Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Pacha: Above & Beyond Review
Above & Beyond In NYC
Mike Schirtzer
http://trance.nu/v3/news_show.php?id=3759
June 1st 2007 New York City- Above and Beyond came to Pacha New York to celebrate their latest compilation, Anjunabeats Volume 5, and the continued success of their weekly radio show “Trance Around the World”. Made Events (www.madeevents.com) presented this event and has definitely become the premier trance promoter in New York. Usually only two of the three members show up, and this time Tony and Paavo were on the decks. New York’s own Jason Jollins (Acute Recordings) opened up the night, he has also opened up for the likes of Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten in the past, so it was no surprise that his opening set was a great one that had the crowd dancing and clapping along.
Above and Beyond can proudly say that they are trance DJs/producers, while others seem to be bothered when they are called trance DJ’s, A&B seem to relish it. Some criticize the fact that they seem to play only trance tracks, but I believe that’s what the fans come to hear and they never disappoint. A&B also have no problem spinning their own tracks, they spun Air For Life, Can’t Sleep, Razorfish, No One on Earth, among others. While others seem hesitant to play their own “worn out” tracks, A&B understands that there are those that come from all over to see them and enjoy hearing the hits. Not to say they don’t come through with cutting edge stuff, Sander Van Doorn’s latest release of King of the Castle and Cosmic Gate’s Analog Feel were among some of the newer tracks played. Their own vocal tracks as well Luminary’s Amsterdam, had the crowd singing along the whole night.
A&B seem to really embrace their fans, signing autographs, reading the texts on mobile phones that are handed to them, and just seemingly enjoying themselves. They do not have the “look” of the bigger name DJ’s, but that’s what makes them so accessible to the masses. I’ve attended many events across the EDM world, and the guys of A&B always have the energy as if it’s their 1st time in front of a big crowd and appreciate every minute of their success. When the DJ’s are having a good time it’s like a virus that spreads across the club.
The low point of the night was the extreme heat inside the club. The world famous Pacha uses fans as air conditioners and the people at the club had a hard time dealing with the immense heat. With the high drink prices, the least Pacha could do is have their patrons made to be comfortable. The big problem in the EDM scene right now here in NYC is there aren’t many big clubs any more, just a couple of years ago Roxy, Crobar, Spirit, Avalon, and others were fighting for customers. All those named have since closed sown, and Crobar has changed management and owners and is not bringing in the first class DJs anymore, so Pacha is left to dominate the club world here in New York. The lack of completion is not good for the clubbers and opens the door for many problems, let’s hope another super club surfaces soon.
Mike Schirtzer
http://trance.nu/v3/news_show.php?id=3759
June 1st 2007 New York City- Above and Beyond came to Pacha New York to celebrate their latest compilation, Anjunabeats Volume 5, and the continued success of their weekly radio show “Trance Around the World”. Made Events (www.madeevents.com) presented this event and has definitely become the premier trance promoter in New York. Usually only two of the three members show up, and this time Tony and Paavo were on the decks. New York’s own Jason Jollins (Acute Recordings) opened up the night, he has also opened up for the likes of Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten in the past, so it was no surprise that his opening set was a great one that had the crowd dancing and clapping along.
Above and Beyond can proudly say that they are trance DJs/producers, while others seem to be bothered when they are called trance DJ’s, A&B seem to relish it. Some criticize the fact that they seem to play only trance tracks, but I believe that’s what the fans come to hear and they never disappoint. A&B also have no problem spinning their own tracks, they spun Air For Life, Can’t Sleep, Razorfish, No One on Earth, among others. While others seem hesitant to play their own “worn out” tracks, A&B understands that there are those that come from all over to see them and enjoy hearing the hits. Not to say they don’t come through with cutting edge stuff, Sander Van Doorn’s latest release of King of the Castle and Cosmic Gate’s Analog Feel were among some of the newer tracks played. Their own vocal tracks as well Luminary’s Amsterdam, had the crowd singing along the whole night.
