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Interview with Ian H & Matt B of Momentum Reported by Olly Perris / Submitted 04-07-06 15:37 Momentum has become Reading’s premier hard trance party. Ran by Ian H and Matt B, two guys who you may have seen frequenting some of London’s debauched venues in the past, the night has come from literally nothing to promotion superstardom in the last two years. With frequent appearances from some of London’s top hard trance djs and now a permanent residency at the legendary Purple Turtle in Reading, the only way is up for this superb promotion. With this in mind, it seems time to get some words in with the creators about their background, their music policy and the party’s future plans. For the benefit of those not in the know, who are the Momentum DJs and what is the thought behind Momentum as a party? Tell us a bit about yourselves and the night itself. The Momentum DJs are Ian H and Matt B (otherwise known as Mancub) and we’ve been running Momentum for the last year and a half in our home town of Reading. We started the party up for a number of reasons, we’d both recently started playing out as djs and had aspirations to take that a bit further but weren’t really sure how to go about it. One day I was complaining to Matt about how I’d had another boring weekend because there were no decent parties on in Reading and the idea just clicked. The idea behind it is simple, we want to make people dance. We’re not fussed about making money as we’ve shown by making the party free, as long as people leave having enjoyed themselves then we consider the night a success. Do you always intend to play b2b sets at places other than Momentum or do you intend to expand your solo careers as well? I: We actually started off pursuing what you might call ‘solo’ careers at first. We’d both play different parties, or the same parties but on different nights, but as we’re such good mates we were finding that when one of us was playing, the other one would come along anyway. After we ran the first ever Momentum we received such positive feedback about our individual sets that we thought we’d give playing back to back a try, we gave it a go and we’ve never looked back. It’s been such a success that we’ve decided to stick with it for our other sets too. M: It also has the added advantage of making a quick mid-set trip to the gents that much easier, lol! You run your successful Momentum nights in Reading. Why stay out of town when you’re so close to London? The idea behind Reading was simple, it used to have such a diverse amount of music to go and see at any one time, and then all of the theme bars moved in. Once the Matrix closed down it left a huge number of dedicated clubbers who wanted to party but were forced to choose between going to London or going to a below-par chain pub and listening to the same chart music over and over again. Since not everyone wants to haul themselves up to London on a weekend we decided to provide them with an option a little closer to home, with us they can have a good night out, hear great music, see some fantastic DJs and still have change of a 20 pound note. Unless they’ve got a taste for champagne, in which case all bets are off! I’ve noted too that you recently moved venues. What prompted this move and how successful has the move been for the party? The move to our new venue has been great for us. After our last few parties of 2005 it became clear that although we had a hardcore group of followers, it was always going to be difficult to have people come to such an out of town venue every month. We decided to have a bit of a break at the start of 2006 and try to find another venue a bit closer to the town centre which is no mean feat — most places are chain-owned bars or have a different music policy. Reading is jumping on the funky house bandwagon en-masse these days so selling a hard trance night to a bar owner can be tricky. Luckily we approached the manager of the Purple Turtle, told him what we were about and he agreed that it could work very well if we started up our party in his downstairs bar area. We were a bit surprised when he wanted us to run every Friday as new parties are often started off slowly but we agreed without hesitation and so far it’s turned out brilliantly. With an up-for-it crowd and a really diverse mix of people coming down to have a stomp with us every week, we’re having an absolute blast! The Reading scene suffered somewhat upon the closure of the infamous Matrix club. How have you seen the scene recover there since this incident? The closure of the Matrix was seen by a lot of people as the death of dance music in Reading, but in truth it just gave rise to a lot of smaller events that take place in the little venues around the town. The scene has now gone from being dominated by a big club that drew huge international djs to a series of smaller, more intimate parties with local talent and we think that’s a good thing. These smaller events draw a local and really loyal crowd, they grow by word of mouth and people really make the effort to come down to what they see as ‘their’ parties, it’s not like a faceless club — you can come to our events and have a chat with us, give us a demo cd or just sit down and have a drink with us. We even let people make suggestions about our night on our website, you won’t see that at many big name promotions. What can people expect to experience at Momentum? A good night out with change for a cab at the end. We started this night with very specific ideas about the experience we wanted to give people and we’re still very serious about giving it to them. We have a strict music policy, we select our guest djs very carefully and we make a real effort to ensure everybody has a good time. We also have visuals that you rarely see outside of huge London club nights, so we like to think we go the extra mile to make sure everybody gets the best of both worlds with a ‘big night out’ experience in a great venue with an intimate vibe. Onto djing. Tell us a bit more about the Momentum DJs sound — what makes you so different from other djs? I: I think what makes us stand out is the fact we work so well together as a duo. We have tastes in music that are similar but not identical, so our sets