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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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The Gathering & Implosion: psy trance returns to its spiritual home @The Fridge
Reported by HarderFaster
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Submitted 25-10-06 22:59
This Friday night sees a very special coming together of two of London’s finest parties: The Gathering vs Implosion join forces to launch Brahmaputra, the first CD from Implosion promoter Jay OM’s Free-Spirit label. Compiled by label manager Jay, it contains nine tracks of brand new cutting-edge psy trance. With neither promotion having been featured before on HarderFaster, it was definitely time to see what they’ve been up to, and what they’ve got in store for this Friday’s shenanigans.
With the Gathering having just celebrated their sixth birthday at The Fridge with friends Torque, they are certainly no strangers to throwing a good party. First we posed the questions to Gathering’s Miguel, who filled us in on the promotion’s history, crew and djs. Secondly, Implosion’s Jay OM spoke to us about the forthcoming Free-Sprit CD launch, the history of Implosion, as well as his own musical career.
The Gathering’s Miguel
The Gathering @ Fridge Halloween 03
You’ve been organising and promoting events for six years now, recently celebrating your sixth birthday at the Fridge with Torque. Happy belated birthday! Where did it all start for the Gathering? Can you remember where and when you threw your first party?
Thank you, and I must say it has been a great 6 years. Actually I started promoting in 1999 under a different party name and only in 2000 The Gathering was born. It all started for me at the infamous George IV and I had my first party there towards the end of 1999, only a few months after Logic was born. I still remember that night all too well as it was rammed with 400–500 people there. Between 2000–2002 we carried doing parties at the George until we were offered to do the Fridge on the first Friday of 2003, which as only 4 days after New Year’s and everybody (including myself) thought that the place would be empty, but to our surprise and delight we had more than 900 people that night. Following this, we were given 6 more dates at the Fridge and roughly at the same time my friend Felix joined The Gathering and has been a part of the promotion ever since.
Why the name ‘The Gathering’? Did you know there was once a dance music festival in New Zealand of the same name? Do you ever run event on other countries?
Good question! Well it was always our intention to hold parties in which people from all walks of life would enjoy together, a gathering of like minded individuals who enjoy the music and each other’s company without any barriers.
At the time I didn’t know about the music festival in New Zealand, but I do recall some years ago I received an email from a Kiwi girl who asked whether we were part of the New Zealand promotion.
So far we haven’t run any events in other countries, but this has always been on the table and we did talk about doing events in Europe and in Eastern Europe, especially as the dance music scene there is blooming at the moment. Maybe one day.
Who are the Gathering crew? Do you see yourself as promoters or rave monkeys?
Well I started The Gathering in 2000 by myself. In 2002 a friend of mine, DJ Hazchem, joined my efforts and in 2003 another friend, Felix, joined the promotion as well. Nowadays The Gathering is me, Felix (HF’s Chill) and most recently Pamela (HF’s pam@pam). And our crew, well too many to name but they all great and without them there wouldn’t be The Gathering!
And what are we? Well I would say clubbers first and promoters later. Our main aim is to have fun and money comes second.
Felix & Pam & Gathering crew
Did you always plan on being a promoter or was it something that you fell into?
I started clubbing in London in the mid-90s and at the time I never dreamed of being a promoter. In 1999 I met Dave Logic and attended a few Logic parties at The George and from there it was easy to start my own party. So you can say that I just fell into it
Who are The Gathering resident djs? What kinds of style do they play?
We have quite a few residents djs, dj M.A.N aka Psyman (well that’s me), Max Alien Trax, Toxigen, Hazchem, El Greko, Prozak, Mameco. Our music policy, well we are flexible and like a variety. We like dance music of course, but we like to hear different styles during the night and not the same tunes over and over again. For example, at our last party in the Fridge in September we had a 50/50 mix of techno and hard trance and for this party, well its going to be 100% psy trance. At our next instalment at the Fridge on the 24 November 2006 it’s going to be a mix of trance and hard house. It’s all about variety!
Over the last six years you’ve thrown some wicked events. What have been the highlights of the last six years for you?
