This week’s article is from a sideproject to one of the biggest 90’s-band who influented alot of people to start listen to all kind of dancemusic. The most fun fact is that no one knew who they were when their first single came out and most people couldn’t even guess who it could be. I’m ofcourse talking about Ratty – Sunrise (Here I Am). (buy on Itunes)
Lyrics:
On the floating, shapeless oceans
I did all my best to smile
til your singing eyes and fingers
drew me loving into your eyes.
And you sang ”Sail to me, sail to me;
Let me enfold you.”
Here I am, here I am waiting to hold you.
Goosebump-points:
00:33 when that hypnotic bassline comes in. 01:00 when that synth comes in. 01:54 when the breakdown starts and the lyrics come in. 02:31 when the chorus comes in. 03:00 when the main synth comes in. 04:21 in the beginning of the second breakdown. 05:21 when the chorus repeats again.
Ratty has a quite odd background. Although created by the men behind the german Techno-band Scooter, they themselves never revealed who they were. On all promotional pictures, there were 3 persons dressed up as three big rats.
It was actually not Ratty in those costumes but 3 guys called Janse, Jean and Martin.
A fun fact is that Martin is Axel Broszeit’s older brother.
But let’s start from the beginning.
On February 5th 2001, the single Sunrise (Here I Am) suddenly appeared in music stores all over Germany and soon after, the track was released in Canada, England and USA. The track got alot of attention already from the beginning and there were some confusion to who could have done it.
”We just wanted to do something completely different that didn’t have the name Scooter on it,”- said Rick Jordan and Axel Coon ,” and it worked”
The original video to the track is pretty cool. Instead of rats running around a maze, there are humans running around in the maze, trying to find the exit and they are observed by big rats.
Ratty tried to release a followup to the popular Sunrise-track but the track, Living On Video (a remake of the spanish band Trans-X’s track with the same name) but it never became that success that they needed. The track was released on vinyl only and it was about to go to be pressed on CD-maxi but the label stoped it.
It was first after the project was cancelled that Scooters manager, Jens Thele started talking about Ratty and who was behind it.
A cool fact is that even long before the Ratty-project started, you could hear Scooter mentioning them in some of their tracks.
On the 1998 album. No Time To Chill, there was a song called Expecting More From Ratty. Also, .Ratty was mentioned in the song Psycho (excerpt from the lyrics: …inspired by those people like Ratty…) and on the single She’s The Sun, there was also the b-side which was called Sunrise (Ratty’s Inferno), which is also a remix of Ratty’s Sunrise (Here I Am).
Ratty also did some remixes:
Marc Et Claude – Loving You (Ratty Remix)
Gouryella – Tenshi (Ratty Remix)
Starsplash – Wonderful Days (Ratty Remix)
Fragma – Are You Alive? (Ratty Remix)
ATB – Hold You (Ratty Mix)
Ron Van Den Breuken – Keep On Movin’ (Timeless) (Ratty Dub Mix)
So to sum it up, it’s not that often that a band/group/project get so much attention after just releasing one track. People usually call this a One Track Wonder but I’d have to say that even though they are right, it feels like the Ratty-project is too good to fit that group.
For me, the track is a true classic and I remember the joy I felt when I finally found the CD-maxi in my local record shop. I even got my rock-buddy to buy a copy!
I guess that the track, although more than 10 years old would still fit todays trance-goers taste in music, especially with that hard riff after the breakdown. For me, it will always be remembered as one of the best tracks in the world.
We are the EDM generation. Our scene has been affected by different musical styles, trends and instruments over the years. There has been several drum machines and synthesizers that has made it all possible. Some forgotten and some not. The Roland TB-303 is the most iconic synthesizer in dance music and celebrates 30 years in buisness.
Together with Analog Sweden and Podgressive, bejbi.se invites you to enter a contest to win the Roland TB-303 Cushion and iPhone 4 case gold edition in collectors box from Analog Sweden!
Answer the question, share to your friends, you might be the lucky winner of these two really cool products!
We continue our interviews here on bejbi.se, this time with the talented Lily V Nine!
Tatsumi and I, Patric, got into Tatsumis car and drove through a colorful landscape, all the way from Stockholm to Hedemora.
When we got there we sat down with Lily in her studio and had a great interview.
Before we start can you tell us a little more about yourself, on a non musical front?
Where did you grow up? where do you currently reside?
I grew up South of Stockholm with my family, and about eight years ago we moved up to Dalarna where I currently live.
Besides my music I’m studying graphic design at college, and I work extra in a store.
I see myself as an ordinary girl, but I guess if I didn’t have my music, I would seem really boring.
It’s really difficult to make it as a successful woman producing especially when EDM is still reaching other parts of the world. When did the fascination with knobs and production begin?
