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Trance Awards Preview ... you heard it here first
Reported by josie
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Submitted 09-02-05 00:47
The end of 2004 saw the announcement of the first ever Trance Awards. To fans of the genre, it was like hearing there was to be a second Christmas. The ceremony would be held at The Opera House in Bournemouth – an historic home of trance, and hosted by Slinky – an A-List clubbing brand name. The star guest was to be Ferry Corsten, Dutch trance DJ and producer extraordinaire, and ranked the number five DJ in the world in 2004.
But with the sheer number of great tracks, DJs and producers, who is likely to do well? I asked Darren Tate, Mike Koglin, Graham Gold, Ian Betts and Simon Patterson, all trance DJs and producers in their own right. I also met up with Nolan and Jon, two of the organisers of the Trance Awards and owners of TrackItDown, an online dance music mp3 store, to get some inside info. The third owner – hard house DJ Ed Real was unavailable, and I was reliably informed by Nolan and Jon that having been waiting four weeks for a haircut he’d finally got an appointment (Mr Tops, £3.50, Tottenham Court Road). Ah well, maybe next time.
I hear you’ve been blown out by Ferry Corsten.
N How did you know that?! Yeah we have.
J Well we have and we haven't. He just basically got double booked. There's not a lot we can do about it, but hopefully we can work with him in 2006.
Who have you got instead?
N Agnelli & Nelson, Les Hemstock, Nu Nrg (live) and Graham Gold. We want Graham to present the awards actually because he’s quite a charismatic guy.
Are you annoyed about Ferry or do you think it's going to be as good?
J It's disappointing obviously because he's a big name and a big pull and it would have given things just that bit more edge, I mean he's ranked one of the top 5 DJs in the world. It is disappointing, but at the end of the day it's out of our hands, so we just have to react to it and put something on that’s as good that people are going to enjoy. If we can pull it off next year with him then we’ll still be happy.
This is the first year for the trance awards. Why this year?
N Why not, no one else has done it.
J Basically we decided it would be a good idea… just for the love of the genre.
N With TrackItDown we get so many CDs, so much new music coming into us all the time, but it's the trance that gets us most excited. It's none of our main focus, but they're always the best produced, they’re always the most interesting records.
Do you think the fact that it's being held in the UK is going to give British DJs a bit more of an edge?
J Not really because the voting’s open worldwide.
N We've got media partners out in Australia, in the States, all over Europe, so it's not just a UK thing. In fact we've had more votes from the States than anywhere else.
Jon Rundell of TrackItDown
J We had the opportunity to actually host it in another country, but we decided we’d just grow it organically as we did with the hard dance awards. We started the hard dance awards somewhere small.
Who do you think is going to win best DJ then?
N I'd actually like to see Ian Betts win Best DJ because he really deserves it, although it's not going to happen. I think Ian Betts is probably the most exciting DJ around - a formidable talent. Or I'd really like to see one of the younger kids win it - Jon O’Bir win it or Gavyn Mytchel.
J Or Adam Sheridan.
So you reckon him for future hero?
J He’s the youngest ever DJ to have done an Essential Mix [on Radio 1]. He’s going places that kid. He's making good music, and he's putting in really good DJ sets, but from a more realistic point of view… it’s really hard to tell, but I don’t think it’ll be Tiësto.
N I think Armin van Buuren’s got more of a chance but we haven't looked at the results since it started. Armin was so close to winning the DJ Mag awards anyway… he’s really done something. Look at the Ibiza season… his own night was massive out there.
GG [on Best DJ] That is a difficult one. It's in England, so the likes of Ferry, Armin, van Dyk probably won’t travel, although there isn't anyone here who touches them. We do have some good trance DJs, people like Ornadel and Adam White, Above & Beyond who I think are absolutely excellent. In fact if you were to hear Armin then Above & Beyond you probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Maybe we’re indoctrinated to believe that the best trance DJs are Dutch! If I had to pick one, Above & Beyond at the moment, but then that’s not really fair because you’ve got Adam White, you've got new kids like Ian Betts, Ehren Stowers… and they’re really good DJs.
DT [on Best DJ] I’d say Tiësto or someone like that… Armin or Paul van Dyk. In terms of British DJs I’d say Above & Beyond, they’re kind of following in a certain genre which is really working for them.
MK [on Best DJ] I like all sorts of DJs, hopefully Armin, I prefer him to Ferry or Tiësto and he’s a nice chap.
SP [on Best DJ] Eddie Halliwell for me. In terms of technical ability, stature behind the decks, his tune selection when he plays trance... he is without question the best DJ I've seen, and I've seen a lot of DJs. Failing that Paul van Dyk.