Well the first party we had at the Fridge on the 4th January 2003 was a big highlight as we didn’t expect anybody to turn up but to our surprise some 900 people did turn up. Another wicked night was our party at SeOne called Imagine in October 2004, which was the biggest party we ever done and it was great having 2000 people there all enjoying themselves.
DJ M.A.N (Miguel) playing at Imagine @ SeOne Halloween 04
When and where was your favourite party? And your worst?
My best parties, well as above I would say our first party at the Fridge in 2003 and SeOne in 2004 and only last month at the Fridge — that was wicked, much better then expected. Our worst one, well it will have to be Imagine at the Rocket NYE 2004, was a great party for the crowd but as it was NYE the expenses were too great so for us the promoters it wasn’t such a good night.
What, in your opinion, makes the perfect party?
The crowd, the crowd the crowd and of course the music. And if the crowd is great than the atmosphere is amazing and the party is a success regardless of door numbers.
You’re now throwing parties regularly at the Fridge, seen by many as the spiritual home of London’s underground dance scene. Why the move the Fridge? What is it you think is so special about the venue?
Well we already had 7 great parties at the Fridge in 2003/04 and consider it to be our second home. We always wanted to be back and the new management actually allowed that to happen, which is great as it is our spiritual home, as well as well as the spiritual home of the underground dance scene.
This Friday sees you and Implosion present Brahmaputra? What is Brahmaputra?
Brahmaputra is many things but most importantly it is a collaboration with our good friend Jay Om of Implosion & Free-Spirit Records. We had been planning a party together for some years now and finally we get the chance to do it.
How did you and Implosion put the lineup together for this Friday? Why should HFs reading this come to the party?
It took us a while to agree a lineup as we wanted djs from both promotions to play and also it was important to incorporate djs and live acts that contributed to the Free-Spirit CD compilation which we are proud to launch this Friday.
This will be the first major psy trance party at the Fridge in years and it will be something special promise!
The Gathering @ Fridge July 03
Free Spirit Records and Implosion’s Jay OM
Jay OM & Bridget
Hi Jay, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for HF. First, can you please tell us, what does ‘Brahmaputra’ mean to you?
Brahmaputra is one of the great rivers of Asia, starting its journey high up in the mountains of Tibet, then entering India and eventually reaching the sea as part of the sacred river Ganges at the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. Music to me is like a river, floating up and down and I am like a kayak on the river. I let the force of the music take me where it wants, but at the same time I give it directions, left and right, forward and backwards so that I can arrive at the other side safely and still have a good time.
How long have you been running Free-Spirit records and what is the concept behind it? Given the present state of the dance scene, with record companies falling and digital downloads being msned by the kids, how do you stay afloat?
I started Free-Spirit with Bridget, my wife, in October 2003. The concept behind it all is to build a collective of artists and djs from the UK, Europe and worldwide, aiming to create and provide access to a combined set of resources not available to them as individuals, making it just a little easier for all them to concentrate on what they truly love, which is the music! We work solely within the psychedelic scene and luckily there are still a lot of purists who only want the original on CD.
We know that it is inevitable that our tunes will end up on the internet at some stage, somehow, and be available for download and this is something we just have to accept I think. Hopefully, at the same time, the more people that know about our music the better, and maybe next time they will buy a copy instead. Other than that, we are supported by an international distributor, Arabesque Distribution, to make sure our CDs are available worldwide, and we use a PR team, Triskele Management, to make sure we are known worldwide too.
Free-Spirit started out primarily about artist management. Who are the key artists on your books? Do you spend much time trying to get them bookings, or is that not what it’s all about?
As a result of starting out in artist management we have carried over quite a large rosta of djs, including: Toxigen, Marchello, Mish-Mash, VOR, Psyman, Mad Theo, Meko, Phil Able, Edoardo, Nova, DJ Sam, Bedouin, Loic, Sangohan, Fordy, Evil Twins and Simo, who are still linked to us now that we are a record label.
We are however now focusing primarily on our producers: M-Klome, currently working on a solo album due for release on Free-spirit Records at the beginning of next year, M-Theory (Marchello and Monastic Squid), Star~Trip (Journey and Evil Twins) and Journey (myself). These are the life force of Free-Spirit and they make us who we are, however, the djs are still a vital part of Free-Spirit as they are ones that make sure the music is out there for everyone to hear. Our regular Implosion events are one of the platforms we use to make sure all our artists are able to play on a regular basis.
