Today's review deals with trance newcomer Nifra, hailing from Slovakia, whose interesting tag line on myspace is "yeah, I produce myself". Released on Markus Schulz' label, Coldharbour Recordings, the pack features the original, and two remixes.
The original is bland; exactly the kind of trance I despise Shulz for playing and releasing. Nicely melodic, but with little energy and groove to back it up. The percussion is extremely weak, leaving the track feeling very "floaty", rather than driving. However, that's not to say that all tracks need to be hard-hitting, but a bit of percussion would be nice to keep things interesting.
The bass line is flat out boring, doesn't really "work" with the track, and thus becomes monotonous quickly, which leaves listeners with a kick drum, clapper and the melody to entertain them. The melody is nice and "trancey" in itself, but also dreadfully generic, leaving very little to continue with.
Using an old adage, "you can polish a turd..." and this has been polished immaculately. Well produced, it has employed great mastering and clean sounds, maybe by Nifra, maybe not, who cares. It's rubbish.
Next up are Randy Boyer and Eric Tadla, who I still admire for their remix of Imogen Heap's Hide & Seek. Thankfully, they've done away with the original bass line and replaced it with something a little more appropriate, adding a bit more energy and blending the line to make it less noticeable, which really grinds in the original. Adding some more interesting pads was also a good option, though the long, long breakdown at the start of the track is annoying. Overall, a passable track, but really very generic, not one that anyone will remember in a year.
Lastly comes Robert Nickson, creator of the brilliant track Spiral back in 2004. Nickson's sensibilities are quickly revealed, as he is the only person on the release to have bothered with any decent kind of percussion, injecting some nice hi-hats. Additionally, he's added a very subtle acid line, similar to that in Spiral, meaning the track is interesting for more than one minute, unlike the first two. An overly large kick-drum is a bit off-putting though, as it drowns out the other elements in the track.
Nickson's effort is quite obviously pick of the release, but still falls down in the end due to an overly drawn out breakdown, and a nice but extremely repetitive hook, which really grates towards the end. Additionally, the usage of effects is lazy. The main build, arguably the "focus" of each track in modern epic trance, features the same hook repeating over and over, a kick drum roll, bass drop, and then the same hook continuing; very uninspiring. This one could have been very promising with a bit more effort and ingenuity, but just fails to hit the mark.
I got to thinking this morning about how ironic it is that people are so discerning about their taste in films, yet when it comes to music, some people are content to dance the night away to Fedde Le Grand.
I draw a lot of parallels between movie and music - not least because seeing a B-grade movie is just like listening to bad music - there's nothing wrong with enjoying it once in a while, as long as you realise that what you're listening to is absolute tripe.
This chain of reasoning led me onto wondering how each genre of music could be represented as a film. So, without further introduction:
House
Regardless of what kind of house music you listen to; deep, funky, jackin', soulful or gospel, it's all feel good. Excluding that of the acid variety, house music is almost always happy. Common lyrical hooks can include such inspiring, well written gems as:
"you gotta be strong!"
"keep on moving!"
"higher! higher!"
"feel the love!"
"I'm so overwhelmingly gay it hurts!"
As such, the logical movie partner for house music is the romantic comedy; effortlessly happy, relentlessly optimistic, and often very annoying. The two are such an uncanny match I hardly believed it myself. Romantic comedies always seem to follow the same pattern: guy meets girl, falls in love, messes it up big time, then triumphs in the end with a grandiose gesture that wins her back. House music is the same - vocalist falls from grace, finds God, then returns to "see the light!".
Colin Firth & Hugh Grant. Yuck.
The last nail in the coffin is a convincing one. What kind of people willingly watch a romantic comedy? Women and gay guys.
What kind of people enjoy house music? Women and gay guys!
Love Actually, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones Diary, You've Got Mail, What Women Want
Techno
This is a tough one, because, like house, techno can encompass a wide range of different feelings and styles, from Detroit to Schranz - though I'd say one feeling is more ubiquitous than any other, which is "my music is much cooler than yours".
Yes, tech-heads see themselves as a cut above the rest, better than those glowstick-loving ravers, anyway. The sheer amount of snobbery commanded by techno purists is enough to make even Lord Thistlethwaite the III drop his monocle in fright.
Of course, techno is often passed off as "intelligent music", but I don't think there's much intelligence about it at all - it's simply less fluffy than trance and house, and less twisted than the harder genres. The word "conservative" comes to mind.
