1st January 2020 Happy New Year!!! I have to say I really enjoyed all of my Christmas / NYE gigs and was particularly and very pleasantly surprised at the massive turn out for Project Storm in Oxford! www.lab4.com is now updated and back online and also there is a new 2010 DJ set added to the Jukebox on the music page (Track 2). I am also very excited to be working with a new agent for Europe - www.proud2beloud.nl and look forward to heading over to Holland a little more regularly in 2010.
14th Dec.
New tune added - 'Genetica' ... www.lab4.com will be back on line in the next few day (hopefully)
8th Dec.
For anyone wondering where www.lab4.com has gone... unfortunatley the company hosting it have erased the site and have decided to auction the domain name... Nice!
18th Aug.
New DJ set added on the 'Music' page.
4th July
STATEMENT.
As some of you will be aware, on the weekend of the 4th July I was booked as 'A+D+A+M lab4 LIVE' to play at Ground Zero in Holland as well as being 'booked'playing with Lab4 at Dance Island in the UK.
Having spoken to a few people at both gigs I feel that firstly I need to apologise and also explain the situation that I / Lab4 was put in.
In September 2008 I was asked if I was available for Ground Zero 2009 after a good response to my set in 2008. I took the booking feeling very excited to already have such a large event to look forward to in my calendar for the following year.
At the end of November 2008 Lez and I were approached by Tidy Trax with regards to doing a 'one off' Lab4 set at Magna in March 2009. After a lot of discussions followed by a meeting in the Tidy office we agreed to Magna and the possibility that if it went well and we enjoyed it, we would consider a possible further run of gigs that would be dependent on the size of the venue and overall production etc. The reason being that we only wanted to put the Lab4 show on at events and in venues that would do the whole thing justice and be on a level of the last few gigs that we had done with Lab4 in 2006 (HHA, Velfare Tokyo etc.) . Quality over quantity was basically what we would base our decisions on and we had agreed to work with Tidy on these possible future events believing they understood how we felt and were capable of offering us such events.
The week after Magna I was playing an event in Norwich and a few people told me that they were looking forward to seeing us (Lab4) at Dance Island; my reply was that I didn't know anything about it and would actually be in Holland that night anyway... After a couple of calls the following week, I found out that Lab4 had been advertised to HEADLINE the Tidy stage at Colours Fest in Glasgow and also the Tidy stage at Dance Island with no prior discussion with us for either. These events were booked by Tidy.
To cut a long story short, we were convinced (by Tidy) that Colours would be a great event and that we would headlined and our stage requirements looked after and after very lengthy discussions I was convinced (by Dance Island / Big) that I would be flown back from Holland to the UK to be on stage at 3am for a Lab4 set.
To do this evolved me having to play for only 30 mins at Ground Zero and at 11.45pm (instead of 2-3am) and as plans got moved around and changed through the couple of weeks leading up to Dance Island (which airport we would be flown into etc.) , Lab4 playing from 5 - 6am at Dance Island which is a set time that we would never have agreed to. I am not going to get into the troubles that we encountered with regards to Colours Fest, suffice to say that just the day before the event we found out that the Tidy 'Arena' was a 600 capacity tent and that there was no stage what so ever for us to play from - hence Lez and I having to try to pull together a DJ set last minute. I would like to add that there is nothing wrong with 600 capacity arenas... if you only have a cd wallet to fit on the 'stage' with you...
Private jets and gigs in 2 countries on the same night all sounds very glamorous, but in fact it's just an exhausting compromise across the board and is something that I personally something will not be convinced to do again.
The reason for this statement is firstly as an apology to the people in Holland who were gutted to hear that I was only playing 30 mins and so early AND to the Lab4 fans in the UK who didn't find out) that we weren't playing until the last hour of a 15 hour festival until the day of the event (we also didn't know until two days before and were told NOT to make the time tables public!!! - we did).
While we have done this before with Lab4 (Holland + UK in one night) each time it has been due to a mistake by one of the promoters involved (as opposed to us greedily taking two gigs) who has jumped the gun with their line ups and then left chartering private jets just to save face rather than just putting out an honest statement as to what has happened. It will not be happening again. We have realised that it actually never avoids disappointment at either gig - too early at one end, too late at the other.
After an amazing return to the scene, 2009 almost saw the end of Lab4 again due to the ridiculous amount of work caused for us as well as our time and energy wasted by people fucking up the most basic of arrangements and not fulfilling the most basic requirements or contractual agreements. You will be please to hear that instead of this we have taken on an agent / production manager to insure such 'fuck ups' are minimalised at least and hopefully totally avoided.
