2005 once again saw our ubiquitous team of RA contributors -- or 'Resident Evil' as James Zabiela affectionately calls us -- trekking across the globe and tracking down some of our favourite DJs and producers in search of a few eyebrow-raising answers.

We checked into Miami for our WMC Perspectives in March, hit up Las Ramblas for the Sonar 2005 Prologues in Barcelona, braved hundreds of thousands of punters on Market Street for our San Francisco Love Parade series, got very messy at Pacha Ibiza for the Def Mix Ibiza residency and returned to Clapham Common with Sasha, John Digweed, Carl Cox and Danny Rampling as part of London's SW4 Festival.

The 2005 award for "Brutal Honesty", however, without a doubt goes to Australian progressive house producer, Luke Chable, who upset more than just a few label heads when he revealed some of the less-talked about issues of record deals in a very upfront and candid interview in May. In a similar vein, the award for "Biggest Balls" (or perhaps "Biggest Ball-breaker") has to go to Darren Hughes, after pulling Sasha from the We love... Sundays @ Space line-up in Ibiza, on his birthday, and living to tell RA about it.

Who said people in the dance music industry never have anything interesting to say? See below for some of the best quotes from RA's Features in 2005.

"When writing a track about coffee, it is much easier to stick to using the sounds of jars and beans than trying to create a synth patch to express the sonic qualities of an espresso."
- Matthew Herbert gives new meaning to the idea of an organic approach to production on his "Plat du Jour" release, January 2005
Herbert : Wonky, wobbly music full of messages

"Our first live gig was in Brazil in front of 40 000 people and headlining a festival. And it completely bombed man! We started off with nice, mellow, slow chords and the DJ before us was playing techno which was just like 'boom boom boom boom boom' and all you could see was thousands of people leaving while we were playing."
- Matthew 'Bushwacka' recalls Layo & Bushwacka's first ever live gig, February 2005
Bushwacka - The Beginning is the End is the Beginning

"Larry [Levan] would get up and go to put on some music and would put it on the main sound system. It served as his home stereo! As he was checking out the new records that he got in the record pool that week, my girlfriend and I would just roller-skate around the dance floor as they played."
- Danny Krivit on the really early days at the Paradise Garage, February 2005
Danny Krivit: A look at the past and present

"Two people who are kind of technical and love their gadgets, fiddling around for a few hours and seeing what they can do."
- Phil K explains his, and fellow Pioneer EFX/CDJ guru James Zabiela's foreplay-like approach to DJing after their first impromptu jam in Melbourne, March 2005
Phil K - A chat about YPhilK

"The thing I'll tell the grandchildren about though when I'm old & even more grey than I already am, is winning the Ivor Novelo for 'Songwriters of the Year' putting us into that exclusive list of the Beatles, Eurythmics, etc."
- Mr.C (aka The Shamen) on his 1993 chart-topping hit about ecstasy "Ebeneezer Goode"
Mr C - Crossing the musical subterrain

"Clitoral stimulation"
- Danny Howells, on one other use for hotel keys at the WMC 2005
2005 Miami WMC Perspectives : Danny Howells

"I did have one girl ask me to feel her up. Which I gladly did."
- RA Columnist and Robots lover Bill Patrick gives good and proper advice on how to deal with demanding fans, WMC 2005
2005 Miami WMC Perspectives : Bill Patrick

"Great music, great set but...I'd like to get you involved in a concept of mine called Pussy Vodka."
- Ultra Music Festival Clubber to Carl Cox, WMC 2005
2005 Miami WMC Perspectives : Carl Cox

"I think Mixmag will go. I don't read it anymore. There is nothing to read in there anymore. It is the same stories repeated over and over again."
- Dave Seaman, voices a vote of no-confidence in the magazine he was once First Editor of, May 2005
Renaissance and the rebirth of Dave Seaman

"I lost out on 2000 pounds and at the time I was broke. All the kids [didn't care] and it doesn't affect them. It hits me right in my pocket."
- Luke Chable has a whinge about the uncoolness of file-sharing, May 2005
The Year of the Chable

"It's a certain kind of energy and creativity in the city and - what is the most important - an intense and very respectful creative exchange between all the activists."
- DJ T., on the increasingly 'ubercoolische' Berlin, June 2005
2005 Sonar Prologues with DJ T.

