The Social network with Nic Fanciulli

THE Garden of England might not be the first place you think of when it comes to dance music but in the heart of Kent beats an electronic kick drum.

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The South East has given us some huge talent over the years with the likes of Pete Tong, John Digweed, Danny Howells, Mark Knight and Nic Fanciulli all growing up in the area before finding global fame.

Grammy nominated Nic Fanciulli has never forgotten his roots in Maidstone. The globe trotting star has stayed loyal to the county town throughout his career. And he has returned the loyalty of local fans who have supported his rise over the years by throwing regular street parties with his record label Saved at the legendary Source Bar in the town, bringing in many of the world's finest artists such as Loco Dice, Marco Carola, Carl Cox and Luciano. It was inevitable, following a few years of these sell out parties, that there was an appetite for something bigger. On 28th September 2013 Nic and his team launched The Social Festival in Mote Park in the centre of Maidstone.

Now in it's fourth year the festival has moved to The Kent County Showground on the outskirts of the town and has expanded to a two day event attracting thousands of electronic music fans from all over the world and boasts a mouth watering line up which this year will see sets from the likes of Sasha and John Digweed (reunited especially for The Social), Carl Cox, Solomun, Eats Everything, Loco Dice, Andrew Weatherall, Laurent Garnier, Dubfire and many more. Also for the first time the festival will be showcasing Drum and Bass and Jungle with Goldie, LTJ Bukem and Roni Size headlining. In addition to Nic's carefully curated line-up, an acute emphasis continues to be placed on the local community with The Social aiming to source locally produced food on site and involve nearby companies and universities with creative aspects of the festival.

Nic took time out from his We Are The Night residency at Pacha in Ibiza and his hectic touring commitments last week and welcomed us into his home to find out more about his rise to stardom, why staying loyal to the town is so important to him, the evolution of The Social Festival and his enduring friendship with Carl Cox who he will be performing back to back with at this years event which takes place on September 9 and 10.

Watch the video here.

Camera and video editing by Stephan Knight. Interview by Mark Gwinnett.

For more information and for tickets to The Social Festival .

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