Finishing off our interviews this month we have the legendary frontman of Vicious Circle, Paul Glazby.

If you have not heard of Paul Glazby, please close this window right now and never come back! Just like our past interview with

Andy Farley, we got YOU the fans to ask the questions you always wanted to know about Glazby.

Now with out any further ado, Paul Glazby

Welcome to The Beat Ranch, this being your first time here, will start offwith our usual starting question, where abouts are you from and how is the scene out there at the moment? - TheBeatRanch

Hi, I’m from Sheffield in the UK, the scene here (Sheffield) is pretty dead at the moment, although we did have an amazing gig here on Sunbday night for the Insomniacz reunion party, it was absolutely mental.

Further afield in Leeds, Birmingham etc we have a really good scene with nights like Hi Oktane, Storm, Polysexual, then there’s the really big events like Magna and the Tidy Weekenders so all in all the UK has a fairly vibrant scene at the minute, I haven’t had a ‘bad’ gig in ages!

Do you still get the buzz and excitement now like then he did back in the day? - Gaz Gibson

Depends on the club really, but I’ve never been one to get really excited or nervous before a gig, even when I first started out, although I do get a buzz from a good crowd, especially when they know their stuff, like cheering for the odd classic I might play or someone coming and commenting on a 4 minute mix, that sort of thing.

With me the less I look like I’m enjoying myself the more I probably am, I started clubbing to the likes of Ian M, Steve Thomas and TdV, those guys hardly ever looked up from the decks and no-one cared, then the Tidy Boys came along and started dancing on the turn tables and all of a sudden DJ’s were expected to put on a show. I just try to let the music be the show; I’m too self conscious to be dancing - lol

Which one of your tracks are you most proud of and why? - 999-NRG

Probably ‘Kick It’, it was done really early on in my career, the 3rd tune I ever did I think, and it’s stood the test of time, I only play the remix that I did of it these days as the production is so much cleaner but the basis of the track is that of the original, I remember a lot of big names in the scene at the time dismissed it, not receiving particularly great reviews etc but if you look back at those magazines now I bet you can’t tell me how any of the other tunes on those review pages go!

To this day it’s still one of the biggest selling VC tunes and it’s the (semi) adopted theme to the Tidy Weekenders – it even made it into Andy Whitby’s Top Party Tunes of all time – but I’m not sure if that’s really something to be proud of!!! - lol

Where is the ethnic vocal in Tortured is from? – JagerMarty

Off some random Ethnic Sounds CD I found at a motorway services – you never know where you’ll discover a gem like that - I’ve no idea what she’s on about but she sounds like she’s got her fingers in a vice, hence the title!

Why haven't you done a tune with Dom yet? - J;ME

We asked each other the same question at our VC event in March, the problem for me is time, aside from DJing and Producing I have quite a few other business interests going on so getting the time to take 2 days out travel to Dom’s (the other end of the country!) is difficult at best, we have however said that we must commit to some dates to get something done by the end of this year.

Where do you see the hard house scene going in the next few years? - Ben Townsend

Come on Ben, this old chestnut!!! Hopefully we’ll all still be making tunes between 145 and 155 bpm, heavy kicks, big bass lines and a catchy lead, that’s what TdV, Pete Wardman, Ian M played over 12 years ago when I first heard them and that’s what I loved, that’s what I’ve been making for 10 years and it seems to be what people love, I’m guessing in the next few years…see above! ;)

What does the hard house scene need in your opinion to progress right now and attract new followers? - K8-E

As with my answer to Ben above I don’t think it needs to progress, people will either like it for what it is or they won’t, artists such as BK, amazing as he is at what he does, he decided to progress his sound a few years ago into what he’s doing now and I haven’t played a BK track since, as I’m sure he hasn’t played any of mine.

I’m still playing what I loved to play when I started and I don’t believe it needs to change, new people come into the scene to breathe life into it all the time, these days I’m not playing Nick Sentience or BK but I am playing the likes of Ben Townsend, Rodi Style and Leon Allen.

It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since I met a 17 year old Paul Maddox for the first time and now he’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with, Ben Stevens is another one, starts off playing in and around Leeds and driving me to gigs and now he’s one of the world’s top Hard House producers.

Where do you see the future of hard house labels going? Completely digital or will CDs be the way forward? - X-Bass

Probably eventually it will be completely Digital but at the moment there is a good amount of people that still want that tangible product with the packaging etc, I still get people badgering me to bring back vinyl but the sad fact is that there just isn’t the market for it anymore, if the CD’s go the same way then it will all become Digital.

Is NineNineNine dead and buried or will we ever see it make an appearance again, maybe as part of the Hardbox CD's? – Conners

I think it is dead, just like the guy on the cover – sorry dude.

What has been your favorite place to play outside of England? – Destructo

Big three for me have been Adelaide, Auckland and Cape Town, I’ve always had good crowds in these cities and they’re great places to spend time before/after the gigs, If I had to pick one though I’d say Auckland.

How do you mix tunes, i.e. with the levels, as I’ve been watching you for years and still don’t fucking know how you do it. Please give details. - Gaz Gibson

I once asked Ian M the same question……he wouldn’t tell me either - lol

Do you prefer Hard House or Heavy Metal? - Adam M

Yooooouuuu bastard! Right let’s be diplomatic about this, Monday to Thursday – Metal, Friday to Sunday – Hard House

I’ve got a lot to thank Metal for, my influences have been different from most DJ’s out there and it was a conversation I had with a stranger (now my mate Tim Tom) about our love of Metallica that lead (eventually) to me doing this interview today – Metal, I salute you!

Why have you decided to grow your hair after so long having a skin head? - Wayne Smart

A friend of mine is going a bit thin on top and he commented (regularly) how lucky I was to have a full head of hair and that I shouldn’t waste it by shaving it off all the time, I decided that as it grows so quickly I could chop and change between the two fairly easily so why not try it, I didn’t realize it would cause such a stir though, and I don’t remember it being this grey either!!!

I have a spare ticket to the AC/DC concert at O2 arena for the 16th of April, do you want to go with me? You have to get the beers though. - Psym@n

Thanks for the offer but I’ve never really been a fan, and I’m a day late! If you get any Machine Head, Metallica, Foo’s or Chili’s I’ll definitely be there though

Any last words?

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all out and about soon. Take care.

Click here for Paul Glazby's Red Mix

Paul Glazby's MySpace

Vicious Circle Website

Red Managment

Click here to buy Paul Glazby's releases on TrackItDown

Past Interviews