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Features Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022! TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022! A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London!

Interview with Ali Wilson Reported by billy boy / Submitted 07-12-01 15:41 For his youthful age of 20 years (just turned!) Ali Wilson has an impressive CV as a hard dance DJ. With residencies at: Endorphin, Milk and Hardbeat, and having made appearances at other nights including: Frantic, Hard House Academy, Riot, Mind Over Matter, Solid Sunday, XLR8, X-Static, Trinity, Feersum, U4RIA, Hardcore-Mental, Fluffy, Just Groove, Swurv, Wired and the Purple Turtle, he has already established himself as a fixture in the hard dance scene. Added to that, he enjoyed remarkable success with his first production, ‘Bad Feeling’. I was therefore, really looking forward to having the opportunity to chat with Ali in detail about his career. I met him on Thursday evening at Charing Cross station. After having to turn away from our first two choices of venue due to overcrowding, we managed to find a bar in Covent Garden with comfortable chairs and with background music at a level our DAT could handle. We settled down with our pints, and this is what I found out… Billy Kennedy: G’day Ali! Well, first of all – thanks for meeting with me! Ali Wilson: Cool mate - it’s good to meet you! BK: Just to kick off with, I would like to warm up by asking you what the top two or three highlights of your career to date have been? AW: Top two or three highlights? Oooh – that’s a hard one! I think one of the top highlights for me was being booked for Frantic the first time. I was five or six months into my DJing career. I’d played out at Sid’s and a few after-parties like XLR8. I was just sort of getting going. BK: When was that? AW: It got booked about this time last year, and it was for February Frantic – the Valentines Ball! BK: Wow! AW: Yeah! And when I heard I was booked for it – I was just… I was amazed! And just from that – that’s what’s sort of driven me you know, seeing the results of the crowd going mad. That’s what’s made me want more. BK: OK, well that’s obviously a major highlight. AW: Yep. The other one has gotta be when I heard news that Freezing Point had signed ‘Bad Feeling’ – my first track. That was the first track I had written, so you know, that was a big thing for me. When I heard that I went – well I went over the moon mate! And then when I heard that Justin Bourne was remixing it, I was just like ‘Oh my god!’. BK: Good stuff! AW: Definitely, those two are the highlights of my career so far. BK: One thing I noticed on one of the other profiles I read on a web site was that at that time you were 19 – how old are you now mate? AW: I’m 20 now. BK: 20? AW: Yeah, I turned 20 in September. BK: OK… so it’s turning out alright? AW: Yeah! It’s going well – it’s going really well! BK: So, you’ve mentioned ‘Bad Feeling’ – I know the track, it’s had good reviews – so, what are you working on now? AW: Well, since then I’ve done about three or four tracks. One which Freezing Point are interested in, for release probably early next year – hopefully! I called it Dirty Trancing! I’ve got that one on the cards. I’m going into the studio with Sharkey (AKA Safe n Sound) – an old hard core DJ – that’s gonna be early December – I think for his label Dynamix. I’ve done a few tracks with Matt Smallwood (Trinity resident) – we’re actually working on a new one at the moment. I’m not going to say much about it at the moment but its quite different! Me and Matt have a good partnership in the studio – we can tell each other what sounds good or bad and know that the it’ll be taken as constructive criticism. And also I’ve done a track with Dan Madams, but we haven’t got that signed up yet – we’re sort of in the process of getting it signed up – hopefully we’ll get it on Peroxide – they’re interested in it at the moment. But yeah – that’s all I’m doing at the moment really on the production side. BK: OK. AW: I’ve got plans to do things with other people as well, but I can’t really say anything about it ‘cause it’s not definite. BK: Ah… I was just going to ask what other collaborations you had planned… AW: Yeah - I have got a few planned but they’re not concrete at the moment. But I haven’t really got anything apart from that. At the moment I’m concentrating on doing some stuff on my own – more on the hard trance and maybe sort of techno