A&B seem to really embrace their fans, signing autographs, reading the texts on mobile phones that are handed to them, and just seemingly enjoying themselves. They do not have the “look” of the bigger name DJ’s, but that’s what makes them so accessible to the masses. I’ve attended many events across the EDM world, and the guys of A&B always have the energy as if it’s their 1st time in front of a big crowd and appreciate every minute of their success. When the DJ’s are having a good time it’s like a virus that spreads across the club.
The low point of the night was the extreme heat inside the club. The world famous Pacha uses fans as air conditioners and the people at the club had a hard time dealing with the immense heat. With the high drink prices, the least Pacha could do is have their patrons made to be comfortable. The big problem in the EDM scene right now here in NYC is there aren’t many big clubs any more, just a couple of years ago Roxy, Crobar, Spirit, Avalon, and others were fighting for customers. All those named have since closed sown, and Crobar has changed management and owners and is not bringing in the first class DJs anymore, so Pacha is left to dominate the club world here in New York. The lack of completion is not good for the clubbers and opens the door for many problems, let’s hope another super club surfaces soon.
Above & Beyond Interview
http://trance.nu/v3/interview_show.php?id=261/
Above & Beyond are currently on tour to promote their latest label compilation Anjunabeats Volume Five. This follows the success of their acclaimed artist album Tristate. Tony from Above & Beyond was interviewed about this release.
Anjunabeats Volume Five is available for digital download at I-Tunes and Audiojelly. The CD can be purchased at cdjshop.com
1 How is the tour you’re on right now going?
Tony: Its been great. We've been going to some new places (Puerto Rico, Niagara Falls) and returning to some of our favorite places (Pacha New York, 1015 San Francisco) and the dates have all been really good.
2. To promote Your latest album 'Anjunabeats Volume 5' You're very heavy on the show circuit always doing shows and live performances , when do you have time to listen to new tracks, submit remixes, and program Trance around the world (their weekly radio show) ?
Tony: We have a huge advantage in that there are three of us. We DJ as a duo (there three in the squad, and two in the team!) and so if we're on tour in the week off somewhere long-haul there's always someone at home to take care of TATW and keep the production, label and A&R side moving along. But we listen to new music on the road all the time: the internet doesn't care if you are at home, in the studio or in a hotel room in Mexico - the tracks still keep coming.
3. Please tell us about the new release and what fans can expect from this album
Tony: Anjunabeats Volume Five is a slight departure from earlier "Volume" releases in that its a double CD and, for the most part, forthcoming stuff. So we've been able to give full reign to both the Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep repertoire we've got lined up for release in the coming months.
4. What is the one specific tracks that sticks out in your mind that really represents what the CD and A&B is all about
Tony: I think its the breadth and, hopefully, the quality of stuff on there that represents what we are about rather than one track. We've always played a broad range of music in our DJ sets and now the label is able to attract excellent artists from right across the board of what we play out, which is fantastic.
5. You guys seem to have a real talent for producing successful vocal tracks, why is that?
Tony: I guess because we really like songs and think a lot about lyrics, melody and harmony and how they can best be combined. Between the three of us there is quite a lot of song-writing experience from the bands we used to be in and the music we listen to, which is right across the board from pop to indie to dance.
6. Please tell me more about Your first encounter. How did you all meet up?
Tony: Jono and Paavo met at University and I met Jono through my brother who bought a sample CD that Jono had made. I arranged to meet Jono one night out clubbing with Matt Darey and I then met Paavo for the first time at my flat when Jono and he came round to help me finish the original "Time To Die" Nitromethane mix. Of course we had no idea it would lead to this!
7. How important has MySpace, Last.fm or any of the other top networking websites been in getting your music out and connecting with the fans
Tony: We've always been present on the net and our own website has one of the most loyal and fanatical forum members of any site out there. But MySpace has grown so fast the numbers on there dwarf our own efforts. We have almost 90,000 friends on MySpace now and its growing faster by the day, so that's clearly having a growing influence on our fan-base. Last FM, YouTube and many other sites are also becoming more and more important.
