All Time Top 100

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

A Quick Chat with Nikon Driver

Prior to his Top 100 we had a quick chat with Nikon Driver about his pioneering club night 'It Came From the Sea'. It Came from the Sea' is the 1st Saturday of every month at Sussex Arts Club. www.voodilily.co.uk for more.

Q. ICFTHS has rapidly become one of the most talked about nights in the Brighton clubbing calendar. To what do you attribute this runaway success?

A. We’ve been doing it for nearly 3 years so I’d hardly call it runaway. But I think this year has been ridiculous rollercoaster ride of success. Lol. Basically, we had a break for a couple of months late last year and we changed venue and took time to think about and refine everything we were doing. It was obviously the right move as it’s paid off and the club is stronger than ever.

Q. Tell us a little about your music policy...

A. In our most recent press release kicking_k described our current music policy like this: It Came fro the Sea take conceptual scissors to the music world, cutting and pasting together an all-nite soundtrack that shifts drunkenly from wipe-clean synth to mongrel guitar snarl, dancefloor beatbox to shiny pop hooks. It' s more fun than heaven, and you don't have to die to go there! GET IN THE QUEUE! I can’t put it any better than that.

Q. You and your DJ partner Kicking_K play exclusively off laptops is this correct? Why so and have you taken any flak off any so called purists?

A. We originally started ICFTHS with a decommissioned office PC that we paid £30 for and upgraded with a decent soundcard. We called her D.A.I.S.Y and kick was still using her until she blew up recently. So now we both use laptops. And we’ve only had a couple of occasions where some purist dick has made a comment or two. Ultimately, it’s a different mindset - I’ve never deejayed from records and although I have nothing against them personally don’t think I ever will.

Q. Do you buy your music via traditional methods (you know - record shops) and then transfer it to the laptop for convenience? I hope they're not all naughty downloads?

A. The music we play is a mixture of downloads (legal and otherwise), cd rips, and promos. We try to play the best new music we can find by any means possible. A really good source for music is the growing community of MP3 bloggers including our personal faves, the brighton based www.20jazzfunkgreats.blogspot.com

Q. You've quickly outgrown the Sussex Arts Club it would appear - any plans to find a bigger venue?

A. We could fill a larger venue, and it is annoying that everyone can’t always get in but we have no plans to move as we feel we’ve found a home with the Sussex Arts Club. It’s important to be in a place that attracts the right crowd and creates a certain atmosphere.

Q. You seem to be quite busy doing other gigs as ICFTS? Is there any worry that you're diluting the formula at all?

A. It is quite frustrating working other gigs using the ICFTHS club name when we don’t consider those events to be the same because ICFTHS is so much more than the music and that’s all we take with us. We’ve tried to encourage promoters to use Nikon Driver and Kickin_k on posters but they obviously wanna use the name they feel will attract the crowds. However, we only regularly play one other slot which is at the Ocean Rooms. We wanted to take on that gig as the venue is trying to establish itself with a different audience and is committed to it’s new live band capabilities. For me that doesn’t dilute our club in any way as I see it as providing a different experience for both us and those that have come on the strength of our club. I mean, we’ve never really deejayed with bands or other deejays. Now we get to play alongside the likes of Optimo – and that can’t be bad.

Nikon Driver's All Time Top 100 will be published on the site just as soon as we have it off him.

posted by: Jim Brackpool @ 8:35 AM

+ + +