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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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Chemistry Preview with Nicki S
Reported by benz
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Submitted 19-04-05 22:35
Nicki S, also known as Mrs. Nick Sentience, is a highly acclaimed DJ who plays right across the hard dance spectrum. She's been playing for under 2 years and has already amassed an impressive number of high-profile gigs under her belt in that short space of time. Her journey into the world of UK hard dance began several years back, in the realms of promotion, shortly after she arrived from London from Australia.
Over the past 4 years Nicki has been running promotions and club events at some of the capital's most prestigious venues, including Heaven, The Fridge, The Coronet and Mass. Her own brand night Endorphin saw residents Nick Sentience, Tara Reynolds, Ali Wilson and Donna Birt rise to fame. Whilst Release (co-owned and promoted by BK & Andy Farley) saw the UK’s top and well established DJs such as Andy Farley, BK, Anne Savage, Pete Wardman, Dave Randall, Dave Cross take to the decks.
May 1st will see Nicki play for Frantic at the long awaited Chemistry at The SeOne in London, in a special back-to-back set with another highly talented female Antipodean, Donna Birt. Expect some juicy techno and some filthy hard house. I caught up with Mrs. S to find out a bit more about her, and about how she ended up with one of her all-time musical heroes....
Where are you from and how did you get involved in the hard dance scene?
I was born in Melbourne and have been clubbing for about 9 years now but discovered the UK hard house & hard trance sound when I came to London in 1999.
I first got involved in club promotion in 2000 with a more mainstream – Judge Jules / Seb Fontaine – type club night at Hanover Grand. In 2001 I was asked to be involved in a new night starting at The Fridge – ‘Endorphin UK’. The ‘Endorphin UK’ launch party was a sell out and we had over 1400 people in the Fridge. My resident DJs were Nick Sentience, Tara Reynolds & Ali Wilson. Later I took on Miss Donna Birt for her first residency.
In 2002, alongside promoting Endorphin, BK & Andy Farley invited me to get involved with co-promoting their night ‘Release’ at Fire (formerly Viaduct) and I teamed up with the Knowwhere guys & Jaquie from Submaniacs to put on a couple of massive charity event at Heaven & The Coronet in aid of CancerBacup.
In 2003 I became heavily involved in the planning and preparation of Nick Sentience’s new label Quality Trax and took on the role of record label manager. In the end Quality Trax took priority over the club nights so the promotions have had to take a back seat.
Last year saw me helping out with the launch of Innovate - a joint venture between Quality Trax & MostWanted promotions, and the launch of Endorphin AU in Sydney Australia. Innovate is an outlet for the artists that record on Quality Trax, a place for them to test out their hottest and freshest productions and push and develop their DJ style & sound.
Have you always had a big group of friends who are into the same music as you, or did you have to seek out like-minded souls?
Since moving to London all of my friendships have been made in clubs. We’re all like-minded people well into our music and always up for a party!
When did you come to England and what did you think the place at first?
I came to London in 1999 for a 3 month holiday and I’m still here. So it’s safe to say that I love it, even the winter . . . but even more so in the summer . . . especially with Ibiza only a stone's throw away.
Do you play much back home? Were you known as a DJ over there before you came to England?
I only started DJing about 1½ years ago and my first DJ tour to Australia was in Nov/Dec 2004. I played at Hard Kandy in Melbourne, Slinky Advetjah Festival in Brisbane and at the Endorphin AU launch party in Sydney. I’ve got another tour to Oz & NZ in the pipeline for later on this year.
How did you meet your other half? Was it over a shared love of dance music or did you know each other before he was a known DJ and producer?
We met at a favourite nightspot of ours called Solid Sunday, I was dancing in front of him wearing a cowboy hat (my outfits were well out there in those days…) and he thought the hat was hilarious and it got us talking. We confused the hell out of each other trying to introduce ourselves as we both have the same name! We were partying away for a while (by this time Nick was wearing the Cowboy Hat) when the DJ dropped his remix of Time To Burn, at which point I realized which Nick he was! After that we kept in contact as friends and over the next few months we just hit it off big-time and never looked back!
