They’re just smashing up the world
Well boys, here we are again. DMC and you mixing it up one more time. This year is the 15th Anniversary of you making the dancefloors around the globe jump. How did you two first meet?
Steven: “George and I met at a night called ‘FF’ one Sunday night at Turnmills in 1992. I was working at the Eurythmics studio The Church at the time and George was DJing all over London, we got chatting about American House music and hit it off.”
If you were having a birthday party and wanted a guest DJ to spin in your living room, who would you choose – Armand Van Helden or DJ Sneak?
George: “Oh it definitely would be Armand for me – his early sound was very much an inspiration for us back in the days when we set up our label and decided to produce our own tracks like ‘Sharp Tools’.”
Steven: “Armand is just incredible, he continues to re-write the rule book of House Music with innovative productions. If I could only choose one DJ I think I’d opt for Sneak as his tough disco sound is still as inspiring today as it was when I bought my first import by him over 15 years ago.”
Big 10 tunes you are rocking out at the moment?
01 Oxia ‘Whole Life’
02 Ramirez ‘Hablando’
03 Boy George ‘Amazing Grace’ (Sharp Boys remix)
04 Full Intention ‘Once In A Life Time’
05 Sharp Boys ft. Sam Solace ‘Hypnotized’
06 K-Klass& Reza ‘Finally’
07 Erick Morillo ‘I Get Lifted’
08 Reboot ‘Enjoy Music’
09 Milk & Sugar ‘You Got Me Burning Up’
10 Dominatorz ‘Why Cant We Live Together’
How do you feel about me buying your remix in a second hand record shop of one your Candy Girls tunes for a quid in 1996?
“Both remixes for The Candy Girls did us a lot of good in terms of support from some big DJ’s at a crucial time of our remix and production career. Erick Morillo loved ‘Fee FiFoFum’ and played it at the Ministry the week we finished it and Judge Jules hammered ‘Wham Bam’ and really put us on the map in terms of national exposure through his gigs and Radio 1 show which we will always be eternally grateful to him for. You got a bargain there Dan £1? What a steal!”
Best Ibiza moment ever?
Steven: So many to choose from… many unprintable! I fondly remember the React tour of 1995 when as “Steven React” I got to open the second room at ‘Manumission’. My first record was the Deep Dish mix of ‘Hideaway’ by the end of the track, the room was packed and it was a pure goosebump DJ moment. But with George, our residency at Eden for ‘Tonic’ was full of great nights and happy memories. We used to fly in on a Wednesday, DJ on the Thursday night and head back to the UK for weekend gigs on the Friday every week throughout the season for 3 or 4 years – it was hectic! Also, recording our radio show for Kiss from a villa on the island was a definite highlight.”
How is clubland out there at the moment? Are numbers rising out there?
Steven: “It’s all about creativity and value for money. You really have to raise your game as a promoter and a DJ as people are quite simply not going out as much as they were say 18 months ago. Having said that, if you put a lot of thought into a night and offer something unique you can still pack a venue out. I actually thrive at the challenge and so far so good. We have had an incredibly busy year, but it’s been down to a lot of hard work, you have to create your own destiny. House parties, the smoking ban, free Podcasts and cheap alcohol from supermarkets have all had a major impact on the entire club scene, but once you gain the confidence of your core group of clubbers they will trust you when you put on big events on Bank Holidays and big weekends like NYE and Halloween – I do think we have turned a corner, there is certainly a more optimistic vibe to club land than there was at the beginning of the year. Fingers crossed next year will be even stronger.”
Two questions – first record you both bought and what are your two ‘guilty pleasure’ records’
George: Manhatten Transfer – ‘Chanson D’Amour’ in 1977. My Guilty Pleasure: Barry Manilow – ‘Could It Be Magic’
Steven: Madness ‘It Must Be Love’ in 1982 on 7″ vinyl from Virgin in the Central Milton Keynes shopping centre. My Guilty Pleasure: ‘Together In Electric Dreams’ by Phil Oakey& Giorgio Moroder.”
Greatest UK club you have ever played at?
Steven: “Besides ‘Fire’ in London, which is our spiritual home it’s a really close call between Turnmills and Heaven. I have had some of the most incredible nights out at both venues over the years and met many good friends (including George!) and heroes along the way. It’s so sad that Turnmills is no more, we played at the final ‘Trade’ and it was such a party of mixed emotions. We watched the club evolve and grow over the years and adored spinning at ‘Smartie Party, ‘Heat’, ‘The Gallery and of course ‘Trade’. Heaven is the first club I ever went to when I moved to London 20 years ago and ‘Garage’ (Friday’s at Heaven in the 90’s) was my first ever residency as a Dj. We are excited to announce that Heaven have asked us to host a very special ‘Royal House’ night on Monday 28th December as part of it’s “30th Anniversary” celebrations. We will be playing an extended 5 hour main floor set.”
