Beast interviews Lee Williams...again!

The Beast was overjoyed once more to get Lee Williams our very own resident DJ and rising star back on the line up again. He supported Denis Horvat at the last gig in May this year at Lakota and has a new release ‘Afterglow’ on the Bedrock label. His own club night Terminal in Bournemouth is one of the most talked about techno and deep house nights in the UK. He’s moved to Bristol and studies music production at DBS. You’ll notice him appearing on plenty of the best known Bristol and UK line-ups – he is one to watch!

Beast and crew wanted to find out more about his new move to Bristol and his rising (and well deserved) music standing in the city…

Lee Williams at Glitch & Minotaur on 23/11

“I feel very fortunate to be getting a good few gigs in Bristol considering I haven't been here very long. I have met and played alongside some lovely and super talented people. Having my Minotaur residency is a solid base for me here in Bristol and am very happy to be involved with the brand/event. Ultimately I want to be able to spend all my time working on music and to be able to travel the world playing and producing music.”

So what else does Lee do in his spare time we ask?

“Aside the music I love going climbing, running and Thai Boxing although I am yet to join a Gym in Bristol. I also have a strong interest in photography and art. I’m currently in my second year at DBS Bristol studying a Degree in Electronic Music Production.”

Is there anything that Lee doesn’t do?! As well as an action man he's also a top bloke and all round lovely chap who would give the shirt of his own back if his friends needed it.

Beast asks Lee about the upcoming Minotaur Sound night at The Island – so much excitement and energy will be poured in this one.

“I’m really looking forward to the next Minotaur event. The last one at Lakota was off the scale. I have played many parties over the years and that was one of my most memorable.

I think that the reason Minotaur is so special is because The Beast runs it with a real love and passion. Every small detail is looked after and there is a great team of people behind the event that all contribute with their areas of specialty. This is a great basis of a night in my opinion – I can’t wait!”

Catch a little taster of Lee in the second half of this mix – it’s an excerpt played at Glitch on 23/11. The first half is DJ Tina Hart, another utter talented and all round amazing DJ who will headline our Police Cell on Saturday 25/11. They will be joined by Much Maligned, Sarah Air, Thomas and Illy Noize – let it be known that the pulsating excitement of The Beast is running at an all-time high.

Lee's latest Minotaur promo mix can also be found here - such musical goodness to be had.

See you on the dance floor x

Beast interviews...Illy Noize again!

Beast and crew were overjoyed when DJ and Producer Illy Noize agreed to return to his Bristol haven. He’s been DJing since 1999 and producing from 2011. He has a residency at the Charles Bronson club in Halle and heads up the record label Joyfriend. We flew him in from Halle, Germany for his UK debut at The Island in Feb 2016. Fast forward to now and we déjà vu what is guaranteed to be one incredible party on Saturday 25/11 where Illy will work his magic at The Island again. The Beast was keen to find out what Illy has been up to since we saw him last in 2016.

Illy Noize at The Island, Bristol 2016

“Hi Beast, it’s good to meet you again. There were several highlights in 2016 and 2017. We (the Joyfriend Team) were working to push things forward for our label. We had some strong releases featuring tracks by our key artists Odd Only, Philipp Harms and Jonson. So for me label work and to see what impact the label gets with its releases was one highlight. Another big thing was playing all these smaller and bigger festivals in Germany. I was surprised by a small festival called Oewerall Festival at the polish border in the middle of nowhere. There was a beautiful lake and my floor, where I was playing, was situated right on the beach. My friends from the crew Herzensangelegenheit invited me to play and it was a great pleasure playing for all these lovely dancers at this beautiful venue. If you have the chance check this festival out. I think it has a great future. Besides that I am now a father and my son is, and will be, a highlight for me seeing him grow up, learning to talk. He’s a sweet little gentleman 😊”

Beast pauses to take this all in…a Dad, record releases, collaborations, Festivals (Beast takes a particular note of that Oewerall Festival to gather up a Bristol collective!) – Illy has been up to so much and is always keeping himself so busy! In amongst all this we want to know just how Illy keeps up to date with all the latest styles of music and what artists is he listening to at the moment?

“In private I listen to Funk, Hip Hop and Disco a lot. I take my time to go through promos and through Beatport and other music stores once a week I think. If I find an interesting track I will go through the labels release catalogue check the other tracks by the artist. With this method I often find older tracks I’ve never heard. In my opinion I am very versatile as a DJ. I often play different styles in my set. If the tracks have the right groove and rhythm I give them a try. For me it is important to play music I like and not what’s hip and in right now.  In the end it is important that the people going to a party have a great evening and the selection has to fit with the vibes on the floor. I always carry a lot of USB Sticks with me to be ready for whatever happens.”

As ever this is one of many things about Illy that makes Beast very happy. Reading the crowd and giving them what they want is one of the key things that we look for in a DJ.

