Once upon a time, a dance music jaunt to the sunshine meant heading over to Ibiza and spending your summer in a superclub. These days, we're all too poor to pay £20 for a vodka limon in Pacha and so equally sultry but significantly less spendy hot spots have increased in popularity, with Croatia being now being the destination of choice for a host of festivals and revellers.
But if you're impatient and you don't want to wait for the festival season to kick off, Saturday night sees the Garden Festival bring a sneak peak of what to expect to Liverpool. Off to party central at HAUS, they've got a mixture of special guests and home grown talent with Maxxi Soundsystem, Crazy P, Allen & Hutch, No Fakin' DJ's, Phil Cooper and Dash all set to entertain.
Ahead of their Liverpool set, we caught up with Danielle Moore from Crazy P to have a quick chat with her about the upcoming months, why they love the Garden Festival in particular and what's the best way to survive the season.
WIN TICKETS If you fancy going to HAUS on Saturday, we've got two pairs of tickets to give away – just retweet our tweet, or 'Like' the piece on Facebook, and we'll pick two winners at midday on Friday.
Hi Danielle, we've got the pleasure of you playing Liverpool for a Garden Festival warm up. You're down on the bill as Crazy P Soundsystem – what can we expect on the night?
Well the soundsystem on this particular night will comprise of myself and Toddy. Both of us DJing, myself singing and Toddy controlling an effects set up. The music will be from disco to acid house with some energetic dancing and excitable vibes!
You're Garden Festival regulars now – what makes it such a special party in Croatia?
Tisno, the new site where The Garden Festival has moved to, is an incredibly magical place. The town is steeped in history and is surrounded by water. The actual venue is superb; disco boats going to sea in the early afternoon and in the evening, an open air club where the sun rises as the music plays on and the onsite open air stage and the beach bar. It's simply amazing!
What are your three top festival survival tips?
Baby wipes for the good old combat wash. Sometimes it's just too difficult to drag yourself to the showers. Berocca-makes any tap water taste good. A toothbrush – if your teeth are clean no one gives a heck about what's going on underneath your clothing!
Do you prefer playing at festivals or going there as a punter?
Equally both – although I love having gigs at festivals as it gives me a reason to pace myself and stops me from peaking too early. Also there is nothing quite like playing in the open air in front of people some of whom may never have seen the band before. Also it's a real breather to be out of the club environment… especially in Croatia! It's an opportunity to see other acts that you wouldn't get chance to see too. So I think to answer your question – I just love festivals!
You been around for fifteen years, which has seen you build up a devoted fan base and release 6 critically acclaimed albums. But we've not had any new music from yourself since your 2011 album When We On – are you in the studio at the minute? What's the plan?
Well we are currently writing music. We would hope to write an album but at the minute are finding a groove that has evolved from our last record and that feels and sounds good to us. If not an album, then just music that fulfils our needs as song writers – it could be a series of EPs… just whatever feels right, really.
And you've got a bit of a DJing side line going on too – what kind of stuff do you like to play? Do you get requests for your own tracks all the time?
We play everything from acid house to disco to whatever we feel new and old… mix it right up and aim it at the dance floor. We all love DJing and it's become an important arm of the outfit. We do often get requests for our stuff, but it's good to keep it fresh and surprise the crowd. The 3 of us have similar tastes in music but introduce each other to alternative music too.
What else have you got coming up this summer?
Glastonbury, Love Saves the Day, Parklife, Farm Festival, the States, loads of shizzle!!! Bring it on! And of course The Garden Festival in early July in Croatia.