cross-over side. I like to produce lots of different styles – not just one. Variation is key for me. BK: Have you done any remixing yourself? AW: Ah, I haven’t yet, no. But, I’d love to if anyone wants me to remix anything – get in contact! BK: Is there any track in particular you’d love to do a remix on? AW: Umm… that’s a hard one… At the moment, I’d love to remix ‘Beautiful’ by Paul Glazby. BK: Ah ha! AW: ‘Cause that’s smashin’ the dance floor to pieces at the moment – isn’t it really? So definitely that. BK: I heard James Lawson has just done a remix on that. AW: Yeah. James and Matt have done an Edison Factor remix – I think that’s coming out in the New Year. That is excellent – that is really gonna do the business – it is top stuff! BK: Right – but you’d still like to have a crack at it yourself? AW: Oh yeah – definitely. I think at the moment, that is the tune for me! BK: Alright! Obviously you’re building up your connections in London. Have you got any overseas plans? AW: Ah yeah! I’m going to France this weekend to play. It’s Saturday night. We’re flying over there – me and Matt Smallwood. We’re going over there on Saturday day. I think we’re playing from about 3 o’clock onwards. BK: Are you playing back to back? AW: I dunno – I don’t think it is. I think we’ve got our own separate sets. BK: OK. AW: I’m not too sure – Penny (XLR8 organiser – Ed) has all the details. BK: Ah ha. Have you played over there before? AW: No I haven’t. I was going to play a couple of weeks ago but it got moved to this weekend. But I’ve also got a date in the same place New Year’s Eve – me and Matt are doing that again. BK: OK! AW: And I’ve also got Boxing Day in Norway – for Freezing Point Records Album launch tour with Justin Bourne. BK: Oh OK! AW: Yeah, so I’m really looking forward to that as well. BK: So have you played overseas yet? AW: I haven’t yet – this is my first one! BK: Can I just ask you then – have you been clubbing in France? Is it in Paris? AW: We’re flying to St. Etienne. I think it’s about an hour from there. So, I’m not too sure whereabouts it is compared with Paris. BK: Ah – I’m just trying to picture a DJ like yourself in any club I’ve ever been to in France! The music there is usually really mellow – and not much goin’ on. I can imagine you tearing the place to pieces! AW: We’re sort of just pushing hard house over there at the moment – there’s not much of it about! I think it’s a progressive or trancey euro sort of club at the moment – you know – like you say ‘mellow’. But Penny has got in there and she’s sort of showed them the hard house sound. And we’re going to go over there and hopefully – you know – show ‘em what it’s all about - get ‘em raving, get ‘em jumpin’ about! Yeah – hopefully we’ll get the French into the hard house. BK: Awesome! They need it! AW: Definitely! BK: Now, you’ve played at some of the big clubs, like you’ve mentioned Frantic and obviously you’re a resident at endorphin. AW: Yeah. BK: But you’re also playing at some of the after parties like XLR8 and Bangers ‘n’ Mash. Is there a difference between the sets that you play there, and if so, what is it? AW: I play every set differently. If I can come into a club and I’m playing first set, I play funky / dancey, sort of hard house that you’d wanna hear when you get into a club. You know, you can’t be hard at that sort of time. Because people are just coming in, they’re getting warmed up, you know, they’re buyin’ their drinks, they’re doin’ whatever they do… (laughter) And they just want a DJ to sort of get ‘em into it. You can’t bang it out and they’ll just be going mad straight away. You’ve gotta sort of take ‘em with you, you know take ‘em on a bit of a journey – you know what I mean? BK: Yeah. AW: And if I was playing peak-set, obviously I’d give it some! Some good hard house, a bit of hard trance, you know, a bit of a mixture really. I don’t really like to keep my sets to one style – I like to mix it up but always progressing it. I find that’s what I do best really. And if I’m playing the last set – you know – all guns out – just absolutely blast it !! BK: Right! AW: But for an after-party, like XLR8, I play not quite as hard as I’d normally play. ‘Cause XLR8 is quite a party atmosphere, they’re more about the bouncier / uplifting side of things – they like all their party tunes and they like to have fun. Whereas I think Trade and Frantic, they’re generally harder more educational events, if you know what I mean. They’ve got DJs like Andy