Welcome to
Issue 2
March 2015
Well following on from the great success of issue 1, were back again to see what we can do for you in issue 2.
We have more great writing from the team and the readers, more artist reviews, more tech reviews, some more (and by all account really popular) bio’s, charts and anything else that make Twisted Sound…. be Twisted Sound. Enjoy and see you in May.
Cover Model: -‐ www.facebook.com/modelvicki www.facebook.com/phasholaphotography
editor@twistedonline.co.uk www.twistedsound.org
www.twitter.com/TwistedSoundOrg
www.facebook.com/twistedsoundmagazine
Spor is back with an unbelievably good new album ‘Caligo’. If you’re a fan of drum and bass – and even more so drum and bass with a kick ass attitude and a story that runs with it then Caligo will not disappoint. 17 tracks, all available for free (or you can be extra nice and pay for) via BitTorrent the release has blown us away. Via the BitTorrent bundle on offer, also offers the video release of ‘Empire’ one of the albums tracks. Add that to cool artwork and some other great bits and pieces for fans to enjoy. The trend/fad of ‘pay what you want’ seems you be on the increase BUT Caligo is well worth anything that anyone would like to pay. A Huge success, and with an upcoming tour, Spor has us all looking forward to more.
www.bundles.bittorrent.com/bundles/spor www.facebook.com/sporlifted
CS -‐ Hi Colin. Thanks for joining us! CS -‐ So tell us a little bit about how OOOD formed, and what inspired you to start the project. Colin -‐ OOOD formed in Oxford back in 1994, when I had a small home studio and was making ambient dub-‐ influenced music having just spent six months writing music for computer games. I was introduced to Nigel as someone who had some interesting analog synth kit, and he lent some of it to me in return for writing a track together. I met S teve around the same time, when escaping a violent nutter with a baseball bat who had come looking for my then-‐flatmate; turned out Steve and I had a lot in common musically, and he helped me finish a track I was working on at the time. The three of us getting together to write happened very soon after, and it was obvious to us from that first session that we had something special. CS -‐ It must have felt very exciting to see and hear it all coming together, in it's infancy! I’ve booked you to play at Strange Daze a few times, now. Once with the full live OOOD band, and once with your Kleesh project. What was the inspiration behind Kleesh and why d id you end up moving away from that project? I assume it was to focus on OOOD’s music? Colin -‐ I'd been recommended to Mark as someone who could help him debug his little home studio, and we soon became friends. Making music together was an obvious thing to do, and just like with OOOD it was clear from the first track that it should be a continuing thing. We dabbled in a few different styles at the beginning – funk, breakbeat, D+B – before settling on techno. M ark's running the project on his own n ow; I wish him the best of luck with it. I guess 'musical differences' is the best way to describe my take on why we're not still working together. CS – It does happen! You also master music for record labels and have been involved with artists across a fairly broad spectrum of genres. Now, this might be a question we touch upon again in future articles…and I know it is hard to generalise, but do you see different genres have differing attitudes to the q uality of production, and the finer points of releasing music, like mastering? Colin -‐ Sorry to be b oring but not really. There are many very talented sound engineers/producers in all the genres I've worked in, as well as a few who are, shall we say, less skilled. Every style has its h eroes and zeroes, from rock to calypso to the infinite number of dance music subgenres, but there isn't one project I haven't really enjoyed making shine as much as I can. A well-‐produced track is a joy to work with but I relish a rescue job – and genre is no p redictor of which it will be. Some h i-‐tech artists have asked me to keep the subs really quiet, some have asked me to make them what I would call 'proper punchy'; not easy at that speed but I enjoy the challenge of trying to satisfy my client's taste whilst remaining true to my vision of 'good sound'.
CS -‐ You’ve been heavily involved with the Goa/Psy scene since year dot, so I know you’ve seen tonnes of fads. Producers h ave gone through phases of taking influence from all sorts of things. Big room Trance, Hard Dance, Commercial have all filtered down into the underground in one way or another. Countries have even had a very specific influence, perhaps one of the biggest was the tech-‐house-‐prog vibe that was pioneered in Germany and Europe…but we’ve also seen the like of Suomi and the “Forest” sound take the Psy scene by storm, especially in London. Through all that, however, OOOD have always had an original sound. What have you done to keep in touch with the trends, but maintain your own inimitable style? Colin -‐ It's totally down to the personnel involved. None of the 5 of us who have been part of OOOD over the years has ever had any desire whatsoever to copy anyone else or write the same track twice, concepts which sometimes seem to b e the foundation for entire subgenres. We've always taken inspiration from other forms of music and artists outside the scene; I'm incredibly blessed to be working in OOOD with the three best DJs I've ever heard, all of whom have a love for music of all kinds and an encyclopedic knowledge of dance music that is as deep as it is wide, and they have all been pumping quality music into my life for the last 20 years, only a fraction of which has been psytrance. If it weren't for S teve, Ryo and Rama I would probably listen to very little music outside work and gigs! I'd say this is a good way to stay original within a genre – don't listen to anything similar to the music you're creating. Another way we keep our sound fresh is by writing in different combinations of the 4 or u s. Steve, Ryo and I all have our own voices as producers, and although Rama doesn't write on his own he also h as a strong vision in the studio, and the different flavours that come out when we work in different proportions with each other help our music stand out from the rest. CS – You’ve been billed all over the world… I’m sure some of our readers would like to hear a few of your favourite locations. Tell us a quick story from your travels; one that we won’t have read off your website… Colin -‐ Favourite locations? Brazil, South Africa, India for beauty of location; Japan for technical support and openhearted hosting... But as for a quick story... We were booked to play live in Avignon, France, in April 1997. We'd bought ourselves a band van with the proceeds from our big 12” on Flying Rhino, and the three of us drove down to the south of France with all our equipment and a few friends. Nigel took along a jar of mushroom honey that had been brewing since the previous season, and just before we left for France he had fallen off the roof of a venue in Oxford whilst trying to get in (he'd been prevented from entering due to being too drunk) and his arms and legs were very stiff as he'd landed on all fours or something... So picture the scene: we're driving across France in the middle of the n ight. Nigel is off his face on mushroom honey and h as already used the drainage holes near the van floor to relieve himself, but that's no longer what he needs so we stop at a service station. Most of us pile out of the van to get something to snack on from the shop, and then Nigel goose-‐steps in wild-‐eyed out of the darkness, knees locked straight, arms out in front of him like a zombie reaching for its prey, calling out “Toilet? Toilet?” in a really bad French accent. Ah, the good old days.
