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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!
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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!
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Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma
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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!
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N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood!
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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!

DTPM Christmas Party @ Fabric & interview with Mark Westhenry

Reported by gergi108 / Submitted 20-01-06 02:17

Fabric is well known for its history of full-on nights and DTPM is no exception. As a venue with an unparalleled sound system, it was acoustically designed to fit the sound to the curves of the venue. As a rule pink clubbers have more staying power than their straight counter-parts, and DTPM has gained a reputation for having a loyal and friendly crowd who are always up for a good party on a Sunday night. As a recent convert to DTPM, I jumped at the opportunity to review the DTPM Christmas Party.

Unfortunately things don’t start off well, as my photographer friend calls me at the last minute to say she can’t make it after all. There isn’t time to find another and I don’t have a digital camera, so armed with a trusty point and click and some words of advice from the HF features editor, I head out to Fabric...



From the walk from the tube, there is an immediate feeling of excitement and anticipation in the air. Once inside I’m met by the astounding sight of a brass band playing Christmas carols, which reminded me that underneath the hedonistic and polysexual undertones the message of the season was not forgotten. This set the tone for a night that was full of surprises.

I headed into Room One for Lisa German’s set from 11–1, who in recent weeks has been laying the discographic foundations as the crowd pours in. Her style mixes club classics and anthems with newer tunes that make everyone boogie. Every time I attend DTPM I am amazed how the main room is full as soon as it opens. Many a time I’ve been spotted spinning away in front of her sets as her female energy adds something vital in a potentially masculine dominated space.



While some straight clubbers can be put off by their pre-conceptions and their own sexual hang-ups, trust me there is a reason while London is a Mecca for pink partying and DTPM has a huge place on the altar. In this fickle world, when a venue like Fabric is consistently full for over 8 years one has to take notice.

Everyone usually makes an effort to dress up at DTPM, but for the Christmas party some had gone all out and this really added to the already charged atmosphere. My next stop was to the Electric Loft in Room 3. This is a relatively new venture began at the start of December and tonight the DJs were awesome. I wish people would explore this room more, as it feels more intimate and the quality of the sounds was superb. I am predicting an electro explosion in the New Year, as demonstrated in the main room when Mark Westhenry dropped an electro anthem I’ve heard many times at Jaded. This shows how the traditional ground of vocal funky house is experiencing an earthquake, causing the many sub-genres to converge and merge. A new variety of electro-funky house without vocals is booming too and is being explored by ground-breaking djs like D’Johnny and Per QX.



Popping into Room 3 I was the greeted by the welcome sight of a bongo boy from Black to Basics and the harder sound of Kami. He was later followed by the more tribal influence of Trade legend Malcolm Duffy.

The highlight of my night however was an interview with Mark Westhenry after his 1–3am set. He’s known for his djing “take you on an adventure voyage” stylee sets and it’s just refreshing to watch a dj make such a supreme effort. I have always felt that a dj set should be like the performance of an operatic chorus, whereby one witnesses the whole and the individual voices blend and become indistinguishable, so the mixing for 2 records should be flawless and inaudible to even the experienced clubbing ear. Mark excels at that.

So as Steve Thomas drops the DTPM anthems into his final set, working the crowd into a frenzy, I found a suitable location to interview Mark. First up then, while I know and love Mark’s sound, I know a lot of you HF readers are Westhenry virgins. I’ve tried to describe his sound, but there’s nothing better than getting it from the horse’s mouth: “So many of the tracks I play are nice big fun booming electro tracks, but when it gets to DT that would be kind of dull if doesn’t go anywhere… what I’m trying to do is to build a little bit of that sound into my set. Now I’m very lucky here doing 1 til 3, as I get a lot of support from the crowd so can play quite a lot of the new sounds as well.”



Great stuff. But surely playing at DTPM is different to playing at other clubs? “Well in straight clubs the sexuality gets in the way and you just hear the same tunes. Here I can cater to the crowd directly. DTPM has always been fairly leading in the sound it plays, and it’s different to a lot of the gay scene in the stuff it plays. It feels exclusive, like a beach party in Miami sometimes here in the middle of winter. Also it’s got a lot to do with the fact that it’s Sunday night, we close the doors and we’re gonna have a party, we’re gonna go home when we go home… it’s been a great night!”