Favourite club around the world you love smashing it at?
Steven: “We are returning to Qube in Rome on New Years Eve for ‘Muccassassina’ which is just the most incredible place. We played there 8 times between 2007 and 2008 and have always had an amazing time. The venue holds about 4000 people and the production is first class with a huge stage, 20 dancers and an incredible laser show – we can’t wait for NYE.”
George: We also have great memories from our gigs in Las Vegas at Club RA which is a $5million club inside the Luxor resort – and Space in Ibiza of course!”
Your ‘Sharp Tools’ release led to a journey you probably never expected – remix and production work for over 300 artists across pop and club dudes including Kylie, Aretha Franklin, George Michael, Moby, Mary J Blige and Diana Ross – what artists are you most proudest to have re-worked their songs for? And you current ones…?
George: Obviously some of the big names like Britney Spears, Pink, Faithless and Backstreet Boys stand out, but it was some of the smaller names like Sara Parker that we signed to our own label Sharp Recordings that we took equal delight in working with. Current remix projects include – Sugababes, Hannah, and we’ve just completed Boy George’s next single this week – ‘Amazing Grace’.”
Steven: “I’m proud that we have had the chance to cover so many genres in the last 15 years. I know a few eyebrows were raised when we started to take on pop artists but we have never been ashamed to admit that we like quality pop records. I remember when we started producing in 1996, Armand was remixing acts from Europe like Ace Of Base and our attitude has always been if we like the track we will take it on. From a personal point of view, remixing George Michael was a real highlight as I have always admired him from his Wham days and to mix two tracks (‘Outside’ and ‘Flawless’) for him was fantastic – the tone of his voice is so brilliant.”
Best ever festival moment?
George: “DJ’ing at the first ever ‘Creamfields’ was a great day – but the ‘Radio 1 Love Parade’ in Leeds was just phenomenal. We played in BCM in Majorca on the Friday night, flew to Leeds on the Saturday morning, got picked up at the airport by our manager, hit the park and performed on the ‘Trade’ stage in front of over 100,000 people for an hour and then headed back to the airport to DJ in Dublin on the Saturday night. We didn’t want to leave Leeds, the atmosphere was euphoric – it was a crazy but an incredible 48 hours.”
2009 has been another busy year for you boys, March saw Steven take over Fire’s flagship night ‘Orange’ on Sundays – quite a brilliant Summer with some amazing guests, what were the highlights?
Steven: “It’s been going really well and totally came out of the blue. I have been promoting clubs on and off since 1996 from ‘Garage’ at Heaven to ‘Anarchy’ at The Fridge. I knew it was going to be a big challenge because of the current climate but numbers have doubled on the weekly Sunday night and I wanted to give such a well loved brand a complete makeover visually and look at the décor and production in the club. We now have numerous canvases on the walls, new visuals on the screens and the residents mix up lots of funky ‘Orange’ classics from the clubs past with contemporary music of today. All four Bank Holiday Orange’s were fantastically attended with a Danny Rampling set in May and the return of Boy George in September – two real highlights. Orange celebrated it’s 11thbirthday a few months ago which is an incredible achievement in itself and I have some big plans for the future including launching ‘Orange in Cape Town’ on January 2nd 2010.”
Craziest promoter you have ever played for?
George: “Now there is a question! Laurence Malice the promoter of Trade certainly wins hands down with his outrageous costumes at times!”
What DJs do you love playing alongside?
George: “Danny Rampling, Tall Paul, and the K-Klass boys are always gentlemen.”
Steven: “It’s always fun when we play with Brandon Block and Alex P, they bring so much to the party.”
Which brings us to Christmas Night 2009. In recent years it’s been difficult to choose which night to head for. This year we have a banker, ‘Orange’ and ‘Trade’ teaming up, tell us all about it…
Steven: “It’s been a lot of fun planning this event with the Trade posse. The two Bank Holiday ‘Orange Trade’ parties were phenomenally successful and it made total sense for us to team up again for the big festive night. Going out to Trade or Orange on Christmas Night is almost as traditional in London as eating Turkey with cranberry sauce.
‘Orange Trade’ Tickets Competition: 2 pairs of Tickets for Christmas Night @ Fire (Vauxhall London) up for grabs for the first 2 readers to email stevenreactsharp@hotmail.co.uk with the words DMC ORANGE TRADE COMP.
