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Interview with George E
Reported by El Capitano Pete
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Submitted 03-11-04 10:08
George E picked up the clubbing bug at the age of sixteen in his home city Cape Town, South Africa. In 1997 he acquired some decks and inspired by the Trade sound of the mid-90’s, “Tony De Vit, Ian M, Steve Thomas and Pete Wardman all were a huge influence on me”, George began defining his sound via his residency at The Piano Lounge and guest sets at various hard house events in Cape Town. George’s hard work soon paid off and he was invited to guest at the 'Trade' tour of South Africa in early 1999 where he played alongside Fergie and Malcolm Duffy to name but a few.
Since moving to the UK in 1999, George’s DJ career has seen him play for a wealth of events including Bedlam, Convergence, Hard House Academy, Heat, Seed, Torture Garden and Wildchild.
George has translated his skills in to running his own events and was a key player in the Ultim-8 and Ultim-8 & SEED present the Summer Sessions parties at the Purple Turtle in Camden, which proved that excellent line-ups with established DJs/Producers can be achieved on a tight budget. He’s now co-promoter/resident DJ for the new Sunday evening event at the Purple Turtle: Byte and also the new monthly all-nighter at Fire: Insekt.
Your passion is obviously for the harder end of the hard house spectrum, but over the last two years you have been playing some increasingly diverse sets at various times of the night, how important is versatility for today’s hard house DJ?
I used to play nose-bleed stuff a few years ago such as the ol’ DIP, Tinrib, Do Not Bend, Noom, TEC stuff, and for my earlier slots I played bouncy hard house which seems to be making a comeback as such! Times have changed and these days as a DJ one needs to diversify oneself in accordance to the mood on the dance floor. For example I have picked up a taste for mixing groove-ridden UK techno with European techno and this seem to go down a storm on the dance floors. I only play this sound in my earlier slots though. The sound which I am most known for is that of ‘white-knuckle’ tough Nu NRG. Getting back to your question: I think in this day and age it’s even more important to be versatile as every man and his mate out there is a DJ. If you want to get noticed you must be able to perform under whichever circumstances you are put in.
I have noticed some new talent that can really do the job putting tracks together, but they fall flat on their face if they get into a position other than what they are used to – in simple terms, a lot of young/up-and-coming DJs want to play one sound be it 10pm or 6am, this just doesn’t work…at least not in my books!
Your DJing schedule has been increasingly busy with your debut in the foyer at Hard House Academy, and regular sets at Torture Garden, Bedlam and Heat. Which has been your most enjoyable set of late?
Oh dear, that’s a difficult one! Of late I really enjoy the events at the Purple Turtle - I s’pose I have a soft spot for the Turtle as it’s where my current sound was nursed.
Most of events that I play are enjoyable as I love doing what I do best, and each event has got its good memories for one reason or another! Torture Garden is always an experience!
Are there any events that you would really like to play but haven’t had the chance to yet?
Definitely Trade.
When did you start playing at Torture Garden and how did you first get involved in it?
Hmmm, I think if I have it correct it was in March 2001. I sent Allen TG (co-promoter of TG) a demo and he rang me back offering me a set at Seed (a sister club of TG which use to be on Sunday nights at the Purple Turtle). Allen subsequently heard me play, loved my sound and I got my first booking for TG - the rest is history really!
What’s the strangest sight you’ve witnessed at Torture Garden?
Well most of the crowd at TG dress-up and make an effort to express themselves in some sort of ‘artistic’ way! I would say one memory that has really stuck with me, was a tad of a mind-boggle! I played NYE last year and a rather attractive young girl was dancing in front of me on the podium – she had the most amazing bust and thighs I have ever seen. I noticed that every now and then the girl was pulling her skirt to one side to show her goods to random punters on the dance-floor, I caught sight and in disbelief I was struck by the reality that this ‘girl’ was actually a BOY!…Doh!
Not including Torture Garden, what has been the strangest thing to happen to you whilst in a club? We've heard some rumours about George IV (hint, hint).
Hahaha! So what’s your version? Let’s say I had a little run in with the ‘Tree Shagging’ blonde girl of whom threads where rampaging about on HarderFaster around year or so ago!
