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Features
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| Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna | | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022! | | TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022! | | A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London! | | Goa based party animal and artist extraordinaire Nirmal talks punk concerts, metal sculptures, flying and rippin' it up on a High Tide! | | DJ Wired talks to us about the Rise of the Hope and parties, ahead of his upcoming set at Tribal Village on 14th January 2022! |
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Interview with Solarstone
Reported by Alix
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Submitted 23-03-04 16:15
As London prepares to witness the advent of some proper trance royalty, we thought it would be apt to have a quick chat with the guys behind the famous trance production moniker - Solarstone. Everyone even vaguely interested in trance music will recognise those famous chords from Seven Cities, an amazingly powerful track that has torn the roof off many a venue both at home and globally. Solarstone play at Trance Generation at the Soundshaft on Friday 9th April and if you don’t know what a blessing it is to have the opportunity to see them play at one of London’s more intimate venues, then read on to understand and see why...
How did you both come together as Solarstone? How long have you both been working together now?
We met in the early 90's, Andy was a fan or Rich's Indie band 'Emission' and we met at an Emission gig, and when the band split, as we shared a love of house music, we decided to see if we could make a house track... that was almost 10 years ago now.
How would you personally describe the Solarstone style and sound and would you say you have achieved what you set out to do?
We'd say it was generally 'quality trance' with a few diversions along the way... most notably with our 'after-hours' sideline - we get a lot of pleasure producing both pumping club tracks and also laid back soundtrack music, we just follow our instincts in the studio and don’t feel particularly tied to any one style... when we started off we had a few aims and ambitions - y'know, top40 hit, club chart number1 etc etc but all that kind of thing becomes less important once you get involved in the day to day business of running labels, djing etc. If we can carry on making a living in these uncertain times and still retain our integrity that'll be enough!
What would you say have been the biggest influences on your music both initially when you were starting up as Solarstone and then today, taking into account the current scene?
Biggest influences? Virtual studio technology...and concentrating on doing our own thing rather than letting current music fads dictate our work.
What was the first track that you ever made and how does it compare to the tracks that you make today?
The first one was space kittens 'storm'... I think our new stuff is better...
Which labels are attracting your attention at the moment?
Fundamental, Euphonic, Bonzai.
How have you found the move from producing into DJing? And what was it that made you take up DJing rather than just sticking to the studio work?
Its been a bit of an eye-opener to see people from all over the world singing our melodies makes it all worthwhile... we had no choice in the matter really, we had so much grief from everyone and constant requests to play out. We're working on a live show now...god help us.
Now that you're DJing as well, what can people expect from Solarstone? Is it a similar sound to Solarstone the production duo?
Of course, we only really play records that reflect what we produce ourselves, I think if we dropped a load of hardhouse or techno our audience would be a bit alienated, having said that we do let the crowd dictate what we play to some extent, we tend to go for the melodic as opposed to the banging side of things.
Having DJ'd, has this changed your approach to producing?
Not really, we've always known what works in a club, being seasoned club veterans ourselves!
Seven Cities (from'99) is one of your more recognised tracks, when did you first realise this tune was making a real impact, and where were you at the time?
I think it was when the hooj presale was around 19000 in the first week... it was initially rejected by hooj and our own distributor...when that happened we briefly questioned our own judgement... but the rest is history!
How hard was it to match the success of Seven Cities with the tracks that you made afterwards?
That’s an impossible question to answer! We thought solarcoaster was a great follow up but that was shelved for over 3 years... they're all different(!) Our personal favourite is 'U write the rules'.
You've produced tracks under the aliases, 'Z2' & 'Liquid State', why was this? Are any more tracks under these aliases in the pipeline?
We adopt the aliases to avoid flooding the market with solarstone records, but also to avoid record company politics. Z2 was our way out of a restrictive deal with hooj, Young Parisians is our latest offshoot - next up is a collab with Ben Lost called 'Jump the next Train' its gonna turn a few heads.
Why did you start your label, 'Deep Blue', and when?
So we can do what we want, when we want. We launched it in '99, its picked up pace a bit recently, we have a track by Filo and Peri under the name 'Whirlpool' out in early April and forthcoming releases from Bobina 'Lazy World' and 'Recluse -Emotional Void'. We do all the artwork, management, A&R etc ourselves, we do it for the passion as opposed to the money, which is just as well really....we don’t have to release a record a month like some of our colleagues so we can keep the quality a bit more consistent.
