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NIDJ recently had the pleasure of catching up with Lost Witness, as they were in london. We were given the opportunity to have an informal interview. This is how it went.

nidj

You had great success with Happiness Happening, getting in the top 20 of the UK charts. Did you imagine it would be that successful?

The track took a good six months to get from white label to full release. During which time the track was being caned by Jules Oakenfold Tong Scott Bond. So it's shelf life was great. If I were brutally honest we would have liked to have seen it in the top ten. We all thought it was strong enough.

nidj

The most well-known versions of your biggest hits "Happiness Happening" and "Red Sun Rising" were remixed by Lange. Are you planning to continue working with him in future? How have you found working with him?

I was the one who commissioned Lange's mixes before the deal was done with Ministry. Lange was just about to break and was being supported by Jules so he was the obvious choice. His mixes were excellent no-one disputes that. Simon and I were still finding our feet working together, this was our third track. Happiness being the second and Fine Night by Dusk till Dawn being the first. Lange is a great producer, but I kind of feel he did too many re-mixes, not that we're complaining.

nidj

You have set yourself high standards with your first release, do you expect every release you have now to be as successful?

We would doing ourselves a great injustice if we did not aspire to try and beat our previous chart successes.

nidj

You are due to release an album this year, is it going to be the first one you have worked on?

Yes. We are about ½ way through but the tracks are coming together quickly now. The content will be more of the same broken up by some down tempo songs. But we are constantly updating so that it is as good as we can possible make it when it's released.

nidj

What productions are you currently working on, and what plans do you have for the future?

We have recently done a dance adaptation of Coldplay's Trouble which has a massive buzz on it despite there only being 500 records in circulation. The vibe so far is Coldplay love it Radio 1 loves it as does Kiss. Right now we are playing the waiting game, but things are changing daily. We are really proud of it and hope it gets cleared for release. The future of Lost Witness is to continue producing quality dance tunes in what ever genre the market demands.

nidj

Do you think you will need to diversify the style/genre of your productions in the ever changing world of dance music?

As answered above. Yeah, man cannot survive on Trance alone. The scene is heading in a progressive direction and also hard house is making another stand. We do aim to follow the scene, but not at the expense of quality. The tracks have to sound right.

nidj

A question for Simon Kemper - Have you ever got behind the decks? If so how did you get on?

It was in Thailand a few years back, my mate had had some bad mushrooms so I had to step in. The result was blinding. Apart from getting sand all over his records.

nidj

Simon Paul - You obviously get the opportunity to drop your own productions in your sets - I bet its a great feeling when the crowd react positively. Have you ever had a tune that didn't go down too well?

I'd be a liar if I said no. As DJ's yourselves you will know that our job is a) to entertain our crowds and b) to try and break new tunes. Inevitably some tracks don't get a good response but the art of DJ-ing is for every track that doesn't work there's one that will.

nidj

Which artists and producers do you most respect?

Paul Van Dyk, Chicane (Nick Bracegirdle) Leftfield Coldplay.

nidj

What equipment and software do you use in your studio?

Mackie Desk, G4 Mac, Roland Samplers Cubase Audio, Nord Junos, and a load of hard drive sounds.

nidj

Which of your own tracks is your favorite production?

We are constantly evolving but our version of Trouble stands out for both of us. We think it's rather special. This seems to be the general consensus all round which is nice.

nidj

Thanks for your time guys!

Thanks lads.

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