Jay OM
Three years ago in 2003 you studied Sound Engineering and Music Technology. How did this change your approach to music and your sound (if at all…)?
Studying at IMW changed my point of view on production and producers. It opened my mind and showed me new frontiers, it gave me an understanding of just how much work there is behind a track and the intricacies of making music. It also gave me an insight into the ins and outs of the music industry and some good connections too.
Why psy trance? Have you always been intro psy trance or is it a new sound for you?
No I haven't always been into Psytrance. I started dj’ing hard trance in 1999, then my sound evolved over time and I began to play psy trance in 2001. There is one thing that has remained constant for me, the foundation behind it all has always been trance.
You produce under the name of Journey. Could you please describe the Journey sound and tell us about your work?
To me, the journey is about travelling and floating with trance music. As a producer this is my aim. I start with a loop and then I float around waiting for the wave to take me into a different area and with different approaches. I would define my sound as groovy, driving and funky. I also work with Evil Twins on a collaborative project called Star~Trip.
How did you put the first Free-Spirit CD together? It says in your blurb that the tunes are all brand new and specifically written for it. Did you know as soon as you heard the tunes that you wanted to sign them, or was it difficult to narrow it down?
When Bridget and I started out with Free-Spirit we spent the first two years networking, making contacts, spreading the word about who we were and where we were going, thus creating the groundwork for the launch of the label. By utilising the contacts we had gained over this period we were able to select the artists we thought would be best suited to the sound we were hoping to achieve with Brahmaputra. The album was 9 months in the making, some of the tunes we knew were perfect the first time we heard them, others we asked for small tweaks and changes or alternatives and from that we narrowed it down. But I think the finished product is a killer album and speaks for itself.
Beyond the Reality, Switzerland
You’ve been dj’ing and promoting since the late 80s. For those reading this who don’t know you, how did it all start? Did you always dream of making music or was it something you fell into? What do you think you’d be doing if you had a different calling?
I have always been very into my music and got my first taste of performing on stage in Milan where I used to play guitar in some of the locals. Through a friend of mine I got the opportunity to spin some tunes at a local radio station in the late 80’s and this was where my love of the decks began. I studied graphic design in Italy but always hankered after the desire to DJ and be more involved with music, so in 1998 I packed my bags and came to London to follow my dream. The rest as they say, is history.
How did Implosion come about? Can you remember where and when your first party was? Who else do you work with on Implosion?
Implosion was the name of an Italian band that played hardcore. The singer, Panetta was a friend of mine and when I asked him once what ‘implosion’ meant he said the meaning of implosion for him was the sensation of the beat collapsing inside him. I feel this when I play my music and so named my party after them. The first Implosion was held @George IV on the 29th August 2003.
Implosion has grown considerably over the years and we now have quite a large team working with us, from flyerers to setup crew to IT support, journalists, PR and décor.
Do you consider yourself a promoter or a party animal? A clubber or a raver?
I don’t think I can remember when the last time was that I went out clubbing just for the sake of going out, so I wouldn’t consider myself a raver or a clubber. I consider myself a promoter first and foremost and also an artist. However, I think there has to be a party animal inside for you to succeed in this industry or you would lose touch with the people.
Jay OM by Pam@Pam
Given the innovative nature of your first CD, you’ve got a very special line-up for Friday night. Ultravoice live and Polaris live are a rare treat for Londoners indeed! How did you meet up with these artists and bring them to London?
I first had contact with Avi (Ultravoice) in January of this year when I was invited to play at a Com.Pact label party in Luzern, Switzerland. I was very impressed by his live set and we stayed in contact afterwards. When we began working on Brahmaputra he was one of the first artists I contacted for a track for the album. He has been very keen to come and play in London for some time now as it has been over 3 years since he last played here, so he was a natural choice for the label launch night. Arno (Polaris) and I met via Neurobiotic records, the label he is signed to, who we have close ties with. I heard him playing several times over the past 2 years and this year he had a super jump in his production, his LIVE at Sonica2006 was the best I heard this summer. I immediately approached him for a track for the compilation to complete the journey.
