Interview: The trance legend is back in the limelight with his new REBOOTED brand
Interview : Dan Prince
Welcome to DMCWORLD Mr Bond. An exciting year for you with the on-going progress of your new REBOOTED brand. We hear through the grapevine a record label is about to be launched with some tracks already signed up? What’s the idea behind the label and what can you tell us about the tracks already snapped up?
“Thanks for having me! Yes, that’s right MUSIC REBOOTED will be launched shortly. We have a number of tracks signed up already. The majority of them are currently with remixes and we are working on a few to be boxed off before we launch. I am desperate to start playing them out but really feel that I need to wait until I have full remix packages in place with set release dates. I receive a huge amount of excellent music and am in discussions with many interesting producers, some known, some unknown. ”
REBOOTED was launched into clubland at the turn of the year with a superb three hour “tapestry of trance” REBOOTED Vol.01 mix from yourself. Is the idea to keep the series purely on a podcast vibe?
“ Initially, yes. We’re working the iTunes, SoundCloud & Mixcloud avenues at first but do have some very big plans in the pipeline for compilation releases – but really want to get the singles side of the business up and running first. There are only two of us at this stage and there is a lot of work already. I think that the way in which media and technology has evolved over the past few years has made it easier to get your sound out to a wider audience and it’s fast too! ”
A club brand wouldn’t be a club brand if there wasn’t a club night behind it – will we be witnessing REBOOTED live soon?
“Promoting runs through my veins! I am keen to see a REBOOTED club night but one step at a time and when I know that the time is right. ”
What is the current top 10 that you are spinning right now?
01. Scott Bond vs. ID – ID (REBOOTED)
02. B.Exp – Overmind (Perfecto Fluoro)
03. Lemon & Einar K. vs. Ellie Lawson – A Hundred Anticipation (OzzyXPM Mashup) (White)
04. Touchstone & Ian Standerwick – She’s Wonderful (Digitized)
05. NatLife feat. Anna Basel – Chernobyl Shadows (Beatsole Stadium Dub Mix) (TrueTrance)
06. Talla 2xlc feat. Skye – Rise (Photographer Remix) (Tetsuo)
07. Tilt vs. Paul Van Dyk – Rendezvous (Thomas Datt Remix) (Lost Language)
08. ReOrder& Line Froyset – Strangers Within (Monster)
09. Paul Denton – Stungun (Defcon)
10. Simon Templar – Meltwater Part 1 (Touchstone)
These are really exciting times for you Scott with a chance to stamp your authority on clubland once again. It must be strange for you though looking at the state of dance music and seeing DJs who you helped bring through the ranks at Gatecrasher such as Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren and Van Dyk now earning upwards of $100,000 a gig for an hour’s set. What are your thoughts on the high amounts DJs are earning around the world in 2013?
“ I think it’s absolutely fantastic that some of those DJs have broken through and fair play to them! There is not a single person in the world who would not want that job or pay-packet. Yes, people moan about DJs who have “made it” but then again, there’s always new pop star icons appearing and you hardly ever hear complaints about how much Justin Bieber receives per show. I brought all those now big names that you have mentioned to Gatecrasher and it’s safe to say that they didn’t get paid that sort of money back then. ”
Why do you think the UK’s clubland has had such an awful decade? You can’t just blame the Millennium and rock music…?
”I think everything goes in cycles. Clubbing had a boom in the UK from 1995-2005. There were decent clubs in more or less every town and there would be some nights where I could do like three gigs in a night! Undoubtedly, there was a musical shift. You still have your die-hard clubbers, but guitars came back into the picture and took quite a lot of the mainstream crowd who to be honest were not really that in to it anyway. I’d like to think that the cycle is coming round again, especially for trance. There’s no denying that I’m certainly experiencing a definite resurgence of great trance music from all corners of the world. I’ve discovered that there are some outstanding producers out there making the most wonderful trance music in the most unlikely of places!”
I was interviewing Tommy Trash yesterday and commenting on how it seems crazy a producer can play at four different clubs in one city, this time Las Vegas. I told him that back in the day the likes of Gatecrasher, Ministry of Sound and Cream all had very strict exclusive zones on certain DJs; people like Paul Van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Judge Jules and Tiesto were not allowed to play anywhere within a 100 miles radius. Looking back, do you think that was healthy for the UK scene, could that have helped the decline?
“It was already in decline when we made those decisions. By that point we had already realized that gone were the days when you could have one DJ playing multiple venues in a night. The audience was not there anymore to fill all three!! If someone lived in Nottingham for example, they had a choice if their favourite DJ was on in Birmingham or Sheffield. They arrived at the M1 and turned left or right. If however that DJ had been playing in Stoke or Nottingham, then the clubber would have gone to neither. This whole 100 mile radius was to help them with their “pull”. ”
I see you have a 4 hour set planned for Send Off’s 1st Birthday in Leeds. Do you prefer longer or shorter sets these days?