If you can believe it, the moment we met was accidentally snapped up on film by Miss Sally Prescott who spotted it in her collection and gave it to us on our wedding day. And here is the photo of us on the dance floor with Nick wearing the Cowboy Hat!
What styles of music do you play exactly?
I play such a huge range of dance music, depending on what club I’m at, what time I’m playing etc. I love everything from chunky funky techno to uplifting trance to banging hard house and hard dance. So long at its got groove, make you shake that ass and makes you want to put your hands in the air, it’s all good! But. . . the simple answer . . . high energy hard dance music!
Do you feel that DJs who play several styles have an advantage over DJs who play a more limited selection of music or not? Or the other way round perhaps?
That’s a tough one. Versatility is essential. But so is defining yourself as and artist.
As a promoter & label manager I can say that it is important for a DJ to be versatile. If you only play banging hard house at 155+ bpm there will be a limit to the number of clubs available to play at, especially if your just starting out as it is unlikely that a promotion will give the peak time sets to a new DJ, they’ll most likely give the new DJs the warm up sets. However, as an artist it is important not to compromise your musical style by playing tunes that you’re not into just because you think you have to, to get gigs. As a DJ you should love every tune in your records box, I know I do. If you're enthusiastic about the tracks you play the dance floor will respond to it.
Who do you really admire in the dance music scene? Have you always had musical heroes?
No I haven’t always had musical heroes. I used to be a keen equestrian so I had some Olympic heroes that I looked up to.
But in the dance music scene I admire the work of Lee Bridle from Most Wanted. He is an awesome & inspiring man and has accomplished so much over the years. He has broken some of the biggest artists (Mauro Picotto / Marco V / Tomcraft / John Flemming) and now has the largest and most impressive roster of hard dance DJs plus runs some of the best events on the UK and is set to launch events in conjunction with Tidy in Ibiza.
As far as DJs go, Phil Reynolds has been my favourite DJ since the first time I experienced one of his sets at Frantic at Camden Palace. His programming and tune selection made you feel as though you were hearing all of your favourite tunes one after another in just the order you wanted to hear them and they kept on taking you higher and higher. Simply mind-blowing!
And, at the risk of sounding cheesy, Nick Sentience. His DJ sets are flawless and his productions are second to none. A true innovator and a pioneer of the dance music scene that I love so much. It was amazing to realize that I was dancing to his tracks way before I met him.
What tunes are burning a hole in your record box at the moment?
Oooo … let me see there’s quite a few goodies!
-Jason Cortez ‘God’ – One of the most innovative pieces of hard dance this year.
-Nick Sentience & Andy Farley ‘Digitize’ – a chunk slab of tech / hard dance.
-A chunky slab of techno that Colin Barratt sent through on CDR but I have no idea what it’s called – but it’s wicked! You’ll definitely hear this at Chemistry!
-Matt Williams & Phil Reynolds ‘Salva Mea’ – takes the roof off every time.
-Paul Maddox ‘Edge of Insanity’.
-And a cheeky bootleg that I’ve done of ‘Encore Une Fois’
Are there any tunes that never leave your box?
Yep, there’s loads, but thankfully for my shoulders they are backed up onto CDR so I don’t have to carry a massive record bag!
Tunes that I don’t go any where with out (but don’t always get to play) are:
-Nick Sentience & Phil Reynolds ‘ Cause & Effect’
-SpinBall 1 & 3 (but I don’t get to play them often - they are filthy hard house)
-Legend B ‘Lost in Love’
-Don’t Stop
-Time to Burn
What have been your most enjoyable sets so far in your career? Is there one particular point or one particular tune you can remember dropping that really sticks out in your mind?
There are 4 sets that really stand out:
1. One of my first sets was at Tent Heaven - a massive out door rave in Norfolk. There were 7 arenas with a couple of thousand people there and the hard dance arena was the main tent. It had a real warehouse party crew feel and the sound system was fat. I got to play loads of Dave The Drummer stuff and remember dropping ‘Acid Disco’ and the place went mental. My set was supposed to be 1 ½ hrs but I ended up playing for 2 ½ and I finished up with the original Tinrib ‘Don’t Stop’.