www.facebook.com/OOOD.music
CS – haha. Brilliant! ..I can just picture the scene! Last article, I touched on my thoughts about music written for sober people, and music written for people under the influence, and whether a divide exists, musically. Do you consider that at all when you’re producing? Do you consider it at all when you’re performing? Colin -‐ I've written on acid exactly once, in a session with Nige and Steve and Tim Healey. I don't remember the session much, apart from a feeling that it was quite hard work, but the track was a good one in the end and was actually our first ever release before OOOD had anything out.. Getting home after a 'big night out' and going straight into the studio isn't unknown but the combination of that head state and studio time isn't my favourite. Smoking is a different matter altogether though. I'm always 90% straight and 100% sober when we perform... someone has to be! I don't personally agree that drugs necessarily have to have anything to do with enjoying a night out; I feel like they make me less discriminating and because I'm more of an introvert they send me deeper into my h ead rather than making it easier for me to communicate. I was straight-‐edge for a few years in the early 2000s and it was during that time that I co-‐wrote two of the albums of which I'm most p roud – OOOD 'Free Range' and Voice of Cod 'We Are Free', so I disagree that they're necessary to make good p sytrance, too. I h ad my first psytrance release before I'd ever taken drugs or been to a psytrance party, so I don't think it's necessarily true that you need them to 'get' the music for the first time either, although I can definitely see how it might help. But that's just my experience, one tiny dot on the graph of all possibilities. CS – I’ve written in the past, both on social media and in the last article, about my thoughts towards the possibility that large, corporate sponsored events may sacrifice a bit of community spirit, in favour of mass appeal and high production values – What do you think of that? Colin -‐ It seems obvious; if a festival has corporate sponsorship – adverts in your face all the time – then the atmosphere subtly changes away from pure enjoyment of the music, the tribe and the location towards a feeling of being sold something – or even of being the product yourself; of being delivered to advertisers, which personally I find very uncomfortable especially in a scene which proclaims to be all about peace and love and saving the planet from consumerism. But I know it can be very difficult for promoters to find the budget to organise events of a standard that people expect without corporate help, and the lure of extra money can be very hard to resist; even Boom Festival h as had commercial arrangements with people like Coca Cola in the past, that would appear to go against the stated ethos of the event. CS – Your discography is pretty prolific. What do you have in store for us this year? ..And where will we get a chance to hear you p lay live? Colin -‐ Towards the end of 2014 we had a slew of releases in rapid succession – a deep p sy-‐techno track on the Noisily Festival compilation on Liquid Records; a heavy psybreaks remix of Hedflux's Rhythm Prism on Luminus Records and a swampy psytrance EP on Phantasm Records which included a first class remix by Manmademan... so far in 2015 we've only got one release on the cards, a track called Leopard, a slinky mid-‐paced psytrance track coming out on Vertigo Record's 10th anniversary compilation. They released our last album “You Think You Are” too, back in 2012 and I do a lot of mastering for them. We're also working on a super-‐secret remix for <artist redacted>, which will be coming out on <label redacted> in <date redacted> and there are a few individual tracks and external collaborations on the boil which should see the light of day this year. And of course we've been re-‐bassing some of our favourite old-‐school OOOD tracks too, mainly for our live sets in the first instance but they're too good to keep to ourselves for long... watch this space! CS – I’m looking forward to hearing the new stuff, as well as the rebassed/re-‐mastered classics! Cheers for taking the time to talk to us, Colin…. See you soon! Colin -‐ Cheers Chris, thanks for the opportunity. Take it easy!
CS – Join us next month, where we’ll re-‐open some of the topics touched on in our first rotary letter article, and we also have another very special interview lined up for you too!
