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Features
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We get Torqueing with Macey: preview to Torque's 6th birthday
Reported by Dan Andres
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Submitted 18-01-06 18:15
On Saturday 28th January Torque celebrates 6 beat-fuelled years of London clubbing, no mean feat given the volatility of the scene and the high attrition rate of promotions over recent years. Torque is one of the few promotions that have remained true to its underground roots. It can be safely said that they’ve followed their original mission statement, which was to throw the best parties that they could whilst remaining true to their beliefs about what the scene is about, and at the same time provide a platform from which their residents could play to up for it crowds and develop their dj profiles. Dan Andres managed to corner Macey, one of the Torque promoters, and fire a few questions at him before the celebrations kick off.
Macey & Nicki S @ Torque Xmas Party, Dec 2005
Well it’s been about 2 years now since I first met Macey at BPM in Melbourne, Australia. I remember him giving me one of his demo cds and telling me to give him a shout when I got to London. A whole year later I got my ass into gear and headed off to London in Dec 2005. By this time I was sure Macey wouldn’t remember me. I decided to contact him anyway and true to his word Macey came through with the goods, remembering who I was and giving me my first set at Warped. I was amazed at how true to his word Macey was and when I finally got myself sorted in London I didn’t hesitate in offering him a residency at my night Spin.
But before all this, there was Torque, how did it all begin 6 years ago for the Torque parties?
I had only been in London for about 6–8 months, and a mutual friend of Finnie and myself, gave me Finnie’s number as he knew we were both wannabe dj’s and were looking to get more involved in the scene. Initially there were seven of us involved, as many hands make light work, by the end of the first year it was down to the 3 of us (Finnie, Claire-voyant and myself) as the others lost interest or their visas expired and had to move on. I had already sussed out a venue and Finnie had decks and speakers, so we decided to give it a shake.
As Torque progressed over the years, how and when did you know Torque was ready to move to a venue as big as The Fridge?
A year or so after we had moved to the Spotted Dog we felt that we were ready to do some bigger parties, as we had built quite a following in Willesden and Acton, but wanted to throw them in a quality venue. We couldn’t go past the Fridge, as it was the best venue showcasing our genre of music at the time, but was virtually impossible to get a night there as Samsara had done Friday nights for years and Saturdays were always booked up by established promotions. I had done a party at the Fridge with a promotion called Quake which I was involved with, so had met Gary the manager of the Fridge at the time. So one night when I was down there I had a chat to Gary about the possibility of any spare dates, not really expecting him to have anything on offer, and he told me that Samsara was going fortnightly and there maybe a date or two available. So we had a go, I think we ended up doing about 8 parties there over two years.
Do you feel there is a certain vibe that is lost when hosting a party at a large venue such as the Fridge?
Yes and no. Yes it is difficult to maintain the intimacy that you can generate in a smaller room. But having said that a big room vibe that can be generated by the crowd, lights and sound system at the Fridge is something else, and has been the scene for some of my best nights out over the years.
Macey @ The Fridge, Oct 2002
Why did Torque stop hosting parties at The Fridge, but keep on throwing parties @ The Sindrome in Willesden Green?
There was a variety of reasons, changes in the scene and so forth, but the main reason was that because of the nature of the party the whole thing became a lot more serious, and it started turning into a job, which was taking the fun out of it for us. Whereas when we throw parties at The Dog we are able to keep it more underground and able to keep the fun element in it for us.
A lot of hard work goes into running a regular party, how does Torque cope with all this, who does all the work?
It’s a full time gig for Claire and myself and we are extremely fortunate to have an awesome crew who help us out with promoting and setting up the parties.
Torque is not only hard dance but also hosts a techno room, has this always been the case, if not when and why did you decide to introduce this element into the Torque parties.
When we first started, all the residents apart from myself were playing hard house, I was playing psy trance. Then as time went on and music tastes changed I started playing hard house and trance and the other residents started playing techno. So the need for a second room arose to cater for the wider range in musical tastes. We’ve been doing techno rooms for the best part of 4 years now, and a good percentage of our punters come down purely for the techno nowadays.
Claire-voyant on the decks @ Torque Forest party
Alongside Torque, you also run Warped on Wednesday, which is the only weekly underground event that can truly claim to support the development of up and coming DJs. It’s about to enter its 5th year. Tell us more…
Every Wednesday night for the best part of 4 years we’ve transformed the front bar of The Spotted Dog for Warped. We set up a full on club night with about 6 or 7K of sound, lights, backdrops, smoke etc, and it goes off every week. It’s amazing how people forget it’s Wednesday night, they get a few drinks into them and when the bass hits em they get up and dance. Warped is a party that has always been a platform for new talent, it’s been the first set out for so many djs, all their mates come down to support them cause its free to get in, and you get a real house party atmosphere going on. Keep an eye out for Warped’s 4th birthday celebrations too, there should be a party happening in late February.
Torque and DJ’ing are your career, you don’t earn an income from a day job, do you find it hard sometimes to find inspiration to keep it all going?
Not really, it’s all about living the dream. There’s not many people who get to live their dream lifestyle, so am definitely one of the lucky ones. But it’s such a wicked industry, there is no governing body making sure everyone plays by the rules, because there are no rules as such. It’s dog eat dog and if you lose your inspiration and drive then someone else will take your place.
With Torque’s 6th birthday just around the corner, tell us a bit about what we can expect…
We’ve applied for a license extension so we’re hoping to go through til 6 in the morning, which will be wicked. We’ve got some great guests joining the Torque residents, of which you’re one, stilt walkers, stalls and a new laser. This party has been 6 years in the making, it’s gonna go off so make sure ya come down and be part of it!