2. At the launch party for Innovate, Greg Brookman came up to me at the start of my set and gave me a CDR of his new productions and said I had to play the tune he’d just finished with Guffy ‘Bring the Funk’. The riff was huge and the dance floor erupted. I had goose bumps all over.
3. The Double Drop ‘Imaginate’ launch party at The Fridge was a very special event. I was asked to play the closing set following Nick Sentience, Phil Reynolds, Paul Glazby & James Lawson. What a buzz! Phil played one of the best DJ sets I’ve ever heard! He was amazing. Then Nick came on and played a stormer in true Sentience style and I had to follow Nick. Instead of being nervous I was so inspired and couldn’t wait to have a piece of the action. The set went brilliant; there were loads of hands in the air and smiles on faces. The tunes that had moments for me during that set were Legend B ‘Lost in Love’ and ‘Cause & Effect’.
4. And more recently I dropped Tiesto ‘Flight 643’ at One. I was unsure how it would go down as I don’t normally get to play trance sets but this was a very techno based tune. The place went nuts and I got goose bumps all over!
May 1st sees you playing at Chemistry at The SeOne, in the hard-as-nails Convergence room. Have you ever played at this venue before? How would you describe it to someone who has never been before?
I’m a SeOne virgin DJ and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been there as a clubber and had a brilliant time. It’s huge but still feels really underground. But for some one that hasn’t been there before all I can recommend it to check it out yourself!
The main room at this event will be featuring several live PAs. Are there are hard dance artists who have yet to perform such a set that you would be particularly interested in seeing do so?
Live PAs are great and offer a whole new dimension to the club night and they are a great way to showcase an artist. I’m looking forward to seeing the launch of Edison Factor Live on the 7th May at The Fridge. All of their tunes are instant anthems. Their music is tough, fun & energetic and their production is so slick. I play a lot of their material in my sets and it always gets the dance floor rocking. Apparently James & Matt have all sorts of surprises up their sleeves so I’d recommend to anyone to check it out!
The House room at Chemistry will be hosted by one of London’s premier pirate radio stations - Passion FM. Do you feel that hard dance is generally underrepresented on the radio throughout the UK?
There are some great shows on some of the stations that feature dance music on the harder tip. On Radio 1 you have Fergie’s show from 11.00pm-1.00am on a Saturday night, which is supposed to be hard house but over the years is has developed into more of a techno / tech trance / hard house hybrid with the odd breaks tune thrown in for good measure. Whilst travelling to gigs I get to tune into it and I have caught some blinding sets. Radio 1 also has Dave Pearce Dance Anthems on a Sunday night, which is always a good blast from the past. Other good shows are ‘The House of Elise’ hosted by Nikki Elise on Vibe 105-108FM again on a Saturday night from 10pm-midnight (but you’ll only get this in the east of England). There’s John Askew’s show on Kiss FM on a Monday night. And more recently I discovered Tidy Radio, side-splitting entertainment & not stop laughs along with banging tunes, hosted by the Tidy Boys on Galaxy FM (You’ll have to check Tidy.com to find the band width for your area).
Other than that all of the other shows are on Internet radio. So considering there are 24hrs in the day & 7 days a week and the UK only delivers a handful of hours of hard dance on the radio I would say that we could do with better representation.
And finally, what’s your favourite part of London and why?
There are so many amazing parts to London. Holland Park, Camden Markets, The view from Waterloo Bridge. But my favourite is my drive home to the Docklands from the Fridge. I get to drive through Vauxhall past the MI5 (big James Bond fan!) up the Embankment past Big Ben, Parliament House, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. All of the main tourist attractions of London on my way home on a Sunday morning. And it reminds me that I am living in the most vibrant city in the world, where anything is possible.
