No more Mr Nice guy

By STEPHEN JEWELL

Despite being one half of New Zealand's most successful house music act, Nice 'n Urlich, DJ Bevan Keys has never attracted the same crowds to his own regular club events as the thousands that flock to see him and Peter Urlich.

"That's just the way it is and that's the way I like it," says Keys when we meet at a cafe outside his record company, Universal Music.

"I've always been low-key and I'm quite a private guy. With Nice 'n Urlich, I'm in a different element and it's a strange thing.

"Nice 'n Urlich was always a 50/50 partnership. Peter was the guy who organised the whole thing and I was the music man, so all the stuff on the [three Nice 'n Urlich] CDs was my music. But I like it. Those big dance parties give me something to look forward to and I like being on stage with Peter yelling over the mike. It's a completely different environment. That's more a dance party, whereas the stuff I do on my own is more clubby."

However, that may be about to change as Keys has just released his first solo mix CD, Key To The Groove.

"It's my first CD on my own. It was something I wanted to have a go at by myself. Nice 'n Urlich is still bubbling under. Peter and I are still mates. We still do the odd thing together. I wanted to do a CD myself because Peter has done a few Room Service CDs on his own and he's also pushed me to do my own thing. I also wanted to explore other avenues.

"I'm an instinctual guy and I always like to feel like the time is right."

Key To The Groove is divided into two CDs, the first of which focuses on Keys' current set-list while the second showcases classic tracks from the disco era.

"I love that old stuff and it's all relative to the house that I play now.

"A lot of people don't realise that. I copped a bit of flack for playing it when I was younger, but a lot of it's R&B anyway but with a house. A lot of those guys are black producers so it's got a real funk feel to it. I love all that old soul and funk but I also love more 80s stuff like Paul Hardcastle and even classical music. I could have done any style that I like."

Keys has written a couple of tracks with his Sydney-based younger brother Hayden, who will be opening for Bevan at his release party at the St James tonight. But unlike the vast majority of DJs out there, he admits that he has little ambition to become a fulltime producer.

"Hayden's an engineer and I just add a few ideas," says Keys. "I know nothing about the technical side of it but I have got an ear for it. To tell you the truth, it's not really me. I'm just a music lover and I'm quite happy to be DJ-ing and listening to records.

"If things take me in that direction then I'll go with it, which is what I'm doing with Hayden anyway. I'm just not aiming to become a producer. I'm quite happy playing the records that these guys all make. Somebody's got to do it."

So why does Keys believe Nice 'n Urlich has proved to be so popular?

"A lot of it was to do with the fact that we're both ordinary guys and that made people feel comfortable admitting that they liked house as well," says Keys.

"I was once asked me to play to all these bikers, who all turned up in their leathers and big beards. They all sat around with their beers and I was DJ-ing house music. They were really enjoying it and that's where we crossed over.

"People try to be negative about it but Nice 'n Urlich is a positive thing. It's about having a good time."

Performance

* Who: Bevan Keys

* When: tonight

* Where: St James, Auckland