Anabolic doesn't care Posted Friday Dec 8, 6:06 PM by Scribe ---Chris Frolic, 26, is the living embodiment of the DJ paradox: He is arguably the most popular DJ in the GTA. He has the highest-rated show on 1groove.com, and happens to be the second best-selling mix CD artist on compilation label Moonshine Music, behind Keoki but ahead of Frankie Bones, Carl Cox, Joey Beltram and Misstress Barbara. He also is the most-dissed DJ in the GTA. The reason is the music he plays. As Anabolic Frolic, Frolic has spent the last six years introducing thousands of Toronto ravers to the peppy, revved-up beats of happy hardcore – which inspires either disgust or devotion from the people who hear it. Knobtwiddlers from house to techno scornfully accuse happy hardcore of being an all-out cheese fest, not worthy of radio play, let alone spinning at underground parties. And yet, Frolic estimates that he has sold more than 50,000 tickets to Hulla events. In this interview, conducted on the Thursday before Hullabaloo 17: Space Invader, I found the chief Hulla to be well-spoken, intelligent and a little shy to speak about himself. He grew up in Ottawa, moved to Toronto eight years ago, and now lives with his girlfriend in an apartment near Yonge and Eglington. Along with Tommy Koszycki (a.k.a. Silver1, Anabolic's sidekick on 1groove), Frolic and I met after his weekly Thursday radio broadcast on 1groove in a divey restaurant at Jarvis and Sherbourne. The Hulla chief discussed the amazingly devoted Hulla fans, his initial surprise that the Hulla parties generated such a devoted following, and his future. And most importantly, he provided his response to the people who jeer happy hardcore: Anabolic doesn’t care. What was your reaction, the first time that you heard happy hardcore music? It was a love affair. It was a mix tape that I bought at XStatic, this old rave shop that used to exist before Numb was around... So I went down, and for some reason I bought a happy hardcore tape. Driving home, listening to it – I was fucking hooked. I couldn’t get enough of it. I would listen to the tape before I went to bed. I would be falling asleep with my headphones on, listening to it. I remember, my friend George was just like, that is weird. I’d be around the house, in my bathrobe or something, tapping out these percussion patterns with my fingers. How do you fall asleep to happy hardcore? Silver1: Because you listen to it to exhaustion. Anabolic: Yeah. I couldn’t get enough. And then I couldn’t find any CDs or tapes here, and none existed. So I started importing them (in 1995). I found a kid in England over the Internet to buy some records in Britain and then send the records over. Then I found other people who wanted hardcore music, again over the Internet. So I took the next step, which was to contact the English distributors directly. And I would bring over small quantities, 30 records at a time, and then just sell them out of my bedroom. It’s weird, because I only went to my first rave in 1995. Because I didn’t know anyone who was in the scene. It wasn’t until Electric Circus was promoting some upcoming parties, and they gave a number for a party, and so I went. (he laughs) Every time I hear kids bashing Electric Circus, I say, you know, don’t bash them, because people aren’t born ravers, they have to come from somewhere. And Electric Circus got a lot of people into the scene. So the first Hulla event was in 1997? Yep. Basically, when I decide to do things, I move very quickly... (By that time, he already had done his first happy hardcore mix CD for Moonshine). The first CD has gone on to sell 34 or 35 thousand units. Wow. Doesn’t that make you proud? Absolutely. And, I mean, this is something that’s not pushed on people, right? It’s not like when Carl Cox comes out with a new CD and it’s total overexposure, you can see him on the back of every magazine. No, this is total underground, grass-roots support. They bought it because they like what they hear, not because someone told them to. What’s the Hulla phenomenon, in your eyes? It’s a magic combination, and the key to it is the music – happy hardcore. It wouldn’t happen with any other music style. And that’s why it hasn’t happened with anybody else. We feature other styles, but because Hulla is identified as the happy hardcore company, then we attract the people who like that music. It’s like a big filter. Happy hardcore I liken to a freight train coming at you. It’s like, you either get on, or you get out of the way. People are either into it, or they’re not. And that’s the thing. A lot of companies have a more passive following. With us, it’s a love or hate thing. Why do you think other DJs hate happy hardcore so much? You talk to some DJs and they badmouth happy hardcore the way they’ll badmouth no other genre of music. Except maybe, country and western. I know. I don’t understand it. It’s like, just let me do what I do. I don’t understand where that comes from. DJs and ravers, if they don’t come to our parties, feel obligated to go out of their way to tell people how much they don’t like (happy hardcore). (he shrugs) I don’t know. I guess that’s another thing that makes us (Hullabaloo) stand out. But what is it about the music that inspires such