Is it true you have worked with 'Kym Marsh'- and if so, when and how did this happen?!
We did 2 tracks with Kym in 97, neither of which really did anything. When the whole 'popstars' thing happened we were tempted to do something fresh with them but the songs don't really stand up too well. Kim is a talented singer and a pleasure to work with! Harsh treatment she's received from the press.
'3rd Earth', a collaboration with Scott Bond, was hugely successful. How did this unique pairing of artists occur?
It was on the cards for years, Scott is the only person we've successfully collaborated with in the studio...top bloke professionally and personally.
If you had the opportunity, who would you most like to collaborate with?
God.... If we like some other artist it’s because we like what they do without our meddling! We wouldn’t inflict our anal retention on anyone else! We'll leave it in the lap of the gods.
You're playing alongside Scott Bond for 'Trance Generation' @ The Soundshaft on April 9th - have you had many opportunities to play alongside Scott in the past?
Never have, but we have some joint ventures lined up for the middle-east this year... Soundshaft should be a right good knees-up!
Can we expect to hear some new 'Solarstone' material there?
Yes!
What tunes in particular are creating the right reaction from the dancefloor at the moment?
Our own stuff seems to make a good impression... Agnelli & Nelson are back on form with 'Holding onto nothing' and their remix of '3rd earth' is going down a treat.
Do you go out clubbing much these days? If so, where do you go and when was the last occasion?
We're fortunate to be in the position where we do the clubs form the other side of the decks nowadays!
What has been the most nerve-wracking moment in your producing career?
Chilled-out Euphoria was a task and a half... 5 months of intense editing, mixing and deliberation.
What can we expect from Solarstone in the coming year? Both production and DJing wise?
A new track with Scott, collabs with Jes (motorcycle), Ben Lost, an artist album in autumn and a best of triple mixed cd at xmas! We've some cool dates lined up around the world, we're looking at some uk dates too but nothing definite as yet.
Where do you see the future of dance music going?
Round and round in circles as it always has done! Constantly fusing the old with the new.
Do you think the day of the 'Super Club' really is over? What is it like to play in smaller clubs like The Soundshaft, compared to say, a huge Gatecrasher event?
Some of the guys running these so-called Superclubs don’t even like the music that’s played there. Smaller clubs that manage to keep going in the current climate do it out of passion, I think that's what the word 'underground' really means.
When you're not busy creating magic in the studio, what do you do in your spare time?
DIY, boozing, potting plants.
If you could both take 5 things with you to a desert island what would they be?
Andy -Studio, girlfriend, internet connection, restaurant and a pub!
Rich - Piano, girlfriend, internet connection, mobile and some bubblewrap for popping.
Would you consider yourselves to be successful and how do you measure your success?
yes...7/10. Contentment is the sign of success.
Who is your favourite producer and DJ?
DJ - Sasha 1992 - 2000. Producer - BT
Do you have any advice for aspiring young DJs and producers out there?
Stick to your guns and don’t sign anything!
Where did the name Solarstone come from?
The lost third member of Solarstone thought of it, you'd better ask him.
Solarstone make their debut London performance at Trance Generation on Friday 9th April... details below:
Trance Generation
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On:
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Friday 9th April 2004
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At:
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The Soundshaft [map]
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From:
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10pm - 7am
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Cost:
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£12 in advance, £15 on the door
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Website:
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www.dpressureevents.com
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Ticket Info:
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By phone:
Ticketweb: 08700 600 100
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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Trance Generation kick off a series of events that feature a selection of the world's best Trance dj's in one of the most exclusive and intimate settings that you will ever hear them play.
This month sees Scott Bond and Matt Hardwick join Solarstone for their debut appearance in London at The Soundshaft. Never before have all three played on the same bill before.
Alongside, they are joined by Gary Ramsden, Ehren Stowers, Bruno Cernecca and Rich Templeman.
Tickets are being sold on a first come first served basis for this exclusive gig so we recommend that you get tickets early.
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Flyer:
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Other Features By Alix:
Subliminal Sessions: Reviewed
An interview with Sophie Sugar — the leading lady of trance shows the boys how it’s done!
On the way to the top with Greg Downey
Review: Serious 9th Birthday @ The Cross
Trance Generation Preview: Matt Hardwick
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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