Scott Bond Interview

Virtual Festivals: So what treats are in-store for us at the Gatecrasher NEC event on November 16th?

Scott: Every event we've done at the NEC has been a total sell-out and the tickets for this one are flying out. It's going to be a very busy event. I'm really pleased with the configuration this time. We've got three arenas. The first one is obviously the Gatecrasher main arena with Judge Jules, DJ Tiesto and Josh Wink amongst others. Then we've got the Tidy Trax arena which was a massive success for us at the Summer Sound System. It was packed from beginning to end and then the Bugged Out arena. Underworld live! I'm really looking forward to that. I've never see them live before but they should rock the NEC.

V F: How have the monthly events been going?

It's one of the best things we've ever done. It's at a time when clubland is in a bit of a recession. Clubs that are open weekly now and didn't take that risk with us are only half-full. Clubbing has been heading that way. There isn't as much of a demand as there has been in the past, especially in the summer months with the festivals on. Every monthly event has sold out. Every night at Heaven has sold-out and people love it. They're guaranteed a brilliant night out. They're guaranteed hands in the air euphoria and a sold-out club.

V F: What differences have you noticed between the parties you've put on in Sheffield and London?

Obviously, they're about 160 miles apart and London is a completely different city to Sheffield but the same enthusiasm is there. We've put Paul Van Dyk on there with some of his long sets and they've worked for us in Sheffield and London. With the London thing we've got more different rooms so we can experiment with more styles.

V F: Gatecrasher Summer Sound System attracted a lot of criticism from punters and Carl Cox when one of the arenas failed to materialize. What happened?

What happened is that one of the tents got damaged. We had to combine two tents together and some people were disappointed. We offered all the headliners a chance to play from that arena but some of them refused to play because it wasn't the original set-up. We did everything we could to get the people on. We paid all of the people who were supposed to play.

V F: What other events have you got planned?

As well as looking at the festival next year, we're also working on Boxing Day and New Year's Eve. On New Year's Eve we're doing a retro night. Two of our most famous albums are DiScottech and Wet. The New Year's Eve theme is based on music from those albums which worked for us last year when we did Red and Black. That was one of the best nights we had all year. In the future, we'd like to get some more monthly parties on in other towns and cities across the country.

Gatecrasher NEC.NXT lands in Birmingham on 16th November. See our Gatecrasher @ NEC secion for more info.

Also, Resident Transmission, a new triple mix CD by Scott Bond, Matt Hardwick and Eddie Halliwell was released on 14th October.