WAY OUT WEST have launched an attack on the British club scene, with NICK WARREN criticising it for its “commercial sound”, and partner JODY WISTERNOFF claiming that he’d rather DJ “anywhere apart from ENGLAND”.
Talking exclusively to NME.COM, it was Warren who was the more acerbic of the two. “England is not the best place at all at the moment,” he said. “I’d go almost as far to say that almost anywhere in the world is better.”
“It’s not as commercial (overseas),” he continued. “They don’t expect what a lot of clubs expect in the UK. Five years ago I was playing big clubs of 2-3,000 people. To get a crowd of that size you need more commercial music these days. It’s led by the fact that radio these days is so powerful. All these kids who are getting into the scene now, they hear the sound on the radio, and that’s what they expect to hear when they go out.”
While Way Out West are famed for their breakbeat take on the progressive house template, and both are successful DJs in their own right, with Nick Warren in particular playing regular bookings at British superclubs like Cream and Gatecrasher. Nonetheless, his criticism was unstinting.
“Overseas, it’s completely different,” he said. “They don’t want that commercial sound. You go to places like Israel and Tel Aviv, places I’ve been playing for the last two years, and they just won’t take that commercial stuff.”
“You’d get shot if you played that stuff in those places,” added Wisternoff.
Way Out West’s new single ‘The Fall’ is out now, while the album ‘Intensify’ follows on February 5. Both are released through BMG / Arista.
Click back to www.nmedance.com later in the week for an exclusive Way Out West video interview.
Do you agree with Way Out West’s comments, or do you think the British club scene is healthier than it has ever been? e-mail dance_editor@nme.com with your thoughts.