You’re faithfully,
Chris 'Nanook' Skrzynski www.chrisnanook.webs.com
Please check OOOD's website for more info
www.oood.net
www.reverbnation.com/oood -‐ www.soundcloud.com/oood
PART 2 -‐ Welcome to our second installment of showcasing the festivals of 2015, where were now looking ahead to the next quarter to see what’s getting us excited and what’s worth trying to attend. Geheime Liefde – Utrecht, Netherlands – May 2nd
www.geheimeliefde.nl
The delight of the magical surroundings and the electronic lineup surprise make it worth the wait. 'Geheime Liefde' -‐ which means 'Secret Love' -‐ is a creative dream, with colourfully decorated paths leading you to stages in old bunkers, as well as other kinds of intimate places around Fort Vechten. And of course, techno and tech-‐house. Marvellous Island – Paris, France – May 8th – May 10th
www.marvellous-‐island.fr/fr
www.nuits-‐sonores.com/en
Kicking off on La Fête de la Victoire (8th May) and keeping up a great new addition to the electronic festival scene in France, Marvellous Island explodes into life for the third time this May. Washing over the most authentic locations in Paris with a heady mix of world-‐renowned DJs and extravagant décor, just keeps getting better every year. Nuits Sonores – Lyon, France – May 13th – May 17th With five days and five nights of electronic performances and interactive participation, incorporated over 40 city locations. Orchestras, DJs and visual artists align allowing cross over shows and colliding art forms to tale centre stage. 13th event and going strong. Pfingst Open Air – Straubing, Germany– May 22nd – May 24th
www.pfingstopenair.de
Pfingst Open Air has been going since 1980 and thus prides itself on offering a bill to rival any other. Continually pushing genre boundaries, expect everything from hip-‐hop to punk, folk to electro and rock to reggae from the 100 artists that grace the festival's seven stages. Pacha Festival – Amsterdam– May 23rd
www.pachafestival.com
For the fourth and last year running, the famous, glimmering red cherries will return to the heart of Amsterdam, bringing a little bit of magic from the Balearics to Holland's capital city. The unique Java Eiland will be transformed into a mini-‐Ibiza on the river Ij, showcasing upfront dance and electronic music. With stunning stages, the popular Ibiza Hippie market, dazzling entertainment, state-‐of-‐the-‐art production and, of course, a solid line up, nothing will be left to chance when it comes to lighting up Java Eiland.
World Of Pleasure – Utrecht, Netherlands – June 6th
www.worldofpleasure.nl
On an electronic curve that sweeps all the way from house to hardstyle with glimpses of EDM along the way, World of Pleasure's pop-‐up wonderland is one of the most spectacular boutique festivals around. Bold staging, pyrotechnics, psychedelic visuals help make this a Dutch festival to experience. Sonar Barcelona – Barcelona, Spain – June 8th -‐ June 20th
www.sonar.es/en/2015
Keeps its finger on the pulse of the electronic dance music scene, showcasing lead and emerging names within the beating heart of the city. By Day a chance to catch the hottest artists & DJs before they break, or learn more about future trends from leading professionals in the creative, technological and cultural industries at its twin event Sónar+D. Awakenings Festival – Spaarnwoude, Netherlands – June 27/28th
www.awakeningsfestival.nl
Awakenings Festival 2015 plants the best of techno and harder-‐edged house in the natural beauty of Spaarnwoude. Boasting international favourites alongside up-‐and-‐comers, taking stock of another 12 months at the sharp end of European and world techno. Off the scale production and even bigger sound make this key to attend. Hideout Festival – Novalja, Croatia – June 28th -‐ July 3rd
www.hideoutfestival.com
Streaming along the beaches and floating across the Adriatic, Hideout continues to hold its own at the forefront of electronic music festivals, in a country that is totally spoilt for choice. From house and techno to rave, dubstep and minimal all in one awesome week on the island of Pag. Sensation – Amsterdam – July 4th
www.sensation.com
Unlike any other dance event we know, Sensation transforms Amsterdam's ArenA into a white wonderland, where DJs spin house & trance classics from spinning booths while the white river of guests below swells amongst the pulsating lights & hazy smoke. If you’ve never been to a Sensation – then you’ve never lived. Armada Day & Night Festival – Croatia – July 6th -‐ 9th
www.armadamusic.com
Croatia's prestigious club Papaya is preparing to hand over residency to mega label Armada Music, who will be bringing with them Cosmic Gate, Andrew Rayel and MaRLo amongst others in what looks set to be an insane four days of beach-‐club decadence. Stunning sound system, plush scenery makes this more than worthwhile attending.
Balaton Sound – Zamardi, Hungary – July 9th -‐ 12th
www.sziget.hu/balatonsound
Somewhere between a festival and an off-‐the-‐scale beach party, Balaton Sound pounds out A-‐list lineups that bring the very best in electronic music to the stunning shores of Lake Balaton. Seaside lounges, bars, restaurants and all the luxuries you could need to provide perfect respite when the temperature cranks up a degree or two. Ultra Europe – Split, Croatia – July 10th -‐ 12th
www.ultraeurope.com
Ultra Europe is set to return for its third year in Split, Croatia, and promises to build on its first two years to become even bigger and better. And that's after over 150,000 enjoyed its incredible all-‐star line-‐up and epic light shows in 2014. Main stadium, boat parties, and beach parties on Hvar Island make this one NOT to miss. Electrobeach Festival – La Bacares, France – July 10th -‐ 12th
www.electrobeach.com/en
A tidal wave of EDM and trance fans, Electrobeach Music Festival’s yearly 40,000-‐strong crowd hits the Mediterranean coast in France’s extreme south for the biggest dance event the country has to offer. Bringing world-‐conquering DJs of the stature of Calvin Harris and Armin van Buuren. Sea Dance – Budva, Montenegro – July 15th -‐ 18th
www.seadancefestival.me
Following on from winning 2014's Best European Medium-‐Sized Festival, Montenegro's electronic rooted Sea Dance Festival has announced it's joining forces with global music brands UKF and TheSoundYouNeed. 2015's edition is a must for all dance fans up for partying till sunrise, sipping on cocktails and sand between their toes. Tomorrowland – Boom, Belgium – July 24th -‐ 26th
www.tomorrowland.com
After a duel-‐headed 10th anniversary that did much more than blow out a few candles, Tomorrowland 2015 will look to reinvent the rulebook again and host a party so big, so outrageously brilliant, that all other festivals will spend a lifetime trying to catch up. As the world's biggest DJs and electronic producers make their way to Boom in Belgium, organisers will dress up some 15 stages in over-‐ sized flowers, active volcanoes, giant disco balls, explosive butterflies, smoke cannons, confetti and anything else their minds can possibly dream up.