It was early, I started to play the piano when I was nine years old, but I thought it was boring to play alone.
But then I heard my first EDM song when I was around 14 years old. It was Infected Mushroom, and I couldn’t help wondering how they did that wonderful music, so I started to research and I began producing music with Propellerheads Reason around 2005, not at a professional level but I learned a lot. But I switched to Cubase last year after a friend recommended it because I wanted to produce more trancier tunes, rather than the hardstyle and psytrance I did before, and Cubase has a lot more to offer with all synths and addons that is available than Reason.
Did your parents get bothered with your music making?
Yes they actually did! Since I grew up in a musical family, with my father being a rock musician. He thinks I should play the piano as it should be played, with Beethoven and such. He thinks that ”techno” just sounds like a lot of noise, but he doesn’t have any problems with me making the music on the computer. I, on the other hand, think it’s more fun to combine the piano sound with the trance-beats, it’s more my style rather than the classical tunes I’ve learned to play when I was younger.
My mother is very proud of me, she thinks I’m really strong to take on this all by myself.
Can you take us through your current studio set up? What does it consist of and what pieces of equipment/software would you say are most essential?
I use Yamaha HS5, it’s the worlds most honest speakers. In these everything sounds like crap if you can’t master the tracks right. I also have a M-Audio Fasttrack Pro, it’s a very cheap studio sound card but it works like a charm. The computer is a heavy loaded PC, and there is this (she says and points at a CME M-key midi-keyboard), which I won’t even mention because it broke down on me last week.
I really can’t live without my sound card and the speakers. It’s the most important part of a studio, you can’t make music without a pair of decent speakers!
We can see you have a old beautiful and huge Grand Piano in your studio too, tell us a little more about this piece.
Yes, this is a 200 year old Grand Piano made in Germany by Friedrich Wieck and I got it from my father when we moved to Dalarna.
I was a teenager and I really hated to move from everything I had back in Stockholm, so he bought me this so I could concentrate more on the music and less on the life I left in Stockholm. It has a really beautiful sound, but it can be difficult to play on because the keys are really hard to press down. I love it, cause the sound is so unique!
Everything I write I write on this piano, but It’s hard to get the sound of it to match the trance-style so I can’t use it in a faster track.
As a female Producer in the male dominated EDM scene, how do you draw the line with your productions? We’ve found your productions emotionally gratifying as well as banging too!
I want to be as characteristic as possible, and since I’m a classically trained pianist I want to show it in my productions with a lot of uplifting sounds. I don’t want to be mainstream as everyone else seems to want to be. I want to give the listener a emotional feeling of the track, just like the one I had when I produced it.
Diving into the creative process for a moment, can you tell us how long does it take to produce a track for you and where you get the inspiration from?
I get most of my inspiration from my life, people I’ve met and from places I’ve been to. Most of my titles comes from my everyday life. Like my upcoming track ”My love story” is about my boyfriend.
It takes about a week to make the production, if I’m in the studio for a whole week that is. But the mixing and mastering of the track could take longer. I’m not that good at that part yet, haha.
But music should take time, it’s about feelings, not technique.
If you get an idea for a track when you are running about in the city, how do you bring it to life?
It’s hard to write a melody down, so I record it on my phone, singing the melody. Then I go to the studio and listen through the recording and try to recreate it on the piano. Sometimes the idea isn’t a melody, like a feeling, so I’ll write it down like: It’s dark, lost in the woods.. just words that helps to create the feeling I got for the idea.
If you were given the opportunity to work with any producer as well as to collaborate with any vocalist who would it be and why?
I think Raphael Frost is a really good producer, he mixes his music with a emotional melody, but I also like darker music to, like Indecent Noise and John Askew.
There are some persons I would like to work with, but it’s a little hard since they’ve all been dead for the last 200 years. Names like Chopin and Schubert would be a dream to work with but it’s of course impossible. Therefore I rely on the talents of the modern times instead. I also listen to a lot of women to, just to see how they work, like Claudia Cazacu.
I want to work with vocalists, like Jonathan Mendelson. I love his work and I think his dark voice would fit my bright melodies perfect.
How do you define a beautiful voice and melody?
– Do you record your own vocals for your tracks, or have you made a vocal track?
I have humblings in productions that I’ve recorded myself. Although I have done one vocal track, I think my own voice is to dark to fit my own music and I really had to tweak the vocals with reverbs and such.
How do you feel about chopped vocals? Is it a cool effect or a butchering of the vocal talent of the singer?
I love it! I think it gives a better effect than a synth sometimes. I want to use it in some of my own tracks but I haven’t found any good vocals to use yet. I think it works as a teaser for the real vocals that comes after in the chorus. Really cool!