Torque Boat party in full swing
What plans are in the pipeline for 2006, for yourself and the Torque parties?
Well 2005 for me personally was my best year yet, so will be looking to emulate and improve on that, travelling as a DJ and continuing to break into new markets overseas. I’m in the process of starting a new promotion with some friends from Ibiza called B Side Sessions — London, which is going to be Balearic funky house, which is something completely different for me. The first party is scheduled for the start of April with guest DJ Gee from Bora Bora. So all you funky house fans keep an eye out for that one.
So far as Torque is concerned we will be continuing our long association throwing parties at The Spotted Dog. Getting set for summer where we are hoping to take Torque on the road and of course expect outdoor forest parties and boat parties on the Thames.
Photos courtesy of Macey. Not to reproduced without permission.
TORQUE 6th Birthday Celebrations
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On:
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Saturday 28th January 2006
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At:
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The Spotted Dog [map]
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From:
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22:00 - 06:00 (Please Note: Running times not confirmed at time of
posting. To check opening hours call 07946 129 728
or on line at www.torquelondon.com)
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Cost:
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Advance tickets £6 + B/fee ------ Paying Guest List £9 ------ On The door £12
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Website:
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www.torquelondon.com
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Ticket Info:
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Advance Tickets Available From:
CYBERDOG, Camden, 020 7482 2842
KINETEC RECORDS, Oxford Circus, 020 73235303
THE SPOTTED DOG, Willesden Green 020 8459 2220
TICKETWEB - www.ticketweb.co.uk
Paying Guestlist names to:
info@torquelondon.com or text full names to 07753 660 523
Names must be received by midnight Fri 27th January
(Please Note: Running times not confirmed at time of
posting. To check opening hours call 07946 129 728
or on line at www.torquelondon.com)
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More:
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Cast your mind back to New Years eve 2000, the millennium. A spark was ignited at a house party in Seven Sisters, this spark was actually an itch in the collective pants of a small group of wannabe dj’s. Less than a month later TORQUE was born at West One Four @ The Fox Rattle + Hum in West Kensington on Sunday 30th January, 2000. It was a 12 hour celebration, and the weekly Sunday marathon sessions lasted for a year before it was decided, that to ensure the longevity of the promotion a move closer to the Antipodean hordes was necessary.
So we relocated, up north to a new home ground @ The Spotted Dog in Willesden Green. Fast forward 5 years, add a shed load of parties in a variety of top underground London venues and some magical forest and boat parties and you arrive at the present day…..
For those of you who join us on this magical tour de dance, we have a wicked line up of guest dj’s who will be joining the TORQUE residents, all of whom are hanging to whip you into a frenzy on the dance floor.
In the Techno Tunnel, kicking proceedings off we have the return of an old Torque favourite, Jinj. He will be prepping the punters for those fine purveyors of the Torque sound, the Torque residents, Finnie, Claire-voyant and Thermobee. We are also proud to have two of the Stay up Forever Collective’s finest dj’s joining us on this auspicious occasion. Aaron Liberator and DAVE The Drummer will be leading the charge of the techno brigade, so make sure you’ve got ya dancing shoes on, ya gonna need em.
In the Hard Dance Hanger, we welcome for the first time @ Torque, Dan Andres whose promotion Spin @ 414 has started creating some waves in the hard dance hot tub. Expect to be moving and shaking when the CUBE boys , Dex & Hemlock take over for some back2back mixing and really start to turn up the heat before handing over to the wily Superfast Oz. Oz is one half of the famous production duo OD404 of Kaktai Records fame and even though he isn’t an aussie, he will have you bouncing round like a krazy kangaroo on the dance floor. Following Superfast Oz, the man who is always on a mission, Macey will be taking you into orbit for a few quick laps of the globe and then hoping to land you safely back on terra firma, just be careful you don’t crash and burn when re entering the earth’s atmosphere.
Spot ya on the dance floor in amongst the stalls, stiltwalkers and dancers !!
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Flyer:
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 - 
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Region:
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London
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Music:
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Trance. Acid Trance. Hard Trance. Tech Trance. Hard House. Acid Techno. Funky Techno. Techno.
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DJ's:
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TECHNO TUNNEL
Funky Techno & Hard Grooves
JINJ (Torque)
Claire-voyant (Resident)
Finnie (KiK Records, Resident)
AARON LIBERATOR (Stay Up Forever)
D.A.V.E. THE DRUMMER (Stay Up Forever)
Thermobee (Bang On Records, Resident)
HARD DANCE HANGER
Hard Dance & Pounding Trance
Dan Andres (Spin)
CUBE (Dex b2b Hemlock) (Pulse)
Superfast Oz (Kaktai Records)
Macey (Spin, Resident)
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Other Features By Dan Andres:
Interview with Nik Denton - preview to Toolbox Recording's 5th Birthday @ Spin
Warped’s 4th Birthday: the inside story
We get up close & personal with Madam Zu — preview to SPIN @ Club 414
Up close and personal with Ben Kakoschke — preview to Torque’s Red Planet Encounter
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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![[HarderFaster] - Work Hard, Play Harder!](/images/mainbanner_top1-xmas.gif)
Torque and warped are both fantastic events ! and I'll never forget playing my 1st ever gig for you 
A true gent, and the Lord of the Underground ! Def worthy of 'Industry party Animal' @ The Hard Dance Awards too 
for Macey...
See ya at the birthday! 