We’ll see you next issue with the final part of our festival guide for 2015 and don’t forget if your going, have been. We want to hear from you: info@twistdsound.org
Going through pages and websites of various musicians, artists, singers, djs etc occasionally you find one of “those” which you cant quite shake out of your head, so we thought if they seem that good…why not share it with the rest of the reading world. So Twisted Sounds 1 to watch – Electro guru -‐ Rocket Pimp.
1
So…on a recent flick through some pages and site, on Soundcloud we found Rocket Pimp and took a listen – and oh my! were we impressed. The first track we listened to on the list was a free track called ‘Modulate – Hallelujah’ – A drum and bass/dub/electro track that just oozed a level of class, technical brilliance and one hell of a tune. Stabbing synths, rolling basslines, epic drops make this a lil monster of a tune. After that came ‘Got To Run’ another bass savvy electro piece of genius creativity with a hardcore edge, fast, energetic, and full of mass promise. Then onto ‘Our Rebellion’ an electro piece of class with depth, darkness and undertones of perfection, a quirky laden track with annoyingly catchy melodies, great breaks and anthemic all at the same time. And the next track we listened to, was to see the quality of remixing and ‘DirtyLoud’s Vampires Come Out (Rocket Pimp Remix) – as remixes go – again class work, with a reminiscence to Example – But with Rocket Pimps near trademark stamp all over it. Finally we listened to the Rocket Pimp remix of MDK Ft Nick Sadler – Phoenix – a typically (well now typically) a piece of Rocket Pimp regularity n its styling and sound, a great job done very well, and loving the near commercial undertones of the remix. In all – from what we’ve heard Rocket Pimp delivers exceptionally well, with little to no falter in his abilities and from us, definitely one to watch, we with certainty will be keeping an eye on him.
www.facebook.com/RocketPimp www.soundcloud.com/rocketpimp www.twitter.com/ROCKETPIMP
There are djs and producers, then comes along someone who makes both seem effortless and makes exceptional music, this issue we take a look at one such person…Sneijder. Andrew Liggett aka Sneijder is a Trance DJ & producer from Portadown and based in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, UK. It all started as a 13year old bedroom DJ, playing Dutch hardcore and travelling to Holland on a regular basis to buy exclusive records. It was while on these trips his passion for dance music grew and became an obsession. Over the years his sound progressed and moved into more psy/hard trance around 1996 and then in 1999 he fell in love with uplifting trance. Playing at various clubs and events in Ireland for some years and also being nominated for 'Best New DJ' in the 'N.Ireland Dance Music Awards', Sneijder's passion for music was clear from the start. Spending some time as a club DJ, it wasn't until 2009 that Sneijder decided to learn the art of music production; it was a decision that would change things forever. After only 4 months producing he made his debut track 'The Phuture' which received support from Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, John O'Callaghan, Eddie Halliwell & more. Later that year Sneijder completed his first uplifting trance track 'Away From Here', it was quickly snapped up by Paul van Dyk's Vandit imprint and was one of the most talked about tracks of the year, and has featured on no less than 15 major compilations to date. Soon after a string of hits followed, which put his name firmly amongst the A-‐Listers of trance. Over the last few years Sneijder has built up an impressive back catalogue of tracks and remixes on labels such as Armada, Black Hole, Subculture, Kearnage, Spinnin, FSOE, Vandit and also features in every major DJ's record box's and radio show’s on a weekly basis. Tipped in DJ mag by John O'Callaghan, ''I’m tipping this guy to be massive'' and praised by trance legend Paul van Dyk ‘‘an extremely exciting talent'' Sneijder has not disappointed. Traveling the world on a regular basis and featuring on the same lineups as the worlds best, it didn't take the Irish DJ/Producer long to become one of the most talked about prospects on the scene. Now a regular fixture on all the top name playlists, Sneijder continues to go from strength to strength. Gaining heavy support his sound global.
Known for his trademark sound, a fusion of uplifting and tech trance, Sneijder is fast becoming one of the most in demand artists in the trance scene. Already notching up an impressive 4 Beatport top tens and featuring on countless compilation albums such as 'Armin van Buuren -‐ A State Of Trance 2013' 'John O'Callaghan’s Subculture' 'Gatecrasher Anthems Mixed by Paul van Dyk' 'ATB In The Mix' 'The Official ASOT550 CD' & more. Completing a series of chart topping remixes for Armin van Buuren, John O'Callaghan, Solarstone, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Betsie Larkin & Andain, has put the Sneijder name firmly amongst the worlds trance elite. Playing all over the globe each week to thousands of fans in countries such as Australia, Argentina, UK, Scotland, Ireland, Egypt, Poland. Spain, USA, Mexico, Canada & featuring at the worlds largest trance event, ASOT600 Den Bosch, Holland. With an ever-‐growing loyal online fan base Sneijder showcases his music to his fans via his monthly radio show 'Distant World', aired on Afterhours.FM & his monthly podcast, titled 'The Sneijder Podcast' available via iTunes. Both portals keep his fans and followers up to date with all his recorded sets, exclusive studio material and music, which are currently featuring, in his live performances. Sneijder plays a blend of uplifting & tech trance and has been described by many as an extremely versatile dj who can play across the board; this shines through in both his dj sets and in his studio productions. If you haven't heard the Sneijder sound yet, it won't be long until you do!