Since Hedemora is a small town in the countryside of Sweden, do you have the possibility to collaborate with other producers and do you have a mentor, or are you the mentor for someone?
I don’t have any mentor. If I want help I ask my old teacher, but he can only help me with the technical part on the computer, not the musical part on how I can sound better or do a thing differently. If I want to make a collab with someone, everyone lives in Stockholm so I have to plan weeks before to match their schedule.
I actually did a collab with Novaline, but that one is put on ice since we both got a little short on time.
Many artists find themselves stuck to one genre throughout their careers, simply because their fan base refuse to accept anything else. This can sometimes push our artists in to a corner that prevents future growth. How important do you feel it is for an artist to stand their ground, evolve and play around with as many genres as they can?
If the audience expects Armin van Buuren, for example, to produce one style, and he does something that doesn’t fit the expectations from the crowd.. he should change his name.
If you are a product, as most of the producers of today is, you should live up to it. And if you want to make another style, you should come up with another product name.
So when Ferry Corsten remixed Justin Bieber did he sold his soul to the devil or is he just trying out some new grounds?
I think Ferry Corsten is a great musician. I think he heard this song and made an remix of it cause he liked it wanted to do something with it.
Anything you would like to tell us on your upcoming projects? You actually have “My love story” open in Cubase on your computer in front of us. Can you tell us more about it?
It’s a really big production, it’s about the story of when I met my boyfriend.
I sat by the grand piano, just playing around, a normal day in the studio and the melody just came, my fingers did all the job and I didn’t have to think much at all.
So I thought it was love, and it is a really uplifting track, but with a lot of different parts in it.
It’s more like a story than a regular “trance” buildup, and I did it like this to tell the specific story of this track.
Regular trance is very much thinking inside the box, but this is a bit different, even if everything is in it.
It’s a nice track to listen to in your mp3-player, but it’s a little to slow and emotional for some dancefloors.
When I’ve showed this for people, they are both “too much emotions”, “it’s awesome!” and “I’ve got goosebumps from the piano melody”. It makes me want to continue and to eventually get it to be played on a club.
I work with both “happy parts” and “sad parts” in this track, since I love classical music from Mozart, Chopin and Schubert, and they work a lot with this technique. It took one minute to complete the piano melody and I think it’s really cool that my fingers did all the work, like if they were under a spell.
Here’s rather a strange question – do you aspire to spin behind the decks some day?
Yes, I really want to be a DJ someday, but I have a little stage fright. But I have no gear and I have to practice a lot before I go out and do it in front of a crowd.
If you could listen to just one record for the rest of your life, which one would it be?
Wow, that is a really hard question. It won’t be a trance track, but I think it would be Chopin’s Nocturne Opus 9 No.2. A classical piece.
Listen to music in the club or relaxed home listening, which do you prefer?
If I listen to music at home, I hear the details in the music and I can understand the story the artist is trying to tell, but I love to listen to music in the club to, to feel the beat and to just go crazy.
Do you attend to party’s to? Which do you prefer, the Swedish party’s or the party’s in other countries?
I prefer the Swedish party’s any day! The party’s outside Sweden is bigger, louder and cooler, but the Swedish party’s are more about meeting the friends and to listen to really good music.
If Electronic Dance Music didn’t exist, and you were given the key to create it and the scene around, would you make it as it was in the beginning with the PLUR (Peace Love Unity and Respect) everywhere, or as it is today where PLUR more or less doesn’t exist and a whole lot of different variations of styles, or would you do something completely different with it?
I think the beginning of the culture was really good but I think I would’ve made the scene a little bit more public, and not have kept it away from other people. The music would still be the same, the beat would still be the important part of the tracks.
If I could rewind everything I would do so much techno, I love every kind of EDM, but techno, I really love it!
But if I created everything I could never have guessed that it would be this big. I think it’s because other peoples preconception with EDM and the history of it that have made it so closed for the outside world, and I would have made it more open, so people would see that it’s more about the music and scene rather than the drugs and shit.
As you’ve grown and matured as a person, do you think this has reflected in your music? Why your style has changed for example?
When you start making music everything is fun, and you just play around. But when you grow older and listen to those tracks you think “Oh My God, this sounds like crap!”, and you think that no one would buy this.
When I make a production today, I feel that I have to be more critical to myself. I really want people to like my work. It hurts to hear other people to criticize your work but you can take the criticism and work with it.
If you were converted into a song, which one would it be and why?
Haha! Does it have to be a song, can I be a sound?
In that case I would be a base drum. Everyone would love me!
Do you prefer to use hardware or software?
Software, since I don’t have much hardware, but I would love to have a Virus-synth!