So? What kind of film correlates? One that thinks it's smarter than it really is? Well, if we're talking about slower techno and tech-house, it's surely "the heist" or "thriller" film. You know, the one where the clever thief and the lead investigator play the sophisticated cat and mouse game, each trying to appear more at ease than the other?
"I know you stole that painting, Pierce" "You think you know, so what are you going to do about it? " ...and so on and so forth.
If it's the harder type of tech we're talking about (Adam Beyer or Chris Liebing), then you've got yourself a murder mystery of course - same kind of thing, two characters jostling for position, each trying to outsmart the other - a sheer battle of wills, much like trying to explain to tech-heads that their music isn't the best thing ever, really. The Thomas Crown Affair, Seven, Ocean's Eleven, Entrapment
Trance
Did I just say a dirty word?
Trance, you either love it or hate it. If you hate it, it's generally for one of two reasons:
1. You don't like flying over rainbows to magical happy land on the back of a unicorn.
2. You think trance is too fast, too hard, and pretty much the same as Gabba, in which case you've never really listened to it in the first place.
Trance is a music composed of WONDROUS melodies, overblown euphoria enough to make Willy Wonka cringe. Most of the people who listen to it are living in dreamland, riding on cloud 9, entranced by those shiny lasers and ascending arepggios. What fun!
Thus, trance can only be one thing: a fantasy movie.
Trance crackers are a lot like your average fantasy movie fan; they're lost in their own little world, oblivious to the aspersions being cast on them by others, and they like to dress up in stupid clothes too. Whether you're an Elf Mage dressed in a goblin-repelling green tunic, or a dirty raver wearing female-repelling phat pants, your head is in the same space - not on this planet.
Nice ears.
Tech and hard trance are a little more grounded, with a repertoire of harder beats and less of that namby-pamby, 20 minute breakdown, hands-in-the-air crap. As such, they embody darker tones and arguably cooler themes, which is why they are a Sci-Fi movie.
Bigger kick drums, harsher percussion, faster beats = robots, spaceships, aliens and lasers (of the destructive, killing kind of course, not the kind you reach for at 3am). Duh. Still, though Sci-Fi is generally pretty cool (think Arnie in Terminator), just like hard trance, it's also kind of gay - ala Star Trek.
Lord Of The Rings, Beowulf, The Matrix, Aliens, Merlin, Harry Potter
Hardstyle/Hardcore/Gabba/Hard NRG/Happy Hardcore/Hard House
Don't try and tell me there's significant differences between the genres, because there's not. They're all as stupid as one another - ear wrenching synth stabs, melodies that sound like they were composed by a monkey dancing on a synthesizer, and that blistering BPM. Music for infantile minds, really.
The movie choice is so easy I shouldn't even need to spell it out - schlock horror.
Like horror movies, the "hardcore" genres are meant to be scary, enjoyable purely for shock value. The people who consume both these types of media pride themselves on their "harder than thou" attitude, but don't realise that everyone is laughing at them.
Hockey mask: an effective cure for low self-esteem stemming from one's aesthetic deficiencies.
Paper thin plots, shonky acting, unconvincing scariness and questionable entertainment value, they all translate perfectly to hardcore. Paper thin melodies comprised of shonky sounds coupled with stupidity rather than scariness, and so on and so forth. Resident Evil, Nightmare On Elm St, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer
Psy/Goa Trance
To the amateur ear, psy-trance sounds a hell of a lot like hardcore. Fast tempo, big, scary bass lines, twisted, random noises and plenty of stupid vocal samples about drugs. Right?
WRONG.
Yes, Psy-Trance is still like a horror movie, but it's one with good acting, genuine moments of fright, and a believable plot.
Saw: twisted shit.
Still - you have to wonder about the minds of these people. House heads might be gay, tech heads pretentious, trance crackers off in la-la land, and hardcore aficionados missing two or three chromosomes, but what kind of sick mind enjoys this deranged, scary music, or spending three days listening to it out in the wilderness without a shower for that matter?
Saw, Identity, Psycho, Silence Of the Lambs, A Clockwork Orange, The Ring
Indie/New Wave/Electro House
Where house is outright flamboyant, indie considers itself playful, with such awe-inspiring vocals as: "disco, disco, disco, disco, disco, disco, need to disco!", and quirky themes about girls who like to go ten pin bowling.
Really, the genre is pretty much as stupid as hardcore, though it's lacking the "scary" element, and doesn't take itself nearly so seriously either, thus making it the brainless comedy. See here for more detail.