IB [on Best DJ] Paul van Dyk, because I think he's been consistently good over a number of years now. Going back five, six years, even more, when trance wasn't as popular as it is now he was championing that sound. Back then his sets were so different to everything else that was around, and it was brilliant trance music - real driving, uplifting stuff. And still today, you don't even have to look at the DJ booth, you know when he's on.
Ian Betts
What about best producer?
N Where do you start?!
J In the last year there’s been so much trance come out that it's really hard to narrow it down to a handful of people.
N I think M.I.K.E. Push has got a good chance, because a lot of people know who he is. You’ve got to remember 90% of people who are voting in this probably don’t DJ… if you're not a DJ there's a good chance you only remember the obvious records.
J Above & Beyond possibly. They got voted best Essential Mix of the year which for them is great guns… but how many people on the dancefloor could actually on name an Above & Beyond record?
I'm going to push you into a decision.
N M.I.K.E.
J Darren Tate, but only because he gave me ten quid to say that.
N We’re not joking, he did.
He is really good, especially if you count Jurgen Vries and everything else.
J Yeah Darren Tate, because of that, and because he always wears gimp outfits… we love Darren.
GG [on Best Producer] Above & Beyond, although now we’re going back to thinking English aren't we, so maybe Sander van Doorn… he did it for me this year bigtime.
MK [on Best Producer] Best producer is by far Sander van Doorn, he also records as Sam Sharp, ‘Dark Roast’ is one of my favourite tunes and I like his other stuff as well. He’s only 23 years old or something.
SP [on Best Producer] That's really hard because there's loads of people that I really like. For me Darren Tate, because his profile and what he's achieved speaks for itself, no other trance DJ has has top 40 hits like him. Also I really like John Askew.
IB [on Best Producer] Blimey, there's lots of them. I would say though John O'Callaghan, the stuff he writes has loads of energy, driving baselines, I've been caning them to death.
Best New Producer?
J Adam Sheridan.
N Yeah.
What about Dogzilla [Simon Patterson]?
J Simon’s not as prolific although he’s definitely very good. But he’s not an obvious choice again for the more casual clubber… that’s what we’re trying to get, that casual clubber to vote as well, and it’s all about name recognition. Simon’s done some great remixes but Adam just came up with more tracks last year, and he's got more exposure from it as well. He’s been in Mixmag, and DJ Mag, and i-DJ quite a lot.
N Best New Producer has got Adam’s name written all over it basically… but having looked at the HDA results, or what we’ve got so far… it's not what you'd expect.
DT [on Best New Producer] Dogzilla’s got to have a chance as best new producer.
MK [on Best New Producer] There are a lot of young kids out there, I hear so much good stuff that gets sent to me by email. I especially like Miika Kuisma, he’s done some stuff on j00f.
SP [on Best New Producer] John O'Callaghan for me. Spot on - banging beats, quality riffs, I really like his stuff.
IB [on Best New Producer] There's so many seriously. There's a young guy called Factoria - I think he's going to be pretty big, he's been producing some good stuff on Elevation Records. He's not been producing that long, but the stuff he's been coming up with is excellent.
What about Best Remixer?
N The thing with remixer is that it's even harder to pick out than it is for best producer, because people on the dance floor don’t know what remix is playing, they’re going to be going off the back of compilations.
Who do you reckon, you’ve got to say?
N No comment from me.
J I really don’t know.
MK [on Best Remixer] I think Smith & Pledger - they’re a new team. Their remixes are very cool, otherwise Kyau vs Albert are great. My fellow Germans! I think they keep getting better all the time.
GG [on Best Remixer] There’s quite a few that come into that. I like the Thrillseekers, although best remixer purely on just one track would be 777 for their remix of ‘One Perfect Sunrise’.
SP [on Best Remixer] Gabriel & Dresden.
IB [on Best Remixer] John Askew, he did Introspection on Vandit which was absolutely wicked. He's a lot like Paul van Dyk, good driving baselines, and really uplifting and trancey without reverting to lots of cheese.
Best Label?
J Armada’s been putting out some really good stuff.
N Armada is the main banner, and yet some of their best stuff comes out on the other labels in the stable, and with the night out in Ibiza… no one’s been working harder than Armada.
J Captivating Sounds is part of Armada and they’ve put out a lot of good stuff. They’ve got the ability to pick up some really good records. Although Anjunabeats is in with a good chance.
GG [on Best Label] Anjunabeats.
MK [on Best Label] I think that I’m going to have to say Anjunabeats. They only release really good stuff, they don’t release too much like some other labels.
SP [on Best Label] Armada are great but I wouldn't say they've been totally consistent. I'll go with Vandit. It's the sound I like, everything they've put out in the last three months I've supported.
IB [on Best Label] Probably a toss-up between Anjunabeats and A State of Trance, they're the ones that have been producing consistently good trance this year.