derision among people? I don’t know. (he smiles) It is cheesy, I’ll give it that. Fine – it’s forced happiness. But it’s like, what’s wrong with that? The world is such a fucking angry place. Why not take a break from reality? Why not go somewhere where everyone’s happy? It’s not reality, but it’s like, ummm, just let it be. Why feel obligated to tear into it? But you know, I’ve been dealing with that for as long as I’ve been in the business... Well, how does that make you feel? We were joking around the other day, that I’m like the people’s champion. (His order arrives: Iced tea and a corned beef sandwich). If I cared what my critics thought, I wouldn’t be doing too much. But at the end of the day, I know there are a shitload of people out there that really love what I do. And they’re the ones that make it all worthwhile. And they’re the ones who motivate me. And it’s just like... fuck everybody else. It’s got to make you feel pretty good that your show is number one (on 1groove.com). Oh totally. I was very excited. You know, it does get to me, the fact that I’ll never be taken seriously. And it’s nice to be reminded that the bigmouths out there, that they don’t account for shit... How did you and Silver1 become friends? I don’t know. I mean, I know, a year ago when I was having a housewarming party at my new apartment (at Yonge and Eglington), a friend of a friend invited him to the party and he didn’t go because he felt he’d be intruding. So in the last year our friendship has grown quickly. We’re basically two huge happy hardcore nuts. A while back, he went with me to a rave in England for the weekend. Who else would go with me, to a rave in England, just for a weekend? He did, so that’s definitely what’s made us friends. Somehow, the conversation turns toward Anabolic’s parents... My mom came to her first rave last year. Hulla 12, the one where Allen Ho died. But the thing is – I got into the music after I left home. So she knows what I’m doing, and she tries to understand it as best she can, but without being there, how can a 50-year-old woman grasp what a rave is? So I told her, go to bed, set the alarm, get up and come and catch my set at 5 a.m. So she came. First of all, when she got introduced to the crowd, when everyone realized that was my mother – she was really impressed by how friendly everyone was. So she’s onstage – (he laughs) – and she’s waving to everybody, and she stayed onstage for my entire set! Dancing! Someone gave her glowsticks, and she’s up there, just bopping around. She likened it to when she was a kid, doing the jitterbug. That’s hilarious! Yeah. And it was good that she came, because the next morning, the newspapers hit, and it’s like, the shit hit the fan. And we all know how the media can be. What was your mom’s response to the media coverage of the rave inquest and the Ho death? She was disgusted. You know, she was there, she followed with her own eyes what was happening. And it was definitely an eyeopener, even to myself, how the media can contort a story. Now, after being in the media for over a year – well, either me, or raves – and knowing what the reality really is – You have to suspect every fucking story in the paper. Where do you think you’re going from here? I don’t know. Ummm... This next year I’d like to concentrate on my music production, which I’ve just started – I have two of my own tracks out on my new CD (out on Moonshine Music in January). I’m banned from the U.S. at the moment, because I got caught lying about working (four or five months ago, when he was on his way to a gig in Buffalo), so once that’s overturned, you know... That’s going to cost me a lot of money to get that overturned. When do you think that will be resolved? I have to make that a priority. Hopefully, early this coming year. When did you produce your first tracks? Three or four months ago. I went over to England a few months ago on a working holiday. I worked with a few different producers, and it was really neat. Basically, I know what I like in a song, and it was good to work with someone who has the technical know-how to make it. I want to elevate my status in the scene now more than it is... You sound pretty content, though. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that I’d be where I am right now. All that I can do is just kind of ride the wave, and see where it takes me. I don’t know how long I have. It’s been five or six years so far. I’ve had a good run. I’ve worked to a certain level, so I think I can stay at that level for awhile – or go up. What I would like is to see myself as an A-Level DJ. To be up there with the biggest DJs in any style. A big night for me, about six months ago, was a night in Philadelphia, a 12,000 person party. And they put me in the main room. Bad Boy Bill was on before me, and DJ Dan was on before him. And the lineup was a who’s who of DJs. That was the first time in years that I was nervous before I went on to play. That night was important to me, because it showed me that I wasn’t a niche DJ anymore, that I was on the top level. And it went great. As soon as I started, the whole place went crazy. Space Invader is the 17th Hullabaloo party on Saturday, Dec. 9. See the Neksis event listings for more details.