Dumb & Dumber, Night At The Roxbury, Anchorman, Billy Madison
Jungle/Drum 'n' Bass
Drum 'n' Bass is a very closed scene (at least where round these parts), with people outside of it largely clueless as to the kind of people who attend and where the parties are held.
Like trance, it's listeners are very much wrapped up in their encapsulating world, but much more aware of what the hell's going on around them. Their dark, fast music scares others away, making entry to the scene relatively difficult for most.
Thus, DnB's dark tones, fast pace, and strange sounds are much like that cult sci-fi movie which you've never even heard of. The background is impossible to grasp unless you've read up on the internet, the story too intense and long-winded to bother with, and plenty of stuff about futuristic vampires, clones and espionage. Definitely entertaining if you know what's going on, but otherwise just a crock of shit.
No examples here: they're all too underground for me (maybe Blade).
Dubstep & Grime
A close relation to DnB, Dubstep is a gritty, underground genre which fuses many elements, often using them to good effect, but sometimes missing the mark. It's accessible to the masses, due to recognisable elements such as MCing, or it's deep bassy synths. When done well, it's not too bad. 99% of the the time, I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a rusty fork instead.
Now, here's a genre which you won't hear me slagging off. Surprisingly, this is a style I admire massively for it's innovative approach, artist integrity and emotional feel, yet rarely listen to. Why?
It's boring as hell, that's why. Where's the energy lads?
The best thing about the genre is the fact that by it's very nature, it can't be bastardized. In EVERY genre, there is good and bad music, and a selection of tracks made by talentless producers simply for fame or money. Left-field strives to be different from anything else, and thus doesn't seem to suffer so much from "cookie cutter" generic elements that other fields do.
It's unique, clever, and emotional all at the same time. It's an art house movie!
Just like art house, it's brilliant when you're in the mood, but if you're not, it's tiresome and you'd rather watch anything else, even Resident Evil or Night At The Roxbury.
Today I'm proud to present the work of a 18 year old Kit Phillips, a budding producer with bucket loads of talent. Residing in Sydney, Australia, Kit set foot on his current path at the age of 13, listening to commercial trance on the radio, while at the same time producing rock music, another passion of his which shines clearly in his production.
However, it wasn't until two years ago that Kit got his act together, purchased some soft synths, a copy of Ableton Live, and started teaching himself electronic production. Over the ensuing two years, his talent has sprung forth, giving rise to tracks that bely his relative inexperience within the scene.
Currently, his influences include trance acts such as Mirco De Govia, Kyau & Albert, Leama & Moor and First State. Far more telling in his own music is the influence of his favourite down-tempo artists such as Lamb, Apparat and Boards Of Canada, as well as rock acts Powderfinger, Foo Fighters, Whitest Boy Alive and Crowded House. Danish maestro Trentemøller also ranks highly.
All of these sounds are combined to form a truly unique sound; part trance, part soft rock, and wholly blissful. Kit plays all the guitars himself, and sings too in Breaking Down.
First up is my favourite, Tranceformer:
Second is a happy little number, Autumn Burn, with some beautiful pads in the second half:
Elastone is a short, seemingly experimental track:
Finally is Breaking Down, my least favourite track unfortunately, despite the beautiful guitar. However, this track is in the process of being fully re-worked - I look forward to the final results!
Beautiful, beautiful music, with a nicely polished sound for someone this young. A few years on and I envisage higher quality music with a more than just a bit of appeal to labels.
For more information, visit Kit's soundclick page:
No email address provided here unfortunately, but there is a contact form. Please contact Kit if you or someone you know is interested in signing his music!
Today I have four selections, three being trance and one being...electro house? I'm not sure, make up your own mind. It's too funky for electro house, but too blippy for straight house. Meh.
Thanks muchly to a certain friend for contributing the trance selections today, great job.
Mike Koglin - 1:1.618 (Original Mix) [Noys Music]
A blast from 2005, this was in my ‘to ID’ list for quite some time. I'm not quite sure how this went seemingly under the radar (or perhaps I was just sheltered). Previously, upon hearing the name "Mike Koglin", I tied it to the thrashed, and very average, remix of Cassandra Fox – Touch Me with, Jono Grant. Thankfully, Koglin is somewhat of a multi-faceted producer and this is from the harder part of his repertoire, somewhat similar to his work with Alex M.O.R.P.H.
The melodic elements of the track are used to great effect particularly in the breakdown – something that is not prevalent in the Pulser remix. The high energy is maintained throughout with a hard hitting bass line that further emphasizes the track's builds.