To cut a weird story to the point, I was playing an after party one Sunday morning at the George IV and saw this girl acting very strangely on the dance-floor - to put it simply she was rubbing and groping herself in the most intimate parts the body has to offer!
She approached the DJ booth and first grabbed my hand and pressed it on her breasts. She then slapped my hand away while she was still pushing it towards her with her other hand. About five minutes after this incident she came into the booth and actually put her hand down my pants acting as a human butt plug….eeeek!
There you go I am a scarred man for life! Till this day I don’t know what that girl was on, or indeed on about - I heard some stories after my little episode about her getting it on and doing the ‘wild-thang’ with some random chap in 414 shortly after that!
[b]The Torture Garden crowd have a reputation for being difficult to get moving on the dance floor, what are those special tracks that you pull out to get people dancing?
At TG the music is the means to a cause, it’s a by-product of the event - however it’s also an important aspect of it, as it sets the mood in my opinion! TG boasts a crowd from the age of 18 to people in their 60’s. TG’s crowd is a temperamental one to keep on the dance floor, you’ve gotta work the crowd into a frenzy and once they are there you’ve gotta keep working ‘em! Once you’ve lost a dance floor at TG it all falls apart and people normally end up leaving the event when the dance-floor is dead! 98% of the time things are spot-on and Allen TG books artists who have played for similar crowds such as Trade and FIST and whom he has trust in to do the job properly! Next to Trade this is most probably the toughest event to get a set at!
I’ve played really uplifting sets at TG and the crowd went mad for it, but usually I will end with the nastiest, darkest tracks I can find, it makes sense working them to the grand finale! If you think you are going to play at TG and just do your thing and not read the crowd you might just end up with you and the bar staff in the room! The TG crowd is much more up for it and open-minded about the music than at any other ‘over-ground’ event I have played at, and I really love doing my thing behind the wheels of steel at TG.
Which producers/DJs are currently doing it for you?
Justin Bourne must be the man of the moment - the other artists who float my boat are Dom Sweeten, Paul Glazby, Marc Johnson and some of DMF’s material. Karl Davis from Ireland is another one to look out for in the future.
Following on from that, which tracks are always in your bag and what is your signature tune?
The tracks which are always in my bag include: “Are you all Ready!”, “Don’t F**k With Me”, “Dreams”, “Great Responsibility” and “Beautiful”. My signature tune is definitely Glazby’s remix of “Dreams”.
As someone who has put in a lot of time and effort in climbing the ladder to get where you are today, what do you think of the current trend of overnight superstar DJs? Do you think that the DJs coming through these days are good enough or do you think the scene is going down the manufactured DJ route?
I believe that all good things only come with good ol’ time – there are a few new faces on the scene that get portrayed as the best thing since the invention of the turntable, but in my humble opinion they are nothing but fabricated hype. I’m sorry if I come across as being nasty about this but I am a purist of the highest order! It’s all good for the artists in question though as they get to rise to the top of the food-chain from their bedroom somewhere in the darkest corner of space. Yes it might be that they can put a set together and have the looks to match, but if it wasn’t for the hype nobody would give them a second thought and they’d probably still be playing in their bedrooms.
It’s a real shame that a fair few of the artists, who make a real difference to our scene by making the music we love so much and playing storming sets week after week get overlooked - but hey that’s the nature of the beast I suppose.
Your production career is beginning to flourish with some strong releases on labels including Deprivation, Flashpoint and Toolbox - what other releases are in the pipeline?
Yep, I’ve been lucky enough to have some good solid releases on the labels you have mentioned and also on other labels such as Elasticman and 12” Thumpers.
The recent track I did in collaboration with Overload (AKA Paul King and Nik Denton) called “On & On” is out now in shops and prior to its release it was signed to no less than three compilations: “Lashed in Australia”, Toolbox – “What’s Your Pleasure” and most recently signed to the Vicious Circle compilation “Paul Glazby: Live in South Africa”. Thus you might guess that we have great expectations of sales on this track.
