In this episode of Hardhouse History, Paul Glazby sits down with true scene pioneer Rachel Auburn, and what follows is a fascinating journey through the birth of hard house culture in London.

Long before hard house had a name, Rachel was immersed in the underground club scene through fashion, art and nightlife. Starting in iconic London clubs like Taboo and Delirium during the mid-80s, she found herself surrounded by legendary figures including Afrika Bambaataa, Judge Jules, Sister Bliss and the infamous Trade crowd.

Rachel opens up about how she accidentally fell into DJing while working in fashion design, eventually becoming one of the earliest female DJs to break into the London club circuit. From Heaven and Garage through to Trade, she explains how those clubs shaped her sound and inspired her to start producing records that would eventually become hard house classics.

The episode dives deep into tracks like Fee Fi Fo Fum, Machine Man and her collaborations with producers including Paul Masterson and Amo. There are brilliant behind-the-scenes stories about sampling, remix culture, and the early studio process, including how one random vinyl thrown into a crowd became the vocal that launched one of her biggest records.

Rachel also reflects on the rise of women in dance music, though she makes it clear she never saw herself as “a female DJ”, just a DJ trying to make the best music possible. It's a refreshing perspective from someone who helped shape an entire era without ever chasing the spotlight.

Packed with stories about Trade, Tony De Vit, Tidy Girls, club culture and the evolution of hard house, this is a must-listen episode for anyone who loves the roots of the scene.

JOIN THE HISTORY

• What’s your favourite Rachel Auburn track or remix?
• Were you there for the Trade era, Heaven, Garage or the early Tidy years?

Drop your memories, favourite tracks and stories in the comments.

Subscribe to Hardhouse History and help keep the scene's legacy alive.

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The latest episode of Hardhouse History sees Paul Glazby sit down with Alf Bamford for Part 2 of the Inspirations Series, and this one goes deep into the creative process behind some of Alf’s most iconic tracks.

This isn't your typical "greatest hits" chat. Instead, Alf pulls back the curtain on how tracks are actually made, the messy middle, the stolen ideas, the happy accidents, and the moments where nothing is working until suddenly everything clicks.

Right from the jump, Alf admits something most producers won't: a lot of tracks don't actually have some grand story behind them. Sometimes it's just opening Cubase and getting to work. But the tracks he’s chosen for this episode are the ones with a bit more "meat on the bones", whether that's a production breakthrough, a strange inspiration, or chaos surrounding the release.

Track Deep Dive: “Somersault” (2005)

One of the standout moments is the breakdown of "Somersault", a track that almost didn't make it.

Alf talks through how the record sat in limbo for months after he got completely stuck on the breakdown. It wasn't until he went down a psytrance rabbit hole, influenced by artists like Nick Sentience, that everything changed. The bassline approach flipped, the track came alive, and suddenly it had direction.

Ironically, despite strong reactions on dancefloors, no labels wanted to sign it at first. It didn't fit neatly into hard trance or hard house, which made it a risk. Eventually, it found a home and later attracted interest from labels that had initially passed.

It's a perfect example of a track being "ahead of its lane", something DJs loved, but labels didn't quite know what to do with at the time.

The Reality of "Inspiration" (aka stealing… sort of)

This episode leans heavily into one of the best ongoing jokes in dance music; nothing is truly original.

Alf openly admits borrowing elements from other tracks, bassline ideas, stab patterns, and even melodies, but reframing them into something new. And honestly, it's one of the most valuable parts of the episode.

Instead of pretending inspiration is some mystical process, this is a real look at how producers actually work:

• Hear something interesting
• Break it down
• Rebuild it in your own style

As Alf and Paul joke, this series could just as easily be called “Thieving Bastards”.

The “I Found Some Gas” Story

Then comes one of the all-time stories from the podcast.

Alf's track "N2O (Found Some Gas)" ends up accidentally using a vocal sample from an internet character that later gets picked up by TV. Sounds harmless, until that same sample ends up in a national TV advert for a Lisa Lashes compilation.

Cue legal emails from Channel 4.

What follows is chaos:

• Emails flying between labels
• Questions around sample clearance
• And eventually… the guy behind the vocal confronting Lisa Lashes on camera at a Tidy Weekender

The best part? She had absolutely no idea what was going on.

It’s one of those stories that perfectly captures the wild, unpolished nature of the scene at the time.

Beyond the Music

What makes this episode hit is that it’s not just about tracks, it’s about process, frustration, and evolution.

There's a lot of insight into:

• Writer's block and how to break through it
• Why deadlines actually help creativity
• The difference between producing for yourself vs clients
• How trends (like psytrance in the mid-2000s) shape sound

It's raw, honest, and exactly what makes Hardhouse History such a strong listen.

JOIN THE HISTORY

• What's your favourite Alf Bamford track?
• Do you remember "Somersault" or "N2O" from back in the day?
• And be honest, how much of dance music do you reckon is “inspired” vs straight-up nicked?

Drop your thoughts, memories, and stories.

#HardhouseHistory #AlfBamford #PaulGlazby #HardHouse #RaveCulture #DanceMusic #DJStories #ElectronicMusic #ClubHistory #TidyRecords

In this latest episode of Hardhouse History, Paul Glazby sits down with his old friend Rich Wakley, better known to many as Filthy Rich, for a deep, honest, and at times emotional conversation spanning decades of club culture.

From the early days of handing out trance tapes at university in Leeds, Rich takes us right back to where it all began, cutting his teeth playing five nights a week at Heaven & Hell while immersed in the exploding UK club scene. What starts as a passion quickly evolves into a career, moving from trance into hard house, and eventually into the global electronic scene through his Filthy Rich alias.

The episode dives into his evolution as an artist, from those early residencies to producing alongside some of the biggest names in the industry and forming the Spectre project with Paul Maddox. It's a story of growth, reinvention, and constantly adapting to the shifting sounds of electronic music.

But this isn't just a highlight reel. Rich opens up about the realities behind the scenes, the pressure to produce, the stigma around working with engineers, and the ever-changing landscape of DJ culture. He speaks candidly about how COVID hit at the worst possible time for Spectre, halting momentum just as things were peaking, and the difficult transition into full-time work outside of music.

What follows is one of the most raw parts of the conversation, as Rich reflects on loss, identity and the challenge of rediscovering passion after stepping away from something that defined his life. It’s honest, relatable and something many in the industry will connect with.

This is Hardhouse History at its best: real stories, real people, and the reality behind the music.

JOIN THE HISTORY

• Were you part of the Leeds club scene, Kiss Da Funk, or those early 2000s hard house nights?
• What's your memory of that era, the music, the people or the moments?

Drop your stories in the comments and tag someone you were on the dancefloor with.

Subscribe to Hardhouse History and help keep the legacy alive.

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