"There was a problem getting hold of the people who booked me, so me and some mates ended up having to scale the walls, with two record boxes, and break our way into Glasto just to play!"
- DJ Yoda, on the importance of having proper I.D. at festivals, June 2005
2005 Sonar Prologues with DJ Yoda

"I just change some kicks from 'bip' to 'boom'!"
- Basteroid, lifts the lid on the secret to performing live at festivals instead of clubs, June 2005
2005 Sonar Prologues with Basteroid

"I think with electronic music you can reach people very well. If you're an ecology fanatic with a reindeer pullover, nobody is listening to what you're saying"
- Dominik Eulberg, also part-time forest ranger and birdwatcher, explains the choice behind the titles on his Flora & Fauna EP, June 2005
Dominik Eulberg: In a beautiful place out in the country

"I breathe Helium and work very fast."
- Tony Thomas reveals how he manages to churn out all those productions, July 2005
Tony Thomas - The drum beats aren’t slow

"This is an exit not a retirement, there will be no time for sitting on the couch or watching TV! I am about to enter a world of 16-hour days!"
- Danny Rampling, soon to be a restaurant owner/manager, ponders the not-so-quiet-life after DJing, July 2005
Juggling plates with Danny Rampling

"...[the media] started saying the ravers were pulling off pigeon's heads and eating them and that we were all doing so much ecstasy, they had all this silver foil from the wrapping on the ground. It was actually confetti but they had a picture of these kids on the front page and the words 'Spaced Out'".
- Carl Cox recalls the Summer of Love days at Clapham Common, August 2005
Carl Cox goes south by South West Four

"It's the hardest thing I've ever done and one of which I'm most proud."
- Hernan Cattaneo ...on quitting smoking
Hernan Cattaneo on Digital, Defmix and DJing

"My place right now, you know the trash compactor in Star Wars where the walls are crunching in? That is like my house."
- Squeaky clean James Zabiela reveals there are no domestic benefits to having a cola-fuelled lifestyle.
James Zabiela: The Future is Now

"Betty"
- John Digweed reveals his favourite Flintstones character from the town of Bedrock, August 2005. [27% of RA's readers predicted "Bam Bam" in our Reader's Poll.]
A Yabba Dabba Doo Time with John Digweed

"To be honest, it's usually the ones that make the most money"
- David Picconi, on which Azuli releases he's most proud of, August 2005
Azuli's David Piccioni headlines Def Mix Ibiza

"Woodstock was full of talented musicians and not a bunch of DJs who can't play a triangle. Just make sure you learn your lesson from history and stay off the brown acid."
- Lee Burridge, on comparisons between the San Francisco Love Parade and Woodstock, September 2005
SF Love with Lee Burridge

"Also in Riga, Latvia, I went out with a racing car driver in his rally car! He drove me all around the city and even drove me to the plane I had to get on, I didn't even have to check in! I arrived on the tarmac in a rally car!"
- Sandy Riviera gets the fast car treatment in Eastern Europe, September 2005
In Trouble with Sandy Rivera

"I took him [Sasha] out of Sunday because he'd pulled the two Thursdays."
- Darren Hughes on why Sasha didn't play his usual birthday gig this summer at 'We love Sundays' at Space Ibiza, October 2005
We Love... Darren Hughes

"We never thought it had a drug relation to it - here it's pronounced completely differently to "crack and smack!"
- Kraak & Smaak on the English phonetics they don't teach in Dutch schools, October 2005
Kraak & Smaak in Amsterdam

"E = Mp3. 320 rate will be heavier than a 128 rate say but overall with zero gravity it becomes irrelevant."
- Dave Seaman, on the philosophical weight of mp3s in comparison to vinyl, October 2005
This is Audio Therapy

"Yes, it's really difficult to make pots of money now, we've both had our Rolls-Royces repossessed!"
- Matt Roberts and Matt Thomas lament on the current state of vinyl sales, October 2005
King Unique unleash their Dirty House

"The British press and the Top 100 has sometimes too much power in the techno dance world, but at the same time if you understand how the system works, you can use it to further your cause."
- Richie Hawtin, reflects on the results of the 2005 DJ magazine Top 100 DJs Poll, which saw him finally getting some long-overdue props, October 2005
Richie Hawtin's Transitions Part 2

"...for guaranteed action: Eastern Europe - Poland, Romania, Bulgaria. For all the other DJs reading this interview, who are looking for some girls, they are the countries. Get there!"
- Desyn Masiello helps out his fellow jocks with a bit of solid advice about girls, November 2005
Desyn Masiello - The Perfect Balance