PERHAPS as many as 1,000 residents flocked to the Bermuda Athletic Association gym to see in 2006. The event, featuring local and international talent, was put together by best friends Matthew Strong and Jon Legere.

Their company, Volcanic Productions, was formed with a distinct aim ? to promote additional cultural events and entertainment outlets on-island, but at a standard comparable to that found in more cosmopolitan settings. This week, the 27 year olds spoke with Mid-Ocean News reporter HEATHER WOOD on the success of last Saturday's event and the work that went into it.

Q: How did you become event planners?

Jon A: I guess the first party we threw was four years ago. It started off as a house party, basically, with 400 of our friends. And then the second year we went to Mid Ocean, on the Natural Arches lawn. Our stage was a PVC chair. A single-unit PVC white chair that two of my friends from New York ? members of Smash Mekanics, a pop group that is quite successful right now ? made. It began with a house party for friends. I think we all pitched in for certain things ? food and drinks, everything you'd need for New Year's. The second time around, everything got bigger ? the sound system, the amount of people. People just loved it and kept asking what we were doing next. We went to BMDS for two years and then BAA. Now we are, yeah. I'm still running Lava, an advertising agency, with a couple of other people but (the two companies) feed each other really. My background is in science and conservation. I used to work at the (Bermuda Biological Station for Research) and at Conservation Services, for Government. I admire people like David Wingate, who created Nonsuch Island.

He seeded an island that's beautiful and uniquely Bermudian. I think that's a mentality that I use to approach anything ? from event planning to party promotions, that it's a uniquely Bermudian event and that it's going to enrich Bermuda. I know that sounds egotistical but something's got to motivate you.

Q: How many people were at BAA?

Jon A: We're not sure yet. Roughly about 1,000 people. People had options this year. They had quite a lot of options this year. We really had no idea how many would turn up. It was a high risk but we're both poker players. We just make sure we're going in with the best hand, if you're talking about poker. You want to always give someone something new and this one I think we decided to give them the best. Each party is a product really. An art piece for Jon.

It's all about bringing in an international artist or showing them a local band that's brilliant, that's really good, of an international standard ? it surprises people. I don't think everyone has figured out that Bermuda has actually got that ? that we've got great talent and that these events can be put on here easily.

Q: Who performed that night?

Jon A: The Butcher (aka Phil Moffer), Chewstick Band and Colt 45, a new reggae DJ on the island. It was quite an impressive selection. We were interested to see how Bermuda would receive Kid Koala. He's quite eclectic and he's also very innovative. Reggae music is a guaranteed success here for obvious reasons. But someone who's going to completely do something new and different . . . Basically, he plays turn tables like an instrument. You know scratch DJing (as is used in) hip hop and things like that. But he's taken it further. He's creating a melody from mixing. He makes his own music from samples of other music and plays four turntables at the same time. So he samples with noises that he makes from scratching a Louis Armstrong record and pulling out the horns. And then, a bass rhythm from a hip hop album. He uses the elements together and creates a whole new track with horns and hip hop beats and maybe a little piano or whatever.

It's amazing to see his hands work because he's controlling four instruments at the same time. We had spy cameras hooked up to watch the turntables and then we projected two screens off the spy cameras so (guests) could see his hands working, which was very fascinating. It also helped explain what was happening because it sounded so good, you wouldn't even know. You'd think it was just a straight track he was playing.

Matt A: There were people at that party who had seen him before. He'd opened for Jack Johnson recently and Ben Harper. But everyone ? people who'd never heard of him to people who had all his albums ? was impressed.

Especially if they were a DJ they were impressed because he wasn't wearing headphones, which is unheard of with DJs mixing different tracks. It's unbelievable. Someone who doesn't DJ or have a knowledge of that would have been impressed by the speed, the arrangement of music. It was just an amazing sound.

Q: How'd you manage to get these people?

Matt A: We were lucky to get them before they got expensive. It wasn't just for parties though. When these guys came in we had a lot of build-up entertainment for them. They love Bermuda. We're going to continue to bring in an international element ? if we're allowed ? because I think it's essential for our growth. We need people that are doing this on a day-to-day-basis. We need people who are professionals at what they do. It's great for them to come in and rub off, to help local talent move in the same direction.