www.sneijder.net -‐ www.facebook.com/sneijdermusic -‐ www.twitter.com/SneijderMusic www.youtube.com/user/SneijderMusic
Translunar Who are you? I am Translunar AKA Darrell Farnsworth, Electronic music Composer and musician. What’s your style and sound? I work within a number of Genres including crossing styles over within EDM but within a very melodic musical framework. What’s your background? I have been a musician and composer for many years and starting with using Analogue synthesizers and also working as a guitarist in bands. What’s your favourite track RIGHT NOW? Nothing-‐in particular but I have enjoyed listening to Aphex Twin’s new music recently. What’s your favourite track/anthem piece off all time? I still love the early electronic music pioneers so probably anything by Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis etc. What equipment do you use/work with? I use Mac computers via Logic 9 with Arturia soft synths and have been experimenting with a lot of Arturia sounds and instruments in the last couple of years. Where have been your favourite venues to play? I have not played live for many years but did use to play the East M idlands pub and club circuit many years ago. Now I am just a studio-‐based musician but I am planning to p lay live soon. What’s have been your career highlights? Some of my music was featured on the BBC Sold on Song website many years ago and this was the forerunner of BBC Introducing. I have also been played many times on BBC Introducing. I also reached 1 million plays on Soundcloud last year, which is excellent for me, as I have had no mainstream support. What’s next for you? I intend to compose and promote my music until I reach the biggest audience I can and would love to work on Film and TV music. If you could change anything about the music scene or industry…what w ould that be? I personally think that the music scene is pretty dire and actually not made up of anything particularly valid musically. It is also very hard for an Underground musician to get major record company support because record companies only invest in dead certs. For me and other underground musicians, this means we have to work within the underground without any major financial support, however I have seen my music get an immense amount of interest from listeners who just enjoy music and this gives me heart that eventually stand alone composers like me will get to a certain point whereas we cannot be ignored anymore as the music listening public will want something more.
What’s the best piece of advice you can give to a newbie trying to get into the market? When you are making music try to go your own way and be original. It is hard as we all have influences b ut do not just follow the crowd to get mainstream success. Where can we find out more about you?
www.soundcloud.com/translunar www.reverbnation.com/translunarmusic www.translunarmusic.com www.mixcloud.com/translunar www.twitter.com/translunarmusic
www.facebook.com/pages/Translunarmusic
With Craig Palethorpe
Welcome to Issue 2 of Twisted Sound, after issuer 1 we’ve been having some fantastic reviews and seems the magazine is being taken better than expected, so happy TS HQ. So last issue we had Tammi’s ramblings, so thought maybe I should have my two pence worth.
1994 Ritzy, Babington Lane, Derby Clubhouse Featuring Carl – Light My Fire 23:00pm I remember it so well; this was probably the first taste of my clubbing and also dj journey. The club was full, the dancefloor even more so, the dj playing some (by todays standards pretty cheesy dance music) as well as some nowadays classed Classics.
I was with bunch of friends and we’d been out n Derby doing the circuit (Jimmy’s, The Bell, Blue Note etc) and as was ‘the norm’ ended up at Ritzy. This was my first ever night out “clubbing” – an underage teen on his first “big night out”.
So in Ritzy, I drank…I danced…I had a laugh, it was a great time. I even remember dancing on the stage they had at the side of the dancefloor to Cappella, Corona and Doop (shocking I know), but it was the clubhouse track that really got my ears to attention, I remember it so well the synth keys intro and Carl’s mellow vocals “burn baby all my energy, so baby come and light my fire” and then boom! The piano break, followed by the metallic keys and bassline.
Something struck me that night that this was something I HAD to do far more often. Yeah I was hooked.
So from that night on I was at Ritzy pretty much every weekend, there for the music and the vibe and to basically dance my ass off. Pretty soon thereafter I started noticing the DJ and paid a lot more attention to what he was doing as much as dancing he the music he was playing.
So like a really bad groupie started to spend a lot of time around the dj booth, checking out what he was doing, being awestruck by the records he was playing and the ease of how he made it look effortless. This was what I wanted to do. This is what I had to do.
So over the weeks I got friendly with Rob the dj and actually started going into the dj booth, I was up close and personal to what was going to be (at a later date) something HUGE for me. After a few months I was asked the infamous question which was to change my life: “do you want a go?” – to which I replied with a slightly nervous yet over excitable “please”.
That night to a packed as usual Ritzy I dropped Sweet Harmony – Liquid to a VERY appreciative crowd – this was awesome. And then as I it couldn’t get any better I for the very first time mixed…MIXED that track into Open Your Mind -‐ Usura – and that was it…this was to be MY LIFE…..
Wez G Who are you? Wez G What’s your style and sound? House, Techno, Chillout, Drum & Bass, Classics What’s your background? DJ for 20 years, started running my own events in South Wales when I was 17. What’s your favourite track RIGHT NOW? Lostep vs. Sade – ‘Never Thought I’d See The Day’ What’s your favourite track/anthem piece off all time? Age Of Love – Age Of Love What equipment do you use/work with? Traktor, Ableton, Technics, Vestax mixers, Akai APC40, NI Komplete, Maschine Where have been your favourite venues to play? My own Set Sail with Shuffle Boat Parties on various British rivers What’s have been your career highlights? 4hr warm-‐up for Paul Oakenfold at Chuff Chuff What’s next for you? More and better production If you could change anything about the music scene or industry, w hat would that be? A more balanced pay structure across the board What’s the best piece of advice you can give to a newbie trying to get into the market? Learn and Love your art and do not allow yourself to get distracted from your goals. Where can we find out more about you?
www.djwezg.com www.facebook.com/DJWezGShuffle www.twitter.com/wezg www.soundcloud.com/wezg www.mixcloud.com/wezg
Lets Play Last issue we reviewed some of the dj software that’s available, and so this issue were taking a look at some of the equipment that goes with it – namely what were using in the office/studio ourselves.