Your main room on Friday is made up of live acts and psy trance, while the second room is progressive trance/down tempo. Was it difficult to have such different rooms? Where will you be spending most of your time on Friday night?
Both rooms feature one style of music, trance, thereafter it can be progressive, down tempo, psychedelic and full-on, but the basics behind them all are trance. So, no, it is not difficult to bring them all together. I think you’ll find me spending my time equally in both rooms looking for smiles and making sure that everyone is having fun.
As well as the usual djs and live acts, Implosion and the Gathering are also known for putting that extra something into parties for their friends: free fruit, massage, décor, stalls and good vibes. It must be very difficult to co-ordinate these things on top of a usual club night. How do you manage to pull all these things together?
It takes sometime to organize it all, yes, but after 3 years of Implosion we have learnt how to co-ordinate it all so that it runs like well-oiled machine. I firmly believe that having those little extras, fruit, UV stalls, massage etc helps to create something which is vital to me and to our parties, a good vibe.
You’re also running an unexpected afterparty at the 414. Will you be cracking on at that or charging home for some much needed chill out?
Home?! No way! I'll be there till the very end. There will be plenty of time for chill after that.
Finally, why should HFs reading this come to the Fridge this Friday night? What Halloween treats do you have in store?
Well, if we haven’t managed to coax them with the things said above, to have a fantastic musical journey with a delicious line-up which is not to be missed, magical decor by Pickle and friends and the guarantee that you’ll have a good time… Then all we can say is if you’ve ever been, you’ll go again, if you’ve never been, go now — it could change you life.
Love & Light Jay OM
Photos courtesy of Jay OM and the Implosion crew, Miguel and the Gathering crew and Pam@Pam. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Free-Spirit Vol.1 Brahmaputra CD Launch
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On:
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Friday 27th October 2006
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At:
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The Fridge [map]
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From:
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10pm -6 am
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Cost:
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£18 on the door
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Website:
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www.free-spiritrecords.com
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Ticket Info:
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Tickets £15+B/F from Access All Areas, Cyberdog, Camden Market, The Dream Temple, Camden Market,
Kinetic Little Portland Street, Soho.
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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IMPLOSION & THE GATHERING PRESENTS:
FREE-SPIRIT VOL.1 BRAHMAPUTRA CD LAUNCH
“BRAHMAPUTRA”
WHAT IS BRAHMAPUTRA?
Give up? Well, there are several correct answers but in this case, it is the forthcoming CD-compilation;
Free-Spirit Compilation Vol.1 – Brahmaputra (due for release 29/09/2006).
Compiled by Free-Spirit Recs. label manager Jay OM, nine tracks, from some of the hottest artists about.
Polaris, Tron, X-Control (Perplex project with DJ Kido), Ultravoice & Tactic Mind, plus, up-and-coming London localities, M-Theory (Cimi & Monastic Squid), Journey feat. Max Stellato, Star~Trip & M-Klome.
Brand-new tunes, specifically written, each one set to be a future-fave on dance-floors around the world, indoor and out.
That’s what.
Featuring Ultravoice LIVE, Polaris LIVE, Jay OM – playing a “showcase”, Alchemy Recs. label manager Shane Gobi, Marchello aka Cimi/M-Theory, PsyMan and Toxigen in the main room and Max Stellato LIVE, Giani, Alex Ampt, Bedouin, Evil Twins, Mish-Mash and Kate Pendragon in the Progressive Trance/Down Tempo Room.
Plus everything else you would expect to find at Implosion and The Gathering parties: stalls, good vibes, massage, decor transformation, free fruit, a fluffy, diverse dance-floor….good times.
…and, after all this, an unexpected After Party @Club414 featuring Ultravoice DJ Set, M-Klome DJ Set, Simo, Fordy and
Alien Trax vs PsyMan.
Friday 27th October 2006 10pm – 6am
@The Fridge, Town Hall Parade, Brixton Hill, London SW2 1RJ – Brixton Tube/Rail Station
Tickets £15+B/F from Access All Areas, Cyberdog, Camden Market, The Dream Temple, Camden Market,
Kinetic Little Portland Street, Soho. £18 on the door.
