Interviews
Andy Farley - King of Camden Palace
By Benz
Oct 12, 2006 - 2:05:00 PM

HeatUK is back at Koko, London for its 5th Birthday party this weekend - with 2 original Camden kings at the helm. They are Phil Reynolds and Andy Farley!

Take us back to the first time you ever set foot in Camden Palace. What was the event and what mischief did you get up to inside the labyrinth-like venue?

It’s seems like such a long time ago now, but it must have been 2000, after I’d taken on my Frantic residency. I think I stayed by the DJ box most of the night cause I was worried I might get lost and not be able to find my way back!

Do you miss the days when you used to rock the main room at the Palace on a regular basis? Or do you prefer that it’s a special occasion when hard dance events do take place there?

I used to love playing my residency, monthly, last set, but sadly this ended when the venue closed, so it’s always a great treat to come back and play here again. It’s funny even though it’s called Koko now, everyone still calls it Camden Palace! This will be my second gig there this year, the first being Spencer’s slogathon of course, so am really looking forward to it

Do you ever get lost in the venue these days or do you know it like the back of your hands?

I know my way around now, usually know where to find my various drivers in a state in the back room ha ha!

Is there one defining moment for you that you will always look back on in years to come when Camden Palace is mentioned?

There’s so many for different reasons, was kind of like a home for a few years, but I guess Farleytime and Return Of The King stand out for me as they gave me opportunity to play for longer and mix it up a lot more.

What’s the most inspiring set you’ve ever seen another DJ play at Camden Palace / Koko?

Unfortunately I didn’t get a lot of opportunity to catch many other people’s sets as I was nearly always arriving shortly before my set starts due to other gig commitments. However, I nearly always played after Phil and he always had the place rocking

You will be returning to the venue for Heat’s 5^th Birthday on October 14^th – sure to be an emotional experience for all concerned! What are your fondest memories from playing at their parties over the years?

I’ve always enjoyed the Heat parties, both the ones at Camden Palace & Brixton Academy, so it’s great to be coming back again. There’s always so many people to catch up with that I haven’t seen for ages, and I know there’s going to be loads there for this one to. I can’t believe it’s your 5^th birthday already as well!

Do you still feel you have a strong a passion for hard dance as you used to?

Absolutely. Introducing different sounds into my sets has really livened things up and there’s a lot of varied great music out there so yep, still loving it!

Meanwhile, what are you both up to at the moment? What are you working on and what’s exciting you?

I’ve had a busy year. Got loads of new production done, with tracks out on Tidy, Tekelec, Traffic and remixes on Elasticman Platinum and Vicious Circle. I did 5 dates over at Tidy vs Extreme at Es Paradis in Ibiza which was absolutely rocking, played at WEMF in Canada in July and also San Diego. Things looking great for the rest of the year too. I’ve also been doing radio, covering for Anne Savage on her Ministry Of Sound Thursday night show which I’m enjoying immensely, and gives me a chance to play a variety of music from house & Electro through techno to hard dance. 

See http://www.viewtickets.co.uk/club-tickets-5302.html for tickets to HeatUK's 5th Birthday at Koko in London, featuring Nick Sentience LIVE, Andy Farley, Phil Reynolds, Marc French b2b Technikal b2b Spencer Freeland, Summit vs Puzzle Project arena + much more...