As soon as Chewstick heard they were opening up for Kid Koala, they practised every night of the week. Maybe they would have anyway but I think it definitely helps to have someone that is so well respected drive you and motivate you. If anyone hasn't seen Chewstick, they've really got to come out and check these guys out because what they're doing is very exciting.

Q: How long did it take to prepare for the night?

Matt A: Full time, two months. (We've) been best friends since we were five. It started from little things. I love (entertaining) and Jon's got millions of friends. He knows everybody and they all seem to call him up to find out what's going on. Everyone kind of looked to him for what was happening. And then I'd go to Matt and tell him he had to take care of these guys.

It's the product. It's what you create. It's like art. When you've created something you look back at it and say whether it was successful or not.

If you put the energy into it that it needs to be successful then you're happy at the end. I'm happy with everything so far. The energy's always really great. There's never a fight ? there's really no negativity. It's positive.

Matt A: I know it sounds cheesy but there's an atmosphere, a buzz. The amount of people who have come up to me and said: 'Thank you so much. We really enjoyed it. Good work.' I enjoy that. Sometimes I look around and realise I don't even know half of the people there ? and we can chat. So many times I've gone out to a bar here, or to certain parties, and not met anyone new.

At our parties I meet new people. There's different age groups, different backgrounds. It's what I've loved about Bermuda growing up here ? you can be sitting at the dinner table with a fisherman and the CEO of an insurance company and everyone will get along and talk about something that everyone has a say on.

Q: You've been friends forever, worked on various events together, no arguing?

Matt A: Jon . . . sometimes, he's passionate. He's very good at getting people together and getting stuff worked out. People are stretching the limits for us and sometimes it takes him getting upset to do that.

It works in the end but I think because of the fact that we're like brothers, we're family, the little tiffs have never jeopardised the friendship. I think we can be a lot more honest than people who are holding back, trying to save face. We don't hold back at all.

Q: And Volcanic is comprised of just the two of you?

Jon A: It's just the two of us but I think it's very important to say that we really couldn't have done this without our support base ? our family, our friends. It's unbelievable. It was seriously touching. Just to see all of our friends come out and help out on the day. Two in particular, Price Smith and James Peniston ? they helped run the bar. Without a bar, you can't have a party. You have to. It's a risk. You have to play it like it's a game. It's a poker hand. If you show that you're frazzled or upset, if you get unravelled, everything around you is going to unravel. Everything around you is going to break down. Things can be going completely wrong but you just have to lie to yourself and deny it. I'm probably a bit more of a micro-manager. Jon sees the big picture. On Saturday he (described the event to me as if it were) a machine, saying we didn't have much control over it at that point, how it had been made, created, and we were about to turn the key. Basically, at that point, you've done what you can and you just sit back and enjoy the ride.Or clear the way. That's always the nightmare. I think it's always the biggest headache, the most unglamorous part of the whole production. But it's the most essential. You don't want to burn any bridges. You want to make sure you're invited back. It's the part that we wish we could create something that we could snap and it was done. We were there until 5 a.m., 6 a.m. We went to an after-hours party and then went back to BAA first thing the next day and started getting our hands deep into the spooge ? the real essence of the party.

A surprising thing was that there were a lot of vagrants who, all of a sudden, come out of the woodworks. There was one guy who showed up every 20 minutes in a different outfit. One second he was the Barritt's man. Then he was the Apex ice man. Then he was the Gosling's guy. He'd come back as somebody different time and try to pick something up. It was great. Very funny. I'm Mr. Gosling, here to collect the extra five cases of rum.

Q: Where from here? Where's the next project?

Jon A: We've a whole list of things, the year is lined up. We're going to do so much more than parties but there's always going to be an entertainment element to everything we do. We have great ideas. We don't want to give any away. It's all about creation. It's all about production.

I haven't been as much of a fine artist lately. As someone who wants to communicate, I'm not sure that putting a painting on a wall these days is really the way to communicate in our time right now. I think these productions, these parties, are the most honest art I've ever created. I am (involved in) projects involved in conservation and science but right now my heart is right here and, I have to say, I've never worked so hard in my life.

But I've enjoyed it. I've seen so many other people sort of ? I don't want to say jump on our bandwagon I think they had their own thing going on ? but the synergy is there. We're feeding each other. I'm really looking forward to the future.