DJ DOUGAL

Dougal has just returned from a 4 day stint in Zurich, Switzerland. Not only DJing but also doing some research for an Essential Platinum tour. For those of you who don't know, Essential Platinum is the record label of Dougal and his partner in crime, Hixxy (MA2man).

So what have they been doing recently? "We've been sorting out our tape packs from our Essential Platinum night at Club Kinetic It's been hard work doing it all myself you know. I never knew distribution could be so much hard work, it's been a learning experience, I can tell you."

So why did he choose Hixxy to team up with? "I was considering starting my own label, and I was speaking to Hixxy about what he was doing on the south coast. I realised that if Essential Platinum was to be as big as I wanted it to be, there was no way I could do it on my own. So, I hooked up with Hixxy. I want Essential Platinum to be the biggest, top label. Hixxy looks after his side and any record he puts out and vice versa versa. The actual label is set to grow quite big."

So how many tracks have you released to date? "I think we're up to our fifteenth release in less than a year. We've had a few problems with labels, printing and distribution, but together I think we make a good little combination, With Hixxy's style of music and mine, we cover quite a wide range of the happy hardcore spectrum."

Have you any plans for an album? 'Definitely, I'm going to do an album of just my material that's going to be out around late November, just in time for Christmas," The conversation then goes onto the future and what's in the pipeline? "We definitely want to get into the promotion side of things more. We did Club Kinetic and absolutely rammed it, So from that, we've looked at it seriously.

Would it mean an Essential Platinum PA and DJ rota? "Not so much the PA, as PAs are really hard work, no matter what you do to cut it down to a bare minimum. For one thing, promoters don't want to pay for a proper PA. You need a substantial amount of money to pay dancers, acquire good costumes and singers. So, we're trying to scale it down, but it's still a ridiculous amount of work." But you're still going out on the road DJing? 'Yes, at various club nights." Including Bristol Exposure.. "Oh, of course."

Right Dougal, change of direction. What changes within the scene would you like to see to encourage more women DJs and producers? "Woooh,' is the response. "First thing, I would do is slow down the music, and maybe a few more might get interested. it is a bit mental and frenetic sometimes. Me, Sy, Slipmatt and co., we've all said it's gone a bit mad and fast of late, and it's time it slowed down a bit. I've actually gone down to the pace I was playing last year, though it's hard to do, If the DJ on before you has played fast, you sound ridiculously slow. If you can start a session off slow, then nobody would notice."

Back to the women Paul, I find it very disappointing that within the happy hardcore scene there is no predominant woman DJ ("Yeah"). I think the whole scene is a lads club of sorts. "At least in the jungle scene you have people like Rap, Kemistry & Storm and Dazee,' agrees Dougal. So is it about confidence? 'I don't know, but I know how hard it is to get in and stay in. I know women DJs would get annoyed if they thought they were getting any favours. They want to know they've got there because they've tried and are good. It shouldn't come down to sex, but we need to get more women in the scene. In ail aspects, all round.'

What are your strengths and weaknesses? 'I still do get nervous at big events. If the equipment is set up well, I can play for hours non stop without much of a thought. But if the needles fuck up, the monitor ain't right or the mixer is shit, I do find it hard work whereas Slipmatt or Seduction would cope a little better. Maybe that just comes down to years of experience. When the equipment lets you down and there's 4,000 people standing there, and you're sweating like mad - it's in your eyes and you can't see your record for the dark, the monitor is going in and out, it's like 'oh no, what's going on?'. If it's not set up right, it does stress me out, so that's a weakness."

And your strengths? "I can always tell what the people want. I always play for the crowd and seem to get on their level straight away, I don't put myself above them, I am on their level and want to join in with them, generate the same buzz and get excited like them. That's what it's about after all, the crowd enjoying themselves."

Is it more important for you to be liked or to be successful, "I'd much rather be liked. It comes together in a strange sort of way, but I wouldn't like to be turning up at somewhere and people thinking you're a total wanker due to success. Some people do become total wankers as a result of that." Well, I can say that Dougal is liked by hordes of people, and is one of the most genuine DJs on the circuit without a shadow of a doubt.

Jungle and happy hardcore can't mix, those days are gone, comment. "No!! If people out there have got a wide taste of music, then it's not a problem. I listen to some jungle tunes and I think they sound really good. It's the people who are too down one alley that have a problem. The thing is though, if that person is so much into just happy hardcore or techno that they won't listen to anything else, then they'll get bored of it in 6 months!" So Dougal likes jungle? "At first I thought it was terrible and the rave scene was going down the pan, but it's proper quality music now, blinding. I've just found out it's been accepted into jazz carnivals in Switzerland, mainly just drum & bass though. It's strange there's even splits in jungle. Every style is splitting and I wish it would stop and people went to clubs with open minds and listen to a bit of everything."

What other musical tastes do you have? "My absolute favourite is uplifting trance. I could see myself playing it out in maybe 5 years time, but whatever I play, it will always be 100% uplifting." What about the direction of your music? "I was DJing house before hardcore, At one stage hardeore was just hardcore, not happy hardcore. It started to get a bit mental and I wasn't sure if I liked the music any more. I wanted it to be happy, uplifting. I knew in my head what style I wanted to play and what the crowd would want musically, but nobody seemed to be making it. I got about 25 tunes that were the style I wanted and stuck with the set. I mean, I must have only been able to buy a record every couple of months. It was still slow then and more people began to get into it, but its really weird the way it's all gone.

The good thing is, Dougal has an open mind about music - liking all forms, providing it's the best of it. However, one thing he doesn't like is real cheesy vocal samples. "I like original vocals, the style of Force & Styles, Billy Bunter, etc. who use a proper vocalist and have original ideas. That's the way the scene must go to survive. At the moment, I'm well up for trying to get the scene to progress rather than go backwards.' But isn't retro hardcore making a comeback? "Yes, but that's mainly due to the BPMs."

Nodding in agreement, I say I'd like to see it slow down a touch (being an old-'un who can't keep pace anymore!). "I think you'll definitely see it happening in the next 6 months. Every time I see Sy out we're saying, 'look at the pitch control.' We're playing on minus one, so hopefully in 6 months time we won't be saying this anymore, as the tunes will be being made slower."

Hear, hear! It's Universe this weekend, are you looking forward to it? "Definitely, as I was really disappointed when it was cancelled originally. I really hate the way this country is run. You'll never meet anyone like me who gets the hump about it so much. Why can't we just have a good time? There's too much bureaucracy! Traffic for gods sake. If it was Cliff Richard, then fine, but not Universe. One rule for them and another rule for us..."

Thanks to Dougal for fitting me in at such a busy time. Look out for Dougal on the 'DJs Take Control.' like the label it's on, it's absolutely Kickin'.