Thanks To Sally & Nicki for the photos
Chemistry
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On:
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Sunday 1st May 2005
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At:
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S.E.One [map]
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From:
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20.00-06.00
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Cost:
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Saver Tickets £17 + BF Standard Tickets £20 + BF
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Ticket Info:
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Frantic HQ: 07949 618 035 / amanda@franticuk.com
Ticketweb: 08700 600 100 / www.ticketweb.co.uk
Club Tickets: 0870 246 1840 / www.clubtickets.co.uk
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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Chemistry
SEOne Complex
11 Weston Street Nearest Tube London Bridge
Bank Holiday Sunday 1st May 2005
21.00 – 06.00
www.seonelondon.com
After 7 months, Frantic’s legendary multi-arena show is back with a bang! Every Chemistry ALWAYS SELLS OUT and this first Chemistry of 2005 will be no different! After searching the capital high and low we decided that the SEOne Complex was the only venue capable of showcasing our jaw dropping line up! Only SEOne has a main stage big enough to bring you the ‘in yer face’ performances of the 4 BIGGEST PAs in our scene!
This is our only stand alone date at the fantastic SEOne Complex until November 2005 and we are going to kit it out with better sound, light, décor and high-octane performers than it has ever hosted before. A majestic main arena line-up will be complimented by a big-room set-up of the highest standards – FUNKTION ONE SOUND, mind bending lighting and lasers and stunning décor, and a purpose built stage for the live PA's!
Our streetwise, hard-as-nails sister act Convergence returns in Room 2 with a slew of uncompromising DJs, ready to twist your mind and make your feet stomp. Room 3 will provide the sexy House, slamming breaks and sleazy electro, but this time it will be provided by London’s biggest underground house station, Passion!
Chemistry is all about getting more for your money the anywhere else – dozens of A-Grade, diverse, and committed DJs ready to keep you jumping all night long, plus invigorating live PA’s! The summer season starts here. These are the moments we live for!!!
We strongly recommend you purchase advance tickets for Chemistry as this is a 2000 capacity event, not our normal 3000 capacity.
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Other Features By benz:
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Coburn bring their live show to UP^^
The return of The Colosseum
Modernism, Politburo and Sedition: Matthew Duffield’s manifesto
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: Type 1 on 20th Apr 2005 10:37.53
Wicked interview!!! quality dj! Loving the photo of nick in the hat!!! to funny!!!!
From: carl nicholson on 20th Apr 2005 10:51.17
Top chick! Well done Nicki!
From: Danny Gilligan on 20th Apr 2005 10:53.14
Niceone babe, extremely good interview
From: Hannah Wild on 20th Apr 2005 11:13.36
Smooth grooves babes!!!! x x x
From: paul jack on 20th Apr 2005 11:14.13
wicked stuff -! booooooooooooooooooooooooooowai Central!
From: Aaron Baskerville on 20th Apr 2005 11:44.04
Nice interview Nicki ... well done and tear it apart on Saturday x
From: DDK on 20th Apr 2005 12:30.57
Check your bad self  Good to see you guys again on Saturday
From: Stevi D on 20th Apr 2005 12:40.24
Shes inspiring to anyone on the scene, a pleasure to know, heeps of fun to play bck2bck with and the most gorgeous dj on the scene to date!!!!! i love your work Nicki,  And thanks for all your advice!
From: Lizzie Curious on 20th Apr 2005 13:07.53
what an interesting interview, nice one Nicki!! Cool pix too.
From: storky on 20th Apr 2005 13:27.22
wow what an amazing interview! it's incredible what one learns on here, I hope I can make it to chemistry. Good luck Nicki
From: benz on 20th Apr 2005 13:31.35
she gave a good interview dint she! Classic picture of her and Nick...very interesting look on both their faces ................:s
From: K.A.R.L. on 20th Apr 2005 14:14.56
Top interview Nicki......and it's always great fun when you play for us. The place certainly does go off when you're on the decks.....
From: Tina Martin on 20th Apr 2005 14:29.50
You go girl! Wicked interview and a top chick 
From: Danny Gilligan on 20th Apr 2005 16:03.12
Nicki are you doing the big fish little fish cardboard box dance in that pick with Nick ;o)
From: Nikki S on 20th Apr 2005 16:22.47
Thanks for all your comments guys 
And Danny Fanny those were the rave days . .so I probably was busting out some big fish little fish moves!! 
