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Lisa Lashes

From humble beginings way back in 1996, to global domination in 2005 this is one lady who definitely knows how to rock the dance floor! Beginning her career with Sundissential, Lisa has progressed her way through a string of high profile residencies and regular appearances at; Escape, Base, Frantic, Fully Charged, Gatecrasher, Euphoria, Godskitchen, Golden, Goodgreef, Slinky, Hotdog, Koolwaters, Naughty But Nice, Progress, Radioactive, ROAR, Scream, Eat Your Words, Storm, Temple Theatre, Tidy and Transaction as well as starring at festivals such as Global Gathering, Homelands, Tidy Weekenders, Tidy Magna, Creamfields, Escape into the Park, Knebworth, and the Summer Sound Systems. In 2003 Lisa launched her own event, Lashed which in a short space of just two years has reached worldwide success, with clubbers flocking from all corners of the globe to her parties. This year has seen Lisa embark on a thirty plus tour date of the world, from September through to the end of the year Lisa touches down in Ireland, Norway, Bournemouth, Finland, China, Australia, New Zealand and then tackles a series of gigs all across Canada!

I'm going to keep Lisa's write up short and sweet, as to delve too deep into the history and goings on of Miss Lashes would ensure that we would be here for a very long time! So much to tell and not enough time to tell it all! So, I first saw Lisa play was I was just a nipper, at an intimate venue in Swindon at the bottom of my road! At the time she was already an immensely successful DJ and definitely the leading lady in hard dance. And now just a handful of years down the line Lisa has gained so much credibility in the industry that she has become the first female to hit within the top ten DJs in the world! Impressive and inspiring to say the very least and I cannot think of a better way to Knock her critics to the ground, and its for this very reason that I take my hat off to her! One of the first hard house compilations I bought was that of Lisa's Tidy Girls Album, of which I still spy in many peoples stereos and CD racks to this day! This was the ultimate after party essential! Having mixed a string of CDs now, Lisa has achieved the status of having mixed the highest selling hard dance in the world! I challenge again buddy jock to beat that!

Fresh from the Lashes head quarters is her brand new and ultra snazzy new website. Crisp, clean and incredibly funky, capturing the true essence of Lisa in Cyberspace. A clear cut above the rest, Lisa's website offers not only the standard information on her background, gigs, charts and so on but also Digital Downloads and Radio and of course details on her Lashed holidays! The first track featuring on Lashed Digital to be available for download will be Lisa Lashes vs. Ingo - Desire. This highly acclaimed track will be accompanied by two hefty remixes by Colin Barrett and Ingo, offering us a variety of takes on the tune from techy through to hard! Lisa's production history features some of the super-classics of hard house; Looking Good, Unbelievable, What Ya Looking At, and Dance 2 House, all of which are still being dropped in our clubs today. Over at Riot Recordings we see Lisa's newest release Temptation, ‘ It's Lashes on wax; tough and mental and only for the headstrong!' as put by Riots leading man himself, Ed Real. Produced by Lisa and engineered by Ben Keen (BK), Temptation is available in the shops now!

Q. Let's get right back to the beginning, back to your very first set. Am I right in saying it was in fact a house set? How did it go and how did you handle those pesky first time nerves?!

A. It was at Sundissentials on a boat. I was nervous obviously, but once I got behind the decks, I gained more and more confidence and enjoyed my set. And I think because of that I was offered a residency there straight away.

Q. Your first residency was with the hugely successful Sundissential, it must hold a very special place in your heart, tell us about your time with the mighty red and yellow?

A. Yes of course it holds a special place in my heart. It's what started off my career. The parties were always amazing attracting a really up for it crowd. I couldn't have found a better party to debut.

Q. You've held residencies at pretty much all of the big hard dance promotions, but which one has been your very favourite?

A. Well it has to be my night Lashed. I get to choose the venues, the djs… it represents what a perfect night out is to me. We always have an open-mind music policy with different genres in each room. We always make an effort on the production – we had fireworks once in a club!

Q. As well as your long line of fantastic residencies you've pretty much concurred the whole world so you must have some truly amazing memories, but which gig is the very best you've ever played?

A. It would have to be my biggest gig to date in South Africa in front of 30,000 in a stadium. It was absolutely amazing. I think I'm still trying to come over the fact I've played to so many people! But it was the best feeling ever.

