Night Raving

Rip It Up, Issue 224, 1 April 1996, Page 26

Night Raving

The next edition of the legendary Brain dance parties will be held once again at the Powerstation, April 12. Those hardworking minds behind The Brain have put their heads together and hooked up an international act. Indeed, the rather ominous sounding Nightraver will visit New Zealand with DJ Trevor (another hardcore DJ/MC). Together they are part of Dye Witness, a gabba/rave/hardcore group from Holland. They will play material from the Dye Witness album Battle for Your Mind, with live emceeing from Trevor, and their own DJ sets. I spoke with the nocturnally raving one at 6PM New Zealand time and discovered that his real name is Patrick. Hey, Patrick, how ya doing? Where are you and what time is it? Spoken with a thick and rather charming Dutch accent: “Actually, it’s about 5.45 AM, and I’m at home, near Rotterdam.” 5.45 AM!! Jesus, sorry Patrick, it’s just I’ve tried several times to contact you, and I was told to call at any time. “Oh, no, no, it’s quite okay. I am awake, not very awake, but awake.”

Okay then, you’re a happy hardcore/gabba DJ, you’ve been playing for 10 years in Rotterdam, hardcore capital of the world, what’s the scene over there like at the moment?

“It’s got to a very commercial level now, you can hear happy hardcore songs on the radio and you have singles and even albums from people like Technohead and Charley Lownoise in the charts. You have heard of these people?” Yes, I have. Hell, about two years ago I think I even owned a copy of that first Technohead compilation (and I might add that one of the senior RipitUp writers is a bit of a fan, but that’s another story altogether). Is the hardcore sound progressing? “Gabba is getting softer again, the speed is the same, still 160 BPM plus, you know, but a lot of the more aggressive attitude and sounds are gone, which I think is good.” You’ve produced a number of tracks yourself and with DJ Trevor (such as ‘We Are From Rotterdam’, ‘Noise’ and ‘The Revolution’), how would describe your sound? “We try to sound a little bit different from everything else. I play all over the world, so I pick

up sounds and influences from all over and combine them. I guess you could say our records have a little bit of a commercial sound to them. On ‘The Future’ we tried to create a live feeling, with people cheering, live MCs and such — we were one of the first to do that, whereas now it has become a trend.”

What would you say to people that say gabba music is mindless, soulless music, for people on too much speed? Sounding a little shocked: “That is not the case, there is melody in both happy hardcore and gabba, it’s not just drum machines. I think a person that would say that would just have to see one of the big parties where the music is loud and there are thousands of people going mad to it, having a good time.” So, if you’re up for spending an evening raving with the Nightraver, then get hyped, kid, ’cause Dye Witness are coming at ya, playing at The Box (April 11) and at The Brain (Powerstation, April 12). The usual local DJs are in support (Albion, Sam Hill, Sample Gee, Gideon and Adam Bomb) and it’s also one of the rare chances to hear the rave sound played live and loud, so don’t miss out.

ANDY