What is the best comment you’ve heard when you’ve uploaded a new tune on the social networks?
“You’re better than Swedish House Mafia!” hahaha.. It was strange to hear that.
But when someone told me that my music gave him goosebumps it was really satisfying for me.
Have you been given support for your tracks from a big DJ/producer?
No I don’t think so, only from friends here in Sweden who has their own podcast and smaller radio shows.
If we look way into the future, when you are old and talking to your grandchildren, what would you say was the biggest goal or achievement with your musical career?
That I wanted to show the world my music, and my feelings around it. And I hope I will get there.. I will! Someday!
Do you create other styles of music too, under another name than Lily V Nine?
Yes! I am the pianist in a recently created pop group, but I use my own given name in that group.
Have you ever done something music wise that you feel ashamed of?
I have done a lot of bad tracks, but I don’t feel that I have to be ashamed of anything. I’m only a beginner so far.
Which is the song that changed your life? Infected mushrooms “Frog machine”. It was the track I heard that got me interested in everything about making my own music.
When you are not doing music what can u be found doing?
Painting and drawing a lot on the computer, I edit and manipulate a lot of pictures that my brother and sister takes.
Name 3 things you absolutely can’t live without?
1. My computer and internet
2. Music
3. All of my family and friends and my boyfriend.
One thing you would like to change or develop about yourself?
I want to have more power to believe in my own music creations.
Most embarrassing moment?
I walked straight up to Sean Tyas and asked him to marry me. I was drunk.
What was his answer?
He just laughed. I think he is used to it, he has probably met a lot of crazy woman.
Hopefully he doesn’t remember me if I ever run into him again!
Best hangover cure?
An iced lolly called “Twister”, with fruit taste. I eat three of those and then I’m cured
What´s the first record you bought?
I think it was a Swedish group called Caramell, “Om du var min” on single. I was so young, I went to the store and listened to music every day and that was the first one I bought.
My father was a DJ back then, so he had a lot of music at home that I took and listened to it in my room.
I think the best Greatest Hits Cd I bought was “Replay Dance Mania 3”
Thank you so much for this interview!
You are very welcome, it was fun!
You can hear a short preview of this interview and the full version of her track ”My love story” in Podgressive ep. 35.
It’s hard to talk about trance classic and don’t mention this next track. It was one of those track that got re-released tons of times and is still getting new versions today. The track i’ve selected for this week’s article is Binary Finary – 1998 (Gouryella Remix). (buy on Itunes)
Goosebump moments:
00:41 when that fabulous Gouryella-bassline kicks in 01:09 when more of the melody comes in. 01:51 when the full melody kicks in. 02:47 when the lead comes into the breakdown. 03:01 when the strings come in. 03:27 when the lead goes up in tone. 04:24 when the full melody starts up again.
Australian born Matt Laws, Stuart Matheson started producing tracks in 1997. They were later joined by Sasha Vatoff who is their live-dj who tours the world.
The first version of 1998 actually came out in 1997 on a 2-track EP called 1998 / Zapya on UK label Aquarius
The track was later picked up by most major labels and remixed by many of the big names in the trance community.
In fact, 1998 was the first trance track that made it into the UK top 30. The 1998-version got as high as 24 whereas the 1999 version peaked at no 11.
Of the lot, i’d have to say that I really love the original although it feels abit too fast for me. The first version I ever heard was the Paul Van Dyk-version which is more spot on what I liked at the time. It has those signature Paul Van Dyk drums and overall Paul Van Dyk-sound.
The version I fell in love with though was the Gouryella-version, but again, I’ve always been a big Ferry Corsten-fan and together with Tiesto, he made such beautiful tracks. That thumping baseline, that signature snaredrum, those melodies. It almost gives me a hardon just thinking about those tracks, too bad Gouryella isn’t around anymore.
I also like the Dumonde-remix as it has that harder Dumonde-edge to it.
On the Positiva-release of 1998/1999 (released in 2003), you can also find a Ronski Speed-remix of 1998 which was never release as a single.
Since the release of 1998, there hasn’t been that many releases from Binary Finary. I guess that it was pretty hard to pick up producing after such success with the first single.
The 2001 release, Niterider is a pretty decent track. Feels more like goatrance than ordinary trance.
Binary Finary released their only album in 2006, called The Lost Tracks which contains 16 tracks that they’ve written since 1998, released on Armada Digital.
When you listen through the new material, you can easily hear that they have gone for a more modern style in trance. My guess is that most of the collaborations were made to find new inspirations on which way expand their music.
Next track to be released is Binary Finary & Vegas Baby! – Folded & Molded which you can hear a preview of here.
They have also been touring alot this year all over the world. I was supposed to see them perform this June but their gig got cancelled.
