My Year In Hard Dance
Andy Whitby
What tune has defined this year in hard dance for you?
I think any of BK's 'Back to 99' remixes were a good sign of how hard-dance is finally accepting that the bouncier side of our scene is back with a bang.
If I had to sum up the year in one track however it'd be Eskimo 'Recycled' on Tidy: cheeky samples cut up left, right and centre, an INSANE bassline, huge build up and 2 breakdowns of sheer hard-dance power...I've not seen a reaction like it when it was dropped in a club.
What has been your biggest achievement of the year?
Winning Best DJ, Best Resident and coming runner up in 3 other categories in the Hard Dance Awards in Feb really kicked things off for me. It was a dream come true to get up there at Brixton Academy infront of everyone to accept them, thank you to everyone that voted!
Playing the big festival 5: Global Gathering, Creamfields, Coloursfest, Escape into the Park and Planetlove was something I've wanted to do for a while as well and this year I finally did.
Finally, launching my own event and brand AWsum was an achievement I've been working towards for a while, and is going to be my main focus next year for moving my music and DJing forwards.
What moments in the last year will you always remember?
I had some incredible moments at gigs this year;
Frantic 10 – Koko is among my favourite clubs in the world and to headline to a sell-out crowd for Frantic's 10th Birthday bash was amazing!
Tidy Weekender 11 – When I stepped up to plug my headphones in the whole arena went crazy! I've never heard a cheer like it, I couldn't stop smiling! It really set the mood for the next hour, and I had an amazing time up there. I debuted a lot of new tracks in that set too including my own remix of 'Til Tears Do Us Part' that I produced with Klubfiller which can be heard on my new mix at whitbymix.com.
Global Gathering - After last years Contagious Stage moment I knew this years Global would be special and although the weather was (to be blunt) shit, it didn't stop the Polys tent being rammed all night with hard-dance-loving crazy kids!
Planetlove – For my debut at Ireland's finest festival I wanted to make sure I pulled out all the stops and they just ate up whatever I threw at them and screamed for more! The Irish certainly know how to party and I can't wait to get back there in February for my long-awaited debut @ The Coach.
Hard Dance Revolution in Calgary - Seeing the a room rammed full of crazy Canadians going bananas to chaotic bouncy hard-dance was absolutely brilliant, I can't wait to get back there.
Another moment I'll remember forever was on December 1st @ One AWsum Night. During my sets I like to really get into the music and after jumping around the stage a little too much during my 3hr performance I made the monitor fall and land onto the amp which was powering the sound. Silence fell, but in the minutes before it came back on the entire crowd started chanting my name and cheering...it was the moment I realised all the hard work leading up the event was worth it and we were going to have an incredible night.
What exciting things do you have planned for next year?
I've been saying it for 3 years now, but my labels AWsum and AWsum Bounce WILL be launching early '08. They were about to before Amato got into trouble, so when that happened it set everything back a few weeks. I've already got the first 3 releases on each label ready to roll, and finally tracks like 'U Ready?' (and all of it's remixes), 'Never Ever', 'R We Alone', 'Will 2 ill', 'Hands Up' and many more will start hitting the shelves.
I've also signed 2 of the hottest new talents to come into hard-dance for a while; Klubfiller and Matt Lee. The three of us will be working on a lot of new material for AWsum and really pushing things forward with fresh hard-dance and power bounce records, all road-tested by myself on a weekly basis.
The second 'Andy Whitby presents One AWsum Night' will be at the end of May. For this one we wanted to take a step up from the warehouse feel of the first. To ensure the night moves forward through each event we're going to have it at different clubs each time. In May I'll be holding it at the most famous club in the UK. When people find out where it is they will literally be gob smacked, it's going to be unlike anything scene in hard-dance in 2008, I promise you that!
Finally, I'll be launching a third label later on in the year and moving things forward with my clubbing clothing range with Contagious; Whitbywear.
More Andy Whitby Content
Check out Andy Whitby's Hard Dance Awards DJ Top Ten!
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