Nick Lunn - Brewing up a Storm

From heavy metal rocker to rock disco DJ to London nightclub owner. UK DJ and producer Nick Lunn has always been of the opinion that hard dance is the rock music of the millennium, but with a need to balance his musical repertoire Nick is keen to nurture new sounds.

Nick lives in Burton-on-Trent "where they brew the majority of beer" with his adorable canine companions, Shih Tzu (Betty) and Yorkshire Terrier (Connie). Nick, who assures me that he is only 21 years of age, is busy preparing himself for a hectic but exciting year.

"2003 so far, has been a year of producing for me, so watch this space! My Manager has also been concentrating on international DJ performances for me, so I have some exciting stuff coming up in the next few months."

If we rewind to the beginning of Nick's career, you will find that Nick's influences stray far away from the usual Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk. Being a true rocker Nick was more interested in heavy metal. Forming a metal cover band with Nick as guitarist, they played everything from Metallica to Pantera. Success however did not prevail, so Nick took to DJing rock disco music at 'Rock Night' for the Hell's Angels - a hellishly scary occupation by anyone's standards.

Forging ahead and leaving the metal behind, Nick started his own club night 'Sunday Roast,' and after honing in on what clubbers were after, Nick was anxious to take dance music to a newer and harder level. Nick did face some difficulty in achieving this but with a little help from local boy Andy Farley, the standard was set.

A few lap dances and drinks with good mate Fergie later, Nick decided it was time to do something else on a Friday night. Enter 'Storm.'

The success behind Storm nightclub is well deserved, and three years on Nick and resident DJs Andy Farley and Ian M have done their bit to quash any bad press declaring that hard dance is dead. Not to be confused with hard house, which certainly doesn't exist as we once knew it, hard dance is the repackaged version, complete with German tribal techno, progressive house and hard trance.

With a collective approach and knowing that most of Storm's clubbers travel some distance to get there, Nick is always looking beyond the usual realms of dance music to satisfy both him and the punters.

"Storm has been going successfully for three years now. I think the expression "innovate not imitate" has stuck since I first used it about a year ago. I have a great team around me and we come up with fresh ideas which, fortunately, usually tend to work."

Not quite the clubber he used to be, "I used to dance away about 32 miles every Saturday night," Nick has also reached a turning point as a DJ, now feeling confident that he can take to the decks and play more to his own liking.

"As a DJ I have evolved to the maximum. I used to think it was all about giving the crowd what they wanted and now I am in a position to play what I want to play, which is usually a nice blend/mix of techno."

Satisfied with his expertise as a DJ, it is in production where Nick aims to develop his skills. Having already produced the dance floor destroyers 'Conspiracy,' 'Respect,' and 'Wait a Second' through Nukleuz and Gas Records, Nick is keen to take on more.

"As a producer, I have learnt more and more. I would say that I have come to like it more and more now, so this is what I am currently doing the most of. I work with different people to get different sounds each time, so I am constantly evolving as a producer."

Nick recently signed with Gas Records in Italy, with whom he has more than just producing and remixing on the agenda.

"I will be constantly producing for Gas Records. I go to Italy every month and either make new tracks or do a remix for some of the best Gas artists. Besides that, I love Italian food!"

Aware of the dangers in producing and releasing poor quality music, Nick has some advice that's well worth taking on board.< Tags