Skiddle Live 004 - Kutski @ Creamfields

Image: Kutski Credit: Johnny Edge

Clubbing milestones don't come much more impressive than the one that is approaching for Goodgreef. Hitting five years on the scene is major, ten years is pretty monumental and 15 is a sign of a truly legendary institution. 

An artist that has seen the brand develop over the years and who has wholeheartedly represented the music policy is Kutski. Considered the saviour of rave and hard style music, his superb technical ability around the decks and versatile musical knowledge have resulted in a number of accolades.

He’s been named ‘The People’s Favourite’, voted the UK’s No.1 Hard Dance DJ in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll and also won the awards for ‘Best UK Hard DJ’ for three consecutive years in the Hard Dance Awards. .

We've got an hour long recording from his energetic, hard-hitting set from this year's Creamfields festival and spoke to Kutski before the international trance and hard dance clubbing brand celebrates its biggest birthday at Victoria Warehouse in Manchester.

Skiddle Live 004 - Kutski @ Creamfields by Skiddle on Mixcloud

First up you're playing at the Goodgreef birthday, how does it feel to be celebrating the milestone with  them?

Yeah I’ve worked closely with the guys from Goodgreef for too many years to recount now, since I was a cocky turntablist battle DJ travelling around the north of England for DJ competitions, and Goodgreef was the hot new underground hard house and trance party at Philips Park Hall.

It’s crazy to try and join the dots from back then to where we are all where we are today, but our paths have intertwined along the whole journey, so it’s amazing to be celebrating this milestone with the guys.

Could you tell us a couple of your favourite Goodgreef memories?

The single funniest story that still makes me cringe today happened before I’d even stepped foot in Goodgreef. It was when I first spoke to Barry on the phone. Someone passed on his mobile number and said the promoter of Goodgreef is interested in booking you, he’s called 'Barry big-noes'.

So with that knowledge I promptly called the number asking to speak to a 'Barry big-noes', with no idea this was obviously someone's funny idea of a prank haha! I’m not sure how or why he didn’t just tell me to fuck off and hang up but somehow that conversation led to a booking which in turn led to one of the longest ongoing relationships I’ve had with any brand throughout my career.

The mix you've recorded for us at Creamfields, does that reflect the sort of stuff that will be making it into your set at the Goodgreef birthday? 

Yeah to a certain extent, it’s certainly a representation of my style. But with this being such a land mark event, I’ll be sure to be digging through the archives for some good old Goodgreef classics too.

You’ve toured around the world in a whole host of countries, where would you say is your favourite location to play?

That's such a touch question, so I’m going to break it down into sections. Atmosphere wise, it has to be Scotland and Northern Ireland. I’m English so there is no bias here, but any DJ that has played these two places will know what I’m saying, the crowds are like no where else in the world.

Freedom wise, I love playing in USA because of the culture of music out there. They don’t see genre divides like we do, so you have the freedom to play pretty much anything you want in one set, and as long as you're playing good music, the crowd will go with you.

And lastly, from a cultural point of view, I love Japan. It’s so different than anywhere else in the world I have been, yet some how it feels so comfortable for me to be there. Maybe I lived there in a previous life or something but somehow it feels like home for me.

What’s track is without fail making its way into your sets at the moment?

Anything by Audiofreq, Dr Rude, LNY TNZ, Ruthless, Destructive Tendencies. All of those guys get a green pass that anything they make, I will play.

Your Keeping The Rave Alive podcast and parties are still going strong, the title suggests that the rave scene needs life pumping back into it, how do you think that you do that?

The concept was based around keeping the original vibe of the rave scene alive within modern hard music. So fuck all the bitching about what you don’t like, have an open mind to all new music and focus on what you do like, not what you don't. That was always our motto for the show.

Ironically we started running the KTRA events in cities where there used to be a big rave scenes, but it seemed to have dried up, so we where trying to inject some life back in. Some venture where more successful than other in the early days, but now the events have become so popular they fall in line with the radio show.

It's a live representation of the music we cover on the show, with the same ideals that everyone is there for the same reason, a love of music, so leave your screwface at the door as we want KTRA events to be a completely friendly environment.

How would you describe the current state of the harder end of the dance music scene and what do you think the future holds for it?

It’s a little mixed at the moment. Globally, hard music is possibly as bigger than ever with the explosion of hardstyle, even DJs like Tiesto are finishing their sets at 150 BPM. Countries like Holland, Belgium and Germany have always had massive scene for harder dance music, and that trend continues to grow along with emerging new markets like USA and South America.

Areas such as Canada and Australia used to be huge for hard house 10 years ago, but that trend seems to have shifted over to the explosion of hardstyle as a new generation of clubbers have came through, so numbers in general as still great out there albeit across different styles. 

It’s no secret however, that with in the UK things are in a bit of a slump. 10-15 years ago there where a lot more hard parties dotted around the country, but this is unfortunately a necessary and unavoidable process we have to ride out. The simple and cliché facts are music moves in cycles, especially in the UK.

The next generation of clubbers want their own music and their own identity. That means they will find their own preferences, different than that of older siblings etc. Ironically that is how the scene became so huge back in the day, as a rebellion to other more popular styles, so it’s natural to hit a dip after a peak.

This isn’t all negative though, as with all successful industries attract people that, lets say are not in it just for the passion. When the good times are gone, those people flee, which leaves a core underground movement of extremely dedicated individuals who will reinvent and revitalise the scene for a new generation. If you follow the history of the UK hardcore scene you have see this cycle happen at least three times in the last 25 years. 

This certainly isn’t the most glamorous time to be involved in the scene in the UK, but if your heart is in the right place it is without a doubt the most exciting as this is where you shape the future with zero restrictions. In my humble opinion, we are just hitting the upturn in the cycle.

There seems to be a steady, exciting buzz on the scene. We’ve noticed a vast increase in numbers in our KTRA events over the past few years, with the return of Kiddstock festival being such a success and legendary events like Goodgreef continuing to consistently smash the doors off their parties, I firmly believe we are on the cusp of a renaissance of hard / rave music in the UK.

Like this? Try Five For The Funk: Eddie Halliwell's Goodgreef moments

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