Ok Best Track… this is hard.
J You're talking about a whole years worth of music.
N There's so many! There's so many good tracks.
J There’s some remixes of ‘Synaesthesia’ [by The Thrillseekers] that came out, they were really good, but then Synaesthesia is a wicked original track.
OK, if it’s the clubber on the dancefloor, it's got to be an obvious tune.
J There were a couple of really good Oceanlab tracks out and there were a couple on ATCR as well. Maybe Ian Betts - ‘Love Resurrection’.
That didn’t even get released until October.
N Actually if it was released later that makes it more likely that people vote for it.
J Although it’s for 2004 I’m sure people have been voting for things they’ve heard this year because they’re voting right now so it’ll be for things in their head right now. Hang on, I've just realised what’s going to be track of the year, and it's Ernesto vs Bastion ‘Dark side of the Moon’.
That’s only just come out.
J Yeah I definitely heard it last year.
It's only just been reviewed in Mixmag and i-DJ.
N Yeah but it's been promoed for months.
MK [on Best Track] ‘In Silence’ by Randy Katana, by far. Goes off every time. When things go down a bit, and you drop that, you bring them right back up.
GG [on Best Track] Envio ‘Time to Say Goodbye‘… that is tune of the year without any doubt whatsoever.
SP [on Best Track] Jesus! These questions are so hard! Oh I know... Randy Katana - 'In Silence'.
IB [on Best Track] Something like G & M Project - 'Sunday Afternoon'.
Best Radio Show?
N Good old Graham [Gold], everyone’s favourite! I think it’ll actually be an internet radio station that’ll get it, and I think it’ll be Digitally Imported, and one of their many number of DJs. Again you're talking about something that’s so wide.
J It could be Judge Jules or Dave Pearce.
You don’t immediately think 'State of Trance'?
N It's small minded to think that. All these people in the States, on a Friday afternoon they tune into Judge Jules over the internet.
J And you've got to remember he plays a lot of trance.
MK [on Best Radio Show] My favourite radio show is John Askew’s on Kiss FM. I really like his stuff, it’s the sort of trance that I like, not too fluffy, no vocals, a bit harder and chunky.
GG [on Best Radio Show] Mine to be honest. I don’t hear enough trance on the radio and I know the effort and time that I put into my radio show. Whilst I might not be the best club DJ, I really think I know how to present a f*cking good show… but then Armin’ll probably get it for a 'State of Trance'.
SP [on Best Radio Show] Jules, I've got to say that.
IB [on Best Radio Show] I know a lot of people will say Armin 'A State of Trance', but I think John Askew's show on Kiss is brilliant.
Best Club Night?
N Without a doubt it will either be the Armada night out in Ibiza or it’ll be the Cream nights out there.
J There could be a couple of UDC events that might be in with a chance, they did those big Strike One events at the Rotterdam football stadium. And you've got Sensation and Antiworld as well don’t forget.
N We’re looking for best promoter really, and in terms of what the London crowd’ll vote for it’ll be Wildchild… when you start getting up north - Ahead.
J It's going to be what consistently means a good night out for the voter. Is it great DJs at no more than ten pounds, or internationally renowned Djs, or is it local DJs that come and play and loads of their mates are there and they get in for a fiver? It's totally variable.
N I just think internationally… I was out in Ibiza for the Radio 1 weekend and I went to the Cream night at Amnesia and it blew me away. That many people have been to the island… a lot of Americans are getting out there now, and you don’t get a clubbing experience anywhere else in the world quite like that, so without a doubt it’ll be Cream or the Armada night.
GG [on Best Club Night] Well Peach finished last year, and I don’t think there can be a night like it ever again, so I'm going to say Peach.
DT [on Best Club Night] I’d say Passion and I’d like to see Serious do well. I think that’s a great night.
SP [on Best Club Night] Serious at The Cross definitely... for the atmosphere, for the general friendliness, you can't get a better night for me.
IB [on Best Club Night] I'd say Heat... because I'm a resident there! The parties there are wicked at the moment. The parties we've done at Pasha have had good solid trance line-ups, and I think Pasha as a club is absolutely ideal for trance.
Now we’re getting to the random stuff, Best Compilation?
N Hmm… it's going to be a Euphoria album, because just so many people buy them.
J They've been advertised on TV. They target as many people in a commercial way as possible. Put it this way, when it was at its height it was selling about 400,000 units per album they released, now it's doing about 120,000. They spend about £70,000 on TV advertising per album, and that’s only about 6 slots per week. That’ll be in between Friends or in between the Simpsons on Channel 4 and that costs a lot of money
N If you're going to spend a lot of money, you've got to sell 20,000 units. TV advertising is a big milestone in putting albums together - you either have the attitude that you're happy to do anything up to 10,000 units and if you're really really lucky you might do some more… or you TV advertise. Getting big chains like HMV or Virgin, or in the supermarkets… to do that you've got to TV advertise it or they won't even stack it on the shelves.