offer a real progression from the uplifting hard trancers that I love playing to the more tough, chunky numbers that Matt likes to slip in every now and then. It makes for a set that’s varied enough to be interesting but not so all over the place that you want to go and sit down. We always watch the crowd to see where we should be taking the set too — something that’s easier to do with two pairs of eyes on the dancefloor. M: It also provides a bit more of a visual element to our sets, with one of us playing, you’ll often find the other one jumping around behind the decks and making sure the mood doesn’t get too serious, when you’re mixing it can be very easy to get too businesslike and forget about interacting with the crowd and having someone bobbing around next to you reminds you why you’re there. We also like to challenge each other with difficult mixes, which really helps you raise your game - nothing too drastic but I have to admit I do sometimes enjoy the look of horror on Ian’s face as he watches me pull out a record I know he hasn’t heard before. You play predominantly hard trance which is very much on the London tip. Are you influenced by any particular djs or producers, or is the music you play simply the music you love? I: I play the tunes I’d like to hear as a clubber, I think we both do. We could probably mix records of any style but if you love it and you wish you could get out of the box and dance with everyone else then it shows and the crowd really respond to you. If the crowd sees you having a great time in the booth then it really makes all the difference. M: I’ve always loved hard trance ever since the days of Pendragon in the 1990s and have built up a huge record collection spanning the last ten years, I suppose you could say that hard trance was my first love. I’ve flirted briefly with other styles but hard trance is the one I always come back to, it’s what I most enjoy playing and I think it shows in our sets. Would you have any aspirations to go into the studio at some stage? We’ve actually just produced our very first tune. It’s a hard trance track called ‘Ascension’ that we worked on with K-Complex and we’re really pleased with how it’s been going down on the dancefloor. Working with him was a great learning experience and good fun to boot so we definitely plan to get back into the studio again as often as we can. Although you have played for some heavyweight London promotions, perhaps most notably Addiction on several occasions, for you both, what would be your ideal gig? I: Like all djs I’d love to play in a big venue like The Fridge or Turnmills, but I think in terms of my ideal gig it would have to be Slinky at the Opera House. I’ve had some of my best nights out clubbing there and it holds a special place for me, looking out from the booth and seeing all those people dancing around the balconies would be fantastic. M: Mine would be the main room at Brixton Academy, it’s where it all started for me and the place I first knew I wanted to be a DJ. Finally, what have you got planned for the rest of 2006? More gigs. We’ve been quite busy with Momentum in the last year and haven’t had a lot of time to play other places but we’re hoping to secure some more bookings at other promotions this year to get the Momentum sound a bit further afield. We’re starting to see more small parties springing up in the local area too and people are asking us to get involved with those so 2006 is turning into quite a busy year for us. Hopefully we’ll have a bit of time to do some more production as well so watch out for that. Thanks to Ian & Matt for the photos. Not to be reproduced without permission. Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: Other Features By Olly Perris: Addiction @ Hidden preview: interview with Sean Tyas Interview with Pierre Pienaar aka P.H.A.T.T. From a young gun to an industry lion: Heat/HF Xmas Payback(2back) Party preview with Spencer Freeland Party techno, party music, party animal! The lowdown on hard dance’s newest prodigy, Jamie Taylor The birth of a new label: talking Tekelec with Ali Wilson The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable. Comments: From: Mike Harris on 4th Jul 2006 17:46.52 Top lads, wicked dj's and a fab party! Momentum has a friendly up for it atmosphere with a really diverse range of punters, ive been to quite a few of their parties since they started and have always had a wicked time. Drinks are cheap aswell i.e. Sambuca shot for like £2.20 These boys only put on these parties to give people a good time and to have a laugh themselves, unlike most promotions that are mainly in it for the money or 'fame'! RESPECT! Good luck to ya lads, see you on Friday! From: K.A.R.L. on 4th Jul 2006 17:55.11 Good work guys. Will definately be coming up to Reading soon to check out your new venue. From: Mat Lock on 4th Jul 2006 21:45.45 Can't wait to come down and play for you guys, the party sounds wicked and is going from strength to strength every week !! Speak soon guys From: ~deleted12332 on 5th Jul 2006 11:16.57 nice one guys.. good to see things are on the up From: Bungle on 5th Jul 2006 13:00.41 It's a wicked party. Excellent work. From: Karl Alexander on 5th Jul 2006 13:08.53 Superb party. Absolutely top notch guys !!!! (ps: nice to see "that girl" in the photoset From: Mark Landragin on 6th Jul 2006 12:28.48 Been reading so many good things about Momentum. I'm really looking forward to playing there next week. I hope the success continues. From: Matt B on 6th Jul 2006 18:05.21 Cheers for the kind words guys From: Ian H on 7th Jul 2006 13:35.37 Yeah, nice one folks - nice to see all our efforts are paying off From: snowqueen on 9th Jul 2006 20:23.14 Hi Ian and Matt, well done to you guys, you both have really pulled momentum off big time and we are so pleased for you, sorry we havent been so supportive these last couple of months we have been real busy, but will catch up with you all soon big hugz to you both xxxxxxx From: Pathfinder on 11th Jul 2006 07:56.39 Wicked party guys. We so enjoyed playing there. Wishing you all the success for the future From: Ashley James on 11th Jul 2006 15:07.51 Good stuff boys. From: DJ Vale on 16th Jul 2006 10:20.35 Well done guys :-)

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