Geoff Oakes from influential UK club brand Renaissance gives ITM the low down on the club, the story behind James Zabiela, the upcoming tour and CD release, and what to look out for in the future, “It been 18 months since we’ve been to Oz, it’s just been so busy, but right now it feels like the right time to tour”
The unique sounds of Renaissance, one of the world’s most respected club brands, is returning to the Australian shores for a May-June tour. Renaissance is well known for their cutting edge, high quality UK sounds and their high profile DJs such as John Digweed and Sasha. They have been involved with guests such as Paul Oakenfold, Deep Dish, Seb Fontaine, Timo Maas and Dave Seaman as well as Sander Klienberg, Mark Pichotti and Rui Di Silva just to name a few!
Renaissance is concerned with touring to introduce to the world the finest tunes from the UK. This time they’re introducing Australia to James Zabiela, the 23 year old winner of Muzik’s Bedroom Bedlam competition, who kicked off the Renaissance tour at Traffic in Adelaide on May 31st. He’s fairly new to the DJ circuit, but is renowned for his twisted basslines and a diverse range of sounds. His music is his own category – he incorporates breaks with a blend of techno, using element of scratching to sweeten the deal, “The tour is concentrating on the smaller venues, because I feel you can work on a more personal level, the tour is about promoting James and introducing him, it’s about promotion of DJs and sampling a diverse range of music.”
Along with James this tour there are a variety of other acts, such as Mark Rae, Infusion, Hernan Cattenaeo and Doc Scott, all scheduled to play at the various Renainssance parties around the country. When asked the million dollar question ‘What exactly is the Renaissance sound?’, Geoff replied “Well… Where do I start… It’s not a pigeon hole… The Renaissance sound is influenced by John Digweed and Sasha they were the pioneers of the sound. The Renaissance sound is really not specific, it can range from progressive to funky house, tribal, bass, it is very diverse.”
Renaissance is also releasing another breathtaking CD, The Sound of Renaissance Volume 2. It’s a double CD compilation, mixed by Marcus James. Geoff describes it as giving “a new concept about the brand, a higher profile with a new and added twist”. Disk one incorporates house and funkier elements of Renaissance, finishing off in deeper house. It features Polkat- Dancing Queen which is doing big things in the UK! Disk two features “Little fluffy cloud”, Querky – Jesus of devil the freeloaders remix. This seems to just ooze class and quality, and for Renaissance this seems a natural choice. The new CD release it destined for success, with Renaissance’s series “The Mix Collection” going gold within 6 weeks, selling over 150,000 copies!
In 1994 Renaissance ventured out of their UK venue and exposed to the world the diversity of their music. Since then they have turned the world for seven years, visiting many major locations including Asia, the Far East, America, Russia, China, Japan, South Africa, Argentina, Switzerland, and of course Australia. Oakes also revealed that Renaissance will be returning to Australia in the not too distant future, “We will be returning to Oz in October for a bigger tour”.
In the past Renaissance have concentrated on Ibiza, having now run seven seasons there. They’ve experienced four summers at Pacha with Renaissance Live. Teaming up with Mean Fiddler, one of the world’s largest promotion teams, this event saw an array of high profile DJs and live acts, including Moloko, Moby, Leftfield, Kylie, Hybird, Deep Dish, Boy George, Dave Seaman, Carl Cox, Pete Tong, Sneak, Josh Wink, Arman Van Helden. Renaissance are returning to Pacha for two exclusives on the 1st August and the 5th September, featuring massive names such as Pete Tong and Steve Lawler.
Renaissance are reassessing their direction but their biggest focus is on “Tours, perfecting music and putting on great parties!” and that I suppose it their aim at the present time! Renaissance are also putting in a lot of planning into the opening of a new venue in the UK at the end of this year. According to Geoff the UK DJs seem to like the Australian crowds because they are similar to the UK.
Remaining Renaissance Australian tour dates:
Fri 6th June Friction, Canberra (James Zabiela)
Sat 7th June Arthouse, Sydney (James Zabiela)
Sun 8th June Melbourne Park (James Zabiela, Hernan Cattaneo)