From: Richard Launch on 20th Apr 2005 19:47.09
Top stuff Nicki...! You is a legend.
From: Gordon Darley on 20th Apr 2005 20:59.29
Wicked interview I'll def be down thwe front for your set on Saturday
From: Duracell Bunny on 20th Apr 2005 21:06.15
Well done Babe you filthy caner! *bump*
From: dazler on 21st Apr 2005 00:36.49
Wicked inteview Fair play babe u rock!!
From: sallyp on 21st Apr 2005 03:41.19
hey beautiful nicki, have read this with a smile - that photo was the start of a friendship that will last forever - love you sista, salxoxo
From: sallyp on 21st Apr 2005 03:42.54
p.s (i came on to look at the story of ketamine and found you, hilarous)
From: Tidy Robyn on 21st Apr 2005 07:40.44
Too funny. I remember looking down from the balcony at Solid Sunday that day and thinking...'why on earth is Nick Sentience wearing that cowboy hat'?
From: zimbolicious on 21st Apr 2005 10:10.01
Let me know when I can inherit your bullet belt
From: WEBBO on 21st Apr 2005 18:17.26
top stuff nicki !!! very good and informative interview as well
benz
From: Macey on 21st Apr 2005 19:45.21
Nice One Shiela!
Enjoy your set at Chemistry
From: djviticus on 22nd Apr 2005 07:21.22
hey nicki
wicked interview.. good stuff as always. sorry i cant be there for chem. its a bit far. LOL.. its has been a pleasure knowing you and nick, that is for sure and there has been some crazy times.. keep it up and i will see you soon!!
bowwaiii central express sf caly4nia
From: Stevi D on 22nd Apr 2005 11:51.07
S E X Y!
From: Donna Birt on 22nd Apr 2005 12:50.53
Niiiiice one babe!!! Love the hat Pity the fluffies aren't in view xx
Seriously though... always a pleasure playing with ya (wait for the comments ) looking forward to our set next week chicky, bring it on!!! xx
From: onthebass on 22nd Apr 2005 12:54.02
What can i say! So stoked for you Well happy for ya sis and great to see that you are rocking it BIG time
Have had some of the best times of my life with both you and Nick and i'm sure theres plenty more to come.
Looking forward another tour of Oz. Congrats.
xoxo
<hi birt & salP >
From: Lorenzo Barrero on 22nd Apr 2005 14:48.13
Nice one Nikki. Looking very much forward to your set b2b with Donna at Chemistry...espeicially hearing that Colin Barratt tune.
From: anushka007 on 22nd Apr 2005 14:50.24
Good stuff hon and bring on 2005!!!!
From: Red5 on 22nd Apr 2005 15:35.19
Good stuff chicky - wicked interview. Love the story of how you two met, it always has me in stitches!
From: KeLSTa on 25th Apr 2005 18:18.08
Yo go girlfriend!!!! Nice work... and good work busting Nick with that hat photo! hehehe ;o)
So proud of you hun and ditto to what you and TC said. You and Nick are family, we miss you loads and hurry back to Oz soon!!
xxxx
From: Elz on 25th Apr 2005 20:23.25
Wicked interview babe. So good to see you doing well.
It's definately been a good few years. Here's to many more with ya.
P.S Hi Sally..Tristan where's my hello ;o)
From: Minx! on 25th Apr 2005 20:28.06
Wicked interview Benz and Nicki Been a pleasure getting to know you chickidee, and looking forward to continue to work with you...
From: sallyp on 25th Apr 2005 23:10.08
hey miss D & miss K & miss E & mr T xox
From: Letty Bird on 26th Apr 2005 17:09.59
Hi Chick! ...just saw this today and what a nice interview! Looking forward to seein ya this summer! xx o
From: Donna Birt on 30th Apr 2005 15:17.56
xx Trist, Sal, Mikey, Letty xx
Hopefully see you munters soon :-)
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