The Beast sometimes finds that when we get DJ's over from the continent they can be quite a bit different with their musical expression! It’s a positive thing. We ask Illy how he perceives the music scene and any difference between the UK and Germany. Also we ask whether he thinks Brexit will change things in the music scene

“There are some great artists that I really admire like Bicep and Eats Everything for example. When I started listening to electronic music I was totally fascinated by UK Garage, Jungle and Drum and Bass. But nowadays you could find every type of electronic music in the UK and some mayor influences come from the island to the scene.

I guess today the clubs are a bit different in Germany than in the UK. For example the Sisyphos club in Berlin. This club opens on Friday and closes on Tuesday. So there is plenty of time to try different music like a real slow house set which is very popular in Germany right now. DJs playing 4 hours and evolving their sets more. If you are bound to a 2 hours playtime you usually go for the bangers. But with longer periods you can open up to different moods. I think this Brexit will tie the scene of electronic music more together because borders doesn’t matter when it comes to music. I am not the most political guy ever but I think Brexit is more for the older generation.”

The Beast is utterly enraptured by Illy’s response – more set times, music not having boundaries – we just want to curl up to one of our favorite DJ’s and keep him as our teddy bear.

Finally Beast asks Illy what he is looking forward to the most at the Saturday 25/11 Minotaur Sound night and whether he has any surprises for us.

“I am really happy to meet the whole Minotaur sound crew again. Last time I was nervous about my set but it worked really well so I am excited to be back again and play. And I really love the venue. It’s a special place. Can’t wait 😊”

Check out Illy's latest Minotaur peak time glory promo mix and come to The Island on Saturday 25/11 where you are guaranteed a magical musical journey like no other. He'll be supported by our other amazing DJ's Lee Williams, Tina Hart, Much Maligned, Sarah Air and Thomas. Tickets are available here: http://hdfst.uk/E40640

The Beast interviews…Sam Jepperson from Sutra and Divide

The Beast is ever curious about musical goings on in his underground musical kingdom. It also comes to Beast’s attention that Minotaur Resident DJ Lee Williams is being headhunted for other rather delectable club-nights in Bristol. In times of olde our Beastie would have picked up his sword and wrought it with vengeful steely fury on whoever threatened his musical terrain - but as we live in a modern time where labyrinthine slaying is no longer allowed, the Beast needs to eat a bit of humble pie and honour those who enjoy and organise the same sort of nights for all to enjoy. Perhaps even look at forging future epic alliances and consider heroic collaborative exploits. There appears to be no end to a growing list of promoter and DJ talent and that’s when The Beast met with Sam Jepperson (aka DJ Sikora) who runs club-nights Sutra and Divide. Read on for an exclusive Beast Interview with Sam who talks about the inspiration for his night, spreading techno mindfulness and why you need to go and watch and hear Lee Williams play at his next night.

Sam’s enthusiasm for music, particularly techno and progressive tech is contagious. He tells Beast how inspired he was to setup Sutra after travelling in Australia with friends in 2015 and seeing how awesome their techno nights were. “With all this inspiration building up and ourselves making connections, we wanted to start a brand that symbolises everyone becoming one on the dance floor, no matter what walk of life. For us techno is like a form of meditation.” Beast interjects, his only experience of meditation is attempting to listen to a cassette tape of clicking whales and swishy waves. Sam clarifies “not where you sit down and close your eyes, it’s a meditation where you can be whoever you want to be and express yourself in a grooving, drum rhythmic fiesta. We want you to leave the party and feel like you had all your worries completely disappear and only left with a warm feeling in your stomach that everything will be ok and that you will be at a techno party again soon”.

Beast is now very excited to find out more. He finds out that not only does Sam manage Sutra but also another night called Divide. Divide was born 1 year ago between 4 like minded lads with a love for techno and a drive to bring high quality events to various cities in the UK. Sam intends to concentrate his efforts on Sutra to turn into a fire spinning festival stage and Divide will be high end events in and around Bristol. Between both nights Sam has brought a Sankey Ibiza resident DJ Lindsey Matthews to Blue Mountain, organised a boat party on the Thames in London and hosted a room at Egg London for DJ Mag Sessions. Beast has it on good authority that there are some big  Sutra and Divide plans for Bristol in Feb 2018 so keep your eyes open!

Sam is very excited to add Minotaur Sound Resident DJ Lee Williams on the bill for his upcoming Sutra 2nd Birthday night at Blue Mountain on Thursday 2^nd November. He tells Beast that he found Lee through one of his personal inspirations, John Digweed, from the record label Bedrock. He’s heard such positive things about Lee and his Terminal night. It’s no surprise that he’s one of the most sought after DJ’s in and around Bristol at the moment. “We were impressed and had to get him down for a mix. Lee is also focusing on live production using hardware which is a big plus to us, we rate that highly”.

Join Sam at the next Sutra night on Thursday 02/11 to catch Lee Williams lighting up the Blue Mountain decks. This is one highly rated Beast approved night that is not to be missed.

Links:
https://www.Facebook.com/uksutra
https://www.facebook.com/DivideEvents/
https://soundcloud.com/samjepperson