:: INTERVIEWS :: ANDY WHITBY - ONE AWSUM NIGHT

2007 has seen a number of high profile highly successful hard-dance events. But there is one that will soon be upon us that is eagerly anticipate, more so than most. It is billed as one awesome night; its branding as One AWsum Night is no coincidence has it severs to not only showcase one of the most popular hardhouse DJs of our time, (Andy Whitby is doing a three hour set), but also to launch Whitby’s two new labels; AWsum and AWsum Bounce.

Excitement and anticipation being the hallmarks of Andy Whitby’s style, there is perhaps no surprise that the details of the venue as kept secret to add to the intrigue the night will offer.

Ahead of the launch party, I managed to spend some time with Andy to ask him a few questions about the timing of the launch, and what to expect.

Ru: What’s been happening in the last few months in Whitby World?

AW: Business as usual I guess, playing some big gigs, mixing some new music, the labels are finally coming together, mixed a new compilation for Nukleuz - Hard Dance Revolution; nine DJs on three discs.... we’re just talking about doing another compilation for them... and my new demo AW6... moving and pushing things forward and getting ready for next year. All very exciting.

Ru: You’re just back from Canada, that went down very well I hear...

AW: Very well, really enjoyed Canada... my manager Roman says he’s had loads of emails asking when I am back so we’re setting up a couple of dates for next year.

Ru: Have you got a favourite country yet?

AW: (Laughs)... its strange... each country is different and I get different things from different places... Canada was good... Japan was interesting; I spent some time on my own there between gigs and it was quite isolating sometimes, not many people spoke English and I have to say my Japanese is non existent, but the gigs were great; Australia was amazing too.... Canada was probably my favourite, this last year certainly. The person responsible for getting me to play over there was Rodi Styles and I spent a lot of time in his company.

Ru: The first time I interviewed you was nearly two years ago, we talked about a “Whitby Time” style of event; an evening dedicated to all things Whitby. You said then that you felt the timing was not quite right... what makes the timing right now?

AW: I still get a lot of feedback from that interview, yesterday someone made reference to it. I think hard dance is going to really become big again in the next year, and with the AWsum labels ready to go we started to think about how to launch them... the timing could not be better in fact because we have found a superb warehouse space where we can go in and have complete control, start from scratch with the decor... the problem with most venues is that everything is fixed... the seating is in its place, the decor is a done deal... the sound system is already there, and the only influence a promoter can have is installing a couple of inflatables. The space we’ve got gives us a free reign, its raw, its not a stuffy night club... its a relaxed environment.

Ru: Is this the same space that Frantic have got for New Years Eve?

AW: No... its not, the AWsum party is in a old lighting warehouse directly under Canvas at Kings Cross.

Ru: The line-up for the night is rather interesting... some established names and some nu-bee names too... with a special three hour set from yourself.

AW: Pretty much a hand-picked selection of DJs... I wanted to offer something different from the usual suspects, and as its my night I wanted to play something more than the usual hour slot that I have... three hours is long enough... and I am really pleased to have a cross-section of DJs from the industry... I chose Lisa Pin-up because out of the top tier DJs she is the one that probably plays the closest to me... she plays fun bouncy music and I really enjoy listening to her sets... she has a really loyal and large fan base and clubbers really enjoy watching and listening to her. And then Matt Lee; many people know him as Gammer (but many don’t know him as Matt Lee)... I’ve been working with him a lot recently on some projects and he said that he wanted to get into hardhouse DJing but didn’t know how to get into the scene... sometimes sending demos out means that really good talent can get overlooked - he’s been working on a load of hardhouse stuff and I am really genuinely delighted he has agreed to have his hardhouse DJ debut at my night.

Alf [Technikal] is also playing... in my opinion he is one of the finest producers of hard-dance and I particularly wanted him to play a producers set which he’s agreed to. The Tidy DJs are there too... very excited about them as they represent the new sound of tidy... Sam [one half of Tidy DJs] is a good friend...

Mike Avery is playing a back to back with Nathalie who is a new talent and both are very good friends of mine... many people know Mike as my driver... he’s been playing out a lot recently and is now a resident of Viagra in Leeds, has played at Summit, and is due to play at Sundessential too; and Nathalie debuts with Mike and I am really pleased they are playing... the main room is very “me”.