Pioneer DDJ-‐Ergo-‐V The Pioneer DDJ-‐Ergo-‐V was a piece of kit that came to me late on, before this I had been a user of a Hercules controller (cheap, cheerful and light) and prior to that a vinyl junkie. So as a relatively newbie to controllers, the Pioneer got my attention, and I don’t just mean all the fancy lights it has. So to start off – Price Tag = around £300-‐£350 A little pinch in the wallet, but for the brand and its abilities worthwhile. So what does it have/do? *Pulse Control for dj performance using light *Unique “delight” design concept that suits every environment. * Feature laptop dock construction that makes small space DJing easier. * Comes with Virtual DJ limited edition software (plus compatible with others) * Latest Serato DJ Intro software included. * Completely USB Powered * Won iF Product Design Award 2012 * Features same layout as professional pioneer dj models * Higher operability with the large 115mm diameter jogs. * Built in audio interface * Only weighs in at 2.9kg so perfectly portable. * Windows and Mac compatible. * Channel fader and crossfader equipped with p-‐lock fader caps, which prevent the knobs from coming off.
Thoughts & Verdict So 2 of us in TS HQ have used the Pioneer and 2 of us will happily continue to do so for some time. Its ease of use after (occasionally tricky) set up is quick to master and once you have a play with its capabilities – no problems therein. Its light enough for us to carry about the place easily and as it’s not huge in size either make it fit into any decent hold all sized bag, but carrying under your arm works fine with us. As it’s a pioneer and one that matches the layouts of Pioneer club equipment it’s far easier to transition from this to theirs, something not as easy with other branded controllers. Only downside is it doesn’t work with iPad – but then again that saves filling up your iPad with gigabytes of music and carrying a secondary expensive piece of equipment around with you – so good and bad. The only other “bad” point is because its so light and portable it can be seen as “feels cheap” BUT it’s a Pioneer, it’s a controller…what more could you want? Our Verdict – plain and simply – yes its not the cheapest controller on the market, BUT it is one of the easiest, most compatible and user AND club friendly controllers we’ve used. It’s more up to date than most and with its bunch of benefits makes it a top contender for some time at its price range. So we are giving the Pioneer DDJ-‐Ergo-‐V Controller a Twisted Tip of 8/10 – great piece of kit, fun and easy to use, just wish it was a bit cheaper – but a great buy and well worth giving it a go.
www.pioneerdj.com/english/products/controller/ddj-‐ergo-‐v.html
Who are you? Hi I’m Jekyll, a South Coast Based UK Hardcore DJ/Producer! What’s your style and sound? If I’m honest I haven’t really pigeonholed myself into a style/sound, I love the uplifting hand in the air riffs but at the same time I love the bouncy dirty basslines too… I think its great to have a contrast as it never really limits you on what to make to be honest, not that any producer should be limited J What’s your background? So I started out running a Radio show with my brother from another MC Leggett a long time ago, then got into promoting an event called Relentless Ravers. From then a fan base grew but never really hit off big time, I entered a lot of DJ competitions and started out producing on my own and with various friends in my area and never really getting the hang of it. Now I’m an established producer representing the mighty Futureworld Records run by Mark Breeze and the awesome Rusty Records with FatSteve & Dave Castellano and Jonny G. What’s your favourite track RIGHT NOW? I’ve gotta say Rest Of Your Life by Darren Styles & Re-‐Con has got a hold on me at the moment, can’t wait for that track to hit my inbox! What’s your favourite track/anthem piece off all time? My favourite anthem? Jheez that’s a hard question to ask anyone, but for me (and a few people already know this) its Gammer & Cat Knight – A New Feeling. The vocals just hit me and I get goosebumps instantly! What equipment do you use/work with? I like to keep things simple in my studio as I travel a lot so I like to take it with me, so I’ve got my MacBook Pro with Cubase 7.5, a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 and a small Akai keyboard. See you don’t need lots of expensive equipment to make music Where have been your favourite venues to play? The best venue I’ve play so far has been The Pier, Worthing… The set up was amazing and a great crowd to go with it! What’s have been your career highlights? There’s been a few if I’m honest, they may not be highlights for others but for me they’re sentimental:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Having 2 tracks signed to 2 different albums by TrackMaster Music. Being signed by Whizzkid to Broken Records Getting through to 2 finalist round of HTID DJ Competitions Playing a set with Whizzkid and my boy Jonny G in my hometown Re-‐Creating Rusty Records with my friends Signing to Futureworld Records What’s next for you? So my first release on FW will be in April and I will have a lot more music being release later in the year on both FW and Rusty Records. I have a number of gigs lined up in various parts of the country including a Rusty Records Showcase set (look out for that one!). I’ll also be working with a number of different producers this year to create more lovely Hardcore for your ears. If you could change anything about the music scene or industry…what would that be? I’d like to see more smiles and constructive criticism… Its all well and good telling people what's bad about mixes, music, events etc but tell people why it’s bad… Maybe that way people will be more prone to take that advice and work on it to make things bigger and better! What’s the best piece of advice you can give to a newbie trying to get into the market? This is the one thing I live by and it should be in a starter pack for up n Comers in any genre… Keep your head down and work hard! How do you expect any headliner/promoter to take you seriously or listen to your music if you’re mouthing off 24/7 or airing dirty laundry on social media? People are watching all the time without you realizing so just take things easy and enjoy what you’re doing, your time will come. Where can we find out more about you? There’s a few links that you can keep up to date with everything that I’m doing and listen to some of my music… PEACE!
