Hailing from the Southwest of England Nick has Immersed himself into many areas of underground dance music now for over 20 years; not only running his successful trance brand Hindsight which celebrates 19 years in the game this November but working in many areas of the industry spectrum including DMCWORLD music reviewer, artist management, music producer/engineer, event / tours management.
Nick can be found DJ'ing regularly up & down the country at some of the UK's most respected clubs, events and parties, with previous and multiple appearances for The Gallery @ Ministry Of Sound, Godskitchen, Trance Sanctuary, Clockwork Orange, Goodgreef, Bionic, Volksfest, Hindsight, Uprising and many more. 2013 / 2014 also saw successful & repeat tours of Asia & Australia.
No stranger to Ibiza, over the last decade Nick has graced residencies and main room appearances for the likes of Judgement Sundays @ Eden / Es Paradis, Cream @ Amnesia, Sunk @ Privilege, Connect Ibiza, The Zoo and back in 2011 also featured on the lineup at Carl Cox's closing party @ Space not only demonstrating his enviable versatility as a DJ but musical maturity as he approaches the milestone of 37 years of age.
With a wealth of releases on labels such as Discoverm FENology, HeavensGate, Aria Knights, Abora, Critical Uprising, Music Matters, Joyride, Phoenix, Dataless, Tidy & more, Nick has picked up the approval by many industry peers such as Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Aly & Fila, Markus Schulz, Judge Jules, Dave Pearce, Kutski, Jordan Suckley, Craig Connelly, James Dymond, Indecent Noise, not only with regular club plays but Radio 1 support and mainstream compilation inclusions through the years.
During the weekdays Nick runs Hard Trance Europe (HTE), a label and platform for the very best in European Hard Trance music. With the approval and backing of Black Hole in Holland, and a successful global CD compilation already under the hood, watch this space as HTE is set to expand in 2019 for Nick and the exciting roster of artists attached.
Nick can be found DJ'ing regularly up & down the country at some of the UK's most respected clubs, events and parties, with previous and multiple appearances for The Gallery @ Ministry Of Sound, Godskitchen, Trance Sanctuary, Clockwork Orange, Goodgreef, Bionic, Volksfest, Hindsight, Uprising and many more. 2013 / 2014 also saw successful & repeat tours of Asia & Australia.
No stranger to Ibiza, over the last decade Nick has graced residencies and main room appearances for the likes of Judgement Sundays @ Eden / Es Paradis, Cream @ Amnesia, Sunk @ Privilege, Connect Ibiza, The Zoo and back in 2011 also featured on the lineup at Carl Cox's closing party @ Space not only demonstrating his enviable versatility as a DJ but musical maturity as he approaches the milestone of 37 years of age.
With a wealth of releases on labels such as Discoverm FENology, HeavensGate, Aria Knights, Abora, Critical Uprising, Music Matters, Joyride, Phoenix, Dataless, Tidy & more, Nick has picked up the approval by many industry peers such as Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Aly & Fila, Markus Schulz, Judge Jules, Dave Pearce, Kutski, Jordan Suckley, Craig Connelly, James Dymond, Indecent Noise, not only with regular club plays but Radio 1 support and mainstream compilation inclusions through the years.
During the weekdays Nick runs Hard Trance Europe (HTE), a label and platform for the very best in European Hard Trance music. With the approval and backing of Black Hole in Holland, and a successful global CD compilation already under the hood, watch this space as HTE is set to expand in 2019 for Nick and the exciting roster of artists attached.
Enjoy the Best of 2018 Interview with Nick Coles aka DJ Nick The Kid
Dimitris: Can you mention your biggest music career achievements in 2018?
Nick Coles: Playing the closing set at The Gallery, Ministry Of Sound for Positiva Records 25th Anniversary Party! Alongside Ferry, Lange and Motorcycle PA. Also, Black Hole adding my label Hard Trance Europe (HTE) onto their main site as a fully endorsed label and mixing a Double CD for them called Hard Trance Europe (alongside Space Raven). Two great moments this year!
Dimitris: Can you rate 2018 for you as a year with 1 being very bad until 10 that is perfect year!
Nick Coles: 9 excellent year, No complaints at all, always room for improvement! It's never a perfect year in this business, but I'm happy with the progress I've made in the studio this year, my label HTE is going from strength to strength and also my events Hindsight, which have sold out on every event this year! Our 19th Birthday next weekend is on course to do the same! Massive thanks to everyone involved and our fans for supporting us all these years!
1) Best 3 Tracks from other artists in 2018, please give us a short comment for each track:
Nick Coles: I'm going to answer all these questions from a Hard Trance perspective to make it easier.
and in no particular order.
and in no particular order.
Scot Project - Don't Go on Outburst
Andrea Montorsi - 2Night on HTE Recordings
Alex Di Stefano - My Shadow on ITWT , .
2) Your 3 Best of 2018 personal productions:
Lab4 & Nick The Kid - Stranger Things on HTE Recordings
Nick The Kid & Louk - Dreams (Wavetraxx Remix) on HTE Recordings
Marc Et Claude - La (Nick The Kid Remix) [Free Download]
3) Best Artist in 2018(DJ & producer):
Nick Coles: Scot Project, he always bosses it on every level! Great to see him signing to Music First Agency this year, hopefully more talented Harder Trance acts will have the doors to the larger stages opened in 2019.
