Platinum Paradise by Dream Hack

The year is 1994, the date is February 16th and I’ve just walked into the lower refectory of Sheffield University. Usually, by day, this room is the uni’s canteen but tonight it has been transformed into a magnificent, underground rave space. There’s cammo netting, dayglo banners and backdrops hanging everywhere and a few hundred people, many with dreads, already losing themselves on the floor. The event was called Megadog and on the bill that night Underworld and Drum Club were playing live, Darren Emerson and the Megadog crew DJing. I'd never experienced anything like it, it felt like I'd just walked into a parallel universe. Up until that point live music had always been about Metal, Thrash and Punk Rock, this was the first time I'd been to an electronic music event and it was a revelation. I was hooked.

Throughout the mid 90s I went to as many Megadog events as I could, I couldn't get enough of them. The line-ups were always eclectic, from the alien trance of Eat Static to the glitchy electronica of Autechre, DJs like CJ Bolland and Andrew Weatherall, I saw and heard some awesome live acts and DJs. It was the ultimate schooling in underground electronic music.

This Dream Hack project is like a manifestation of those experiences, massively influenced by the eclecticism of that Megadog ethos, and the artists who played at those events. Drawing from a wide spectrum of styles and sounds, it's a melting pot of influences, old and new, and the 'Platinum Paradise' ep throws it all into the mix... Techno, Breakbeat, Progressive and Chilled House. Machine rhythms and mechanical grooves. There's rolling basslines, glitchy synths, euphoric pads, hypnotic arps and leftfield FX. There's the infamous Roland vocoder and even a nod to Talking Heads in the title track. This project is just about having fun combining all these different influences and vibes, just mixing it up and creating electronic music that sounds familiar but different at the same time.

'Platinum Paradise' is the second release from the Dream Hack project, following on from last year's 'White Heat / Acid City'.

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