Again, my apologies to everyone disappointed by the events of the past weekend in Holland or the UK and thanks to Lez (Lab4) and Dano (Ground Zero), Elise and Sue for the 'on the ground' support at either end.
(This statement is from A+D+A+M Lab4)
The Return of LAB4!
Well... what a welcome back! While there were no plans to ever return to the stage as Lab4 prior to our talks with Tidy in December 2008... the whole short journey from the initial request to Lez and I being on stage together again after more than two years was an effortless pleasure. We went into the studio together for the first time in 3 years at the beginning of February to work on our remix of The Homecoming Anthem for Tidy and instantly slipped into Lab4 mode again... 80% f***ing around, having a laugh and drinking way to much coffee (I know, hardcore aren't we!) and 20% intensive busts of synth punishment and beat mangling before settling down to an evening of drinking and watching re-runs of Bottom!
Due to all the bad weather earlier in the year as well as other work commitments, most of the production planning and set preparation was done via email followed by the week leading up to the 7th spent in the studio finalizing all the programming and testing out our as yet untested new live rig. We arrived at Magna at 3pm on Saturday just in time to watch all the piros and fire being tested and the Lab4 'Death Star' being delivered... This was an unexpectedly emotional moment, I had never imagined I would be happy to see the flight case full of rusting chrome 'scaffolding' that I had constructed and deconstructed almost every Friday and Saturday night for the best part of 12 years that had also travelled to Holland, Japan and Canada with us... but I was!
I would like to thank Garbo, Sarah and Sam at Tidy for not giving up in twisting our arms in December and then for giving us such an opportunity to enjoy Lab4 in it's full glory again and also for being totally on the case with everything on the day. Also to Mr Simon Barrington and his crew for the usual 1st class production and technical support.
Here are a few of the comments so far:
"Lab - 4, i've got nothing more to say other than "WOW" back to the best from these guys, the only question i ask myself is why they ever
parted company in the first place, the hard dance scene has missed them and they showed everyone last night why!!"
"UNBELIEVABLE----BEST NITE SINCE WEEKENDER 15!!! LAB 4 TORE THE PLACE TA PIECES, BEST SET IN MONTHS!!!"
"Tidy, Magna, The Homecoming... the loudest sound system I've heard in years and still it was drowned by the roar of the crowd as Lab4 returned to remind us all why they were
and it would seem again are the Kings of live hard dance music... more, more, more!"
"Lab4 broke me! It was like being hit in the face with an atomic missile. Though I was at the front and got quite an earful.
I don't think they have made a soundsystem loud enough for them yet."
"Lab4 did it for me, i couldnt even breathe when they came on!!"
"Count me in, and get Lab4 headlinin again, even better - with proteus :-D"
0/12/08
A+D+A+M lab4 & DJ-X lab4 at The Fridge, Brixton, London New Years Day.....
So... for those of you who can't get to Portsmouth on NYE... those of you who need to carry on partying through the shock of the start of a New Year and just in case DJ-X and I still haven't settled our differences the night before... Gggrrrrr!!!! We have been offered the opportunity of staging 'Round 2' at the newly re-opened FRIDGE in Brixton (London) Back in the loving control of the original owners who are intent on bringing this beautiful venue back to it's former glory... Anyone who witnessed Escape from Samsara in the late 90's with Lab4 knows what I am talking about...
The venue has been cleaned and painted and will be having a beautiful big sound system bought in for this event.
For all the details -
http://www.dontstayin.com/uk/london/the-fridge/2009/jan/01/event-199361
As well as me playing a live set, DJ-X lab4 will be DJing and dropping tracks from his forth coming solo album as well as a selection of your Lab4 favorites.
Also - Daniel Billy Bunter - www.myspace.com/djbillydanielbunter
DiabloTraxx LIVE! - www.iluvDT.com
SPECIAL OFFERS ADDED TO THE ONLINE STORE!
LAB4 CONFIRMED FOR TIDY !!! MAGNA 07.03.09... more dteails to come!
A+D+A+M lab4 LIVCE! at HHA8 CD release date 11/12/08 delivered for Christmas.
5th Oct 2008
Pre-orders now being taken for 'Psychopath' 12" Vinyl. This is strctly limited to 250 individually numbered and signed copies and includes a filthy remix by PROTEUS!
5th Sept 2008
A+D+A+M lab4 voted number 28 in top 50 international djs in Japans LOUD magazine!
