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Groove Assassin Interview - Dangerous Beats

Author: Stuart Evans
Monday, September 19, 2005
Groove Assassin has built up a solid reputation for his soulful performances worldwide. Stuart Evans finds out more

Nick Moss has a passion for soulful music. In fact, his passion and dedication for all things disco, funk, jazz, R n B and Latin have enabled him to perform in some of the most respected nightclubs in the world.

Nick Moss, or Groove Assassin as he's more commonly known, has been spinning for 15 years and producing for nine.

Thanks to his flexibility, he has gained an unfaltering standing as one of the world's leading spinners.

It's high times for the Northern England dj, as his production credentials continue to prosper and his residency, at New York club Cielo, thrives.

His records have appeared on numerous respected house labels and his dj appearances have graced some of the world's top clubs.

Why the name Groove Assassin-
It's a name I came up with when I first started djing. Originally there were 2 Groove Assassins and we used to produce together.

I thought about changing the name but a lot of people know me as Groove Assassin, especially now that the name has been building up my reputation with each release.

You have a passion for deep soulful house music, what's the appeal-
It comes from when I was growing up. I used to hang out with a few older kids who were mostly djs. They would listen to anything from disco, soul, funk, jazz funk and early house. They all had uncles and aunties that were heavily into the Motown sound, so we would hang out and play their Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield collections.

With the immergence of electro, soulful house appears to have gone back underground. Do you think Soulful house will become more mainstream-
I don't think soulful house will ever become too mainstream. It's been around since day one and always seems to stay underground. Obviously it depends what you call soulful house, but for me it's always been an underground thing.

You're influenced by elements of disco, funk, R n B, '80s, and even electro, what's your favourite music and why-
It's has got to be disco. I have a great passion for collecting old disco 12"s and, up to now, probably have around about 8,000 12"s and albums.

For me house music was just a basic progression, as the two are very similar with the same 4/4 beat, but I was influenced by the music that I was listening to.

You've graced the decks at Pacha, Amnesia and a number of the UK's best clubs, what's been your craziest experience-
I think my craziest experience has to be in Cielo, New York City. It was my first appearance and I was playing as a warm up to the Miami WMC.

Anyway, it was a Friday night and midway through my set some guy came up and handed me a Kruger Rose bottle of Champagne. At first I thought he was just offering me a glass, but he wanted to give me the bottle. He said he was so blown away by the music and was just a token of his appreciation. All he asked for in exchange was a mix cd. He's actually really cool guy and we've kept in touch ever since.

Production wise, you've had records featured on some renowned labels, what are your thoughts on your future production endeavours-
Things are going well at the moment. I have a number of projects in the pipeline. I have remixes and original projects and have just finished a remix of Jamiroquai's Time wont wait, which is doing the rounds on CDR.

As far as original productions go I'm working on a couple of projects with Pete Simpson (Sunburst Band) that I'm excited about.

What are your expectations with your upcoming Melbourne gig-
I'm looking forward to the gig as I've heard so many great reports about the night!
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