Page 60 - Zone Magazine Issue 006

ade report 2015 part 3 - niall redmond
Weds
Early enough start this morning. Flight isn’t until 11.30 but rather than drive up and park I got a lift to the fire station where I work. As luck has it one of the off going lads is going close to the airport so I get lift with him. Haven’t even left Dublin and the “bumping into people” starts with RTE Pulse’s Adam Fogarty being the first, he happens to be on the same flight, also heading to ADE for a few days.
I happen to have a lot of branded Deeptown Music/Digital Groove shirts with me which we are going to use as promo at the conference and some young lads from the North ask me “am I going to ADE” in the security check line. It’s their first time and I tell them they are in for a treat. In fact it seems like the flight is full of “youths” heading to the conference, which shows you that in it’s 20 years it has grown and grown to become a destination for industry and revellers alike.
Bar the chungfellas being admonished for drinking their own booze on board the flight is uneventful. Adam and I bump into Ultra Festival’s Shane Mulvihill as we buy our ticket for the train from the airport and we all make our way like Irish pilgrims into Amsterdam Centraal.
Stepping out of the train the weather is absolutely abysmal, Adam says it “feels like Christmas” and it really did. Around 4 degrees and spitting cold rain, almost sleet. A polar opposite to what we had last year as we stood around in T Shirts.
I bid farewell to the boys and walk the twenty mins stroll the hotel in the inclement weather. This is my third visit to ADE and I felt last year I got a good enough grip on the city to be able to find my way around without resorting to google maps. It’s the same hotel as last year and although its small it’s right behind the Felix
Meritis which is one of the central areas of the ADE conference, plus its cheap as they come so its win win. I get their eventually and am relieved to see their old German Shepard dog from last year is still hanging out in the lobby. With 8 dogs at home, it’s a comfort to see a pooch in my hotel.
Luggage finally lugged up 4 flights of the steepest stairs in the entire universe (no lift in this hotel) I bundle myself out into the elements to get firstly my Press Pass and secondly my hire bike. This year like every year I will be taking my mic and recorder and chatting with however I meet over the next few days. The press pass gives me access all areas and the bike means I can get around in a hurry to both events and to meet interviewees.
It really is coming down heavy so I take refuge in “Pancakes” on Berenstraat round the corner from my hotel, not only to gorge myself on their delicious treats but to make a hit list of who I want to interview. I try and keep it to producers and DJs we feature on the Digital Groove show as that will be of interest to our listeners. But as I said ADE is an event where you can bump into almost anyone.
Danny Coleman the head honcho at the label I am A & R for ( Deeptown Music) meets me for some pancakes, the fact that from tomorrow this place will have a queue around the block and a wait time of around 45 mins for a table is even more reason for us to indulge. After a shameful gluttonous pig out we make out way to our first event which is the Traxsource meet and greet for labels at the Andaz Hotel. It was a nice way to ease ourselves into a few hectic days to be honest. Brian Tappert was there full of enthusiasm and delighted to see everyone.
We grab a few free beers and canopies and mingle, bumping into Husky, AM2PM, Jamie Lewis and many of our peers. Can’t stay to
long as I have a dinner party with my good friend Oded Nir who lives here in Amsterdam and runs Suntree Records. He’s booked us into a Vegetarian restaurant, which will be an adventure for me I think. Joining us at the Hummus House is vocalist Patrick Chappell, my Swiss brothers DJ Mimmo & Steven Stone and Kajan Chow from Connect Events.
The food is mental! Proper veggie arrangements laid on for us. I tucked in and was surprisingly full quite quickly. Some awesome stories from Oded and Kajan about touring China, “you star!” will stick in my head for a long time! It’s good fun but I got to run as I’m DJing with the Housenation Radio crew from Italy at No. 129 club early at 22.30. The weather was too bad to take the bike so I hotfooted it down to the venue.
It’s a real honour to play on this bill alongside heroes of mine Victor Simonelli and Kenny Carpenter and an array of other great names from Darryl D’ Bonneau to Gudio P. The whole thing is broadcast online too which is cool. Really enjoyed my set, some great soulful vibes and was great to hang out with the likes of Victor and Tracy Hamlin who sang live at the party. It’s only Wednesday and already the pressure is on regarding catching up and attending friends events (which sometimes are happening simultaneously! ) so we head off to Luminaa on the Leidseplein to catch Mark Di Meo from Italy, Richard Earnshaw has just arrived from the UK with Bamo (together they are Spiritchaser) and Dave Doyle is there too. We have a few high quality shorts with Pasha No Frost from Moscow (we are on our hols after all!) and come 3am its time for a bedtime snack at Wok To Walk, who make some awesome noodle dishes to order. Bed then and try and get some interviews tomorrow for the radio.
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