Bissen presents The Crossover - Quicksand (Joint Operations Centre Remix) [ASOT/Armada]
The latest release from someone who is arguably the hottest property in the trance world today – John O’Callaghan, under the impressive "Joint Operations Centre" alias. This is my pick of the bunch from the Quicksand release as it removes the somewhat cheesy "hands in the air" element of the original. The high energy, punchy bass and epic melody really separate this from other releases under the John O’Callaghan name, and follows more of a Sander van Doorn or Simon Patterson sound instead.
DJ Eco - Mouth Without A Voice (Martin Roth edit) [Lunatique]
The latest release from American born DJ Eco, backing up from the highly successful Light At The End last year. Continuing in a comparable, yet notably different vein, Mouth Without A Voice uses a similar melodic sound, accentuated with elongated buildups and again complemented with the Martin Roth psy-edged bass line. Killer!
Home Boy - Yesterday An Organ Saved My Life [Home Made Electronica]
Due to be released soon, this one is typical of this label I love so much. Fun and amateurish, yet professional and polished at the same time. Using the same catchy hook from start to finish, it will be stuck in your head for days. The funky bass line is complemented excellently by a tootling synth, slightly reminiscent of Kraftwerk. Swishy hats and and organ round out a very unique piece of work. Besides the Kraftwerk sound, it also sounds surprisingly like 30's swing music in some spots...in a good way that is.
However, by far my favourite element is the amusing vocal sample, delivered in a voice that I could swear is Bill Cosby; "first of all, uh, we wanna talk about the downers and the uppers. Do you think it's fine to have to take a pill, or sniff something, or snort something, or shoot to something in your arm to make yourself feel as a lot of people think as better?"
Trance producer Simon Patterson is everywhere at the moment. His massive hit Bulldozer can be heard at clubs around the world, while his own tour with fellow jock Sean Tyas has been driving crowds crazy everywhere. I caught up with him this week to see what's happening in his world.
You stated in a very recent interview that trance has become formulaic; something that I think a lot of people know and have been saying for many years now. Do you see a quick fix solution for this at all? If so, how?
No, I can’t really see a quick fix solution for this, because this sound is still really popular and new producers learning the trade will often emulate the sound they like. I guess the more risks people take with making stuff, then more new styles will be created. Everything has been done in trance, it is formulaic but it’s hard not to be at times.
I’ve heard murmurings around that any big trance revival could possibly come from psy-trance, which some consider to be a relatively uncorrupted genre, despite commercial success from groups like Infected Mushroom and Skazi in the past few years. What are your thoughts on this?
Well, I love this sound and many of my own influences come from this. I would much rather go to a psy party to hear tunes that I’ve never heard before than go to a trance party and know every track the dj plays. Psy is getting more and more popular. The top 100 alone has so many entries from psy DJs over the last 2 years. It’s such a select taste, but with Infected Mushroom and Astrix becoming more and more commercial, it is opening up doors to becoming even more mainstream and popular.
Your production hints at your interest in psy-trance, as Panic Attack, my favourite track of yours, could very nearly be considered full-on psy, simply for that great bass line, and also F16, for it’s acid-laden lead. I know you’re a fan of Israel’s Astrix. In the near future, where do you see your production headed, perhaps further down this path, or more so with techier, clubbier stuff like Bulldozer?
I spent so long on Panic Attack and Strip Search, but people never really got them. I think they went over people’s heads and I made a conscious decision to not spend so much time on tracks and change the sound a bit. Bulldozer and Smack are the definitely the direction I am heading, but I need to change it up a bit again. I think the whole kick in with bass and kick will wear a bit thin eventually and it is time to try something different. Although I am totally out of ideas at the moment so I have no clue as to what that will be! I love Astrix and his production is outstanding. I may make some psy stuff under a different name!
Are there any other psy producers you admire?
Black and White I really like too. And Silicon Sound.
Tell us about your new tracks, Smack and Whatever It Takes. (Released in April on Spinnin’)
Smack I actually worked on for quite a while. There are a number of versions knocking around because I kept changing it. I wanted to follow up Bulldozer but not make it a carbon copy. I guess arrangement wise it is, but the riff and percussion are a little deeper. So far Armin has been playing it on A State Of Trance and Sander van Doorn has been playing it at most of his gigs. It has been getting a good response, so hopefully it connects like Bulldozer did! The full promo starts in a week so it will be good to see what people think.
I actually did Whatever It Takes about 2 years ago. I must have deleted the song files, because when I went to update it I couldn't find them anywhere, so I left it as is and for a B side record, it's good enough. Again, it’s quite tech influenced with emotional chords and a piano. Then it kicks in with a riff and plods along.
