TheBeatRanch.com - Interviews

TheBeatRanch.com - Interviews - Venkman


Home	DJs	Events	Interviews	Hardware	Digital	Shop	Contact	Links

Starting off our December interviews we have Killertrax label manager Venkman.

Born in Bury near Manchester, and now living near Leeds, Venkman first discovered Hard House while at High School in 2000 by listening to friends DJ mixtapes & 'borrowing' his Untidy Trax & Nukleuz Hardbeat vinyl. He began to playing at local nights in 2003, usually playing warm up & groovy Hard House before eventually moving on to playing Old Skool & House in 2005. With the resurgence of the groovy sound in the last couple of years he decided to have another go & come back to Hard House, assuming the moniker 'Venkman' due to an unhealthy obsession with the Ghostbusters films.

Now with out any further ado, Venkman

Welcome Venkman, for those who are unaware, can you let us know where you are from and how the scene is at the moment?

Howdy! I'm from Rossendale in the North West, quite close to Manchester. I'm currently residing in Bradford. Oh joy! I think the scene is getting better all the time. Great producers & some good nights going on as well.

What got you into the hard house scene over other genres?

Lisa Lashes' big bosoms mainly. Nah, not only that... I got into it through my friends at High School in about 1999-2000, I just really liked the fun element to the music at the time. I still enjoyed other genres (I'm a big fan of Judge Jules, make of that what you will!) but Hard House has always felt like the one for me.

Did you catch the vinyl bug, or has it been all digital for you?

I most definitely caught the vinyl bug, I bought my first pair of decks when I was 16 - Kam Beltdrives. I used to love my trips to the Spin Inn in Manchester to spend all my cash on vinyl. That side of it I do miss & I did love my 1210s but I definitely prefer CDJs.

What is your current set-up at home?

I've got 2 x CDJ1000 mk3s, 2 x 1210s, Denon DNX-1500 mixer, KRK RP6s, Focusrite Saffire 24 soundcard, M-Audio Oxygen v3, Logic 8 & my beloved iMac. I've just moved so it's not all set up properly at the minute, just my decks. God help my neighbours & housemates!!!

What equipment do you hate to play on?

Any CDJs not made by Pioneer, Allen & Heath mixers.

What track(s) do you not leave home with out?

Jason Roberts - U Got Me

Jason Roberts - Love Sensation

Digital Mafia - Got To Get Up

Ross Homson - Various

Jon BW - Various

BK - Rave Monkey (JP & Jukesy Remix)

And of course my own tracks as well!

What has been your favorite gig to play at this year?

Playing b2b with Jon BW at the Killertrax/Toolbox/Requiem Haloween Ball was good fun! I'm looking forward to playing at the Tidy & Insomniacz Christmas Party on the 18th Dec as well. I think that's going to be a special night.

What events do you look forward to in the coming year?

More Insomniacz events - I can't wait for Magna. And I'm going to try & make it to Atomik next year. I haven't been to a weekender for 5 years so I'm long overdue!

What upcoming tracks should people be on the look out for?

I'm doing a track for Combat's 'Significant Sway' releases, it's going to be a bit of a tribute to the chap who got me into Dance Music in the first place when I was a chubby teenager with ridiculous curtains like Paddy from Emmerdale. I'm going to say no more but I think it's going to be good! Got some collabs planned for next year & I'm going to be doing some more solo efforts.

With vinyl on the outs and CDs taking over, do you see a future with CDs or will they die out like vinyl?

I think it's inevitable they will eventually die out. Hopefully not for a while yet, I don't like the idea of taking all my tracks to a gig on a couple of USB Memory sticks. I lose my keys and phone often enough so thats asking for trouble!