Brit DJ Nick Warren redefines the Icelandic club experience
British DJ/producer Nick Warren is about to make his clubbing experience in Iceland world renowned. Assigned to play there by Global Underground--an electronic dance entity that sends reputable DJs to various locales around the world, books a gig or two there and then asks the DJ to encapsulate the adventure in a two-CD release--Warren got a taste of an environment unlike most others.
"It's sort of a unique scene," he says, phoning from England. "[Icelandic clubbers] feel totally at ease with making complete idiots of themselves, in front of anyone. No one's uptight! They get really drunk and fall over, but really enjoy themselves."
Sounds like Las Vegas, except for the uptight part. Which is what the veteran progressive/breaks DJ could only hope for. Warren is touring to promote GU024: Reykjavik (out Feb. 25), and amid his limited American gigs is a date for Las Vegas--a city he's yet to play, despite all the "mad stories" he's heard from peers who've already spun here.
A well-prepared traveling DJ, Warren (also one half of the respected progressive/trance outfit Way Out West) often seeks details of a city's vibe and musical preferences before playing there. One almost hopes he doesn't get too inquisitive before the Vegas date. Surely, he'll find out most of the heady music he used for GU024 isn't exactly the soundtrack for Sin City revelry. In fact, it's not really the norm for most cities.
For his fifth and possibly last Global Underground mix, Warren decided to do something a little different. On one night, he spun in a small bar for about 300 people, opting for a more downtempo and ambient-centered sound not usually associated with dancing (the crowd actually sat down and just listened). The next night he played a much bigger room, relying on the more conventional 4/4 and breaks-oriented progressive dance music that has filled his crates for the past decade. This difference in club dynamics is accounted for in what is Warren's most unconventional mix.
"The truth is, the CD is split into two sets," says Warren. "This is now my seventh or eighth mix CD, and I didn't see the point in or people wanting another Nick Warren progressive club set. I don't think I need to do that anymore. [This] set...sums up everything I'm into, really."
A few factors unite the two-disc, two-mix release--namely, a uniform atmosphere that's lighter and more melodic than most progressive house sets, and skillful blends between songs and within them. In four instances, Warren combines two or three songs together, and those experiments are as seamless as his crossfading. It's not something he does too often in the clubs, but in the studio, he applies the practice wherever he can.
"I started with that when Massive Attack asked me to tour with them," says Warren. "Once you get to this touring DJ thing, it's harder to experiment. You're thrown into the peak time, and that's only two to three hours. If you got the whole night, it's possible to do it, as long the people know what you're doing. [In the past], it was easy to play downtempo and fast stuff in the same set, but that's completely disappeared. I've always been into doing that, and I thought it would be fun to do it [here]."
Therein lies Warren's motivation for continuing to DJ--a passion for the craft that is both rewarding and entertaining. Of course, there's something to be said for stopping before evidence of geezerhood surfaces.
"Once I start to lose that hunger for new club records and I see it as a pain in the ass to DJ--I've always told myself that's when I'll stop. I think if I still really want to do it and enjoy it, I'll keep doing it. Hopefully, I'll stop before my hair turns gray. That's embarrassing!"
