FLYING HIGH SCOTTISH TRANCER SIMON PATTERSON HAS SAID GOODBYE TO THE HARD-EDGED FORMULA HE PERFECTED WITH TAXI, AND REVEALS TO ANGUS PATERSON THAT HIS NEW DIRECTION IS INFLUENCED BY THE REALITY OF NOT PLAYING THE CLOSING SET FOREVER.
F
or Scotsman Simon Patterson, Holland’s massive annual Trance Energy event is the pinnacle of all that he loves about the scene, and everything he dreamed of achieving. It’s a similar story for much of the global trance community, as it’s a party that’s spoken of in hallowed tones – the mind-blowing product ion, trance fanatics spilling in on buses from all over Europe, and the cutting-edge DJ/ producers providing the high-octane soundtrack for it all. Patterson had attended four years in a row as a punter, but finally in early 2009 his time had come, and he was marked by promoters ID&T as an up-and-comer worthy of a peaktime slot at the Future stage. Fast forward to April this year, and Patterson was given the opportunity to perform for tens of thousands on the Trance Energy main stage alongside longtime partner-in-crime Sean Tyas, playing the closing set for arguably the world’s most spectacular dance event. It was a timeslot that allowed him to showcase his turbo-charged techno/trance fusion to full effect, and it’s talked about as one of the evening’s most exhilarating moments. “To get the chance to play the main stage with Sean this year was probably the highlight of my whole career,” Patterson says. “It’s the holy grail of events, it’s so renowned, and to be given the closing set was incredible. We were lucky, because the DJs before us were playing a little slower and more progressive, so by the time we came on the crowd were really needing that energy. The fact they didn’t get that sound the whole night was great for us. We killed it, and the crowd stayed right until the end. And that view, looking out over that many people... For anyone who hasn’t experienced it, it’s act ually quite difficult to explain the feeling that’s captured in that room.” While Patterson’s main stage set might have signaled his induct ion into the big league, his phone manner st ill carries a down-to-earth energy that suggests he remains a little unsure of his place in the grand scheme of things. He doesn’t yet exude the polished confidence of other trance titans like Paul van Dyk or Armin van Buuren, even though his achievements so far should have earned him a touch of cockiness. The year he played the Future stage at Trance Energy, both of the aforementioned trance heavies saw it fit to whip out Patterson’s psychedelic-rinsed anthem Thump over at the main stage. That track was the latest iteration of his very own sound unveiled the year prior with devastating tech trance weapons like Smack and Bulldozer, which upon release, sounded like nothing that had come before. Patterson had st umbled upon a formula that delivered a whopping burst of power on the dancefloor. Beginning with a solid club drive, it flattens out into a deceptively euphoric breakdown, before the beat drops again and all expectations are thrown out the window when it rips into a hard-as-nails riff that’s powerful enough to tear a club apart. “That’s the key,” Patterson says, pointing to the power of the unexpected for providing these moments. “That’s what you need, a punch to the face on a Monday morning. That’s the aim of these tracks.” However, as tough and driving as they are, they’re also detailed to the point where you’ll hear a new element buried in the mix every time you give them another listen. There’s arguably more detail here than we’ve ever heard in ‘hard dance’ before. “People have no idea what those tracks went through to get to the stage where they were ready for release. Blood, sweat and tears is the only way I can explain. Sitting there numbingly for hour after hour, changing this and changing that. Tweaking this, and tweaking that. I have so many
tracks on my hard drive that will never see that light of day, because in my head they’re simply not good enough. Sometimes that can be tough, and it never comes easy at all. “Attention to detail is the key. Even if it’s the smallest detail in the track, that people might not even hear. I hear it, and that’s the most important thing.” If much of the impact of Patterson’s club weapons come from the blow of the unexpected, it’s ironic there’s such a formula to it. “What a lot of people don’t know is that it was largely accidental that I even came across it in the first place. I could never manage to get a drop to kick in properly with the melody, I always ended up losing the energy. So it was almost like a cop out in a way, to slam in with something different instead. But it just worked.” His latest single Taxi is probably the most epic, ambitious and polished of all the tracks in that mould. It’s st ill a long way from growing tired, but nonetheless, Patterson says he’s determined to move on from it. “I always said that Taxi represents the end of the line for that st yle, as everyone else has starting to produce tracks in that vein. I said I’d do just one more to sort of say goodbye to it.” One of the curveballs that Patterson hurled into the pitch last year, between all of his massive tech trance belters, was Different Feeling. It was an appropriately named tune that retained the uplifting energy of his other releases, though with a tempo that sported a slower, more progressive BPM. And it might act ually offer an idea of what to expect from Patterson’s future musical output as he looks to diversify his sound. After all, you can’t be expected to play the breakneck closing set forever. “I’m getting older, and I need my sleep,” Patterson laughs. “Playing in different locations around the world, that harder sound doesn’t always work, and you need an extra st ring to your bow. I think having a slower st yle, that st ill might have hard elements to it, will be beneficial for me in the long term. Something more progressive, and a little more universal.” WHO: Simon Patterson WHERE & WHEN: Airport at Gaelic Theatre Saturday 3 July