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Following one of his biggest years so far, things have remained steadily busy for John Stevens, aka Kuffdam. Touring recently in Poland, Germany, and Cyprus, Kuffdam has found some time to discuss his upcoming visit to Australia.
Renowned for his co-productions with partner Yiannis Roberto Hadjicharlambous better known as Plant, together they have featured on labels such as Vandit, Monster Tunes and Joof Recordings; now 2007 has seen them focus on something new. “I have a laptop full with 10 tracks for an artist album and all going well we hope to put that out soon” John reveals, “It’s been a long week in the studio putting the final touches to our ideas, but it’s been worth it.”
Enquiring about how Internet has helped him get to where he is now, it seems as though the doubled edge sword is sharper then most can truly understand, “Right now both Yiannis and myself hold down full time jobs as well as working on tracks and tours.” But without the aid of the Web to communicate with his co-producer, and further promote himself through the medium of podcasts and radio shows, Kuffdam & Plant might not be here, “Still its damn good fun so I wouldn't change a thing right now.” Ironically they met over the Internet, “From there we really just became good friends and we starting working together, by 2002 we had signed our first tracks up to 020 Records.” In fact Kuffdam and Plant didn’t speak to each other over the phone until after a year of producing together, and just recently Kuffdam has acquired a flat in Cyprus, “now remember I'm from Scotland” he explains, “So any chance to see a little sun is an amazing thing, that and the music is a big draw for me to visit often.” Not only producing together, the two have regularly toured together and even have a special live show they perform.
With over 12 years experience DJing, the experience of touring with a friend and playing live shows isn’t the norm. “To add a different dimension to the touring we decided to put together a live show,” comprised of two laptops, ‘Ableton Live’ and controllers to assist in reworking songs live, the show has lately become for special occasions only. “The advantage in the live show is that we get to tour together, enjoy playing live and sharing the experience of what we have produced out in club land,” answers Kuffdam. Even with such side ventures John Stevens still manages to find time for his radio shows, in particular his ‘Club Damage’ and ‘VONYC’ sessions. With ‘VONYC’ being run by Vandit things run nice and smoothly, which allows for his efforts to be focused on his mixes, and with ‘Club Damage’ on DI.fm, things aren’t too different. In the past many fans may remember his show on ‘Tranceairwaves,’ although fun, Kuffdam admits how the show became like a full time job, “…I was trying to focus on so many areas of music from my own DJing and Production right through to handling all the DJ's on the site. In the end it just became too much so I knew I had to step back.”
From humble beginnings back in Scotland when he was first introduced to producing by two of his friends, one which some people may know as Terry Ferminal, it’s been a long journey for John. “We had a small band together making dance music back in 1996 and worked with a couple of Scottish labels,” and from there Kuffdam moved on to begin producing on his own, although finding that he enjoyed bouncing ideas of another person, it wasn’t before him and Yiannis got together.
Constantly working on the next Kuffdam & Plant production, John admits he has so desire in the present to make any solo material, “Yiannis is a great talent and we get on so well too boot.” With his mind set on music non-stop, Kuffdam is constantly motivated by new music and his passion for getting into a club and playing his newest track. “I love the music and love the fact it’s constantly changing and growing in styles,” as is the technology behind it, Kuffdam’s DJ sets are now further enhanced by his use of ‘Ableton Live.’ After finding his optimal template of effects and sounds John has looked back on this new medium of playing music, “Every DJ is entitled to use what they feel comfortable with and right now I have chosen this package. I've been through the ranks of vinyl, then CD and now onto the laptop.”
Staying true to his alias, Kuffdam is indeed an individual that doesn’t enjoy waiting by, “I always have the laptop so a movie keeps me company but I do like to get out and meet people,” he explains about hotels. Admitting he enjoys going out and meeting people he hopes to get some sight seeing in whilst in Australia, as flying so far is a waste to just sit in a room, “I'd love to go to an Aussie Rules game… that would be top of my list.”
With gigs in Perth and Melbourne, it’s his first visit to the land down under, so what can fans expect of his shows? “I like to think of it as just good electronic music, we are big on melodies, layers and great sounds,” the sound of his productions is one thing to go by, but with such a broad range there’s a lot to choose from. Since their early beginnings Kuffdam & Plant’s production have been everything from Progressive to Hard Trance, “As for new material, we have just finished a bunch of tracks ranging from an Electro style number right through to the big sounding trance we love. I'm sure you'll hear them soon, maybe even Perth & Melbourne…”
Everything is happening in the world of John Stevens and Kuffdam & Plant, new tours coming soon and Kuffdam coming to Australia in a few weeks, things are well under way for their coming artist album and more VONYC coming soon. “We think we have some great material finished and in Sept we are back in Ibiza with the Vaccine boys from London co-promoting our party @ Eden so that will be a great chance to play them out” he goes on, “After that I'm making my debut in Sweden and Finland in Oct so that should keep me busy till then. In the mean time my head is in one place, preparing for Australia…. Seeya soon”
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Too old for this shit. But still luvin it
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go paceville
Jed - Dark Horse [Progressive Tech Trance] (
but phoarrr my mind is fkd must b wut its might feel like with other types of "anesthetics" 
