Nights out at the legendary Hacienda “Nude” nights in 1988 led to the meeting of minds and the beginnings of the K-Klass phenomena which took off in 1989.
Originally formed by Paul Roberts, Andrew Williams, Russell Morgan and Carl Thomas, the original idea was just to make a track that would get played in the Hacienda and 18 years later the K-Klass name is still going strong.
K-Klass had already gained underground support for their acclaimed “Wildlife e.p.” released in 1990 before they unleashed their sound onto a nationwide audience with the release of "Rhythm is a Mystery"(No.3 in U.K. Top 40) and the huge "Let Me Show You"(No.13 in U.K. Top 40) as well as a further four U.K. top 40 tunes and 2 K-Klass albums.
In the early days the live show had always been at the fore of the K-Klass ethos and had seen the band play over 200 shows and seen them tour Germany, italy, Spain and Australia between 1989 and 1994 but as the years went by the boys felt that they could reach an audience better in the form of the turntable and mixing desk.
The K-Klass studio bandwagon kept rolling as they moved direction to remixing and producing for other artists. Notable remixes have included the infamous Bobby Brown “2Can Play That Game” and other artists that have had the K-Klass treatment have included Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross , Kylie, New Order, Whitney Houston.The Corrs, Cher, M-People plus another 100 or so that are too many to list (check the discography for full list)
The highlights of their remix career has seen the boys win “International Remixers Of The Year 1995” and seen them nominated for a prestigious GRAMMY award in 2002 for their remix of Samantha Mumba.
Paul & Russ had both been Djing since 1990 just doing the occasional one off appearance. But in 1994 the official K-Klass DJ'ing experience began and is a coalition of their illustrious studio endeavours and a fusion of genres embedded in their eighteen year history.
As the K-Klass DJ sound took clubs by storm with their floorfilling sets which is always evolving and encompasses the many genres of “House music” from new to old skool and from funky vocal to minimal electro this has led to appearances at luminary UK venues (past & present) like:
Miss Moneypennys (Birmingham),
Love ToBe (Leeds),
Garlands (Liverpool),
Hacienda (Manchester),
Heaven (London),
Formula @ Pacha (London),
Smartie Partie @ Turnmills (London),
RETRO @ Tall Trees (Yarm),
The Escape (Swansea),
Shindig (Newcastle),
Zap (Brighton),
Déjà vu (Hull),
Golden (Stoke),
Colours (Glasgow),
Eye Candy (Edinburgh),
Club UK (London),
Miss Moneypennys Tours (nationwide),
Sminoff Ice Experience Tour (Nationwide),
Creamfields festival (Liverpool)
Whilst securing residencies for:
Pacha @ Ministry of Sound (London), Cream (1996-1998, Liverpool), Cream @ The Tunnel Club (1997-1998, Glasgow)
On the world-wide scene, K-KLASS have proved themselves just as popular:
Kent cigarette sponsored tour of Russia
Tangerine (Dubai),
The Embassy (Jakarta Indonesia),
Club Base (Brazil), Pacha (Portugal),
Smirnoff Experience (Jamaica),
Volcano, New Century and Heiniken NYE Party (Vietnam),
Love Boat Party (Hamburg featured in DJ Magazine), Amnesia, Privilege, El Divino (Ibiza), Diesel Fashion Show (Oslo)
As well as touring under the "CREAM" name in:
Italy, Finland, Dubai, Cyprus, Benidorm, Tenerife
Club 13, First Club and Kube (Moscow, Russia)
Club UK tour (Denmark)
Night Flight party (Varna,Bulgaria)
The Lucky Strike tour (Johannesburg, Durban, Cape town, South Africa)
2002 D-Club (Switzerland)
and you albert.. the wind has just picked up here an looks like we're in for another diabolical day.lol.. the wellies are out an ive pushed me brolly inside out already so i dont have to woryy bout the weather doing it when i get outside :0S lol
Monkee Platez next offering is the OUT NOW 'Fulltilt EP' from Glasgow outfit Mr Hajika.
4 slabs of groove driven tech house...
Fulltilt original is a chugging, bass heavy track with a subtle musicality that develops throughout. Dr. Bergers remix is a stripped down deeper edit, with an infectious flow that maintains the essence of the original. Similarly to Dr. Berger, Alex Fiction strips back the layers to uncover an electronic soul which builds into an intelligently emotive interpretation, if slightly twisted. Completing the package is 'Nitemoves' which shares the big sound of Fulltilt, but with a more progressive, melodic vibe."
1.Confronted – Pan-Pot 2.Rabid – Dubfire 3.Positive Education – Slam (Fergie’s Just For Pressure Mix) 4.To the Core – Fergie (Spektre’s Ground Zero Remix) 5.Wake Turbulence – Koen Groeneveld 6.Cala a Boca – D- Nox and Beckers (Meat Katie Remix) 7.Black Pearl – Andre Sobota (Spektre Remix) 8.Rabbithole – Spektre 9.You Might Hear Nothing – Umek (Dataworx Remix) 10.Exit People – Fergie 11.Tangent – Nick Muir and John Digweed 12.Morumbi – Tocadisco (Popof Remix) 13.Maktub – Fergie 14.Eden – Tiger Stripes 15.The Search – Trancesetters (Cristian Smith’s Tronic Treatment Remix)
Twisted Tech Beats 2
1.Worst Case Scenario – Ahmet Sendil and Ricky Stone (Ricky Stone Mix) 2.2 Many Shots of Jagermeister – Tocadisco (Koen Groeneveld Remix) 3.Static – Alan Fitzpatrick 4.S. Cream – Umek (Aneuria Remix) 5.Death By House – Len Faki (Adam Beyer and Jesper Dahlback Remix) 6.Shake Ur Tech-Ass – Secret Cinema 7.Dark Matter – Darren Emerson and Jamie McHugh (Manuel De La Mare Remix) 8.Temperamental – Mikas (Manuel De La Mare Remix) 9.Process – Mini Mode (Manuel De La Mare & Luigi Rocca Marshall Remix) 10.Tan Guapa – Citizen Kain & Phuture Traxx (Abnormal Boyz Remix) 11.Microburst – Koen Groeneveld 12.Stalled – Koen Groeneveld 13.Varience - Slam
Please also check out my video I entered in a competition to win an online music production course with Point Blank. I think it's pretty funny. Let me know what you think!
Featuring cover stars The Worldonfire. Live reviews from All Time Low, Papa Roach, Alexisonfire, Enter Shikari, Skindred and so much more including interviews, features and CD reviews.
Issue 8 released 29th November featuring cover stars Green Day and much more as usual!