MK [on Best Compilation] I'm not sure… I'm much more of a vinyl person, I get them sent to me for nothing!
GG [on Best Compilation] I don’t do compilations, I have no idea. There was that Euphoria album that Ferry did [Infinite Euphoria; Aug 2004], I liked it because it wasn’t your usual Ferry, although that was the only compilation I listened to this year.
SP [on Best Compilation] Euphoria... the one that Matt Darey did, but I can't remember what it's called! I just like the direction that he went with it, and it's a musical journey from start to finish [possibly 3CD Euphoria Ltd Edition, actually released Nov 2003, oops].
Best Resident?
N It’ll be someone who has a lot of friends who like the music they play, who go and support them at their night. In London you’ve got Gavyn Mytchel down at the Gallery, Anthony Dean and Matt Darey at Knowwhere.
MK [on Best Resident] I regularly go to The Cross so I would say Simon Patterson.
GG [on Best Resident] I'm going to say Anthony Dean at Knowwhere.
SP [on Best Resident] Adam Sheridan at Goodgreef.
IB [on Best Resident] John O'Bir at Godskitchen
Again this is a difficult category, best website?
N Digitally Imported.
J We use Digitally Imported quite a lot… also trance.nu which is quite a good site… Expander’s a really good site although it doesn’t just cover trance, but it's very good at keeping up to date with generally interesting stuff.
Best Live Act?
N Nu Nrg probably.
J There isn't really many live acts in trance. If the Antiworld massive go and vote then Infected Mushroom are going to win, but if they don’t… then I'm at a bit of a loss, it could be K90.
What about Best Shop?
N Massive Records in Oxford without a doubt. You walk in there - it's signed on the wall by Paul van Dyk… Oakie… Sasha.
Best One-off Event?
J Dance Valley is guaranteed to have a selection of the top 10 to 15 DJs in each genre, and they have all genres of dance music. You're talking trance, hard house, techno, breaks, chillout, hardstyle, electro, live acts… everything you can think of. There's something ridiculous like 18 arenas, it’s the best thing you can go to in Europe.
Future hero… you're going to say Adam Sheridan aren't you? [Mixmag Future Hero nominations are Adam Sheridan, Adam White, Ben Lost, Gareth Emery, Gavyn Mytchel, John Askew, John O'Bir]
J I think he will probably win it just on exposure terms, but personally I like Gavyn Mytchel because I think he's a wicked DJ, he's a wicked mate, he’s put some work in… and I'm on the same page as him in a magazine!
N Thing is, every single one of them is doing more than the guy that will probably win best DJ. These guys are absolutely on top of their game, every single one of them is doing amazing things and I think it’s a shame… everyone still respects those big top names and it's really difficult for these guys to get a look in, to come through as the new big names. Every single one of these guys is going to be a really big thing in dance music, and probably Adam Sheridan is going to be the biggest.
Nolan of TrackItDown
MK [on Mixmag Future Hero] Gavyn Mytchel, in fact we have just signed one of his tunes to Noys, but all the stuff he plays is amazing.
GG [on Mixmag Future Hero] Adam White because he’s helped me so much with Logic! He answers the phone fifty times a day! Jon O’Bir has already been and gone as a future hero, Gavyn Mytchel - I like him a lot… but Adam - he’s done ‘Ballerina‘, and ‘The White Room, I really see him coming through.
IB [on Mixmag Future Hero] Adam White - the stuff he's been producing has been really phenomenal. I think if he carries on like that next year there'll be no stopping him. He's got a good DJing history behind him as well, he's been involved in a lot of stuff.
SP [on Mixmag Future Hero] Adam Sheridan because I like his sound, I like his DJing ability - he's one of the few people who's playing off a program called Ableton Live, and it's a very hard program to get your head around while DJing, so I think he's pioneering something which is definitely special. Although everyone on that list is a great DJ.
With thanks to Darren Tate, Mike Koglin, Graham Gold, Simon Patterson, Ian Betts, and TrackItDown.
Find TrackItDown at www.trackitdown.net. The site has 5,500 members, sells to 140 countries worldwide, and is currently holding a sale with many tracks £1. Bargain.
Photos courtesy of Jon and Nolan at TrackItDown, Simon Patterson, and from HF archives.
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Other Features By josie:
It's the Generation game featuring Agnelli & Nelson, The Thrillseekers and Lange
Peach at Heaven: Reviewed
The Gallery at Turnmills: Reviewed
The International Indoor Festival at SeOne: reviewed
The double ender: interview with trance legends Darren Tate and Mike Koglin
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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