8. What are your strengths individually? Is there one particular technical aspect of music that one of you have greater experience or knowledge in?
Tony: That's so complicated because we all do different things depending on how we feel. There's so much more that comes from how we work together than from being reductionist about us.
Jono has this incredible Juke Box brain and is able to recall chords and sounds from thousands of records, so he's an incredibly fast source of musical ideas. On the other hand he loves the groove part of tracks and would quite happily work on the intro for ever. Paavo is our in house technical genius who could probably build a working satellite out of a beer can, an old radio and some toothpicks, but underneath it all he has a really strong connection with the emotional side of music and so writes the most amazing, sad music. My schtick is songs, really, the delivery of a message with words or musical progression. What the milkman is singing (or whistling) at any point in the track is my thing. But I'm an ex-marketing guy, so I obsess about the visual side of what we do as well. But as I said before, its the combination that really explains it but that's far too complex to explain at 7.00am!
9. Do any of you ever aspire to do more solo projects
Tony: We all have done, and may do again, but right now we're concentrating on A&B in general and the OceanLab album in particular.
10. What does your studio set up consist of?
Tony: A big Mac stuffed with Logic, Ableton and all the best Plug Ins, a raft of synths (Moog, Pro-1, Juno 106 etc), some guitars, some lovely microphones, a Soundcraft Ghost analogue mixing desk and more. You can get a full list at anjunabeats.com.
11. What sort of non-electronic music records or CD's do you own?
Tony: What sort don't we own?!! I think between us we have over 2,000 CD's.
12. Being that you guys travel frequently, what is your favorite place to stay and why?
Tony: Apart from home (!) I was blown away by Buenos Aires: its like Madrid 20 years ago - gorgeous, slightly crumbly Grand European architecture and amazing food.
13. What is the largest audience that you have ever played in front of and where was it
Tony: I guess Trance Energy last year had the biggest indoor crown - 30,000 in one room. But we just played outdoors in Poland and according to the promoter there were 30,000 people there if you include the people outside the fence. And that was our own gig, so that's probably the biggest.
14. The future for Above and Beyond is…
Tony: Definitely unpredictable, er, Orange? Actually, the immediate future is OceanLab!
http://www.anjunabeats.com/
http://www.aboveandbeyond.nu/
Above & Beyond are currently on tour to promote their latest label compilation Anjunabeats Volume Five. This follows the success of their acclaimed artist album Tristate. Tony from Above & Beyond was interviewed about this release.
Anjunabeats Volume Five is available for digital download at I-Tunes and Audiojelly. The CD can be purchased at cdjshop.com
1 How is the tour you’re on right now going?
Tony: Its been great. We've been going to some new places (Puerto Rico, Niagara Falls) and returning to some of our favorite places (Pacha New York, 1015 San Francisco) and the dates have all been really good.
2. To promote Your latest album 'Anjunabeats Volume 5' You're very heavy on the show circuit always doing shows and live performances , when do you have time to listen to new tracks, submit remixes, and program Trance around the world (their weekly radio show) ?
Tony: We have a huge advantage in that there are three of us. We DJ as a duo (there three in the squad, and two in the team!) and so if we're on tour in the week off somewhere long-haul there's always someone at home to take care of TATW and keep the production, label and A&R side moving along. But we listen to new music on the road all the time: the internet doesn't care if you are at home, in the studio or in a hotel room in Mexico - the tracks still keep coming.
3. Please tell us about the new release and what fans can expect from this album
Tony: Anjunabeats Volume Five is a slight departure from earlier "Volume" releases in that its a double CD and, for the most part, forthcoming stuff. So we've been able to give full reign to both the Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep repertoire we've got lined up for release in the coming months.