Your sets always take me on a musical journey, yet you somehow keep things new and fresh. What music is rocking your world at the moment? “I’m lucky, I get quite a bit of support from other djs and they send me a their new stuff. ‘Sun Rising Up’ from Dirk been an anthem all year, it doesn’t matter how many times I play it, it always sounds great and gets awesome crowd reactions. I’m trying to break out the new records which hopefully will become those bigger sounds of tomorrow. Normally I’ve been championing the vocal stuff, but this year has been a very poor year and I’ve found myself drifting into nice electro which I like, but it’s got to be quite euphoric, it has to go somewhere. I like nice chunky house at the moment going back to the early 90s, with Murk and people like that, and it’s nice to hear some of that sort of music.”



Do you think there’s much of a difference between US house and the UK sound? “I think the US stuff doesn’t have enough bottom in it to take it home, it’s still full of lingering old-style vocals that are not really saying anything anymore. For me, the gay scene is all about the big basslines.”

How has it your sound developed in the last year? “I take great quality dirty house then combine that with a bit of electro and chuck a vocal track in along those lines.”

What do you think about the state of the clubbing scene at the moment? “There’s still a lot of carnage from GHB — it’s just not gonna happen, you can’t have people falling over in the club! It’s a shame the pills aren’t better than they are!”



You’ve got residencies at Jaded and Fiction. How are your sets there different to DTPM? “At Jaded I’m free to play whatever I want, so I play more electro, that kind of dirty electro stuff that’s perfect to play to the garden in the bottom room of Egg. Fiction at the beginning of the weekend is a more mixed affair. We find we all kind of work together and respect each other, Luke Hope, Mike Starr (who’s here tonight), Steve Thomas, Nick T, and Per QX are all very talented and on an international level.”

Who else do you respect on the scene? “I did 6 years at the Ministry with Alan Thompson, he’s a best friend. What he did here at DTPM, it’s just fantastic. Alan is a great DJ and has been a mainstay, he turned it all around. There’s now monthly DTPM parties in Sydney with Alan Thompson headlining every month.”

By now we’re seriously missing out on the last records of the night, so I thank Mark for his time and go for a final wander around the rooms. DTPM is a total clubbing experience and a lot of work is put in to ensure that it works on every level.



VJs are a rare sight at the moment in the London scene but DTPM has one every week with their resident Shark, who adds a great deal to the vibes in Room 1. At the Halloween party, for example, he was projecting images of the crowd direct onto the big screen which got a good reaction.

For the festive celebration however, the main stage in room one was decorated in a festive way too, with Mother and Father Christmas dancers on stilts parading through the club engaging with clubbers. For me, it’s almost a perfect combination of the old style up for it carnivalesque atmosphere you get at a good rave, where people just go out for the party, the good tunes and to have the best time possible with friends new and old, combined with all the benefits of a well set up organised club. Room One also without a doubt boasts the best sound system and acoustics in London, if not Europe. After a weekend out at London clubs with far inferior systems, your ears will thank you at DTPM on a given Sunday.



Steve Thomas has now almost finished the last set in the main room, and as always he plays a set characterized by club anthems with some cutting edge new numbers that leaves the DTPM regulars and those who’ve come out specially for what has been a Christmas party of a lifetime with massive smiles on their faces. It’s time for me to take my leave, and yes I’ve got a massive smile on my face too.



Thanks to all the clubbers I met at this Mother of all Christmas parties who helped me with their comments along the way; you might find yourselves in my photo set once it’s up! Thanks also the djs I spoke to, especially to Mark Westhenry for taking time out from a great party to have a chat with me, and thanks to the DTPM crew for having me down to what for me was the best DTPM yet. Finally, thanks to Jonathan of Most Wanted PR for setting this up for me and apologies for the lateness putting this up: all those excuses were for good reason!

Merry belated Christmas and a very happy belated New Year to all! See ya on any given Sunday soon!



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Other Features By gergi108:
Mixing wizard & Fuel petrolhead Alan K tells it like it is @ Fire
Anthony Dean dishes it out just in time for Terminal
Eduardo Herrera — the Brazilian invasion continues
Dave Joy finally hits London
Fiction 6th Birthday @ The Cross, Friday 4 March
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:

From: Maria on 20th Jan 2006 18:31.02
I love DTPM. I wish I can go there every Sunday night! Wicked interview!

From: 00Frenchy on 23rd Jan 2006 13:32.02
I remember Mark Westhenry from my Romford days! Along with another Romford turned DTPMer Russell Penn....

From: drag0n on 24th Jan 2006 21:48.46
"As a rule pink clubbers have more staying power than their straight counter-parts". Has anyone told the straight clubbers who carry on all weekend this 'rule'?

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