So to sum it up. Binary Finary has been around for quite some time. Although it’s been pretty quiet from them up to last year, they have still been busy producing and touring.
Their signature track, 1998 will forever be known as one of trance music first big hits and will hopefully live on forever as the record companies will keep on remixing the track for a fresh new audience.
Or atleast I hope so.
This week’s article is about a producer that has been pretty quiet the last few years. I discussed it with some friends and everyone said the same thing. Where has Mirco De Govia gone? So I decided to listen thru some of his stuff and landed on a true classic: Mirco De Govia – Voller Sterne (Super8 Remix). (Buy on Itunes)
Goosebump moments:
00:26 when you hear the hypnotic bassline fade in slowly and builds for another 40 seconds 02:32 when the second breakdown comes in. 02:59 when the music comes to an halt. 03:13 when the strings come in 03:41 when the synthstabs come in 04:23 when the full music starts again 05:19 when the guitar kicks in
German born Mirko Zettl started producing trance and techno back in 1991 but his first own release came in 1994 under his alias Mirco De Govia with the EP Romantic EP. After the release, Mirco took some time off to study computer science On on the release, there is a remix by his good friend Ralph Kyau (from Kyau & Albert).
The first own single on Euphonic was Clubspring Meets Mindspring, a 2-track EP, both tracks are wellproduced tb303-monsters but I prefer Mindspring as it’s more in my taste.
The second single, Epic Monolith (co-produced with Ronski Speed) follows the earlier singles recept with a major tb303-bassline and a complex buildup. The piano in the breakdown makes this an complete epic trancer. Epic Monolith was later signed to Alex Gold’s label, Xtravaganza.
Things That Matter (co-produced by Ronski Speed) follows the earlier recipy and is a really epic trancer. Love the lead-instrument in the track.
Mirco’s first album, Chronoscale came out in 2003 and contained 2 cd’s. The first CD contained original tracks and the second CD contained Mirco’s remixes of other artists tracks. The album was co-produced by Kyau & Albert and Ronski Speed.
The featured track, Voller Sterne came out in 2004. It keeps that complex buildup from his previous tracks with a hypnotic bassline and warm pads.That breakdown is to die for. The album version is somewhat of a Chicane-ripoff with that balearic feeling and breakbeat drums. I prefer the Super8 Remix as its more driving but still keeps the warmth of Mirco’s original track.
Asarja was another collaboration with Ronski Speed. They each made a version of the track. Mirco’s version has a strong buildup, a balearic breakdown with piano and still that complexity over it. Ronski’s version is abit harder, it still keeps that balearic feeling in the breakdown and even has wave-sounds in it.
The 2008 album, Iconic Path was an all new album and contained loads of gems like Vital Spark and Evolution Part II along with 11 other well-produced tracks. All tracks were produced by himself and mastered by Rough Mullar a.k.a. Sonorous.
The last release we saw from Mirco was the 2011 track, Sleeping Beauty. While the album version is somewhat of a chillout-track, the Ronski Speed-remix is a techy monster. Love the piano in the breakdown.
Over the years, Mirco has also remixed track by Above & Beyond vs. Andy Moor,
Super8, Kyau & Albert, Sonorous, Sun Decade, Ralphie B & Lasgo with good success.
Although Mirco hasn’t quit producing yet, many of my friends asked if he quit the business as there has been quite quiet from him. I hope Mirco will keep producing for a few more years as I believe he still has some tracks in him before he retires.
His formula for producing still works, his tracks complexity is really awesome and the depth in his productions will still be modern for another decade. I love his use of the TB303-synth which was more frequent on his earlier releases.
I hope to hear some new tracks from him soon. If not, his old productions will live on forever.
This week’s article is somewhat different than the others. Instead of writing about one track or one artist, this article will be about alot of tracks with one common thing.
All tracks are trance- or other EDM-versions of ordinary commercial pop-tracks.
My fascination with electronic dancemusic started at an early age. Could have to do with that my brother was into synthmusic or that my family had MTV already back in 1984.
I have never been a radio-person as I think that most tracks played there (especially the commercial radio stations) is played over and over until people are fed up with the tracks.
What I wanted to hear was something else than the ordinary radio-listener heard. I wanted to hear the club mixes or remixes of the tracks. So I started buying 12” singles and later CD-maxis to feed my brain with stuff that most people never heard (if they didn’t go to a club).
I started listening to clubmusic long before I started frequenting clubs as there’s usually an 18 year minimum on swedish clubs. But when my time was in, me and my friends used to go out 1-2 days every week, both to dance and to drink.
Enough about me, now let’s get back to the music.