(Simon uses a Mac G5, running Logic 8, with Virus TI and other plugins).
Another thing that seems to be happening in the world of trance is perhaps a resurgence of the UK on the world stage, with newer names such as yourself, John O’Callaghan and Mike Foyle stepping into the fold in the past five years after taking a backseat to the Dutch for many years. What are your thoughts on this? Are there many young names coming up?
For sure. There are so many new guys coming through that are brilliant. The UK especially (well Ireland more so), we have O'Callaghan, Downey, Kearney, Webster and Neal Scarborough all making great stuff. It’s the whole discover sound, it’s massive and has been for years in the UK. Now it’s catching on everywhere.
I’ve heard you talk in a few interviews about people in the industry having a “hunger” to succeed. Is this something you’ve particularly noticed as present in some people, and absent in others?
Everyone I am friends with in the scene has a real hunger. Without that, then I can’t see how you can succeed. It’s that hunger and desire to push on and want to do well that gets you through all the negative times. You can be the most talented person in the world but unless you have the will to win, then unfortunately you won’t get noticed. You need to be bashing down doors in this industry for anyone to care.
What’s your own hunger? Where are you looking to go with your career in the next five years?
I want to be happy, successful and look back on my career and say – “I did everything I wanted and achieved everything I set out to”. I came from Ireland at the age of 17 to London to make it in music. In my mind there was no choice for me to go back home, I had to do it. And with all the knock backs and false promises I had, I never once believed that it couldn't happen. There’s so much competition now with all these new producers, you have to be ahead of the game and always wanting to learn. As long as I keep moving forward each year. Then I’ll be happy.
Back to the beginning of your own career. Yours is interesting in that rather than slog your way through clubs (correct?), you got a job at Radio 1 and raised your profile that way. How did you get the job? What kind of interview did you have to do?
I actually worked at many record labels first. I was A&R assistant at Universal’s AM:PM and then went on to work in A&R at Incentive which was Ministry’s Label. I was about 22 and was there for a few years signing tracks and acts etc. Then when Seb Fontaine joined radio1 I went round to his office to drop an exclusive track off for him. He asked me if I would be up for helping him listen through his weekly records and source tunes for the show and I jumped at the chance. Whilst at Radio 1 I met Judge Jules and asked him if I could do the same. After numerous emails, he finally agreed and then I ended up working with him for about 4 years. So it wasn’t really working for Radio 1 as such, it was working for DJs with shows at radio 1. But this way I made loads of contacts and from here DJing and production started for me.
Can you remember your first day? What did it involve?
Just basically listening to about 500 tracks and trying to work out whether they were any good or not!
How long did it take before your taste in music became respected enough to begin sorting the good records from the bad for the show?
Pretty quickly to be honest.I had been working in A&R for so long, I knew what was good and not. With Seb I didn't really love the music he played. I liked it and I understood it, but I was always into trance and techno. So with Seb I had to be really careful with trying to look at tracks objectively. You know; “is this track interesting enough to play on his show”? And stuff like that.
With Jules, he gave me one trial doing it and told me to keep all the ones that I thought weren't good. So I put the tracks into 3 piles: 1. Good. 2. Interesting. 3. Not Sure. 4. Crap. He listened through all these and I guess I must have got it right, because he asked me to do it full time. Then I had to make a decision who I worked for, because I couldn't work for both. So I ended up working with Jules.
From here, how did you go to touring the world? Which countries did your first tour encompass?
This took quite a while. It’s only in the last 3 years that I have got to travel. The first country I travelled to was Russia, which was brilliant! As I got more and more into solo productions, this is when things started to move quickly!
Do you have any particularly interesting stories away from club land, Djing and music? Regardless of what you’re doing for a living, surely visiting so many foreign countries provides you with a lot of great experiences you might otherwise have missed whilst sitting at home?
The travelling is the best thing about the job. I used to get quite homesick when I first started, but I’ve gotten used to it now and love getting on that plane going somewhere new! It can be quite lonely at times though. You gain so much knowledge from each countries’ culture and it’s a great experience meeting new people all the time.
You’ve been interested in trance since 15, and had a set of decks not long after. What was it like when you finished school? Did you have a succinct ambition to get involved in the industry, or did your parents tell you to shut up and get a real job?