Limited Paying Guest List £15 email: implosion@free-spiritrecords.com
Info: Implosion +44 (0) 7961033809 - implosion@free-spiritrecords.com
The Gathering +44 (0) 7886919940 – gatheringpromotions@lycos.co.uk Fluoro market, dancers, fluffy and friendly crowd, plus magical transformation by Pickle & Friends
Visual Installations by Nuroptics – Laser by Mirror Images
www.free-spiritrecords.com – www.gatheringpromotions.co.uk – www.picklepromotions.com www.accessallareas.org - www.nuroptics.co.uk - www.mirrorimages-lasers.com
Hope to see you there!
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Flyer:
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Region:
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London
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Music:
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Trance. Psy Trance.
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DJ's:
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PSYCHEDELIC FLOOR
Ultravoice“LIVE” (Com.Pact Recs.-Israel)
Polaris “LIVE” (Neurobiotic Recs.- France)
Jay OM aka Journey/Star~Trip (Free-Spirit Recs.-UK-It)
Shane Gobi (Alchemy Recs.- SA-UK)
Marchello aka Cimi/M-Theory (Neurobiotic Recs.- Free-Spirit Recs.- It)
PsyMan(Free-Spirit Recs.- Portugal)
Toxigen (Free-Spirit Recs.- Portugal)
PROGRESSIVE TRANCE - DOWN TEMPO ROOM
Max Stellato “LIVE” (Frolic Productions-It)
Giani (Native State Records / ID Spiral- UK)
BEDOUIN (Free-Spirit Recs,. Planet Bob-UK)
Evil Twins aka Star~Trip (Free-Spirit Recs.- Russia)
Mish-Mash (Free-Spirit Recs.- France)
Kate Pendragon (Pendragon-UK)
Alex Ampt (SA)
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Other Features By HarderFaster:
HarderFaster Awards 2016 - The results are in!
HarderFaster Awards 2014 - The results are in!
Lashes, Dimples and the Brighton Music Conference
HarderFaster Awards 2013 - The results are in!
HarderFaster Awards 2012 - The results are in!
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: faeriebee on 26th Oct 2006 09:59.26
 Well done guys!!
From: CLK on 26th Oct 2006 10:57.58
Can't wait for the party - its true if you've never been to either of these parties you dont know what your missing!!
From: Brett Wood on 26th Oct 2006 12:04.42
Go on Miguel! Aint seen ya for a while hope all is good!!!
From: bobbelhat on 26th Oct 2006 13:26.17
eyes down for a full house jay. we gona rock em.
From: Prozak on 26th Oct 2006 17:20.53
All looking good, have a great time guys, i'll be in bulgaria, sorry  xxx
From: Ian Edwards on 26th Oct 2006 17:39.11
cool. 
From: James Jaye on 27th Oct 2006 02:03.07
Wicked stuff Migs, Felix and rest of the crew. Always great parties and a pleasure to play at. Best of luck for the future 
From: Fordy on 27th Oct 2006 11:39.18
Nice 1 Dudes! Really looking Fordyforward 2 it, c u on the dancefloor!
From: Centurian on 28th Oct 2006 10:13.01
Good work guys, i've been to a few Implosions and they are great parties, very colourful decors with colourful people too. Big shout to Jay and the rest of the crew, keep up the good work, the good times rolling and the parties rocking!!!
C
From: quantumluke on 30th Oct 2006 21:29.53
well done guys, sory i could not be there i am in cardiff but it sounds like it was a really good party
From: migs on 1st Nov 2006 15:12.17
Nice one guys and thanks for the support over the years,
and thank u very much to Tara for the feature
From: Jay OM on 3rd Nov 2006 09:14.30
Yeah it was a goody one, ehehe..
thanks for the interview Tara.
..and a super thanks goes to all of you that support Free-Spirit and Implosion!!
Love ya all!
Be cool,
Jay
From: sexyminx on 3rd Nov 2006 19:10.51
 to you all. Was a very busy night. Nice one
From: nrg hia on 7th Nov 2006 13:35.51
Wicked!!! n 
From: ViKa on 24th Nov 2006 14:42.14
Well done newbie Pam and of course Miguel,Felix and Jay Om(not so newbi) :
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