Q. You were the original Tidy girl and you've left a huge mark for any contender to live up to, so tell us about your time with Tidy?

A. My time with Tidy was great for me. We managed to work hard together and exploit my potential very well. But then came a point where I wanted to be charge and do my own thing because I had reached a certain level where I was able to take the risk. That's when it all started with Lashed. And believe me, it wasn't so obvious at first that it would be as successful as it is today.

Q. You're now at the fore front of your own night ‘Lashed', with global recognition within only two years of it running just how did you go about putting the event into motion and did you ever dream of it being so hugely successful?

A. Must have anticipated your question there! At first, we did the party in Ibiza after years of talking about it. The party took on, so we decided to hold more in the UK and spread to other parts of the world. Everywhere we went, the clubs were full – even in places like Russia! That's what motivated us to come up with more ideas for Lashed and do albums, the world tour, Lashed Digital Downloads, the Lashed Holiday in Ibiza… I still can't quite believe how well it's done.

Q. And what does the future hold for Lashed?

A. Well nothing seems to stop us. So I might be playing on the moon next! At the moment, we're focusing on Lashed Digital Downloads which is an online label where you can get exclusive tracks on the web. The beginning of the year will see us do a Lashed Deigital Download Tour across the UK and Ireland. I've also got a Lashed album lined up beginning 2006.

Q. You've had a long love for breaks and Lashed has given you a huge audience to push this second genre too, how do you feel the breaks crowd and their reactions to you differ from hard dance?

A. People are generally surprised when they see me play a breaks set and when they hear my breaks tracks. They think Lisa Lashes can only play hard dance, but their opinion seems to quickly change… I get great feedback from people like Krafty Kuts who actually play my tracks in their sets.

Q. Jetting all over the world for gigs must be extremely exciting, but the jet leg must be a nightmare. How do you juggle the high flying life style? (and still look so glam!)

A. Rimmel my dear! And I try to get as much sleep as I can when I get the chance. I found that the last tour I did in Australia was very tiring… One flight a day in such a huge country was a bit too much!

Q. We all have cringe worthy stories to tell, so what has been your most embarrassing moments on and off stage?!

A. Falling off the stage… surely that counts as both!

Q. Who are your favourite producers?

A. BK as a hard dance producer – his tracks never fail. Ingo is also extremely talented, I love working with him. I'm also fan of the Plump Djs and Krafty Kuts.

Q. What are you all time top five hard dance and breaks tunes?

Marmion – Schonenberg (Original Marmion remix)

The prodigy – Smack my bitch up

Toni De Vit – The Dawn

And at the moment, ‘The Ride' by Move Ya & Steve Lavers and ‘Tocs' by Kan Cold vs Derb.

Q. You have a string of extremely high selling mix compilations firmly under your belt, the highest selling hard dance albums in the world! Which one is your favourite and why?

A. I'd have to say it's the last Lashed compilation I did. Because it's very different to what I've done before. It's more eclectic, it's not just hard dance but techno, trance and breaks too.

Q. Not many people get to see behind the scenes of the industry, so tell us who your thanks go to for help putting you where you are today?

A. I'd thank all the promoters all over the world to have me play in their clubs and for treating me great each time I go there. I'd thank my management – everyone at Ornadel Management, in particular Roman Trystram.

Q. Standing as the undisputed Queen of Hard Dance, what does the future hold for Lisa Lashes? What's next?

A. Keep on spreading Lashed to even more places we haven't been to. Coming up with more exciting ideas for it. Playing consistently both my hard and breaks sets.

Q. What would you like to be doing if you weren't a DJ?

A. I can't imagine myself doing anything else to be honest.

Q. How do you feel the scene has changed and evolved over the years for you as an artist and also for the clubbers?

A. Dance music is becoming more and more accessible to people, and there are more and more genres and subgenres. There is something for everyone which I think is great.

Q. Which up and coming DJs do you pip as the future stars of hard dance?

A. I'm always impressed when I see Djs like A-Star and Amber D play for example.

Quick Fire Round!

Q. What can you not leave home without?

A. Piercing.

Q. What do you do to relax?

A. Play chess, bingo and meet up with friends.

Q. Where would be your dream holiday?

A. On a desert island… but not for too long!

Q. Do you have any embarrassing nicknames?

A. Too embarrassing to tell!

Q. Tell us a secret?