My whole family were involved in the music industry, but they wouldn't help me get into it. I was actually playing semi - pro football, but I had a car crash and couldn’t play again. That’s when I decided about music. I gave up the start of my degree and flew to London and worked out the best way to do this. After a few years of seeing that I was serious about it, my family came round and supported me.
Can you remember the first record you ever bought?
Red Light District - Did You Hear Me.
Eddie Halliwell is a DJ you’ve said you admire, and I couldn’t have agreed more two years ago. What do you think of his recent crossover to the commercial electro-house sound? Be truthful…!
To be honest, I will never say a bad word against Eddie because he's a good friend and for me there is no better DJ in the world that has his skills and also his stage presence. I haven't heard him play live for about a year. The last time was at a boat party called the Monday Bar Cruise which goes from Sweden to Finland and back to Sweden. Its 24 hours of chaos. I played with Eddie and Sander and I’ve have never seen a DJ set like Eddie played that night. He was beyond unreal. Each time I see him I forget how good he is. I guess with his radio 1 show he has to play an amount of house, electro and more mainstream stuff. But at heart he is tech trance DJ.
Do you have any aspirations for your own radio show like Eddie and the other big jocks?
I’d love to one day! It’s so much work though. At the moment the most important thing is productions for me. Eventually a mainstream show would be perfect!
Released last week on trance label Discover Dark was Mekk - Save Your Soul/Resistance.
Mekk is an alias of Rob Stevenson, best know for his work under the name Activa. Stevenson is an extremely talented producer, however what he does can be defined purely as "cookie cutter" trance, working to that tired formula of big breakdowns and bigger build-ups that trance purists hate so much. Regardless, I find that although this is true, what he does he does extremely well. His track have great rhythm, clean melodies and strong percussion, ensuring an enjoyable listen, even if not unique.
His work under Activa has particularly caught my fancy in the past few years, with an output of great tracks such as Genetic, Airflow and Liquefaction, which was produced with Matt Abbott.
A few of his other aliases are also impressive, while some are extremely poor, such as his work under the name Eluna, which hovers in that annoying (and extremely boring) gap between progressive house and progressive trance that Markus Schulz cultivates so freely.
The Mekk alias is arguably one of his better names, with an emphasis on darker, techier work, harder bass lines and less "hands in the air" superfluousness. The first release under this name was Twisted/Restless, in 2006.
Save Your Soul (Dark Dub), the A side on this release, follows heavily in Restless' footsteps, with an almost identical bass line, consisting of a harsh wave, not unlike those found in electro-house, but far smoother and harmonic. As expected, this is backed by a heavy, prevalent kick drum that draws up images of stomping feet and banging heads.
The main melody could be loosely described as progressive-ish, with a nice pad feel that's really only there to stop the bass line getting boring, not to be the main focus of the track. In the breakdowns however, it mutates into something nicer, enhanced by Stevenson's usual array of well-executed yet predictable effects; reverb, delay, snare rolls, yada yada.
Again; impressive track, but completely mundane. Great for a hard-hitting 4am set.
On the flip side is Resistance (Activa vs Mekk Mix), which loses the electro-ish bass line and replaces it with a more traditional trancey one, but adds some nicer hi-hats to the equation, keeping this side of the release just as energetic. That hard edged kick drum reappears, featuring nearly as much mid-range power as in the lower end, ensuring it sounds great even on small speakers, testament to Stevenson's clean mixing and general production skills. However, at times it can slightly overwhelm the other element in the music, reflecting Stevenson's obvious desire to keep these tracks as energetic as possible.
Resistance is far more euphoric than the darker A side, but still with that techy edge expected in Mekk releases. Again, another nice track you'll enjoy now, but nothing that you'll have fond memories of in two years time.
Last month Finnish maestro Ville Virtanen, a.k.a Darude, released a new album entitled Label This!, which he describes as fresh-sounding but still identifiable as his own unique work. I spoke to him last week about this, touring, the now infamous Sandstorm, and what the future may hold for him...
First up, the new album. Starting slowly with a more rock-influenced air, it builds through various BPMs, eventuating in the simple, uplifting trance that Virtanen is known for. The album has been an ideal chance to show off a plethora of carefully honed production skills, with a wider range of genres rearing their head than ever before. Vocals play a greater part than in previous work, and it’s interesting to note that although all tracks are self-contained, they are mixed together, which reflects Virtanen’s extensive experience and love of DJing. As one would expect, the name of the album is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that people are all too eager to pigeon-hole Darude into a certain sound, when all he really cares about is producing “dance floor-aimed electronic music”. In his own words; “the goose bump factor matters, not the category”.