“ I enjoy playing both for different reasons. I recently played on the Four Seasons tour at Gatecrasher which was immense! I followed-on from Oakenfold and played for 90 minutes as there were a few of us billed. Needless to say, it’s really good to have just 90 minutes as you find yourself handpicking the best tunes of the moment which lead to a superb night – the atmosphere was electric! Regarding the longer sets, I can control the night and provides me with more scope to take the crowd on a journey which will consist of a diverse range of styles all in the name of trance – build it up, drop it down, slam it fast, bang it out….then BOOM! There’s more of an opportunity for the listeners to hear and appreciate some of the fruits of my labour with track selection, mixing etc.”
Do you think that the new breed of teenage producers have got it too easy these days, technology has made it so easy to make a record. One minute they are in their bedroom with their laptop, the next headlining Ultra for six figure sums…
“Everyone has to start somewhere and for some, it will be in their bedroom. Personally, one great track is far better than 100 average tunes hence the emphasis on quality over quantity. Technology has made it much easier to make a tune. I remember the time before the advent of CDJs when you would create a track, send it to a mastering house and then get an acetate cut before you could play it out. I was recently digging around in my garage and found a few of them and oh what a distinct smell! What can I say, nothing beats the smell of an acetate! As a DJ, you felt proud when you had a hot, newly-pressed acetate in your collection. They were expensive too, something like 50 pounds, even back then for one tune!”
You infamously left Gatecrasher in 2004 and returned to the club in 2007. What was that night like, were there any nerves that first time back in the mighty lion booth?
“ Yes it was certainly a hard gig for me. There was lots of pressure on my part and did not really know what to expect especially with having been away for over three years! Overall, it was an enjoyable night and sadly the last time that I played at the Republic.”
What is your relationship like with Gatecrasher boss Simon Raine these days? Do you still go for a pint with him?
“ I played for Gatecrasher over Christmas and yes, we had a couple of beers. ”
What did you think of the whole deadmau5 ‘we all press play’ comment from last year where he was talking about how fellow producers and DJs do little but press a few buttons during live sets… ?
“It’s a well-known fact that some laptop DJs prepare their whole set in advance in order to “press play” and just turn up at the event to act out the DJ part! I categorically do not. There’s no denying that DJ programs can be extremely beneficial, especially for aiding with track selection. However, for me, it’s 3 CDJs and a djm800 mixer and then I’m away! The worst thing that could happen is someone spilling a drink over a CDJ – however this wouldn’t necessarily be game over as you have 3 so can just switch. However, I would not like to see what could happen with a vodka and coke poured over a laptop, home-time I guess! Apart from that it’s just nowhere near as much fun! ”
At last a DJ uses the ‘fun’ word in an answer to that question. Nice one Scott! What is the greatest record you have ever played to a dancefloor…
“This is a hard question. A great sense of achievement has to be playing my own tunes to a packed stadium and watching the crowd erupt to the sound that I have created. However, realistically, it changes year by year. I do have one in mind…
It was 1999 and I had been booked to play DJ Taucher’s 30th birthday party at Talla 2XLC’s Technoclub night at the Dorian Grey in Frankfurt. It’s a crazy club in terminal 2 or 3 of Frankfurt Airport of all places and a testament to the Germans’ organisation skills! It was free to enter and they gave you a credit card to swipe all your drink purchases and then at the end of the night you paid to leave the club and for all the drinks registered on the card – a situation that would not work too well here in the UK, can you imagine that! Anyway I digress, the next day Talla & Taucher took me record shopping as it was still the vinyl era. I can’t remember the name of the record shop but I played through all the latest material that they had and then I started skimming through the bargain basement, playing several random tracks and then I found it! A double A-side which had been completely overlooked. A forgotten gem that was out of the way and no one in the UK at that time had even heard or played it out. It was a year old and had not been exposed. I bought it, returned to the UK and proceeded to play this tune in all my sets. I even cheekily drew sunglasses on the centre of the disc covering the name up with a black marker pen to stop anyone seeing what it was. If I was asked, I would reply “that one’s wearing shades”. In retrospect, it was a crude response but I loved this tune and wanted to keep it as an exclusive for as long as I possibly could. This lasted for about 3-4 months until my good friend Guy Ornadel was gathering tracks for his “Licensed To Thrill” mix on Automatic Records and really wanted a copy of this unknown track! I eventually caved in and gave him a copy as a surprise birthday present which featured on his album, as well as Gatecrasher Wet. My secret was no more, good while it lasted though! I’ve given enough hints, can you figure out what the greatest “mystery” record was?”
Money no object, who are the 3 DJs at the top of your list you would book for a REBOOTED gig tomorrow?
“Oakenfold, Aly & Fila and of course……….SCOTT BOND!! ”
And finally, you are a family man now living in deepest Worcestershire. Do you still have that burning drive, ambition and passion as a producer, DJ and promoter you had all those years ago? Do you think you still have something to prove?
“ I’ll let you as well as the readers decide…”