I got this idea of this article while listening to Evanescence – Hello (Trifactor vs Gabriel & Dresden Remix). If you compare the remix to the original, the original is somewhat of an emo-ballad while the remix seems abit happier but still keeps the original piano and voice.
When you come to think about it, there has been alot of beautiful tranceversions which originated from radiomusic/commercial pop.
Another track that’s highly thought of in the trance community is Delerium featuring Sarah McLachlan – Silence (Tiesto’s In Search Of Sunrise Remix) which is a bang-on trancer while the original is a slow track with gregorian chants but still danceable.
When we’re on the subject of Delerium, they have been the remixers choice the last 10 years. The Delerium-single After All came in 2 versions. Original and Svenson & Gielen-remix. The latter usually found its way onto compliation albums whereas the original was only available on the album or as a single.
Another example is the Madonna-hit What It Feels Like For A Girl where the official radio/video-version was the Above & Beyond Remix. Madonnas music has always been dance-oriented and the last few albums has been produced by the elite in the music industry to give her that dancefloor edge she’s always had strived for.
Speaking of ladies, another remix favourite is Dido. Her original tracks has always been well-produced as her brother is the all-famous Rollo (from Faithless). Her track Sand In My Shoes got a well-deserved remix-work from Above & Beyond.
It’s hard to forget one of the first tracks that made the remix bigger than the original. 99% of the times when you hear Everything But The Girl’s smash hit Missing, it’s the Todd Terry Remix you’re hearing. It was one of those tracks that showed the music industry what power a remix can have.
Another early crossover-track was the William Orbit remake of classical musician Samuel Barber’s track Adagio For Strings which got an awesome Ferry Corsten-makeover.
It’s not only pop music that gets the dancefloor-treatment. For instance dutch rockers Kane got a sweet remix from Tiesto on their track Rain Down On Me.
To sum it up. The artists original tracks are made for their original audience while the remixes are made usually to fit a dancefloor or to get the usual radiolistener a chance to hear their favourite track made in a different way to fit other moods. What we have heard the last 10 years or so is that most artists are getting more dancefloor-friendly.
A big example of this is the big crossover for american rap-artists to the european dancefloor with helps of DJs like David Guetta & Calvin Harris. No wonder that David Guetta was chosen the no1 DJ from the readers of DJMAG last year.
We can also see that big Trancemusic-names like Tiesto, Ferry Corsten & Armin Van Buuren is moving more towards housemusic nowadays as the big ”mass” which is into housemusic has taken over the dancefloors. Just look at the big parties like Energy or Sensation White which is more house-oriented nowadays than their origins in trancemusic.
My hope for the future is that some of the people listening to popmusic on the radio could find new listening grounds in housemusic or trancemusic when listening to their favourite artist thru the remixes. If only 5% of the listeners gets inspired, i’m more than satisfied. And I guess the remixers will feel the same.
This week’s article is about a man who used to work as an A&R for several labels, a man that helped Seb Fontaine and Judge Jules pick songs for their Radio 1-shows, a man that used to hold a recidency at the legendary London club, Serious @ The Cross.
His work as a producer started in 2003 with production partner Richie Kayvan under the guise Dogzilla.
Their first single, Dogzilla was a pretty sweet trancer, especially the Simon Patterson & Richie Kayvan Remix. A fun fact is that the track was featured on the soundtrack to the british hit film The Football Factory
Your Eyes, the second single is another sweet trancer, especially after 03.55 just after the big breakdown.
Their biggest hit, the 2005 single Without You is an epic track and did pretty well in the charts. Supported by Djs like Paul Van Dyk who picked the track as his record of the year, the track was huge in most clubs around the world.
It was also re-released in 2010 with remixes by Rafael Frost and in 2012 with remixes by Simon Patterson whereas the latter was available for free on Simon Pattersons webpage but now removed.
Dogzilla’s last single, Frozen follows Without You as it’s more of a vocal track and also contains guitar-samples and is more rock-influented than a true trance-track.
Dogzilla only released 4 singles but still made a huge impact, especially with the 3rd single, Without You. Simon left Dogzilla in 2008 to pursue his solo career. A fun fact is that Richie Kayvan sings on all Dogzilla tracks.
Simon’s first solo-release, F16 was released in 2006 while Simon still was in Dogzilla. The track was later re-released in 2011 with a new mix from Nick Callaghan & Will Atkinson.
2007 saw the release of Panic Attack/Strip Search aswell as Bulldozer/We’ll See. Of the lot, all are really good tracks but Bulldozer stands out as a brutal banger, especially after the breakdown. A true classic!
2008 was a pretty productive year which started with Smack/Whatever It Takes. I just love Smack, especially the John Askew Remix which makes the banger bang even more. Different Feeling is way more progressive than his usual productions but still has a nice vibe to it.