While the casual listener may not notice it, this album has been a huge step for Virtanen, as it is the first release made without the help of friend and mentor Jaakko Salovaara, a.k.a JS16, who originally launched the Darude name back in 1999, as well as fellow Finns Bomfunk MCs, who produced the massive hit Freestyler. “Jaakko is a proud father of two sons and he’s concentrating on his own JS16 material at the moment” says Virtanen; however it’s clear that the challenge of completing his first album alone was as much by his choice as it was Salovaara’s. Virtanen is gracious in regards to is mentor’s help over the years, simply stating “he made me”.
Signing Virtanen to 16 Inch Records in 1999, after meeting in Turka, Finland, Salovaara produced the first two Darude albums, as well as being involved in several “Darude vs. JS16” remixes. Virtanen describes their relationship almost as one made in heaven, in that Salovaara’s knowledge is slightly lacking when it comes to new technologies, but compensated for by his classical music training, while the younger Darude was always up with the latest production methods. “I’ve learned so much working with him, both technical and artistic stuff. In turn, I believe Jaakko has learned a lot of technical stuff from me”. Rounding out his emphatic and glowing praise of Salovaara, Virtanen proclaims that “he could have the lowest-end gear ever and he’d still make unbelievable sounding music”.
Label This! has a slightly updated sound can be traced to Darude’s extensive touring between 2003-2007, in which he played both live and traditional DJ sets around the globe, but mainly in the United States. He attributes his time spent in America partly to “a great agent”, but also to the huge fan base he has established, who he describes as enthusiastic and open-minded to all kinds of electronic music. Although excited about tours that are currently being planned in other locations such as Australia, Asia and South America, he describes these gigs as a little more stressful, involving “one-offs” or long weekends, which increase jetlag and logistical problems. In comparison, the US has more large cities and smaller travel time between shows, allowing for tours that can last anywhere between a fortnight and two months.
Darude’s first live performances on stage consisted of a Korg Karma synth, a Korg Triton Synth, a Yamaha RS7000 hardware sequencer as well as the usual CD players and mixer, but these days, like a lot of DJs, you will find him using a MacBook Pro, Ableton Live and a midi controller. However, in keeping things unique, Virtanen also employs live singers, guitarists, dancers and percussionists, as well as a Video DJ (VJ).
VJing forms a significant part of the Darude spectacle, with visuals being controlled by a close friend, also named Ville. WhiteWater Oy is a multimedia company owned by the two of them and another acquaintance, which is used primarily for making commercials and other films for clients, but which doubles as a production studio for VJ footage. This is a bonus in that Virtanen never has to deal with the copyright issues associated with footage, something he has been vocal about when it comes to music itself. Although a majority of visual footage is not selected by Virtanen, he has strong opinions about what should be used, and tends to prefer “actual real-life images”, as opposed to the “3D tunnels and smileys that every techno party since the beginning of time has had”. It’s clear from this and other comments that Virtanen is intent on producing the most unique and memorable experience he can with his shows; “I have a fish-eye lens on my shoulder and usually a handy cam pointed at the crowd, the stage, or both, that my VJ mixes in whenever he feels like it”. In addition, Virtanen positions a microphone over the crowd, waiting to sample their roar and feed it back to them.
On the topic of Sandstorm, I just couldn’t help myself, but Virtanen doesn’t seem to mind being known as “that Sandstorm guy”. When asked if perhaps he “created a monster”, instead he says that he’d do it all again in an instant:
“I was a regular guy who studied, had a part-time job and made music as a hobby. I had a low-end PC, one synth, a crappy stereo, and my kitchen doubled as my studio room. My biggest dream was to hear a local DJ play my track and get to be in the corner checking out how the crowd goes nuts. Although I naturally loved the track, you know it being my original piece and all, I had no idea that it would/could break internationally, let alone internationally, so yeah, I was more than surprised when it all happened. I’m still extremely proud of ‘Sandstorm’ and play it in some form pretty much every time I play out. That track started my career and I’ll never get tired of it. The only thing that bothered me at some point is people always comparing everything I do to ‘Sandstorm’ and its success. To me that’s a bit unfair because it became a phenomenon for whatever reason (and I know I’m bold saying that myself), it’s not a regular track but a happy accident that snowballed, so it’s a little far-fetched that I could just decide and make another one just like that. I’m not thinking little of myself here either, I know I can make great music, but it takes a lot more than a great track to gain that kind of success. Timing, partners, working my ass off, the right direction of wind…”
Yet still…
“My flyers pretty much everywhere still say “creator of Sandstorm” etc. These days I’m fine with all of that, because, you know, it’s cool if some people come to my gig in 2007 because of ‘Sandstorm’ in 2000 and I get to update their view of me [by] playing what I play today. Mission accomplished.”
