On Thursday October 18th, Free Your Mind Festival is presenting three label showcases in one single event at Amsterdam’s beloved Thuishaven terrain. Hernan Cattaneo’s label Sudbeat, Nick Warren’s The Soundgarden imprint, and Audiofly’s Flying Circus are joining forces for what promises to be nothing short of an electrifying ADE gathering. Expect to see many of the usual suspects on this Thursday, which is part of Free Your Mind’s 15th anniversary festivities. Ahead of this unmissable party, we check in with a legend, Mr Nick Warren…
Hello Nick, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. There’s not many DJ’s around with a career and a resume quiet as big and successful as yours. Taking it right back, did you ever envisage the career that you’re now living?
Thanks very much for the kind words. I never in a million years imagined in the beginning that loving dance music and obsessively buying records would turn into any kind of career let alone one that has lasted as long as it has. I am very lucky that I still hold that passion for electronic music.
You’re currently in the midst of a Way Out West tour, how has that been going and are there any standout highlights from the shows?
The Way Out West tour has been super fun, and next up we have a couple of events in Brighton and Nottingham coming up this month. I really enjoyed playing in Leeds earlier this year, Yorkshire crowds are always so enthusiastic.
Thanks very much for the kind words. I never in a million years imagined in the beginning that loving dance music and obsessively buying records would turn into any kind of career let alone one that has lasted as long as it has. I am very lucky that I still hold that passion for electronic music.
You’re currently in the midst of a Way Out West tour, how has that been going and are there any standout highlights from the shows?
The Way Out West tour has been super fun, and next up we have a couple of events in Brighton and Nottingham coming up this month. I really enjoyed playing in Leeds earlier this year, Yorkshire crowds are always so enthusiastic.
Now let’s talk about you and Hernan Cattaneo. You’ve performed several shows together including most recently, Burning Man. What’s it like to go b2b with the Argentinian artist?
We have done a ton of B2B sets together and it’s always a joy. We are very good friends and that makes the experience easier and more fun. There are some amazing plans for 2019 which we will be revealing soon.
At this years ADE you will be showcasing The Soundgarden sound at Thuishaven on October 18th. How excited are you to head to the Amsterdam festival each year?
We are really looking forward to ADE this year! We’re doing a 3-stage festival at Thuishaven with all The Soundgarden and Sudbeat family plus our great friends at Flying Circus are bringing their line up to join us.
Spending more time behind the scenes doing A&R for Hope Recordings and working on The Soundgarden project, what’s been the best thing about immersing yourself in these other roles compared to solely DJing in your younger days?
It’s very very important to keep finding new artists for the labels and we are overjoyed how The Soundgarden label and events are going. It’s a shared project between me and my partner Petra which makes it even more special for us.
What new and exciting talents should we be listening out for that we may not have heard yet?
We have some stunning music coming out from Analog Jungs, Steppenwolf, Verlk, and a great album from Nicolas Rada plus many more. I’m very pleased how the label is evolving.
Our final question, what do you think the future of dance music is, a lot has changed during your career and we’d be very interested to hear your opinion on this?
This is a question I have been asked every year since the early Nineties and its the same answer; the beauty of it is no one really knows. Somebody could come up with a new track that changes everything! I hope that the melodic sound gets more experimental as a lot of what is being called Melodic Techno is already sounding a bit samey. But I do know that every year new and amazing music appears and that’s what keeps it exciting.
It’s very very important to keep finding new artists for the labels and we are overjoyed how The Soundgarden label and events are going. It’s a shared project between me and my partner Petra which makes it even more special for us.
What new and exciting talents should we be listening out for that we may not have heard yet?
We have some stunning music coming out from Analog Jungs, Steppenwolf, Verlk, and a great album from Nicolas Rada plus many more. I’m very pleased how the label is evolving.
Our final question, what do you think the future of dance music is, a lot has changed during your career and we’d be very interested to hear your opinion on this?
This is a question I have been asked every year since the early Nineties and its the same answer; the beauty of it is no one really knows. Somebody could come up with a new track that changes everything! I hope that the melodic sound gets more experimental as a lot of what is being called Melodic Techno is already sounding a bit samey. But I do know that every year new and amazing music appears and that’s what keeps it exciting.