The followup, Us is back to the harder side of Simon. Love the lead with that angelic voice on top.
Something’s Up, the first of two collaboration with Sean Tyas is back to the slower side again. Just love the Commodore C64-arpeggios used in the track together with the piano in the breakdown. I think i’ve mentioned this before but i’m a sucker for pianos!
The second collaboration with Sean Tyas, the 2009 hit For The Most Part (with singer David Wright) is a banging vocal track. I especially love the Markus Schossow remix which is slower and more progressive.
Always, is one of my favourite Simon Patterson-tracks, so sweet, especially the female voice over the track. Thump is another banging techtrance track from Simon, such a cool track, especially the driving bassline.
The 2010 tracks Taxi and Miss You. Both have a breakdown with a ovely piano but I prefer Miss You over the two.
2011 was quite a busy year with 4 releases Mood Swing follows the recipy of the last few tracks with a beautiful breakdown with piano and an angelic voice on top aswell as Latika.
The collaboration with Greg Downey on Come To Me (with singer Bo Bruce) is another sweet vocal track. Keep Quiet (with singer Luce Pullin) is another vocal track more to the commercial side of trance. So What still keeps the techy side of Simons releases but abit slower than usual.
The last release from Simon, the 2012 track Within is back to the bangy side of Simon’s techtrance.
I just love the depth of Simon’s talents who can do tracks on such variety of tempos and still have that special Patterson-sound. I’ve seen Simon play a couple of times over the years and he has so far never disappointed me. When you go to a Patterson-gig, you know that you wont stand still. Simon is still pretty young and still has done so much in the trance community. My guess is that we’ll hear much more from Simon before he retire. He still got that drive to make bangers and as long as he’ll release them, people will dance to them!
Hi or as we say here at bejbi, Tja, tja bloggeeeen!
I’m here to try out this blogging phenomena that every body has been talking about for the last ten years. If you don’t know me, I’m Tatsumi Suzuki behind the monthly podcast, #Podgressive (remember the very important trending topic hash-tag there!). Podgressive.com and bejbi.se has been working closely since January and it has been fun and at the same time challenging to maintain a ”red line” between bejbi and the podcast.
What’s the fuzz about this blogging stuff then, Tatsumi you are a dj and a podcaster!
Well, the idea behind this is to get the listeners/subscribers (That means you!) backstage and to the production very heart of each podcast. I will share my thoughts that has been in my head during the past month, releases, djs, the production and all the work behind this show.
Summer 2012
Let’s call it a big fail! This summer has been the worst one in ages. It has been raining pretty much each and other day and the temperature has been way below normal for us in the Nordic countries. It’s depressing because of our hard, cold and dark winters. We need sun and a couple of months when we can re-charge our batteries! However, the summer usually brings us some parties and iv’e been to some. I have also been djing in Holland at the Luminosity pre-party with FSOS (Future sound of sweden) and in Finland, up north in a town called Vasa. Not to mention our own party at Slakthuset, ”Podgressive Summer Jam” together with bejbi!
This is how I create #Podgressive!
I usually listen to several podcasts and try to search the web for new tunes. When I find something interesting, I always have a note on my Macbook where I gather all the tracknames so I can get it later. It’s more or less a couple hundred tracks to scrum through every month. Belive me, it takes time to get together a decent podcast!
I’ve got some questions about my setup and to be honest, I’m confused! My left foot is standing on modern technics with multiple decs, sync, endless fx and multiple software routed together. Then on the other hand I got my right foot on the classic beatmatching and endless track searching in my dj case. I’m for the moment doing both classic CD to CD beatmatching with my two Pioneer CDJ-400’s and with my Allen & Heath XONE:4D or the mixer together with Traktor scratch. To be honest, man I don’t know! I think my dream setup would be 3 x Technics 2010 mk5 with timecoded vinyls together with a solid mixer. Allen & Heath (Xone 92) + Pioneer RMX1000 or Pioneer DJM900-Nexus. I just love the feel of vinyl. That’s where it all started for me and it would be great to bring it back but modernised and digitalised.
#Podgressive EP034
This months show will be a nice blend of house, techno, progressive and trance. We will have a very talented guest from Finland with roots in house music and also a great upcoming artist from Sweden, from the FSOS (Future Sound Of Sweden) collective.
I have been listening to pretty much techno these past weeks and dude, there are quite awesome releases in that genre at the moment! There has been some great trance releases as well, so hopefully you will like the finalized podcast that has resease on Friday 28th September at http://podgressive.com.
