The Fake Amo’s FB page’s biggest convict and Juicy co-founder Ryan Walker reveals his Tidy Treasure…
The year 2000 is often referred to as one of the golden years of hard house. Hard House had
become one of the biggest sounds in clubland and this year saw the release of many tracks that
went on to become anthems. 2000 was a particularly memorable year for me. Not only was it the
year I left school, but it was also the year that I got my first set of decks and I attended my first
rave (yes, I was underage at 16 haha).
I grew up just outside of Lincoln and my local record shop was Hotwaxx Records. I would spend
hours and hours almost every day listening to all the new releases and building up my record
collection. Record buying was very different back then, they weren’t just shops they were meeting
places and it was a great place to meet other DJs, chat about events we had been to and also
make friends (many of which I still keep in contact with today). At the time Charlie J and Sam
Reeve worked in the shop and because I bought so many records there I always got first dibs on
the new releases. I’d go in every week when they had their delivery and as soon as I walked in
they’d hand me a big bag of records from the likes of Tidy, Nukleuz, Stimulant Records, Pig Pen,
HoneyPot Recordings, Trooper Tunes, Kaktai and of course Hotwaxx Traxx. Record buying was a
labour of love and I’d spend hours flicking through the racks looking for new and exciting music.
One label that always stood out to me was Tidy Trax.
The music was always such fun and as someone who originated from a rave and happy hardcore
background it appealed to me and shared many similarities with some of the music that I was already
listening to growing up. Two local lads Colin Barratt and Tom Ingamells aka Ingo had just been signed to
the label and were putting Hotwaxx and Lincoln on the Hard House map. Colin was studying music at
Lincoln College and I’d regularly bump into him in the shop. It later emerged that my wife Natalie was also
good pals with Colin and they used to hang around together as teens in their hometown of Sleaford,
Lincolnshire.
Colin and Ingo went on to become regulars on Tidy Trax and had many releases and
album appearances under their belt. It was the energy and fun they put into every track that had me hooked.
One other artist on the label that always stood out to me was Smokin Bert Cooper. He later went
on to remix several tracks on the label, but his own track ‘Gettin Warm’ was a standout track for
me. The track itself is actually quite minimal, but if you are familiar with it you’ll know that the
breakdown is incredible and builds up with such energy and suspense until it eventually drops
into the iconic rap sample from LL Cool J’s ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ and his signature donk
bass. This track always goes off whenever I play it!
I have been fortunate enough to have played for Tidy several times since first discovering the label
all those years ago. More recently in 2019 Tidy invited me to play at their Secret Vinyl Party in
Birmingham. This was a particularly fun event and a memorable night for me. Despite my set time
clashing with Tidy head honcho Amadeus Mozart the room was packed from start to finish (they
were queuing up to get in!). I played ‘Gettin Warm’ as my last track and when I came off the decks
the atmosphere in the room was electric! That in part lends itself to this incredible track!
You can catch me playing at Tidy’s much anticipated Summer Weekender next year.
Take care and I’ll see you all on a dance floor soon!
Download & Stream this release here: https://tidytrax.fanlink.to/GettinWarm
