Unless you’ve been living in a hole for the last few years you would have surely heard of Gatecrasher, the club brand that has taken the world by storm. And of course synonymous with Gatecrasher is the name Scott Bond; superstar DJ, producer and one of the key residents of this super club. At only 27 years of age, Scott has well and truly established himself as one of the most prominent and successful DJs in the global dance scene, producing his own style of hard trance under the moniker Q:dos, holding residencies with Gatecrasher and Republica, and collecting frequent flyer points all over the world from Israel to Ibiza. What a busy bee he must be and how does he do it you might wonder? ITM’s palu investigates.

Back in 1989, before crasher kids and super clubs, Scott Bond’s DJing career was inaugurated at The Hummingbird club in Birmingham. The crowds were unresponsive, but Scott persevered and eventually his skills and remarkable talent were noticed when C.R.E.A.M took this emerging DJ under their wing and gave him a residency at their infamous “rave” parties. Not too long after, Scott met up with current co-promoter Simon Baine, and together they set up their own club night; “Absolutely Ridiculous” and eventually his own record label, “Absolutely Ridiculous recordings”. Scott Bond was quickly becoming a household name. However it is always interesting to reflect back and wonder how a superstar DJ got started. Did Scott Bond just wake up one morning and decide that today he was going to spin records for the rest of his life? Are there any quirky stories that led to his current fame and fortune? Here’s Scott Bond’s story. “Unfortunately there are no quirky stories really. When I was a kid, I was just going out to raves and dance parties in England on weekends, and during the week I would spend all my hard earned cash on records, mainly early house and techno records. But yeah, basically I blew all my wages on records. DJs didn’t get paid very much back then, but when I started DJing in Birninham, I did it primarily just to get my money back”

It’s hard to believe that Gatecrasher was once just an idea, a simple proposal between two friends. But that was exactly how it all began. In 1994, Scott Bond and Simon Raine got together and decided that they were going to put on a few parties, every now and then under the name “Gatecrasher”. Little did they know that in a few years to come, Gatecrasher would become a goliath in the world dance scene. How would one feel, being party responsible for this? Scott Bond shares his thoughts. “Its pretty good being part of a worldwide brand. We’re amazed at the success we’ve had because we never expected it to be so big! It’s quite a phenomenon really. And it’s also really taken off in Australia which is excellent.”

Alongside co-promoting one of the largest club brands in the world, Scott Bond also excels as a DJ. He describes his own sounds as being “still hard trance, but a bit more bubbly”. Also a successful producer, I asked Scott what inspires him in his production work. “Nothing really inspires me in that sense. You just sort of create a sound and expand on it.” The sound that he is referring to is trance, a sound, which many might consider a dying breed, which cannot be resurrected. Scott Bond, however, thinks otherwise. “A lot of people have been saying that lately. But I don’t think so. When I think about it, DJ Tiesto is one of the most successful DJs and our albums (Gatecrasher) are one of the biggest selling in the world, so given that, I would have to say no, I don’t really believe that trance is a dying breed. Can it be resurrected? I don’t really know… can it? (laughs)” Assuming that trance will be around for a while, I asked Scott what direction he wanted to take his music in the future, “I’ve started going back into studio, producing a lot more. I’ve been adding more sound effects in my music and taking it to a deeper direction but not deep as in a progressive way, its still very hard”

Promoting, DJing and producing; it’s hard to believe that Scott Bond has time to do anything else, however, he will be taking time out of his hectic schedule this year to tour with Gatecrasher. Having played in Australia before, I asked Scott what the main difference was between playing here and playing back home. “They’re quite similar really. Of course the main difference is they’re 10,000 miles away. But I’ve noticed that the crowd in Australia is really good and responsive. Both crowds are quite good with the music and the vibe in Australia is excellent. It’s a really active crowd down there as well.” I also enquired about his venue preference, and whether he preferred playing in intimate club settings or mammoth festivals. “Both really. The atmosphere within a club can be really good with its crystal sound system, the sweaty crowd and the personal relationship you have with them. But its always really exciting playing at huge festivals, because the crowd’s always up for it and you get such a rush.”

We all know what glamorous lives superstar DJs live, so out of curiosity, I asked Scott what the worst thing about being a superstar DJ was and he confesses, “Travelling. I have a baby daughter and I don’t’ really like to be apart from my family for too long. But yeah, definitely traveling. You kind of just want to be in one place sometimes.” Lets hope he doesn’t mind traveling to Australia as he has already built quite a large fan base here. Gatecrasher the Summer Sounds System was a huge hit last year, and in anticipation, I asked him if there was any chance of a GC SSS 2. To my delight, he answered, “Yes definitely. Although I can’t give you any dates yet.”

Scott Bond, Mario Piu, Paul Glazby (Tidy Trax) and Ingo (Tidy Trax) will all be touring with the Gatecrasher: digital experience tour. Catch them in Perth on May 3rd, Melbourne May 4th, Adelaide May 9th, Sydney May 11th and Brisbane on May 12th.