4) Best Remix in 2018, please explain why you liked it so much:
Nick Coles: Nicholson's remix of Quench-Dreams, a really unique and banging take on the original, the drop is seriously ballsy!
5) Best Remix that you have produced in 2018, please tell us why you believe is your best work?
Nick Coles: I have just completed a remix for the awesome K90, my first since Deliverance in 2009, the track got Radio 1 support and reviewed in DJ Mag and also Mixmag, So I'm pretty excited about this new one, it's my best work to date, I can't say what it is yet though unfortunately. More news very soon!
6) Best Remixer for 2018:
Nick Coles: Tough one, again Nicholson seems to have spent a lot of time this year in the remix field, not sure if he's particularly the best - but certainly made his mark in 2018 with numerous super-cool (and official) updates on classics!
Listen: S.H.O.K.K. & Costa Pantazis - Ghost In The Machine (Nicholson Remix Edit)
7) Best New Talent in 2018 (DJ or producer):
Nick Coles: Bournemouth promoter Jake Ayres has impressed me this year with his sheer enthusiasm for the scene as a whole! Also Mark EG's new protege` Enerjay is making great waves in Hard Trance right now!
8) Best electronic music album in 2018? Please explain your decision why you think is the best album?(b) Do you believe that albums are still relevant or you prefer singles:
Nick Coles: Albums will always be relevant, we just need more of them in Hard Trance! Guyver's 'Alien On Earth' impressed me recently, a crowd-funded project that was finished to a very high standard.
Best electronic music compilation in 2018, please explain what exactly you liked about this compilation(the elements you appreciate):
Nick Coles: I am going to be extremely biased and self serving here lol and say our Hard Trance Europe compilation, again there's not really been that many Harder Trance compilations released and this was crammed full of upfront music from the best artists for the genre! Outside of HT, Loving the new Prodigy album, Yotto's new album was great listening and also Tiburon's 2018 Ibiza chill comp has been on repeat in my car all summer, it's class!
10) Best artwork/cover for a single/ album or compilation released in 2018, please justify your opinion why this and not another one:
Nick Coles: Punx Soundcheck's latest release 'House Arrest' - hand drawn by Boy George. Not many labels can compete with that! The tracks are quality too, if you like House music. Read Nick review here
11) Best lyrics in an electronic music track in 2018 (it can be your production or from other artists) Please explain why you like these lyrics so much!
Nick Coles: Definitely Au/Ra and CamelPhat - Panic Room, these guys seem to have a knack with unique vocals that appeal to the dance-floor masses. No-one thought they would top Cola last year, but they did!' Vocal of the year IMO.
12) Best vocalist/singer featured on electronic music track in 2018, please tell why you appreciate this singer/vocalist and why:
Nick Coles: Rowetta from the Happy Mondays is having a great run of things, her track 'BE' with Greco has been on heavy rotation worldwide this year, and there is talk of collaborations with Todd Terry and Roger Sanchez in the pipeline. No-one sounds like Rowetta, powerful and distinct!
13) Best electronic music label for 2018, please justify why you choose this label and what was so special in 2018 about it:
Nick Coles: Just too many quality labels to single out one! I'm going to say Black Hole Group as a whole, the sheer amount of quality music and labels on the platform is staggering. Also a fan of the big guns Anjuna, Toolroom, Defected, Suara, ZeroThree, Armada, Hot Creations, Drumcode- I just love music from all walks of life! How long you got? hahah
14) Best electronic music video for 2018, please explain why you like this video so much:
Nick Coles: No idea on this, sorry!
15) Best online social media for 2018 and why you believe is the best particularly in 2018?:
Nick Coles: Sven Gudvunson always cracks me up with his facebook page! None of us could be without good old Wunderground, right?
16) Best Twitter/Facebook/Instagram message you may have received about your music or your DJ performance in 2018:
Nick Coles: Oh God, lets just go with one from this week - UK Hard Trance DJ Jake Nicholl's posted this on his wall a few days ago which made me smile. 'So good, well proud of Nick at HTE for all his hard work paying off. You have some roster there now mate!'
17) Best music composition software in 2018, please explain why you appreciate it so much:
Nick Coles: Logic X - the latest version is a beast! Wish I'd moved across years ago.
18) Best Club event or Festival indifferent if you have performed there or not, please explain the reasons that influenced your choice of the event & festival:
Nick Coles: Love Summer Festival, Plymouth this summer, all my SW mates were there, It's a real community event, wicked vibes and my set in The Dave tent was probably my fav gig of the year! The atmosphere and energy was electric!
19) Your Best personal DJ Gig for 2018 (if you are active as DJ) and why you believe is the finest:
Nick Coles: As well as the above, Cirque De la Nuit boat party was incredible this summer, always love playing for them guys in the Ibiza sun! Our Hindsight event back at our original home of St George's hall, Exeter in April was pretty special too.
