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£12 Advance Tickets. More on the door
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Website:
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www.innovateuk.net
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Ticket Info:
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Web & Credit Card Bookings Club Directory: 0800 007 5151 www.ticketweb.co.uk / 08700 600 100 www.e-listlondon.com
Info Lines 07930845738 / 07971970698 / 07932982233 craig@mostwanteduk.com, elz@innovateuk.net
Outlets Cyberdog Camden: 020 7482 2842 Mad Records: 020 7439 0707 Kinetic: 020 7323 5303
For GuestList visit www.innovateuk.net / www.e-listlondon.com or email elz@innovateuk.net
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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Innovate celebrates it’s first birthday! First of all, a big thank you to everyone, especially the clubbers who have made all the parties as memorable as they were.
Innovate has entertained over 11’000 people since it’s inception in July of 2004. Now, 12 months and 9 parties later, after consistently redefining the boundaries and setting new standards for high quality entertainment, we are delighted to invite you to join us in celebration of our 1 year anniversary.
A hand picked selection of the finest DJs, performers and entertainers the scene has to offer, combined with an unbelievable stage show and lighting extravaganza, courtesy of the awesome Visual Reality, will ensure you leave your Innovate experience with a feeling of total satisfaction.
Inspire – Create – Innovate
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Flyer:
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Other Features By Simon Rutherford:
Tidy Euphoria Album Launch Preview, Sat 28 May @ Turnmills
Edison Factor interview: a preview to Saturday's live set @ Twisted
Polysexual preview: interview with Hinsley
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: Nikki S on 12th Jul 2005 08:15.43
Wicked interview boyz!
**Happy Birthday Innovate**
From: Dubster on 12th Jul 2005 08:27.56
Happy Birthday to the best night there is. A big thanks to all those of you who have put the effort into giving us clubbers exactly what we want.
Saturday cannot get here quick enough !!
From: Richard Launch on 12th Jul 2005 09:24.22
Bring it on folks....! You two and the Innovate Team have pushed fresh air into what was fast becoming a very stale scene.
 
From: Stevi D on 12th Jul 2005 09:44.21
Happy Birthday INNVOVATE!
From: Mike Harris on 12th Jul 2005 12:04.40
Well done guys!!
One of my most enjoyable sets ever was for Innovate!
Its a fantastic party, keep up the good work!!
From: Lars on 12th Jul 2005 13:55.04
Happy Birthday to one of the best parties in town
From: Type 1 on 12th Jul 2005 15:03.11
Kewality interview! Both proper Leg Ends!  Love your attitude to the scene! Big up ya mums!!!
From: anushka007 on 12th Jul 2005 15:04.51
Great Interview
I have always said that Innovate = Quality and thats what Innovate is all about 
Happy Birthday boys and girls and thanks for giving me this opportunity to work with one of the finest crews I have ever met.
I say: bring it ON!!!!
From: K.A.R.L. on 12th Jul 2005 15:12.53
Innovate has gone from strength to strength this year with some cracking line-ups and some amazing parties. Am looking forward to Saturday and future parties......
Keep up the good work....
From: Dave Austin on 12th Jul 2005 17:21.14
Superb interview guys!
Looking forward to catching up with everyone on Sat.
From: Gordon Darley on 12th Jul 2005 22:02.09
Wicked interview, and a wicked party, can't wait for Saturday night
From: Dani T on 13th Jul 2005 08:13.51
This is gonna be a wicked birthday bash - can't wait til Saturday - Innovate has got some fantastic people behind it and that contributes to the wicked parties! It is gonna rock!!  Good interview too!
From: Damage on 13th Jul 2005 09:21.29
yeah cant wait to read and see the photos, fuck I hate being home!!
From: Damage on 13th Jul 2005 09:23.51
yeah cant wait to read and see the photos, fuck I hate being home!!
From: Charlie Bradley on 13th Jul 2005 10:50.17
OUTSTANDING line up in both rooms - bring it on!
From: Charlie Rox on 13th Jul 2005 13:26.48
Innovate for me is the main party in london that really delivers the goods in terms of music and crowds, a big special happy birthday and so looking forward to playing in the ice box, intend to seriously rox the room to max effect!!!! big huge thanx to craig et all for booking me again, we are gonna have it LARGE this wkend!!!!
From: onthebass on 13th Jul 2005 23:51.27
Get in lads! Great interview and insight into the ideology of Innovate I can only sit here and wish I was in London for this party. /looks forward to reading the review next week!
From: PEDRA ~>> DRUM TRAX <<~ on 14th Jul 2005 03:35.35
Great night , great djs
I wish I was there
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Andy T on 14th Jul 2005 11:17.40
Happy guys The 1st time I ever went to an Innovate event I knew it was going to be one of my new favourite promotions. This Saturday's line up is fantastic, prepare yourselves for one busy night !!
From: VinDiesel on 14th Jul 2005 12:15.30
Happy birthday to one of my favourite events. I remember how i had so much fun at the very first Innovate a year ago. Since then every Innovate has delivered music of the highest quality
Great interview guys
i cant wait for Saturday!
From: Donna Birt on 14th Jul 2005 13:17.12
Niiice one xx
What a line-up... looking forward to this weekend!
Hi TC xx
From: Lysa on 14th Jul 2005 18:56.13
Happy Birthday Innovate! Great interview and photos. Bring it on Saturday!
From: AdrenalineOverdrive on 14th Jul 2005 20:27.19
That is one awesome article. Nice one guys.
Let's rock the Frdiage big time Saturday 
From: Red5 on 15th Jul 2005 14:15.10
What can I say that no one else has? I'm thinking Shazzam!
Happy Birthday Innovate, my favourite hard dance party in London! I'll be rocking it for you come Saturday. Be early, Be lucky!
From: Paul Wilkerson on 16th Jul 2005 11:07.04
Excellent Interview, inspiring! Will be getting my arse in the studio straight away.
From: Minx! on 17th Jul 2005 11:37.11
Happy birthday Innovate!!! Have enjoyed working with you over the past year...sorry I wasn't there to celebrate with you all. I'm sure it went superbly!!!  Andi
From: Kushdi on 19th Jul 2005 19:13.24
Absolutely top night!
From: Busta on 21st Jul 2005 12:31.45
was a very cool partaaaay
nice one Teaminnovate
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