CLUBS

preview

Ferry Corsten

As if you hadn't noticed, 1999 is the year of trance, and the man wearing the crown and ermine robes is the 25 year old from Rotterdam - Ferry Corsten. As System F, his ’Out Of The Blue' was a guaranteed podium filler as was his 'Gouryella’, and the guy has been banging out trance as Moonman, Pulp Victim, Krushed One, Albion, Alternative, RoeF and a whole bunch of other names he can't remember off the top of his head. His funky melodic trance production skills have been massively in demand, and it seems now you can't pick up a dance record without seeing his name somewhere in the credits.

Currently he's trying to quit the remixes to give himself time to work on his System F album. However, just when he’d cleared the boards, along came the chance to remix William Orbit. 'No way could I have turned that down,‘ he says. 'William is my idol, he is the best producer there is and for me, working on that would make my century.’

Corsten reckons trance now, with the combination of the melodic German sound and more groovesome UK trance, is the ultimate music of the moment. ’People from hardcore, house, techno and breakbeat are bringing

l l

quality.’

their experiences in, and trance will be the ultimate mixture of everything. It’ll be more mature and better

One of Corsten's trademark sounds is the arpeggio twinkle; has he ever made a track without one? After a long pause he pensively replies: 'Yes, I think I might have done one once. It's not like I press a button marked arpeggio number 43, I really programme the sound.‘ For

l'll trance you: Ferry Corsten aka System F

the new System F album he hopes to finish by the end of next month, he'll be working on vocal tracks, a bit of

ambient, and of course, lots and lots of trance. 'People

know that side of me but I want to show more of myself. The real music for me though has to be the trance sound.’ (Rory Weller)

e Ferry Corsten 0/5 at The Tunnel, Sat 7 Aug and at the International Club Festival at Tevrot Row, Fri 73 Aug.

4 ‘9' ‘3 r \ \ /’ “SW , .. M’ |I I ' I" u

; A\ 4-

-$. 1-,; ,‘ u ‘1‘: \‘V '

vs... u‘gfl b ,

, Would you get in the boat with these boys?: Slam

Never Get Out Of The Boat

Any promoter worth his salt Will try to suggest that their night is 'unique'. More often than not, this is club-code for 'we hired a fire-eater', but when Krae Caldwell makes the claim, you

know he is the exception that proves the rule For starters, as he puts it: 'There is something a bit specIal about dancmg on what is baSically a floating greenhouse, while it's still light, watching the Sun go down.’

Even With the bmlt-in appeal of recycling a disused ferry as a club,

many nights would be faltering after four years. Never Get Out The Boat, however, has a couple of aces up it's sleeve in the form of Stuart and Orde, the Slam boys worshipped by white.- glovers and style mag acolytes alike. And, Since the Boat parties are the only place the pair can be seen in action as a reSIdent duo, an up for it crowd is par for the course. Or, in Caldwell’s words, ’This is Stuart and Orde's baby, and people will always turn out for Slam.’

Reflecting this, the booking policy over the Years has been strictly inVitation only, with guests like Laurent Garnier and Derrick Carter chosen on the basis that they can add something to the already heady atmosphere, rather than being slotted in to draw a crowd. If you need a big name to float y0ur boat, so to speak, look elsewhere, but for a summer night that's out of the ordinary, this is unmissable.

(Jack Mottram) I Never Get Out Of The Boat at The Renfew Ferry, Sat 7 Aug.

preview CLUBS

Phactfile

Adored by locals and celebs alike, Divine celebrates its ninth birthday this week. Rory Weller gets the background.

1H!!!” li'lll'nli‘f. .41.! ‘--- !! .l u...

Name? Divine. Age? Nine years. Occupation? The future sound of retro. Eh? Andrew Divine, DJ and founder of the club says that he and his partner Hush Puppy play ’New records that sound old and old records that sound new.’ And what kind of records would that be? A mix of northern soul, deep funk, 605 psychedelia and soundtracks. They pride themselves on playing particularly obscure records. What sort of people come down? Hip young swingers of all varieties. They've also got their fair share of celebrity punters. Members of Belle and Sebastian are regulars and you can usually find a Teenage Fanny, BMX Bandit or Arab Strapper kicking about the place. What about your big stars? Evan Dando from Lemonheads is a big fan, and whenever the band played Glasgow, they'd always make sure it was on a Saturday night so they could come down the club. Sonic Youth have been seen there and Courtney Love hung out there last time she was in the city and was apparently very welL behaved. Does everyone get in? Not quite. Deacon Blue tried to blag their way in when the club was at capacity recently, and gave it the 'Don't you know who we are?’ routine. The bouncers said to the Blue: 'I don't care who you are, you'll be black and blue it you don’t fuck off'. What‘s the secret of Divine's longevity? Andrew Divine says it's all down to the quality selection of obscure, groove based records. Do they get a lot of trainspotters? David Holmes spent half the night last time he was down, trying to read the labels as they were spinning round and one particularly keen fan leaned over and stopped the vinyl dead to see what the track was. What are they doing for the birthday? As ever there will be the Divine mix tapes for the first 100 through the doors and there'll be_cakes and special badges too.

Divine celebrate their ninth birthday at The Glasgow School Of Art, Sat 7 Aug.

S—lZAug i999 TllElJST 98