www.facebook.com/www.jekylldj.co.uk www.souncloud.com/jekylldj www.twitter.com/jekylldj
Hardcore Top 3 – March Jekyll – Get Crazy Futureworld
Newest offering released on the 13th April by newest highlight to hardcore Jekyll – this is a joyous hardcore outing with oozes appeal. From its elegant keys to it’s driving melody and its rolling bassline and hands in the air synths. The track builds with intensity to a hardcore masterpiece. Top 3 this month…and may well be for some time to come.
www.soundcloud.com/futureworldrecords/jekyll-‐get-‐crazy
Dave Castellano – It’s You Rusty Records
Light vocals, striking keys and riffs and one hell of a driving bass line make this any hardcore fans tune of choice. Reminiscent to the likes of Darren Styles and wouldn’t feel out of place on any hardcore album. A joyful hardcore track that’s got promise written all over it and could chart higher.
www.trackitdown.net/track/dave-‐castellano/its-‐you/hardcore
IYF & C0R3Y – Ladies & Gentleman Universal Hardcore Digital
A fury of mixed sample vocals and a deep bass line to get you tempted, and then you’re hit with a mixture of quirky synths, bouncy percussion then driven further into its own hardcore party. With some great builds and breaks, it has drops that make you want to listen to more.
www.trackitdown.net/artist/583178/iyf-‐and-‐c0r3y.html
Hardcore Mix of the Month Mc Wadar & Dj Danii – Brand New
First cheeky mix from Wadar & Danii and a stormer it is too – for 28 minutes there’s not much more anyone could ask for from a hardcore mix – exceptional is how we can only rate this: www.soundcloud.com/mcwadar/mc-‐wadar-‐dj-‐danii-‐brand-‐new
Going with Go-‐Zilla There are of course masses of bands out there, some come and go without leaving a trace, some come and last the distance, some just have that ‘something; which makes them stand out. One such band, which we’ve been hearing a fair bit from for a while now are Go—Zilla. And with 2015 album ‘Ignite’ doing just that, we thought we would pass a little review and judgment on them and their newest single from the album, ‘Break The Silence’.
Break The Silence Starting off with the typically Go-‐Zilla, Chris Jones raw backing vocals and catchy Jon Youseman vocals and electric synths rolling over some mighty fine drum work, courtesy of Glenn Rice’s. Break The Silence delivers an eclectic anthemic piece of electro, dubstep and rock to make a pretty fine track. With some great drops and breaks made to measure this could well and truly be another GZ masterpiece. Overall verdict – class track from GZ and take a listen yourselves at:
www.gozillaofficial.bandcamp.com/track/break-‐the-‐silence
To those that don’t know, or who haven’t heard of Go-‐Zilla, well what cave have you been in? But in fairness like a lot of today’s bands they’re not pretentious, they work hard and always look at bettering where they’ve come from. When I first spoke to Chris almost a year ago, his enthusiasm then is exactly the same as it is now, almost giddy with GZ direction. There’s Passion then there’s Chris passion for GZ.
I once said their sound reminded me of a mixture of mid career Prodigy and Pendulum. I still stand by that BUT it’s also more than fair to say GZ are in a league and sound of their own nowadays too. I for one always wait for the infamous message from Chris telling me to ‘check this out’.
www.facebook.com/GoZillaOfficial www.youtube.com/user/GoZillaOfficial
PURE Trance - top 10 - March 10 9
Ucast & George Kamelon – JUMP Husman – Exodus Mark Sixma – Vendetta Masoud – Best Days
8 7
Armin Van Buuren – Hystereo Ben Gold – Atomic Orjan Nilsen – Shenanigans Gai Barone – Mr Slade
6 5 4 3 2 1
Gareth Emery – Soldier Armin Van Buuren -‐ Together
WORD
With Paul Domaster THE RISE OF THE MULTI-‐GENRE DJ The mid 90’s saw the growth of genre specific djs, as the clubbing scene split, the djs that played in the upsurge of new nights and clubs start specifying what they played. Of course it had always happened to a point, but the rate at which genre’s within the clubbing scene were being created at this point was snowballing, it only took a bassline change, a type of kick drum change and it was called something else. We have seen this continue to happen since, new dance music genres have been arriving every year it feels, but what about the Dj’s who play them?
I have always classed myself as a multi genre Dj, I specialise in more than one style of music, I have done this for the past *cough* 25 years. I have had a drum & bass career under one name, a Trance and hard dance career under another, a more underground career, the list goes on. I love music, yes it takes time to keep up on what’s going on within each genre and at the times of doing 3 different sets in a night, it was challenging, but I love it!
Up until the last few years I have been in a minority of professional djs by being multi-‐genre, in certain surroundings it has always been seen as something less trendy, but I am a dj, I do it for the music and the love of entertaining, my image is secondary. These past few years I have noticed a change though, more Djs are specialising in more than one genre, sometimes listing 6 or 7 variations within the clubbing scene’s music styles, they too are going off and doing various styles at different venues within a night.
So what is driving this change? I noticed it with regards to one specific genre and that had me looking at profiles of dj’s I come across, discovering that it wasn’t just this genre, it was many that were being played, the genre of course that made me notice it was Electro-‐Swing. I have been playing Electro-‐swing influenced sets since 2008, there has been a steady release of tracks but not on mass, my interest in the genre runs back to the 90’s where I would collect tracks that had the influence in it. In the past few years it became the underground trendy style to play, but I don’t think this was the main driver of so many Dj’s starting to play it, which, were already playing a different style.