Farley and Steve Thomas playing – these guys are at the forefront of the scene and will be pushing boundaries and playing tracks which no one else will have for a few months. BK: OK. So for you, what is it that makes it all worth while? What are those moments in clubs? AW: The thing that makes it worth while is seeing everyone jumping around, you know, going mad to all the tunes I’m playing. And I really like it when people come up to me afterwards and say “well done, you played a good set” or whatever. I appreciate that. Some bigger DJs like Judge Jules are like – “oh yeah, whatever” – but I really appreciate people coming up to me and saying “well done” ‘cause that’s all part of it. Getting the crowd going you know – without them, there’s no “us”. BK: Yeah absolutely. So, just on that topic, how do you find it, now you’re starting to make a name for yourself – are you starting to get recognised in the clubs and what is that like? AW: Yeah. I see quite a lot of people about in the clubs now that I know. If people come up to me and want to talk about my set, I’ll have a little chat with them or whatever. I really appreciate it and if someone wants to come and talk with me I think it’s all good – definitely! BK: Well just to take a step back, what was it that inspired you to first start spinning? I’ve read in a couple of other profiles on you that you first started spinning in 1995. It’s 2001, you’re 20 now, so by a process of deduction, I guess you were about 14 when you got your decks! AW: Yeah. I didn’t actually buy decks! It was my brother who got me into mixing and DJing – he was 12 at the time (laughter). I remember him saying – it was around Christmas time – I remember him saying “I’m gonna get some decks for Christmas”. And I was dead against it! Or not dead against it – but I was saying “oh no, no – why don’t you get a computer or something? You know don’t buy decks, you’re wasting money on those!”. And he bought them and he got me hooked basically. BK: Wow! AW: I couldn’t get enough of going out shopping, and buying loads of vinyl – coming back with the smell of new vinyl – it just did it for me, you know! BK: And what sort of vinyl were you buying in those days? AW: In those days? I started out – the very first few records I bought were house. Like… ummm… BK: Is it you can’t remember or you’re embarrassed to say? AW: Ah… I started off buying the old Prodigy stuff on vinyl like ‘Outer Space’ and ‘Charly’ – they were big influences on me. Then I got into the commercial house kind of sound – Sandy B or something like that. The Ministry of Sound Annual II sort of style – quite main stream, charty sort of house. And then I got into Drum n Bass and Jungle about 6 months later and I stayed with that scene for I think about three or four years – til about ‘99. Then in ’99 I got into trance. I started going to trance clubs in London and that was the big change over. I just got hooked on it immediately. And then I got into hard house and the harder sort of side of it. And then it’s just gone on from there really. I’ve started making my own tracks, as you know, and got into other little sub-genres – like I’ve ventured into a bit of funky stuff and a bit of techno – all over the place really – you know – I love all music! BK: Yeah, yeah. So what kept you going? You were practising for three or four years – I mean, when did you start clubbing? AW: I used to go out to drum n bass raves when I was about 16 or 17. BK: So did that keep the fire in the belly? It’s a long time to be practising before playing out? AW: Oh yeah, definitely. I think when I used to go out when I was about 16 – I used to go down to Hastings Pier. For events like Heat and One Nation and stuff like that. And just seeing the DJs up on stage, and just watchin’ the crowd going off to all the tunes and stuff – I was just like ‘Wow – that’s what I want to do!”