- The third day of the ADE was combined with the "Dutch DJ Day" which meant entry control points in the conference venue were introduced. This resulted in some rooms dedicated to the ADE being off limits to people attending the DJ day. It was kind of annoying, but since the program had good things to offer we didn't let it bother us.
Compared to previous years the Saturday was much better attended. The DJ day had two sponsored rooms called the "Red Bull Music Academy' and the 'Interface Magazine Room' and the things happening here managed to have an even less formal character than the things ADE had to offer. There were workshops about using software like Ableton Live (Zuco 103) and Logic (Gregor Salto) as well as topics about hardware toys like the Numark 500FX (miss Monica). We even got our ears measured for tailor made ear plugs.
From the program we picked a panel called "My track is ready, what next?'. Moderated by Peter Van Hal (Extrema, NL) this topic was one of the few that really resulted in interaction with the audience. Maybe because it was in Dutch, but it was great to see a lot of people still working hard to get their tracks heard and that according to the panel, the quality of the tracks hadn't suffered despite the quantity. Although the quantity of unsolicited demos might be qualified as demo spam, producers need to realize less than 1% of tracks offered make it onto vinyl. So the better your demo sounds and the better it is presented, the more chance you have.
As part of the Dutch DJ Day, Torsten Smidth from the Red Bull Music Academy interviewed two early pioneers of techno -- Derrick May and Dave Clarke -- in separate sessions as well as one session with two of Holland's finest techno talents -- Steve Rachmad and Joris Voorn.
The interview with Dave Clarke went really well. If someone were still to call him gruffy, unpleasant or unkind in an interview I'd have to argue with them immediately. Clarke was actually the most informative, smartest and funniest guy of the whole conference.
Torsten Smidth asked him about his career, about what he'd experienced while being on the road but also of course about the new era of downloading music and the first time he actually touched and played with CD players.
The key to his success seems to be lie in his passion for the music and the scene, just like he described his manager who has been with him for the last 7 years. "If it was for the money this all would not have happened. That's why I play at smaller clubs besides the big events. I don't do that for the money. You also learn from different crowds as a DJ. Just like I did at 11 in Amsterdam on Thursday or Doornroosje in Nijmegen last night, or even that night I played in Liverpool for 300 people a few weeks back."
Clarke is still one of the best technically gifted DJs out there and he doesn't seem to be nervous before any gig at all. No matter how big the event is. But once asked about one of his live performances he was very honest: "It was nervewrecking! That's something I was really nervous about. I almost shitted my pants sometimes. On one side you want to pull off a good show but there are so many people involved as well, so I also did it for them. For those who were with me on the road all the time. I just couldn't dissapoint them for all the hard work they'd put in. When I am playing as a DJ it's just me and that's a totally different story."
A question from the audience about "the DJ being on tour" and how bad it sometimes can be soon followed with the reference point being the festivals in the UK. Clarke joked about it, saying: "You should get yourself a personal toilet when you play at a festival in the UK. It's shite. You even should consider that as a part of your contract!"
With the interview being part of the Dutch DJ Day, a few questions from the audience were raised not only about being a DJ, producer but also about being a VJ. Clarke: "To be honest I prefer the attention of the people not being drawn away by images because it's just about the music for me. But actually there are some great VJs out there which I like. Last Thursday my party at 11 had some wicked images but if a club has some extra budget to spend I would definitely go for more bass!".
Overall the interview was very informative but sometimes you couldn't really hear the questions that were asked from both the interviewer as well as people in the audience. They should bring extra microphones and put the volume up next time!!
Since Derrick May had missed his plane Dave Clarke was also part of the "Demolition part X" in the same room. After everyone took a break the day continued with the demos from the audience. You just had to leave a demo CD in the Demo Box to get an honest opinion on your music production from the professionals.
Apart from Dave Clarke, three other music professionals joined the panel. Among them were Dutch DJ/producers Marcella and Lucien Foort. The demos were randomly picked, played in the room and discussed by the panel. Unfortunately the tracks weren't that good and were mainly too electro'ish and too hard. There was even some pumping Drum "n Bass in there as well as the "Rotterdam-style stuff" as Clarke put it while making the usual Gabber moves.
Peter: The last evening we started going together to what was supposed to be a Goa party at Akhnaton looking. I love good trance music, and hadbeen around there but once in I felt the only thing that reminded me of Goa were those lovely ladies taking my coat.
I wanted action now so I decided to leave and headed to the venue Paradiso. On my way I decided for a pit stop at a club called The Sugar Factory where "All Is One" hosted a party. Dutch female DJ 100% Isis was moving the crowd and the atmosphere was right what I needed. People dancing with actual smiles on their faces. At the end of her set two lady acrobats did tricks that were candy for the eyes while aroma jockey ODO7 did the same for the nose. After that Taho came up for a live set with female vocals by a 'furry coat girl' I'd seen around some places and wondered who she was. So I found out and never made it to Paradiso.
Reinier: I decided to stay at Akhnaton for the Gravity Plus Records label night, home to X-Dream from Germany. Maybe you remember X-Dream as being a keyplayer in the Goa scene for years now. Although this scene is still rather small and underground the spirit wasn't really there that night.
OK, it was cool but it all kind of sounded the same all the time. Maybe it was because their sound was so different to what they used to do. Especially when Arielle, the wife of one of the band members, came on stage as a vocalist. With her vocoded voice it all sounded very electro'ish sometimes. Where have we heard that before? It's all about electro these days! What we heard was more stuff from X-Dream's side project called "Prime Suspect". It wasn't about fluoro decorated rooms, deep trancey sounds and the oldskool GOA freaks. Even this scene is changing and evolving but unfortunately it all start to sound the same.
We guess one day all the different genres and styles in dance music are coming (back) together under one roof: electro(nic) music.
The Final Word: Looking back we can say the 10th edition of the ADE had a special vibe. Apart from the official program a lot of things were going on between all the various people in attendance resulting in everbody having a great time. And, so did we.
Photos: Michel Mees
Special thanks to Pieter van Adrichem.