Episode 12 - Assad Saifullah Khan

Nick Halkes is the co-founder of XL Recordings, launched Positiva Records under the EMI banner, and has had an incredible and multifaceted career in music.

From humble beginnings at his middle school disco and selling smiley face t-shirts in Ibiza in the late 80s, to signing The Prodigy and releasing his own rave hits. Nick’s career is the story of passion, business acumen, and the courage to take the right risks.

Nick has played a huge role in shaping the electronic music landscape, and in this episode we discuss:

• Finding dance music at age 10
• Blagging his way into an internship at WBLS in New York
• Co-founding the legendary XL Recordings
• The evolving dynamics of the music industry
• How Nick is now providing consultancy advice direct to developing artists
• How tech platforms change the way music is written
• The Trailblazers Electronic Pioneers podcast, which Nick co-hosts with Eddy Temple-Morris
• Memories of a very early Prodigy gig in Boca Raton
• How Nick developed his Nick Reach Up remix and production output during lockdown
• And much, much more
   

FIND NICK

Online

On Instagram

Trailblazers Electronic Pioneers podcast

On Spotify

On Facebook
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Pakistan is not on most people’s list of rave destinations, and as one of the most conservative Islamic countries on Earth, for those pursuing what can be viewed as Western immorality, the stakes can be life and death.

But the rave experience is undeniable, and is perhaps worth laying it all on the line... 

This week's guest, Assad Saifullah Khan, pioneered Pakistan's underground rave scene as a DJ, promotor and a pioneer. Known variably as DJ Barrister, and as his newest musical incarnation is BASK, in this episode Asaad and I discuss:

• The origins of rave in Pakistan
• Creating a new scene entirely from scratch
• How religion touches everything
• Drugs
• Pakistan in the time of covid
• The evolving role of celebrity and media
• And much, much more.

FIND ASSAD

On Soundcloud
On Instagram
On Youtube
On Facebook
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Paul Linney has been on the frontlines of our dance culture institutions for more than 30 years. He’s spent his life immersed in music, DJ’ing and running clubs and bars from a young age. 

Amongst many other accomplishments, Paul is a regular at the highly revered Pikes hotel in Ibiza where his nights are consistently recognized and awarded as the Best One-Off Events on the Island. This, where an invitation just to play at Pikes is high praise unto itself.

In this episode Paul and I discuss:

• Sneaking out to the M25 raves
• How to read and work a dance floor
• Why Pikes is such an amazing place
• Whether smaller venues create better vibes
• The very cool Beach radio
• And much much more

FIND PAUL

Online

On Mixcloud

On Instagram
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Paul is classically trained musician whose early taste in music was shaped by the experimental post-punk period of the  1980's in Australia.  Exploring Sydney's burgeoning gay dance party scene around that same time, Paul discovered the culture and music that was to become rave in Australia.

In 1991 Paul joined Andy Rantzen to form the legendary Australian electronic music group Itch-e & Scratch-e, releasing what I and many believe to be the greatest Aussie electronic music track of all time. Paul is one of the most thoughtful and insightful guests I’ve had the pleasure of talking with one the podcast, and in this episode we discuss:

• Sydney in the late 80’s and the city’s unstoppable lust for dance
• The 90’s rock/rave divide
• The human engine of music and culture
• His infamous Aria Awards speech
• The complex story of drug culture
• Rave values vs tech
• And much, much more

FIND PAUL

Online

On Instagram

On Spotify

On Facebook

And on Soundcloud as Stereogamous

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Email: sam@danceculturevibe.com

Michael moved to Los Angeles in 1991 and built his career in photojournalism, documenting the city’s goth and industrial scenes as well as the celeb-studded upscale Beverly Hills party scene. Dissatisfied with the velvet rope mentality and unremarkable music, Michael found his way into the underground rave scene at just the right time, towards the end of 1995.

Los Angeles was ground-zero for North American dance culture. The city was unique in its abundance of talent, its unique venues, and entertainment industry tastemakers. What happened in LA set the tone for America’s rave experience for years to come and Michael creatively documented it like no one before or since.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why LA was the perfect launchpad for the US rave experience
• America's Satanic Panic vs its Rave Panic
• Joe Biden's controversial RAVE Act
• Why mid-sized events have disappeared from LA
• How the underground vets attendees in the digital age
• The weigh of identity politics on rave culture
• And much, much more

FIND MICHAEL

Online

His books Dancefloor Thunderstorm and The Raver Stories Project

On Instagram and on Facebook

On Getty Images
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Adam Freeland is one of dance music’s most dynamic artists. As an early pioneer of the nu-skool breaks genre, Adam blazed a trail and made a name for himself on dancefloors around the world. Pete Tong has said of Adam that “he’s a pioneer", "one of my favorite DJ’s" and "one of the uk club scene’s national treasures”.

