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Written by CGNY   
Saturday, 08 May 2010 16:39

An interview with Chris Ward... by Gar Browne

Chris Ward

This month we're bringing it home with Irish DJ Chris Ward. Dublin native, club DJ, producer, radio broadcaster (and all round top-chap!), Chris talks to us about the Wet & Hard philosophy, John Gibbons and his future plans...

Chris plays the Zoo in Kilkenny on the 27th with Jon O Bir, details are here.

For futher information and track previews check out the following...

www.djchrisward.com
www.myspace.com/djchriswar

Gar : "Wet and Hard. The three words (or two words and a symbol) that are the sole purpose for 20 year old Chris Ward's career as a DJ..." Explain to us a little about the music philosophy that is "Wet & Hard".

Chris : Well Wet & Hard originated in Europe, Berlin to be exact when its pioneers, Corvin Dalek and Mark Reeder established Flesh, an underground label that was designed to showcase the emerging music style that was Wet & Hard which Corvin at the time was using as his main focus music wise. Its generally a blend of techno, trance, progressive house and electro. Each DJ that plays Wet and Hard essentially finds their own 'something different' within their sets. For me its a tough techy sound that music be bass driven. A lot of the music I play is Techno, Progressive house or trance but its the overall sound that I brand as Wet & Hard - other DJs do it differently, thats how I see Wet & Hard, in recent months anyways.


Gar : John Gibbons seems to have played a roll in your DJ career to date, with gigs from Clubeducate and the Wet & Hard philosophy (which John Gibbons is also a champion of). How did that come about?

Chris : Yeah, without doubt John has been a massive influence on my career. I first met him in 2003 at Seduction, a night we were both playing at in what was then the edge club in Carlow. We started finding our paths crossing more and more after that with both of us working around the country at various different events and indeed within the radio industry too. Before long I began working with John on some of the Clubeducate projects which took us all over the globe most notably Miami Florida for winter music conference last year and he too has worked with my night (Climax) where again we have played events and hosted radio shows from some of the more spectacular parts of the globe.


Gar : What was the last gig you went to and the last album you bought?

Chris : The last gig I went to was actually in Sydney about 2 months ago. I went to see the bang gang DJs playing in a football club-house over there for a charity gig. They were rockin! The last album I bought was outside dance circles actually - The Soundtrack to the film Notorious! Still like really good hip hop too.


Chris Ward


Gar : You're playing in the Zoo in Kilkenny on the 25th of July with Jon O'Bir. Are you looking forward to the gig, what can the crowd expect to hear?

Chris : Yeah, I am really looking forward to this one actually! The Zoo is a great venue simply because its so intimate and the line up is stunning too. I played alongside Jon in Dublin at the start of December last year and he is one of the most talented live DJs I've come across. I'm on from 11 to midnight on the 25th so punters can expect a blend of tough tech trance and driving techno from me that night. The tickets are available now from ticketmaster if you wanna book early :)


Gar : You've a European tour planed for August this year, what can you tell us about it?

Chris : Yep I do. I'm playing seven countries in ten days. Its a new promotions company based in Italy that have decided to put this tour on. Its kind of unique in that there's no purpose for the tour - usually tours are planned to promote an album or release or something but this is simply a tour for the sake of it which I think is great as it makes it all about the music. Off the top of my head were in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic and a final date in the UK with most of the nights being smaller club events which I'm lucky enough to be headlining 2 of. Really looking forward to it I must admit.


Gar : So, the future! Anything else on the horizon?

Chris : Well I'm still settling back into home life having spent the first 5 months of this year in Australia with Climax but I've Irish events scheduled for Galway, Wexford, Dublin and a few other un-confirmed bookings scattered throughout June. Then the gig in the Zoo on July 25th, I have those ten dates around Europe in August, aswell as two dates in Northern Ireland and the possibility of festival appearances in the UK and in Poland all before September hits. The radio show is still going strong and is being Syndicated around the world through Climax and I have plenty to keep me occupied in the studio too with advances being made towards a release in the coming months so all in all things are busy and I wouldn't have it any other way! You can check www.djchrisward.com for more info.


 

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