Trade's 12 hour Jock EJ Doubell Joins Pete Ward in KL

Playing a 12 hour set at Trade's forthcoming New Year's Eve London festivities, should see Emma "EJ" Doubell rising to a new level of fame and global interest in 2002. The London hard trance and house DJ has up until now built her reputation primarily via gay clubs like FIST and FF, though started to cast her net wider earlier this year when she signed onto Trade's DJ books. Trade's 12 hour set tradition was first developed by the late, great Tony De Vit and it's a daunting if impressive goal to fulfil.

Chatting to Skrufff's Angie Ng as she passed through Kuala Lumpur last week, she admitted she's already started planning, admitting that deciding which records to bring and more importantly how many, is already proving to be a headache. She has, however, already fixed up a sequence of friends to bring her sandwiches and snacks, and is praying she'll be able to cope with the "not too regular toilet trips.

Joining her for the interview was fellow Trade jock Pete Ward who also DJed alongside her at Trade's first ever parties in Malaysia, which happened in KL and Penang.

Skrufff (Angie Ng): Compared with technical DK skills, how important is it knowing the right people in the music business for getting on as a DJ-

Peter Ward: "It's nice to know people in the industry, go know where they are and what they're about. I suppose on one level it can help because of who you know."

EJ Doubell: "It helps you to get free records."

Peter Ward: "Yes it does. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter who you are or who you know if you can't get produce the goods technically or if you can't do what you're supposed to be able to do. I think that's the great misconception with Trade, people think once you're a Trade DJ, it's like 'Yeah fine, you can just sit back and eat a box of chocolates and get someone else to mix the records for you while you take all the credit' but it's not like that at all. You've got to work extra hard because you've got to maintain the standard and take it to an even higher standard."

EJ Doubell: "There's always someone waiting in the wings to take your place if you don't."


Skrufff : Do you think clubbers outside the UK tend to be more appreciative since they're not as fortunate to hear as many big name DJs live-

Peter Ward: "Yeah. You do actually find that. People actually come up and thank you for a good set. It's a bit strange sometimes. I mean such compliments are very welcome but can be weird. I think it's not about being spoilt in England but we do have it there, all the time, at your disposal 7 days a week. So, yeah you do find that they (non-English clubbers) make it more aware to you that they're most appreciative for you being there."

Skrufff : Peter, Pete Wardman was Trade's resident DJ from 96/97, how often do people mix you up -

Peter Ward: "They did at first, until they saw us together, then they didn't.(both laugh) We look slightly different. I tried to think of a cool name but I would always end up with something stupid, and one day I thought 'This is ridiculous, I'll just stick to my own name'. Yeah, there was a bit of a concern at first but then you know, people now realize who you are based on your work."

Skrufff : You've been associated with Hard House and Trance for years...

Peter Ward : Who me - (smiling) I played Hard House for a bit when I first started, I was making Hard Trance and banging Hard House stuff. But now the label I'm working on with a friend is called F-Tunes Records, which is a hybrid between the two styles of banging music."

Skrufff : Where do you see the Hard House and Trance scene developing in the future-

EJ Doubell : I don't know if it's slowed down at all, though I think it's definitely become more melodic. It's not just all noises, samples and synth stabs, it's got more melodic feel to it."

Skrufff: What's the best thing about playing for Trade-

Peter: "It's actually being there at Trade London, because when you go aw Tags

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