Ru: AWsum night is a bit of a double celebration; the launch of your two labels AWsum and AWsum bounce. Why the two labels?

Originally I was going to do one but then I realised that after doing a complete review of the work I wanted to release that I could not release it quick enough on the one label, and that there were two distinct styles, hardhouse and hard bounce. If I kept it to one label there would be tracks that I am playing now that I would not be able to release until much later next year. So AWsum is for tracks like U Ready, and R We Alone [with Lee Pasch], hands in the air hard trance driving sort of stuff...and AWsum Bounce is for bounce tracks such as Will 2 Ill which will be its first release, and Nathalie has an EP coming out on bounce which will be the second release in January.

Ru: Will the labels be purely downloads?

AWSum is hard media such as vinyl and will be available on download, from the top 35 download sites such as Track It Down, Audio Jelly and AWsum Bounce will be purely download.

AWsum night is a major milestone for you, what makes a highly successful DJ and producer enter the world of record label management?

AW - I just figured that I play all the biggest nights, all the peak times at all the biggest nights, and some DJs are happy doing that for the rest of their career. I always want to be pushing myself more, the times I get down in life are when I don’t think I am pushing forward, just standing still, so the natural progressing from making and producing records is to push them out yourself. So to me its the next step in my career; I will have full control over what happens and when, who does the remixes, I get to do what I want including the advertising, the design, its all down to my choice and my decision. It allows me to break from the main stream hardhouse labels; some of which are content in producing stuff at 145bpm “warm-up” music... I want to offer more than mainstream peak time.

Ru: Tickets for AWsum night are flying... earlybirds sold out in a few hours. But you’ve not yet released details of the venue, is that not a risk?

AW: No, not at all... the way tickets are going shows that there is a lot of excitement for the night.. it shows that its all about the music... we’ve seem to have the line-up spot on and unless we present a fucking field to dance in people will love it.... its a very different experience from a standard venue.... we’ve got DJs doing special sets, Frisky is doing a hard style classic set, Kim Ayers is doing a Tidy girls classics set... A lot of thought has gone into the line-up and I believe we are offering something different.

Ru: Its called One AWsum night, does that mean this is a one off event?

AW: Even although its called One AWsum night, there are other events in the pipeline for next year. We want to get this one under our belts first before releasing more details. Hopefully we will be doing an AWsum DJs tour next year.

Ru: AWsum DJs

AW - Yes, myself (obviously), Cally Gage, Matt Lee, a new guy I have just signed Clubfilla who makes hard-bounce.... at very select special events. Perhaps things like the Tidy Weekender, but a vehicle to build an AWsum brand.

Ru: What else do you have planned for next year?

AW - Loads of people are asking that... really business as usual... just pushing myself forward, working hard on the labels.... working with Matt Lee and Clubfilla to take things to the next level production wise... I’m really excited about it... I never want to stop pushing.

Ru: Tis the season to be jolly of course... what do you have planned for the festive season?

AW: Work wise, I’ve got loads of gigs which I am well happy about. I have limited myself to two very special sets for New Years Eve - a lifetime wish of playing a NYE midnight slot at Frantic becomes reality then I am shooting north to play a closing set at Storm... I am really looking forward to both those sets. Because my diary is so manic at the moment, I’ve not seen much of my parents so Christmas Day will be with them and my gorgeous girlfriend Cally and that will be my down time. Its the only day of the year when I am Andrew. My mum complains that everyone calls me Andy. She says that if she wanted me to be called Andy, she’d have christened me Andy.

Ru: And what are you hoping in your Christmas stocking?

AW: Santa... if you are reading this... I really would like an iPhone, its pure sex. That would be lovely. For my birthday my friends complained because I always buy what I want. So they decided that for the guy that has everything they’d by me nothing... and they did, a product called nothing and it was nothing. All wrapped up. The literature that came with it said that if you find this product actually does something, please return it as its faulty.

Ru: Truly the gift of nothing...

AW: As about as useful as a one handed clap.

Ru: Superb.

AWsum night is on Sat 1st December, at a location close to Kings Cross. In addition to the line-up and location, clubbers will receive an exclusive AWsum goodie bag. The event will sell out. Tickets in advance are highly recommended.