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DJ Hyper - a UK breakbeat dynamo
UK breakbeat DJ and producer Hyper aka Guy Hatfield is back in Australia this holiday season and he’s brought a crate full of goodies with him. Fans can expect to hear loads of new material from Hyper’s Kilowatt label, along with exclusives from his next mix CD, due for release on Ministry Of Sound mid next year.
Hyper is world renowned for his mix CDs, having compiled and mixed the Y3K compilations on Distinctive Breaks, the first of which was hailed as the most important breaks album to date, making album of the month in DJ, Muzik, Mixmag, Wax and Ministry to name just a few.
In 2002 he took the breakbeat sound to a widening audience with the first in the Bedrock Breaks series, which propelled his international success and sparked a tour across five continents. Earlier this year and much to the delight of fans he released the second volume entitled Bedrock Breaks 2: Fractured.
For many Fractured was an introduction to Hyper’s production work as his tracks 'Catnip' and 'Slapper' feature on the album. More recently, he has been particularly busy on the production front and is currently collaborating with a variety of artists.
“I've been remixing Mogwai, Pink (twice), Paul Van Dyk and am possibly going to mix Sarah McLaughlin. On top of this I have a new 12" coming out on Timo Maas' 4:20 label. The lead track is called the 'Outsider'.”
When asked how performing live as a DJ compares to spending time in the studio producing, Hyper replies, “They both have their plus points! The studio is obviously much more creative but the buzz from DJing is incomparable!”
Hyper has been enjoying the buzz he gets from DJing since the early 90’s when he broke into the deep house free party scene in 1992. He soon grew tired of the growing commercialism surrounding the scene and turned his attention to breakbeat and hip hop in the fur fore of the ‘Mo’ Wax’ scene of the early 90’s.
After moving from his hometown of Lincoln to London, he began working for Sony in their international European division. Determined to share his love of hip hop, electro and breaks with the world, Hyper set up his own club promotion company Waxworks, working with the Push label, TCR and artists such as Hybrid.
At the request of Lee Burridge, Hyper soon began DJing again at Lee’s Sunday session at the Atlantis Bar. This led to residencies at ‘Tyrant nights’ at The Bomb in Nottingham, the ‘Push’ room at Digweed’s 'Bedrock night' at Heaven, and at Hybrid’s club night in Bristol. He continued running Waxworks for a while before selling it to set up his own label Kilowatt last year.
According to Hyper, Kilowatt is doing, “Very well indeed. The current release is Terminalhead's 'Weekend Warrior' with a Bedrock mix and then comes Dan F with 'Line Of Sight' with Aussie boys Infusion on the mix and then it's Hyper Vs General Midi 'We've Been Waiting'.”
Until recently, Kilowatt also co-ran the highly successful ‘Twister’ breaks night in London with Acetate Ltd, at Turnmills but Hyper explains, “We stopped that a little while ago, which was a shame coz it was doing really well! We did it together with another night called 'Roach' who fell out with club management and we decided we should also knock it on the head!”
More recently, Hyper has been making regular visits to the US where he has a growing fan base. “It's amazing really, I get to play some of the best clubs there and go to do a long weekend of gigs almost once a month now. ‘Spundae’ in LA is still my favourite club in the world! Next year I'm off on a two-month tour as support for the Crystal Method. One hell of a road trip with rock star coaches and the whole nine yards!”
Along with his international tours Hyper also has some permanent gigs around the world in Romania Sweden and in Asia but admits, “It's harder and harder to hold these things down with so many other DJ commitments.”
He has been out to Australian on tour a number of times and says, “The scene is thriving over there and it's always an exciting place to play! It's a very party scene you have and should be hugely proud!” He sites Infusion, Kid Kenobi and Phil K as the main Australian players in the international breaks scene.
So what’s next for DJ Hyper following his upcoming Australian tour? “I'm so busy at the moment it's not true! I'm fully booked through Jan and early Feb, then I disappear on the Crystal Method tour of US for two months coming back only to do Fabric. Then I have a load of European dates to do before coming back to Oz to tour the Ministry CD. Then it's festival time again and then I'm off to Asia with Ministry Of Sound. Basically, my life until the second half of next year is already pretty much mapped out for me. I also have my artist album to finish. Oh! And I'm getting married in Feb too!?
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Published / Thursday, 18 December 2003
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