international news _ JONTY SKRUFFF _ 21th October, 2005

Ed Real's Hard House Reality Check

UK DJ/ producer Ed Real chatted to Skrufff this week about his upcoming compilation CD Hard Dance Republic Volume 2 and distanced himself from the styles of fellow compilation DJs Nick Sentience and Paul Glazby.

"Paul and Nick are known for their styles and there's not a lot of crossover to the trained ear," said Ed, "I'm more posh than bosh."

Ed also admitted his decision to include tracks from Vitalic, Benny Benassi and James Zabiela was significant, declaring 'hard house in its strictest sense has hit the end of a creative cul de sac'.

"The advent of the Pioneer CDJ 1000 (CD player) as the industry standard has allowed people such as myself to include a wider range of sounds and styles in the mix and I'm thankful for it," he continued, "I've always been into all sorts of dance music and now I have the chance to present that to the dancefloor - if the vibe fits, dance to it."

The London based jock recently DJed in hard dance's greatest territory Holland and confirmed that the scene there remains massive compared to England's relatively moribund hard house club world.

"I played a hardstyle gig on Saturday at the same venue that Tiesto uses for his solo concerts, which sold out to a crowd of 10,000 ravers. This was considered one of the smaller parties to go to in Holland whereas in the UK that would have made front-page news," said Ed.

"Then after the gig I went to the other side of Amsterdam and attended a party inside one of those round gas silo's which was also hard music- techno- and that had another 4000 people - for the second night in a row. Having said, that, the UK crowd make more noise though," Ed added.

He also admitted to chilling out on the rest of the trip, courtesy of Amsterdam's famed attractions.

"My best friend in Holland owns a couple of coffee shops and lives above one. They are a big distraction but when in Rome and all that," he confessed.

Hard Dance Republic Volume 2- mixed by Ed Real, Paul Glazby and Nick Sentience is out now on Hit Mania.(Jonty Skrufff)