In the next month you’ll see more tracks from myself in collaboration with DMF on Feersum Records and my first solo track to be released on Twisted Trax at the end of October. Following these will be a track on Concrete Records in December (which I did with RFO). I’ve just finished another project with Dan Madams – as you would expect this is a pounding, energetic Hard NRG workout!
Having collaborated in the studio with DMF, Marc Johnson, Nik Denton and Paul King, which producers would you really like to work with?
It would be a great honour to work with the likes of Justin Bourne, Ian M, and Pete Wardman. Who knows what the future may hold? It’s always been an aspiration to work with Paul King and this became a reality when we produced ‘On & On’.
Do you have any plans to start a label of your own?
I have so called ‘resident’ labels in Toolbox and FlashPoint even though I’ve only had one release on each of them. It’s always been a matter of tricky timing and I suppose that’s why they haven’t signed more tracks from me yet.
I’m rather happy just writing and producing quality music as I know how tough it is to run a label successfully – I have friends who own/A&R record labels and trust me its hard work! No thanks to that (hard work), and thanks to the labels who are signing my tracks!
Do you think that it’s essential for a DJ to produce in order to make it to the top these days?
It wasn’t really essential in the early years of hard house as there were only a handful or so of DJs on the circuit. Most of the successful DJs out there at present are all producers. By producer I don’t mean making tracks on your Atari at home and handing them to your mates to play, but turning out quality instead of quantity, and getting the releases on strong labels. So my answer would be: Yes!
In an era where hard house nights are a dying breed and a number of new nights have crashed and burned, your events: Ultim-8, Summer Sessions, NRG Files & Byte, at the Purple Turtle have been a great success. Why do you think these nights are doing so well?
Hard House is definitely not a dying breed – just look at the Purple Turtle on Sunday nights! At present the Byte event features predominantly hard house DJs and it’s still very, very busy week after week! I think the reason why the Purple Turtle is doing so well is due to a few factors such as the location, reasonable bar prices, good management and it being a brilliant little intimate venue with a great sound-system. However the most important element is that the attitude and vibe in there is pretty care-free and the music never fails to deliver an ‘on-one’ experience to the crowd! It’s been known to see BK, Paul Glazby, Justin Bourne, Simon Eve, DMF, Ben Stevens and a few other DJs having a boogy in the crowd.
At the mo’ there is a core of people working behind the scenes to put on very successful Saturday & Sunday night events at the PT. For a long time the PT had not been properly promoted, but things have changed. It is a shame that all hard dance events on Saturday nights will stop on the 6th November however Sunday nights will still continue to host the hard house event which is Insekt’s baby brother, ‘Byte’.
You have a reputation for supporting new talent within the scene via your nights at the Purple Turtle, with some DJs going on to play at big events such as Hard House Academy, which of the new DJs should we be looking out for from your experience?
Well yes, I know how hard it is to break into this scene of ours and I have taken it upon myself to look after a couple of young talented and enthusiastic DJs – Steve Maynard and Jack Michaels in particular. I will push these two talents as much as I can so long as they keep working on their side of things and not forgetting their roots.
Steve especially, I think has got that ‘something’ that can take him far. He can make it good if he sticks it out, gets the lucky breaks he need, keeps his head deflated and works hard at it. I’m rather proud of the man as I saw him play an opening set for me at the Purple Turtle, and recently not only did he get a set playing HHA but ended up playing Glazby’s closing set as Paul was stuck up North – this is a very big step and hope he continues onwards and upwards!
You can catch George E playing at the NRG Files at the Purple Turtle on Saturday 30th Nov and Saturday 6th November, Insekt at Fire on Saturday 13th November, Concrete at the Soundshaft on Sunday 5th December and every Sunday at Byte at the Purple Turtle.
[hf]
Photos courtesy of Amy Anders, Dori, Houseguy, Luckyfuka and Space Kitty
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Other Features By El Capitano Pete:
Insekt Preview - An Interview with James Nardi
Insekt Launch Party Preview – Interviews with Ben Stevens, Superfast 0z and Ziad
Interview with Marc Johnson
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.
