wells .. after countless hours of deciphering inaudible audio, I was finally able to compose a transcript of the interview that was held during Matt Hardwick's set at Viva back in Jan. I tried my best to get as many of your questions asked. Special thanks to Temporal Rhythm for setting it up and the equipment, and to Tatgirl for some great photos that will be used on another review. Hope you guys enjoy it, cheers!


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MATT HARDWICK – LIVE AT VIVA NIGHTCLUB INTERVIEW
Recorded: Friday, January 17, 2003.


Photo Credit: tatgirl


DESIDEL: So long has it been since you've been back here?

MATT HARDWICK: I did a party in Toronto for Gatecrasher around 2 years ago at the Exhibition Center downtown. It was quite strange actually since they had to evacuate the party about half way through my set. So my set got split in half but it was a great party. I'm just really glad to be back and it was as cold [outside] as this as well.

DESIDEL: So what do you think about the scene today now after coming back to Canada? I mean, what differences do you really notice about the scene right now in North America in general?

MATT HARDWICK: I think all scenes progress at a different rate. I think the North American scene is one of the scenes I see in the next 2 years really swamping the world market. And you can see that by the fact that the DJ can be attracted to the North American scene. It's great to play to a crowd and then come back the following year and see the scene evolving. I mean it's exciting and I particularly like playing in North America.

DESIDEL: Now you're playing at Viva Nightclub tonight. It caters to a very wide and different clientele here. One of which is a large Hong Kong community. We know you've played at different venues in Japan, China, the Philippines, etc. How do you compare the scene in Asia with that of Europe and North America?

MATT HARDWICK: Asia is probably one of the most exciting scenes to play in. In the sense that the crowd seems so enthusiastic about the music. I think it varies where in Asia. In Japan you tend to get a more underground scene. Hong Kong is a more 'party' scene. China is a ... I've played in Shanghai and Beijing and the first time I played there, people didn't quite know what to do. This was about 3 years ago. The second time I played there they knew the records, it was just like playing in the UK! So Gatecrasher there just shows you how the scene is developing. But Asia is really a unique and exciting place to play and I love it. Whenever I get the opportunity to play it, I'm there.

DESIDEL: So what parts of the world do you find most unique? The most different kinds of crowds you've seen; the most different kinds of parties. I.e. you've been to South America, you hear everywhere in general. What do you think?

MATT HARDWICK: Hmm, I don't know? Everywhere reaches… there's always a threshold where it gets quite similar. The crowd reacts similar to similar records. Quite exciting wise, I think probably the first time I played in China would be one of the most exciting times in the sense that people were almost looking around to see what's new and you know, how do you dance to the beat? That was just like... wow. You know I'm here where it's the grassroots. You know their scene within the last 2 years has just grown! You know that was perhaps one of the more interesting roles. I've played in Manila as well, that was an interesting summer... I played through an earthquake! Yeah, 7.8 on the Richter scale. The entire clientele and I pretty much ran out the door. And there was pretty much nothing left of the club, no records, nothing. I was just glad to be out of there!

DESIDEL: Wow! Definitely one of the more unusual experiences in your career!

MATT HARDWICK: Haha yeah, that was pretty cool.

DESIDEL: Now of course we know you're really involved in Gatecrasher, the club you play at in Sheffield. Where do you see Gatecrasher going in the next couple of years right now? What do you have in mind in terms of the plans for that?

MATT HARDWICK: The scene in the UK is almost up to that stage where, you know, where do we go next? The repercussions of Gatecrasher have been so successful for so long that it almost came to a point where people said, "Right, okay, what are we gonna go next?" "How are we going to keep this scene fresh?" And various clubs have done various things. Gatecrasher chose to pull back and do one gig a month. It was almost to make that "one gig" special, being that night. It was like a reinvention almost and it's worked really. It's a year since the club scene has longed for, ya know, back to like 20 or 30 thousand people on an event a night. As far as long terms goes I think Gatecrasher will explore international venues a lot more. I mean I did the first wave of world tours in 1999/2000 and I played pretty much everywhere in the world at that time. It kind of... it's tailed off and I think Gatecrasher is definitely hoping to hit.

DESIDEL: I noticed you guys are really expanding, I mean you're reaching all facets. You've got Gatecrasher in Australia; you got parts of Asia, and stops in North America, I think things are looking up. Now, with regards to the industry we've heard recent news with regards to the financial difficulties with Global Underground. I don't know if you've heard of that?

MATT HARDWICK: Oh yeah, I've heard of that...

DESIDEL: How do you perceive that? How do you sense that has happened sort of in this "new age" of clubbing?

MATT HARDWICK: I don't think it's attributable, I mean I don't think it's a reflection of the club scene. I think it's more a reflection on and the influence that the Internet has on the availability of things to be downloaded and things like that. People are paying 15 pounds for a CD, or 30 dollars for a CD and you see it, that's a lot of money. If you can go to a website and get it for free and not get penalized for it which is the case at the moment... I think Global Underground makes it more of a reflection of that. As far as the global scene record sale wise, again it's the Internet. But the club scene has been too easy with it for too long with promotion. Clubs really need to think of more new and different ways to do things. You know, and think... hey these people have been working all week, let's give them the best party they've ever had! Rather than just sitting back and paying a DJ thousands of dollars and expecting a full club. It's not that easy anymore. I think the best promoters now will sort of come through more. You'll see new promoters coming along who are really injecting some energy into the scene. I think that's the way more will be acting up.

DESIDEL: Now we've basically compiled a couple of questions from various fans on behalf of our websites. Some of these questions are somewhat interesting. Little known facts... I don't know, maybe you clarify some of them for me. I've heard that you've been an avid soccer/football player in Europe for some time. But have you sort of taken that to a back seat?

MATT HARDWICK: I've played professionally for Sheffield Wednesday. I've played football all my life and I also DJ and listen to music/production all my life as well. The football thing didn't quite work the way I wished. But you know I've always been a DJ as well. At the same time I just finished a Master's Degree in law as well so you know... quite a few things.

DESIDEL: Well one big question that a lot of fans want to know is: name of your favourite club?

MATT HARDWICK: Haha! Gatecrasher!

DESIDEL: Oh no... soccer club!

MATT HARDWICK: Haha… oh Sheffield United, they're rivals of Sheffield [Wednesday].

DESIDEL: Well there you go: Sheffield United! I guess for now, what's in your future? The next big production? Any new plans?

MATT HARDWICK: At the moment, we're putting together a new Gatecrasher album. We're going to record that live from clubs. Perhaps, Scott Bond live from Japan, myself live from New York. Eddie Halliwell is doing a little Gatecrasher resident right at the moment. So we've been working on that. Keen to get back into the studio, get working on things and keen to do a lot more international work. I mean, first of all I'm playing in Columbia at new club, which should be exciting. And also I'll be starting a residency for Gatecrasher in New York!

DESIDEL: Well I guess that pretty much sums it up. Thank you Matt for your time!

MATT HARDWICK: Thank you.


Temporal Rhythm, Viva Nightclub (c) 2001-2003. All rights reserved.

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Last edited by dEsidEL on Mar-01-2003 at 09:26