Friday the 28th of November sees the relaunch of infamous Hard Dance brand ‘Avin’ It at Castro’s in Bristol – helping them kick the party right off is the DiabloTraxx label tour featuring label founder Ajay, Helen G, Mike Avery, Scorpy, Glyn C and Olivia Rose, joined by local faces Sketchy and DJ Cherry.

We thought it would be fun to gain a bit of an insight into the mind of the man behind the madness – to that end, the DiabloTraxx artists threw a few questions at Ajay with the hope of catching him off guard and catching him out with something embarrassing!

Olivia Rose: Is there 1 faithful track that you always take with you to a gig because you know the crowd will go nuts when you drop it?

Ajay: Absolutely – and in fact it’s the track that convinced me Rob O.T.T was going to be someone at the very heart of DiabloTraxx. It’s call “Requiem” and was one of the first tunes he sent me, about 18-19 months ago. I played it in just about every set, to huge response every time, so it was only fitting that it went on to be part of the Rob O.T.T EP that launched the label, received huge praise in the dance music press and remains to this day one of our biggest sellers. The track has become something of a signature tune for me as a DJ, and a special new version features in the live PA for the harder edged nights. A future anthem? I think so!!!

Mike Avery: You can tell a lot about someone from the food they eat and where they dine so, what is your favorite restaurant?

Ajay: That’s a real toughy Mike! The last 12 months since starting up the label have seen me barely have time to eat or sleep, let alone go for posh meals – having said that, my good lady Tara is managing to civilise me a little. There is one absolute legend of a place I really love – it’s called Cantaloupe and is based in Shoreditch in East London. It ain’t cheap but it is damn good – the best steaks I have ever eaten, a proper cool and quite funky arty crowd and a DJ playing breaks, electro and jazzy shizzle. Highly recommended!

Helen G: What's the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you, that you dare to reveal?

Ajay: Blimey that’s a tough one! I’ve always been a bit wild from early childhood so trying to narrow things down to one incident is a toughy for sure! I reckon one of the best is from a couple of years ago – my mates Simon and Barry were legends for their weekend long afterparties – we went to one after a Friday night gig and it got a bit “lively” shall we say. Anyways, I thought I had just shut my eyes for a brief 10 second power nap – in fact I had passed out for 14 hours, a whole fresh load of party goers had arrived and I was covered in rice crispies and washing up liquid! Thanks guys! Although there were worse casualties there that weekend – one fella pissed his pants in the conservatory, he was that wrecked hahaha!!

Scorpy: How beneficial to the DiabloTraxx brand is bringing new blood into the scene and supporting new artists?

Ajay: That’s a subject very close to my heart to be honest. The Hard Dance scene can be a tough nut to crack at times – so it’s good to be able to give people a helping hand. I was helped into the scene by some wonderful people back in the day and it’s nice to be able to offer the same support to talented new artists now we’re in a position to do so. Rob was a bedroom producer a couple of years ago, he’s now headlining major international events like FiNRG and is our head producer & engineer and is just one success story for the label. Supporting new artists is vital to develop creativity and it’s something I believe very strongly in. And it’s not over for me in terms of learning – I’m lucky enough to be able to turn to some of the biggest names out there for advice and guidance on how to take things to the next level. We should all be looking to help out fresh faces and make our scene stronger and more exciting in my opinion!

And a few quick fire questions…..

Beer or wine?

Beer, but perhaps some wine with a meal

Afterparty crack on or chill with the mrs?

Well my good lady is often the instigator of some mental afterparties so I have the best of both!

Fave ‘non-dance’ tune?

Tough choice there. "Place Your Hands" by Reef has to be the one though. And my old mate Mark from uni was in the band before they were famous and his parents made him get a proper education – unlucky!!

“Hard House” or “Hard Dance”?

You b*stards! Right now I prefer the title of “Hard Dance” due to the scene getting a bit too pigeonholed into sub-genres of Hard House, Filth, Hardstyle, NRG, UK Hard Trance, Euro Hard Trance, Bounce etc etc etc etc, so we’ll stick to Hard Dance for now until people learn to open their ears and forget their prejudices about what’s cool or not. Good music is good music regardless of its name.

DJ set, live set or production?

That’s so unfair!! Each have their own special place in my sordid little life……


Catch Ajay and the DiabloTraxx Army at Castro's on Friday the 28th of November - it's just £7 all night, click on the flyer below for more info!