I think as everyone on the EDM scene, underground scene, clubbing scene, whatever you want to call it, knows, in the words of De la Soul, ‘everybody wants to be a dj’ and in the past 15 years this has never been as correct. Having since spoken to quite a few dj’s on this subject I have been hearing the same thing over and over, the fact that there are now so many dj’s that if you have a passion for the performance, the music, the creativity, then to be able to do it you can’t specialise anymore unless your one of the Industry sponsored dj’s or your happy with DJing once a month when you have fought to get a booking up against the son of the owners friend who’s mom bought him a set of Cdj’s and he is now the next Avicii.
At this point I would like to say I am not pointing a finger at new djs and saying that they are bad people, we were all new djs at one point, I am using it to show how times have had to change for the genuine Dj’s who have a passion for it, how we are now seeing the rise of the multi-‐genre dj, who is having to play alternate sets or not dj at all because too many djs are trying to get in to every event. For me it is nothing new, as I have stated earlier, my love of music drives me to play different styles and always has, but for many who’s heart belongs to a specific genre, it is a sad fact that unless something happens and DJing goes back to being about geeks and is uncool. Then having to be flexible is here to stay.
This month on Blast From the Past, we head back to 1995, and a production by Dutch DJ Mischa van Heiden, better known as DJ Misjah. Considering he’d only been on the scene for 4 years when he got together with DJ Tim for this track, it’s no small feat that it went to #16 in the UK singles charts in 1996. That achievement is compounded when you consider that this was the 1990s, and while Trance/House tracks were appearing in the charts, for one such as this to peak in the top 20 is simply not something that can be dismissed. The sampling is minimal, but effective – dropped in at exactly the right points and not overdone or dragged out. The beat is simple, but the ingenuity and spacing on the samples and lead-‐ins stops it from being repetitive. The kick, of course, comes at 4m13, after a build-‐up lasting almost a whole minute…and you were guaranteed, in any club, on any DJ set, that by the time that build-‐up ended, the apprehension was at fever pitch, and the crowd would go wild. There weren’t many DJs who didn’t have this in their set at one time or another. There are many who still do. I do have to mention, though, Jon of the Pleased Wimmin. Famed for bucking the trend and doing his own thing, Jon was playing at Checkpoint Charlie in Reading, and a young clubber went up to the booth and asked if he would be playing Access. “Oh god no” he said, “it’s so overplayed”. That didn’t stop him playing Higher State of Consciousness, however! This particular track, though, WAS overplayed…but it was overplayed because it was hugely popular. IT didn’t quite get the same success in 2000, when a remix version reached #45 in the UK charts, but with the styles of many UK Trance DJs, working to bring Trance back to the UK at the moment, maybe it’s due for a third try. It is, of course, the one and only – Access. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o4joooH5tg www.discogs.com/DJ-‐Misjah-‐DJ-‐Tim-‐Access/release/18615
Aoki goes to the Park From their previous collaboration ‘A Light That Never Comes’ – Steve Aoki and Linkin Park have come together for another collaboration called ‘Horizons’. Premiered by Steve Aoki during his show in Chicago, the track kicks off with Mike Shinoda‘s vocals, with subdued guitar chords and atmospheric effects in the background, followed by Chester Bennington‘s verse that turns into a vocal interplay between Shinoda and Bennington, like in any other standard Linkin Park production, coupled with an electro bass line. Full judgment on the track, however, still can’t be passed as Aoki mashed it up with R3hab’s ‘Samurai‘ and DVBBS and MOTi’s ‘This Is Dirty‘. The single still seems to be on the lines of ‘A Light That Never Comes‘ and is expected to be on Aoki’s upcoming album ‘Neon Future II‘ but does represent a detour from Linkin Park’s heavy sound from their last studio album. TS Verdict – well we certainly like what we here, possibly another anthemic piece of Aoki/Park legacy in the making – featuring the ever uber cool vocals of Chester and the trademark drops of Aoki make it well worth adding to a set or 2.
Checkout the live video for Horizons: Taken from the forthcoming album Neon Future 2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg617uXwWEo
Fenja There are few vocalists out there who capture a vocal so chillingly well that you can’t shake it out of your head. BUT of recent Fenja is one such vocalist who does it so very well. With her sultry and at times ghostly vocals on the more recent Top Of The World, its no wonder her name is now popping up on other tracks – we look forward to more.
Lange Recordings sees its label boss team up with Grammy nominated producer Andy Moor as well as Billboard chart topping vocalist, Fenja for an installment of heart pounding Trance beats and emotions.
Andy Moor & Lange put on yet another stunning display of inspired synth work and drum patterns that will leave you feeling on ‘Top Of The World’, while Fenja’s refrain is as contagious as it is resonant. Originally released 28th September 2014
Collaborating for the first time, Matt, Nikita (Ost) & Vadym (Meyer) say farewell to summer with an ode to California sun, beaches and dancing ’til sunrise. Featuring Fenja’s sultry vocals interlaced with deluxe piano chords and chilled beats, “Like We Love” will be released October 6 on Enhanced Music imprint Always Alive Recordings, along with two remixes by Avenue One and Joshi. Originally released 20th October 2014
www.facebook.com/WhiteRabbitParty Â
Come Trancing is coming to Chill, Canterbury th 14 May 2015
Palethorpe Domaster Spyro
www.twistedsound.org www.facebook.com/ComeTrancing