To continue September's interviews we have Oktane's front man Adam M.

Adam M is becoming quite the name in the hard house scene with releases on his own label Oktane, as well as labels like Madcow, Toolbox and Nosebleed. When Adam is not in the studio, you can see him play behind the decks, destorying the dancefloors at gigs like Storm, Insoniacz, Clubbed Up, Shine, Smashed, as well regular sets at Frantic nights such as Chemistry and Convergence.

Now without any further ado, here is Adam M

Will start off with the usual question, Where abouts do you reside?

I have just moved into my new place in Leeds, I love Leeds so much, there’s always a party going on some were.

How long ago did you get into clubbing?

I started clubbing when I was 15, I’m 26 now so you can work that one out lol. I used to go up the local nightclub in Stamford were I lived at the time, a night called Cute. I would watch Tony De Vit play there on a regular basis, along with other legends such as Jon Kelly and Brandon Block. Awesome little club.

So what got you into djing?

A mate of mine had some decks in his flat, which every one would mess around on. Fell in Love with mixing straight away and thought I have gotta get me some of these, so I saved up every penny I could to get a pair of my own. Some Sound lab belt drives ha ha ha

What style(s) do you play and why?

I play mainly NRG and hard house. I just love the drive and energy of the music. There’s no better feeling than walking into a club like Storm or Frantic that’s rammed full of hard house nutters proper going for it, I don’t think you can get the same atmosphere with any other style of music. The guys that you see in somewhere like Storm are really passionate about the music they listen to, you can see that whenever a good tune is dropped, the crowd just go crazy.

What drew you to that side of hard dance? Did you play anything else other then hard house?

I started out playing Trance actually. That’s because I was a Passion Kid thru and thru, JFK was my hero. I used to cyber up and every thing lol. When Storm started I went to the first one to see what it was like and was converted to the dark side instantly. I’ve never looked back tbf. The 1st hard house record I ever brought was a Mauro Picotto tune on Nukleuz hard beat e.p. 1. I went record shopping every weekend and soon started to build up quite a fierce collection of tunes on such labels like Nukleuz Blue, Tripoli, Tidy, Kaktai, Mohawk, Honey pot and Overdose. These labels pretty much shaped the style that I play today.

With Hardcore being so popular at the moment do you think Hard Dance is taking a backseat in the scene?

I Fukin hate hardcore!! Never liked it. Two different types of clubber completely. I can’t understand why Sundissential has started putting hardcore in the 2nd room at their events like ss north. That used to be my fav event but they have completely ruined it

You just released the 1st vinyl on your Oktane label. What were some of the challenges involved in this digital age?

The main challenge is trying to blank out every body constantly telling you that you are doing the wrong thing and that hard house is dead and there’s no money to be made. I’m not in this for the money, I started my own label because it’s something ive always wanted to do and as long as I don’t loose money im perfectly happy with that. If you’ve got your head screwed on and you don’t just put any old crap out on vinyl you cant really go wrong.

Do you think you may go digital in the future?

I’m trying to keep hard house vinyl alive, if I go digi there’s always going to be some people that would be willing to wait for the digital release even if it’s a couple of months after the vinyl release. If more and more labels stay away from digi completely people will have to buy vinyl to get there hands on the latest tunes or they will miss out completely.

You have a scorching forthcoming releases schedule for the label. How did you get such a great line-up of tracks and artists?

A lot of hard work. Its really just getting to know a lot of different producers from going out clubbing or Djing and When they start to recognize and respect the label they will send you their tracks. It’s all about getting in there quick.

Tell us about your production experience

The 1st track I did was a track called Terra zone on toolbox. A mate of mine was friends with Alex Calver and he introduced me to him when we were all out in Nottingham one night. After we got talking for a while he offered to engineer a track for me and I jumped at the offer. There’s no buzz quite like the one you get seeing a crowd go mad to one of your own tracks. Since then I have had the pleasure of working with lots of different engineers such as Dom Sweeten, Dave Owens, Riggsy and Digital Kid who are all equally good at what they do but have their own individual styles.

You have produced with the legendary Dom Sweeten for your 1st Oktane release how was that experience?

Dom is such a down to earth guy, really is a pleasurable experience, he really knows his stuff. I always look forward to going into the studio with him. And what a studio it is too, you feel like a kid in a candy store he he.

What are your production influences?

I’d have to say Mik Cree, Paul King and Dom Sweeten have influenced me the most out of every one. They were producing most of the tracks back in my record shopping days. I did and still do really look up to these guys. Can’t think of a bad track between them.

What program(s) do you use?

Mainly Q base and Logic. I know Dk uses Fruity

What can we expect for the future of Adam M productions?

Later this year I’m hoping to get back into the studio with Dave Owens a couple more times, I really like the sound we get when we are in the studio together. Would be nice to do something new for Oktane and maybe a couple of bits for some other labels. I’ve also got a couple of remix projects I’m keen to get done.

Are there any producers that you would like to work with in the future?

I would like to work with Tom Parr at some point, I really like his sound and ive been playing a lot of his tracks in my sets recently. I would also like to work with Mik Cree some day. You never know.

What has been your favorite or most memorable djing experience?

Winning my 1st Dj comp when I was 17. Played to a packed club. There must have been around 700 people and the set went perfectly, really enjoyed myself and was my first real experience playing to that sort of crowd. I’ll never forget it.

And your worst experience?

I was playing b2b at Insomniacz with a mate of mine called Wayne A. He thought it would be a good idea to get really drunk just before we went on for our set. He was like a train wreck; every mix he did was a nightmare. In the end I had to get the promoter and the lighting guy to carry him out the dj box so I could salvage what was left of the set lol.

What is your top tune of all time and what tunes are doing it for you at the moment?

Obvious answer really, TDV - r u all ready has got to be my all time fav. Tracks doing it for me at the min…. Butcher Boy has just sent me a brand new track that he’s done with Captain Tinrib and Steve Arnold called Fishy Situation. Its quite a tuff track that’s got a trancy riff that will blow ya mind away. Got to be one of their best collabs yet. Also Justin Bourne has sent me a couple of tracks he’s been working on with Dom Sweeten, Musikism which I have signed for Oktane records 005 and Super powerz which is signed to another vinyl label, both amazing tracks.

Any last words of self-promotion or anything?

Oktane 002 will be out next week, will be available from all the normal places. Might as well plug the night im starting with my brother Simon too. It’s going to be a monthly event at the Warehouse in Leeds called Hi Oktane. Leeds used to be big on hard house but its just about vanished these days, would be nice if we could get Leeds pumping again. Going to try and bring you some of the biggest names in hard house every month as well as some of the best up and coming talent. Marc Johnson and my self will be the monthly residents so its deffo going to be for you fans of the harder stuff.

Also if you ever see me out djing or clubbing, please come and say hi.

Click here for Adam's exclusive mix.
Click here for tracklisting.

Past Interviews