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Comments:
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From: paul jack on 3rd Nov 2004 10:37.09
nice one George
From: Marc Johnson on 3rd Nov 2004 10:45.54
Nice interview Tarzan
From: Toomz on 3rd Nov 2004 10:49.45
Good shit mate, keep it up!
From: Lorenzo Barrero on 3rd Nov 2004 10:57.19
Nice one. Will def have to come and see you play again @ The Turtle!
From: Psym@n on 3rd Nov 2004 11:21.48
get in there george ...keep up all the hard work mate , look forward to hearing your new releases
From: karl davis on 3rd Nov 2004 12:01.03
top top bloke, and an amazing dj, keep it up dude
From: Alex Parsons on 3rd Nov 2004 12:04.33
Nice work old bean. Keep it up!
From: James Nardi on 3rd Nov 2004 12:27.13
Good read Tarzan, see ya at the weekend.
From: Harry PT on 3rd Nov 2004 12:35.18
Nice one George,keep good work matey.
See ya @ the Turtle
From: Steve Gillen on 3rd Nov 2004 12:57.11
Nice one George. Good interview.
Your a top bloke and very talented DJ / producer.
keep up the good work fella!
From: Dickon Laws on 3rd Nov 2004 14:06.50
One of the most enthusiastic and friendly Djs about - deserves everything he has achieved!
From: karl davis on 3rd Nov 2004 15:05.42
cheers for the shout out and word of support george
From: Richard Launch on 3rd Nov 2004 15:09.39
Nice work George...!
From: Dallas on 3rd Nov 2004 15:52.54
its about time georgy! Nice work dude!
From: Steve Maynard on 3rd Nov 2004 18:30.37
Great interview from a wiked bloke.
If it wasnt 4 u mate id still be stuck in me bedroom
From: little Em on 3rd Nov 2004 20:45.09
Ur the man G... nice one xx Emma xxx
From: Tom Foy on 3rd Nov 2004 23:30.01
Nice one George - look forward to seeing you on Sunday mate.
From: emmahardware on 3rd Nov 2004 23:53.07
top bloke - top interview...i have spent many a sunday down the purple turtle and it never fails to impress!!
From: George-E on 4th Nov 2004 09:12.45
Many thhanks for all the kind words and for your continued support. xox G
From: Jennie B on 4th Nov 2004 09:58.06
Wicked interview mate......oh the memories of Saturday at the turtle......and sundays come to mention it
see you on sat at the turtle
From: Jacob on 4th Nov 2004 18:33.28
Excellent stuff George! Looking 4ward to Insekt this month- congrats on putting 2gether such a high quality lineup...
From: Demonix on 4th Nov 2004 21:44.04
Had a top time at PT so will be catching you and Mj and co @ Insekt @ Fire
From: VinDiesel on 5th Nov 2004 15:08.04
Brilliant interview. Fantastic dj, good promoter and nice bloke. Best of luck George with the opening night for Insekt
From: MR BANG! on 5th Nov 2004 17:57.55
nice 1...brilliant interview.read every word!!
From: RussT on 8th Nov 2004 06:00.33
Not bad for a fat bloke! Haha. Nice 1 Georgie Keep up the good work son.. Oh and happy anniversary - luv ya loads
From: Stevi D on 8th Nov 2004 10:35.41
Rock on George-E, brilliant DJ and all round top Saffer!!!!
From: Evil E on 8th Nov 2004 16:19.59
Yay luv ya tunes!!!
From: Mikey P on 8th Nov 2004 21:27.13
You're just getting better and better, George-E
Can't finish the wknd without your tunes at PT...
luv Dorit and Mike xxx
From: Maria on 9th Nov 2004 09:21.11
I'm really looking forward for Insekt this Saturday!!!It's gonna be phat!!! Nice interview mate!
From: Matt Smallwood on 9th Nov 2004 20:26.19
Get in George-E! A true legend, since the old 'Wired' days, remember them! Hehe! Keep rockin' old boy!
From: ~deleted5181 on 10th Nov 2004 14:17.27
Well done you! 
From: Iza on 12th Nov 2004 13:04.44
Nice interview, nice work and NICE DJ  Looking forward to hearing your tunes again. Iza
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