Adam's 1996 Coastal Breaks mix is widely considered to be the first defining mix of the genre, however his music beyond breaks has blurred all the lines, transcended all the boundaries and with his current incarnation, his 3 piece band, The Acid, Adam has flipped the script once again.

In this episode we discuss:

• How the lyrics on his track We Want Your Soul have acquired new meaning in the years since it was written
• Adjusting to life in the US
• The origins of the nu-skool breaks sound
• Sydney's 1992 Aztec rave
• Festival vs club sets
• Life in Joshua Tree
• UFOs
• And much, much more

Find Adam on Instagram, Facebook and online here.

Check out his band The Acid

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The Starck Club opened in Dallas, Texas, in 1984 and immediately revolutionized the American nightclub experience. The Starck broke every boundary that conservative Texas held at that time, with unisex toilets, legal ecstasy and a hedonistic polysexual vibe that would see everyone from Rob Lowe to George W. Bush making an appearance.

The music policy was diverse and initially preceded house music, with acts like Grace Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Byrne,  Book of Love, and many other.

I mentioned Rick Squillante, one of the club's resident DJ's, at the end of this episode and I've loving the few sets of his that I've found on Mixcloud, here.

Michael's film, The Starck Club, was amazing and I would hazard a guess to say there is not a single person on Earth who knows the story and the legacy of the club as intimately as Michael does. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Dallas in the 80's and the shadow of the Kennedy assassination
• How the club came to exist in conservative Texas
• Phillipe Starck's stunning design for the club
• Legal ecstasy in the 80's
• Dance music pre-house and rave
• Unisex toilets
• The atmosphere of unpredictability that the club created
• And much, much more
   

Find information about Michael's film and the club itself here

Check out he and his wife Melina's film company M3 Films

Michael is also the President of EarthxFilm and currently launching EarthxTV, both showcasing programming, films and emerging media that explore science, conservation, climate change, and the environment while honoring the heroes working to protect our planet. Their mission is to turn awareness into action, through education, art and media. 

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Email: sam@danceculturevibe.com
 

Colin's career began when he scored a role on the 1993 reality TV show, The Living Soap. The series focussed on  6 university students sharing a house in Manchester. During this time Colin was cultivating an early love for dance culture at The Hacienda, PSV, and the many raves that took place in and around the city.

A few short years later Colin was co-hosting one of the most infamous and offbeat club culture TV shows to have ever existed, Trainspotters TV. The show follows Colin and his co-host as they check out clubs and parties around the UK and Europe, interviewing jaw-grinding punters, big name DJ's and passionate promotors. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Manchester in the 90's
• Coming out as gay after a night at The Hacienda
• The adventures and perks of hosting a show about clubbing
• The 400 person party shed in his backyard (and the DJ's who play there)
• Underestimating the radiation at Fukushima
• Losing your float at the Berlin Love Parade
• His pub named The Glory
• And much, much more
   

Find Colin online here

In IMDB

On Instagram

And his pub The Glory

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Email: sam@danceculturevibe.com
 

Growing up in early 90’s LA, Thee-O was immersed in the unique party crew scene that developed in the city’s east. The scene wasn’t quite rave as we know it, and consisted of local crews who threw events in backyards, parks and warehouses.

The party crew scene overlapped with the rave scene as it began to develop, and Thee-O made his rave debut at underground event in 1992. Since that day he has seen LA’s rave scene from all angles.

In this episode we discuss

• LA in the 90’s
• The party crew scene of East LA
• The underground media network
• How illegal promoters would evade the police in a very LA way
• The city’s iconic venues
• The thrill of crime
• The original promise of rave values
• And much, much more

Find Thee-O online here

Check out his music and mixes on Soundcloud

On Instagram

On Facebook

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Deborah is a force to be reckoned with. Her creativity and drive have placed her front and center with some of most innovative productions, live events and experiential installations.

In addition to her role as Founder and CEO of Creative House Productions, Deborah is also the Managing Director of the experiential design and build production company, Better Green.

In this episode we discuss:

• The emotional rollercoaster that Deborah and her team have been on since the event’s forced postponement
• How the concept of A Lost Weekend: Human Traffic Live will redefine the rave experience
• The amazing team working alongside Deborah
• The legacy and meaning of the classic film Human Traffic
• Deborah’s lifelong love affair with dance music culture
• How the culture in the UK has evolved
• The recent wave of illegal covid-era raves sweeping the UK
• How the A Lost Weekend brand has adapted online
• And much, much more

Head over to A Lost Weekend to learn more about the event series and to stay in the loop with developments.

Find them on Facebook

And also on Instagram

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Underground Newsletter: https://danceculturevibe.substack.com/

Email: sam@danceculturevibe.com