While Ferry Corsten created Punk in a mere five hours, Virtanen says that Sandstorm was two years in the making, though actual production time was a lot less than that.
“In 1997 I was making another track when I came across this cool sound and I made a little melody with it and put it aside because it didn’t go anywhere at the time. Two years later I went through some old projects and found the melody again. I heard something nice in it, and especially after putting it through a distortion unit, it sounded amazing to me. I got very inspired and it took me maybe a day to get the basic track done and about a week or so to tweak things before I burnt the first demo to CD and took it to some local DJs and eventually Jaakko.”
While some may say that the track is a bit Euro-dance, a bit too epic, or plain not like it, few could deny that it uses a set of unique sounds rarely heard anywhere else.
“The original melody was made in a tracker program called FastTracker2, from where I exported it to Cubase, where I put the track together using Korg Trinity Rack synth sounds and Propellorhead ReBirth drums. When Jaakko got involved we updated most of the sounds except the original lead melody using the gear in his studio; Clavia Nord Rack 2, Roland JP8080, JV1080 and Ensoniq ASR10. You might also want to know that it was, as was the whole first album, sequenced with Cubase on an Atari ST, mixed with a Mackie 24/8 and recorded to DAT [tape].”
Virtanen states that unlike some producers, after Sandstorm broke, he didn’t feel a lot of pressure to produce something just as big, partially because Jaakko Salovaara was shouldering a lot of responsibility, producing and co-writing tracks as well as dealing with paperwork. In addition, the follow up hit, Feel The Beat, was already a finished product before Sandstorm ever made it big.
“People often think that we did ‘Feel The Beat’ and used the same sounds because ‘Sandstorm’ was a success and we just wanted to ride the wave, but that is not how it was: we simply were working on those tracks one after the other and we liked what we did with ‘Sandstorm’, so it was natural to use similar sounds in the next track too.
As for the Sandstorm film clip, you know, the one with the briefcase and the James Bond-ish chase scene?
“We had a production company write a couple of plots of which we picked the chase one. It was shot in Helsinki, Finland in two days. I didn’t have too much input in the first three videos because I was so inexperienced and felt that it was better to let the pros do their job!”
Although Virtanen enjoys the filming process, he also calls it “tedious and tiring at times”. Regardless, recently he has been more involved in the creative process, writing plots himself, and taking a bigger part in the acting process. In recent clips Virtanen has played ice-hockey and snowboarded.
“I had a blast heli-boarding on the highest peak of the Alps, we were dropped somewhere near 4500m… unfreakingbelievably cool. Words can’t describe that powder surfing nirvana I had that last day of shooting”.
Unlike many other people in the industry, Virtanen is unique in that he has stuck to just the one production identity, Darude, despite stating that he has an undying love for all forms of music, both electronic and traditional. Humbly, he states that he “hasn’t been his own producer until recently”, and tends to rely on production partners when it comes to releases. However, this has changed with the release of Label This! and we will see Virtanen digging up some old material on his hard drive and diversifying his sound.
In spite of several #1 hits, and playing to crowds as large as 100,000 people across the globe, Virtanen still he sees new things ahead of him, starting with a few collaborations; he has dreams of working with both with famous and as yet unheard of musicians. Strangely enough, Madonna is one name that he nominates, wishing to follow in Stuart Price’s footsteps.
“Above all I want to achieve longevity” the thirty-two year old muses, citing plans for more Darude productions and the opening of his own label, Ooops! Records, in a quest to find more music that suits his own DJing style. Like BT, he also envisions himself making music and perhaps sound for movies.
“I don’t see myself quitting what I do now but sure I can see a time when I’ll take it a little easier for a year or two, you know, travelling less and concentrating maybe more on my future family and other social life. I could produce full-on 9-to-5-like and live in the same rhythm with the rest of the world for some time.”
Unsurprisingly, he also sees himself passing on his knowledge to others as a mentor, just as Salovaara did for him. In twenty years he still sees himself touring, and imagines that “someone like me should be quite valuable for new artists”. However, like all true aficionados of music, he never really sees himself quitting, perhaps because after over a decade, it’s become ingrained in his psyche.
“I know I want to ‘settle down’ but there are several examples of that not meaning you need to change playing out and producing to knitting socks or pullovers..."