20) Best DJ set from other fellow DJ in 2018 and why you believe his/her set was so fantastic?:
Nick Coles: Seeing Solardo do a surprise back to back with CamelPhat at Eric Prydz, Hi this summer was pretty intense, a great example of DJ's not taking themselves too seriously, still being tight but also having max-fun in the process. Also PVD's set at the closing of Shine Ibiza his summer was just incredible, and always great to see Ryan Platt's DJ on the Cirque De La Nuit Boat Party, Ibiza, he knows that crowd so well and always has a packed boat eating out the palm of his hand!
22)(a) Best radio show/podcast or Vlog(video blog) in 2018, please explain why you think this is the best radio show or vlog?:
Nick Coles: Ibiza Club News are putting together a great podcast, for a regular visitor to Ibiza it's well worth checking out on I-tunes!
(b)Do you have a radio show or vlog? Have you produced any YouTube tutorials for fellow artists to learn from you? If yes please tell us here the details and choose the best episode from your radio show/vlog/YouTube tutorial for 2018.
Nick Coles: Not just yet ;-)
23) Best Radio station in 2018:
Nick Coles: Ibiza Sonica Radio, it keeps me entertained while I am in Ibiza and is a great source of new House music. (Along with Shazam). Also for the Harder Trance sounds - there are so many great shows on SafeHouse radio.
24) Best music related website that you visit frequently:
Nick Coles: At the minute plugin-boutique, some amazing deals and plugins for as little as a quid! I also saved £100 buying Nectar 3 from the site. (£100 more from Izotope site). Just one example.
25) Best production or DJ equipment (a)software & (b) hardware) in 2018 particularly if they were released in 2018:
Nick Coles: Latest version of Logic X, Nectar 3 for vocals is killer, Loving also LoopMasters - Bass Master Plugin - I use it in every track for extra bottom end and sub.
26) Best new sound or sample that has been introduced in any electronic music track in 2018 and you wish to have invented it or you may even have introduced it for the first time?
Nick Coles: All of them hahahah
27) Best technical tips that you learnt in 2018 in relation to your DJing or music productions:
Nick Coles: Spend more time in a master project getting drops sounding big with EQ, Volume fades and extra master FX, makes so much difference to any track. Surprising how many producers don't do this. Also, when bass notes drop a few semi tones you can lose power in the mix on certain notes - render them individually and normalise each audio part for each note. sounds obvious and simple but wasn't something I was doing, so maybe it can help your readers too! So much more, I've learnt so much this year!
28) Best piece of advice you got in relation to your career in 2018 and has helped you to progress even further:
Nick Coles: Definitely my good friend Louk telling me to go for it and start engineering tracks for other people. I seriously didn't have the confidence before but its the best thing I have ever done. Not only is it so rewarding helping others create their own tracks from ideas and helping get them get signed, but my productions have also benefited massively in the process, I'm learning loads all the time. Its Win, Win, Win! I wish I'd done it years ago.
Dimitris: Can you mention briefly your plans for your future releases, tracks, albums, collaborations, DJ gigs for 2019!
Nick Coles: Working on a new HTE - Hard Trance Europe compilation for 2019 with Black Hole and some amazing special guests! Celebrating 20 years of Hindsight with some special big events at home and abroad, lots of collaborations coming up which I can't say about just yet. Same with Gigs - keep an eye on my socials.
Dimitris: In 2018 there was a big movement for revival of classic tracks and retro events have boomed with music policy of solely classic tracks. What is your opinion about events or stages only with classics and can you choose for us your absolute 3 favourite classics?
Nick Coles: There will always be a place for classic events and nostalgia driven parties. Clockwork Orange is a fantastic example of how powerful the music was from the 90s, they've created an absolute monster (yet again years later) that is not only catering for the 90's crowd but switching the kids on at the same time! It's amazing to see and from the Promoter's mouth's it's bigger and better than it ever was. Peach is also killing it with their classic trance parties in London. I see these kind of events as a truly great thing indeed. What's not to like? There will always be enough events that cater for cutting edge sounds. If we are going right back in time, here are three tunes that made a big impression on me in the 90s:
Nick Coles: There will always be a place for classic events and nostalgia driven parties. Clockwork Orange is a fantastic example of how powerful the music was from the 90s, they've created an absolute monster (yet again years later) that is not only catering for the 90's crowd but switching the kids on at the same time! It's amazing to see and from the Promoter's mouth's it's bigger and better than it ever was. Peach is also killing it with their classic trance parties in London. I see these kind of events as a truly great thing indeed. What's not to like? There will always be enough events that cater for cutting edge sounds. If we are going right back in time, here are three tunes that made a big impression on me in the 90s:
1-Liquid - Sweet Harmony
3-Kariya - Let Me Love You For Tonight
Dimitris: Finally, what is your biggest wish for 2019 and give us your wishes for our readers?
Nick Coles: Just for my family to be healthy and happy, health and happiness to all!
Thanks to Nick for finding the precious time to talk to us at length and giving us a very insightful look at his 2018. An interesting read indeed..
Thanks to Nick for finding the precious time to talk to us at length and giving us a very insightful look at his 2018. An interesting read indeed..
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