. So yeah – I went from there! BK: So your teenage dreams have all come true? AW: Yeah, it is a teenage dream really and I’ve just got so much motivation for it – I really want to do it. So I’m just always pushing it as much as I can – promoting myself in every way and doing what I love – playing music. BK: So what would be the ultimate club or venue for you to play at? AW: That’s a good one! I think… Amnesia in Ibiza has gotta be the club for me! ‘Cause I went over there, not this year but last year – in 2000. And I remember going to Cream over there and it was just amazing basically. I saw – I think it was Paul van Dyke, and a few other big DJs – but it was just the atmosphere and the sheer size of it. You know the way it was set up. BK: How many people does that place hold? AW: Oh, I think about three or four thousand – something like that. Or the other one, the other club I’d really like to play at would be Privilege. Cause that’s getting in 10,000 people and the DJ is actually suspended over a swimming pool! So, you know, that definitely appeals! Those are two places that I’d love to play, I’d absolutely love to play there. I mean Privilege is so big that there’s about 10 bars in there or something like that – separate bars. And I think they’ve got some of the most expensive drinks in the world – they’re like a tenner each or something stupid like that! (laughter) So the DJ must be getting paid loads as well! (more laughter) But I don’t do it for the money though! It’s just the sheer size and the atmosphere – just amazing! BK: How about the main room at Hard House Academy down at Brixton – would that do it for you? AW: Oh yeah! I’d love to do that – that would definitely do it for me! But I think Amnesia and Privilege are definitely the two top ones. The fact that it’s in Ibiza, everyone’s out for a party – you know – it’s just completely mental. BK: So now to change tack – what direction do you see music in the hard dance scene going in? AW: I think it’s going in lots of different directions at the moment which is really, really good for the scene – it keeps it fresh and stops it getting boring. You’ve got the funky side of it which people like Kev ‘KGB’ Bird, Andy Allder, and Steve Hill are all pushing. You’ve also got the trancier side which people like Phil Reynolds and Jon Doe are pushing. Then there’s people like Farley, BK and Nick Sentience on the techier side. A year or so ago it was much more together in one genre than it is now. I think the change is definitely a good thing – you know it means can go out to a night and hear more different sounds. Like I said – I love all of it – if a tune’s good then I’ll play it – you know what I mean! BK: So who do you think are the big influencers in the scene at present? AW: At the moment I think definitely BK, Nick Sentience and Andy Farley. There are loads of others but I think those three are doing the business at present. BK’s and Nick’s productions are second to none, they’re doing stuff that other producers wouldn’t do. And as for Andy Farley – you go hear one of his sets at Frantic at 4am! BK: Cool! Just to round off – could you give me your top three tunes of all time? AW: Oh shit that’s a hard one! Oh dear… (long pause) BK: You can email me on this one if you need to – but I’m going to put you on the spot now and see what you can come up with. AW: Umm – all three of them different mixes of ‘Bad Feeling’ by Ali Wilson! (laughter) No, no, no – I’m not that big headed! That’s so tough! BK: Stick to the hard house / hard trance records here! AW: Alright… BK: OK, so if you were playing at Timeless what would you play – you know what would the big old anthems be that you’d pack in your record bag? AW: OK! It’s gotta be Tony de Vit ‘Age of Love’, Tony de Vit ‘Are You All Ready’… hmmm… my minds just going through my record collection now… and Tony de Vit’s mix of ‘Schonemberg’. BK: How many records do you have? AW: Oh, about three or four thousand records. Some of those are Drum n Bass though. BK: OK. What about right now – if you were playing the peak set – what would be the top three crashing tracks you’d play? AW: OK, the three top tunes for me at the moment… hmmm, that’s hard as well! OK – ‘Beautiful’ by Paul Glazby… There’s so many – they’re all coming into my head at once – can I come back to you on that one too? BK: Look mate, I’m gonna put you on the spot – you’re at Camden Palace playing the final set and these are the tracks you’re going to finish with – what are they? AW: OK, it’d have to be ‘Beautiful’… ‘Khemikal Imbalance’ (Andy Farley/BK)… and my new one – ‘Dirty Trancing’! BK: Alright mate – well that’s all I wanted to cover. Thanks! AW: Cool mate. Nice one! The End Ali Wilson's website is over at www.aliwilson.co.uk Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: Other Features By billy boy: Synergy Anthems - Review Tasty 2 - The Valentine's Love Dance - Review Frantic Valentine's Ball - Review Interview with Matt Clarke Fevah - Review The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable. Comments:

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