4th Sept 2008
A+D+A+M lab4 Sept. top 10 on Trackitdown - http://www.trackitdown.net/genre/hard_dance/track/692213.html
1st Sept 2008
Frantic 11 released on Nukleuz. Double CD mixed by Anne Savage, Adam Lab4, Frisky, Proteus, Cally Gage, Pickup & Rise. 36 tracks including exclusive A+D+A+M lab4 'Pure Disco Shit and LT1,REM 'n' Riggsy remix of LAB$'s Requiem. To get you copy with a 20% discount go to http://www.nukleuz.com/ ( http://nukleuz.com/shop/product.asp?SType=R&AID=400 ) and enter promotional code FRANTICDJS. Also available from the following links:
HMV: http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=851393
Play: http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/6316595/-/Product.html?searchstring=frantic+11&searchsource=0
iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=287853273&s=143444
2nd June 2008
LAB4 Albums available...
Devilution 1 , 2 & 3, Neurocide, Laboratory and Laboratory 04.04.04 are now available from the online store on this site. There is limited stock and all these CD are now technically deleted so when they are gone... they are gone...
28th May 2008
For those of you with a broader taste in music, I have recently been working hard on my other main project - The Horizontal Instrument having found myself an amazing guitarist to work with. Paul has transformed my songs with his guitar playing which so far has all been done without us being in the same room! Go to www.myspace.com/thehorizontalinstrument if you fancy a listen - it's probably not what you'll expect to hear...
19th May 2008
Due to having the request for a license turned down for a tune for a mix cd that I am working on, I decided that rather than start ploughing through possible tunes to use instead, I would just write a new one. I headed into the studio to set about writing a new club track for the first time since I finished 'Drink Me' in January and have knocked out a nice twisted piece of dance floor mayhem entitled 'Pure Disco Shit' which will get it's first test drive on a dance floor at Overload at the Fort in Portsmouth on Sunday 25th May. Having got back into dance tune writing mode again I am going to get stuck into the follow up to 'Drink Me' over the next few months. I found it very inspiring to write the whole of the last album in a totally new location so I am going to temporarely re-locate my studio to Chalon sur Saone near Lyon in France having recently spent a very inspiring week there and been offered a beautiful studio location... The album will be released some time at the begining of 2009 following an A+D+A+M lab4 LIVE album to be recorded sometime over the next 6 months and released around Novemeber 2008.
28th April 2008
Well I have to say that my last 3 gigs have really given me hope that there is still a healthy underground hard dance scene out there just waiting to re-establish it's self again. There is no doubt that the Harder end of the clubs scene has had a pretty hard time over the last couple of years compared to the previous 10 or so. The same thing happens with any scene that grows massively over a relatively short period of time but pretty much always any given scene will come back after a ruff patch but a little refined and stabilized…
So over the weekend of the 11th and 12th of April I started off at Evolve at a club called Digital in Newcastle. As I walked in to start setting up and sound checking I immediately noticed two colossal stacks of Funktion 1 speakers next to the stage I was to play on, as I turned around grinning with excitement what should I see at the other end of the room but two more stacks of the same !!!
Digital reminded me of Clubs like Club UK in Wandsorth which sadly was closed down in 1997 and Ministry of Sound in it's earlier days.. Evolve also had a real old school underground feel to it (though it is a very cool and modern venue) - it was loud, dark and full to the brim with clubbers letting their troubles remain in the previous week while they all stomped the night away.
From there I had 4 hours sleep in Newcastle before getting in my Van to head for The Coach in Banbridge which is 30 minutes south of Belfast, Northern Ireland. What with driving to Scotland, getting a ferry , driving to the venue to set up and sound check , by the time I got to my hotel I had time to eat while getting ready before heading back to the club for an 11pm set, it was already all becoming a bit of a blur! As the club filled up the atmosphere was amazing from the start with the resident DJ playing an excellent gradual warm starting around 135 bpm and gradually building up over a couple of hours towards the 150 bpm mark. I have to say I was totally blown away with the welcome back that I got from a town that I have only ever played in once before about 3 years ago! At one point after my set I though I was going to get limbs pulled off for people wanted to say hello! So thanks to anyone who was there - it was an awesome night! And for anyone who fancies a trip to Ireland be sure to head down to The Coach in Bangridge - without a doubt one of the friendliest and up for it crowds I've played to!
Then this weekend just passed (26th April) I returned to what for many years was a regular favourite for Lab4 and actually where we played our last ever set - Storm in Coalville. The night was actually Goodgreef v's Storm and it was so good to back! I have to say that even though at times we've had various technical and sound issues at Storm , and actually up until 20.59pm I was also suffering some technical problems! - we never left Storm feeling anything other than on a high and this was no exception.
This weekend coming (2nd May) I am also returning to what was a Lab4 regular and favourite, Hard South at The Honey Club in Brighton which will also I'm sure keep that renewed excitement for the Hard Dance scene replenished!
Love + Respect
A+D+A+M lab4 xx