TOP10 – September 2012
We have come to the NEW monthly section where I have listed 10 great tunes that have been my most played tunes for the month. It doesn’t matter if some tracks has been out a while, it’s just what get’s me going right now. I hope that you will find some interesting stuff there and it goes something like this…
1. He has done it again! Eric Prydz said on his latest podcast that this tune has made the croud go absolutely mental on his gigs this summer! And I totally understand that. This tune has every element you need for a perfect summertune! As I noticed on his tracklisting, this will probably be released on the Eric Prydz alias, not as Pryda. Hopefully he will have this released soon and I’m looking forward to get this into my sets as well. ENJOY!
Don’t forget the release of #Podgressive EP034 on the 28th September (Share + Feedback = <3 ) and I will be back here with a new pre-podcast blog post 19th October!
When people think of classic tracks, especially tranceclassics, I guess this next tracks comes to mind in a few cases. When released back in 1997 I guess noone knew how big this track would eventually become. With several re-releases over the years and licensing to more than a dozen labels, this is truly a classic! I´m ofcourse talking about Three Drives On A Vinyl – Greece 2000. (buy on Itunes)
Dutch born Erik De Koning (a.k.a. Enrico) and Ton van Empel (a.k.a. Ton T.B.) both have tonnes of various aliases on their own and some 14 aliases together. This article will only focus on their Three Drives-alias though.
The name Three Drives On A Vinyl came from the fact that both of them could play on 3 decks at the same time. However, there was a mixup with the record production staff early on in their career so many releases were licensed as ”Greece 2000 – Three Drives On A Vinyl” as they couldn’t imagine a group calling themselves with that name. Many record labels also shortened the Three with a 3. Eventually, they shortened their name to only Three Drives.
Greece 2000 was originally released on the Massive Drive Recordings label (Owned at the time by their good friend Mark Van Dale and later to be run by Ton Van Empel). It was released in most countries as a single with a few different remixes but in Germany and The Netherlands it was first released as an EP with Greece 2000 as the A-side track while Not Overdrive and Piano Freq on the B-side and later released as an own single. The track eventually peaked at no 44 in the UK Charts.
Greece 2000 is one of those tracks that you recognize instantly and gives you goosebumps. I remember first hearing it sometime in 1998 and didn’t think much of it then. But it eventually grew on me and is today IMHO one of the best pre-2000 anthems ever. It just gives me a special warm feeling and almost teary eyes.
The followup 1999 single, Turkey 2000 did fairly well and came with a pretty good remix-pack by Southside Spinners, Atlantic Ocean and Jaydee just to name a few. There was also a white label with a remix called Taskforce ”Greece” Mix which uses the original sound of Greece 2000 with the new track.
The same year also saw Three Drives debut album, 2000 which contains Greece 2000, Turkey 2000, Italy 2000, France 2000, UK 2000, Germany 2000 and USA 2000 just to name a few.
1999 also saw the release of Superfunk, an EP with Superfunk, Europa 2000 and A Very Good Day.
Both Superfunk and A Very Good Day shows some new influences. While Superfunk samples some funky track, A Very Good Day sounds more balearic/spanish.
The next big success, the 2000-track Sunset On Ibiza was another chartclimber and peaked at no 44 in the UK Charts. The remix-pack included versions by Yves De Ruyter, Above & Beyond, Sonorous and Sirius There was even a vocal-version released. The track was hyped by Judge Jules who played the white label 5 weeks in a row on his Radio 1 show.
A fun fact is that many releases has the Sonorous version on it but mislabeled as the Above & Beyond Remix due to the fact that they have the same length.
Three Drives’s second album, Melodies From The Universe came out in 2003 and contained 2 Cds. The first one was original mixes of their tracks wereas CD2 were remixes of their tracks.
2003 also saw the first of many re-releases of Greece 2000, this time with a massive G&M Remix.
The 2004 release, Air Traffic was another chart-hit and peaked at no 75 in the UK Chart. Air Traffic came with a pretty huge remix-pack by Cor Fijneman, Montana and Bobina just to name a few, and eventually a vocal version with singer Julie Morrison.
The last we saw from Three Drives was another re-release of Greece 2000, this time with vocals and called Letting You Go. Originally remixed by Dabruck & Klein for an Armada compilation album called Hands On Armada vol 2 and later remixed by Armada residents Roger Shah and Markus Schulz. The 2012 release got the 1997 vibe but still sounds fresh, even after 15 magnificent years.
Three Drives has accomplished some big tracks over the years, especially Greece 2000, Carrera 2. Sunset On Ibiza and Air Traffic. They have played their tracks all over the world and most major DJ’s still play their tracks every now and then. Their latest releases sounds fresh but still keeps that classic Greece-sound.
Ton T.B. Is still active, both as a producer and DJ so I hope to hear him perform a classics-set soon.