4. What is the one specific tracks that sticks out in your mind that really represents what the CD and A&B is all about
Tony: I think its the breadth and, hopefully, the quality of stuff on there that represents what we are about rather than one track. We've always played a broad range of music in our DJ sets and now the label is able to attract excellent artists from right across the board of what we play out, which is fantastic.
5. You guys seem to have a real talent for producing successful vocal tracks, why is that?
Tony: I guess because we really like songs and think a lot about lyrics, melody and harmony and how they can best be combined. Between the three of us there is quite a lot of song-writing experience from the bands we used to be in and the music we listen to, which is right across the board from pop to indie to dance.
6. Please tell me more about Your first encounter. How did you all meet up?
Tony: Jono and Paavo met at University and I met Jono through my brother who bought a sample CD that Jono had made. I arranged to meet Jono one night out clubbing with Matt Darey and I then met Paavo for the first time at my flat when Jono and he came round to help me finish the original "Time To Die" Nitromethane mix. Of course we had no idea it would lead to this!
7. How important has MySpace, Last.fm or any of the other top networking websites been in getting your music out and connecting with the fans
Tony: We've always been present on the net and our own website has one of the most loyal and fanatical forum members of any site out there. But MySpace has grown so fast the numbers on there dwarf our own efforts. We have almost 90,000 friends on MySpace now and its growing faster by the day, so that's clearly having a growing influence on our fan-base. Last FM, YouTube and many other sites are also becoming more and more important.
8. What are your strengths individually? Is there one particular technical aspect of music that one of you have greater experience or knowledge in?
Tony: That's so complicated because we all do different things depending on how we feel. There's so much more that comes from how we work together than from being reductionist about us.
Jono has this incredible Juke Box brain and is able to recall chords and sounds from thousands of records, so he's an incredibly fast source of musical ideas. On the other hand he loves the groove part of tracks and would quite happily work on the intro for ever. Paavo is our in house technical genius who could probably build a working satellite out of a beer can, an old radio and some toothpicks, but underneath it all he has a really strong connection with the emotional side of music and so writes the most amazing, sad music. My schtick is songs, really, the delivery of a message with words or musical progression. What the milkman is singing (or whistling) at any point in the track is my thing. But I'm an ex-marketing guy, so I obsess about the visual side of what we do as well. But as I said before, its the combination that really explains it but that's far too complex to explain at 7.00am!
9. Do any of you ever aspire to do more solo projects
Tony: We all have done, and may do again, but right now we're concentrating on A&B in general and the OceanLab album in particular.
10. What does your studio set up consist of?
Tony: A big Mac stuffed with Logic, Ableton and all the best Plug Ins, a raft of synths (Moog, Pro-1, Juno 106 etc), some guitars, some lovely microphones, a Soundcraft Ghost analogue mixing desk and more. You can get a full list at anjunabeats.com.
11. What sort of non-electronic music records or CD's do you own?
Tony: What sort don't we own?!! I think between us we have over 2,000 CD's.
12. Being that you guys travel frequently, what is your favorite place to stay and why?
Tony: Apart from home (!) I was blown away by Buenos Aires: its like Madrid 20 years ago - gorgeous, slightly crumbly Grand European architecture and amazing food.
13. What is the largest audience that you have ever played in front of and where was it
Tony: I guess Trance Energy last year had the biggest indoor crown - 30,000 in one room. But we just played outdoors in Poland and according to the promoter there were 30,000 people there if you include the people outside the fence. And that was our own gig, so that's probably the biggest.
14. The future for Above and Beyond is…
Tony: Definitely unpredictable, er, Orange? Actually, the immediate future is OceanLab!
http://www.anjunabeats.com/
http://www.aboveandbeyond.nu/
Sean Tyas Interview
http://trance.nu/v3/interview_show.php?id=260/
Sean Tyas is an American trance producer and DJ who has had many hits including “Lift” and famous remixes of Sander Van Doorn’s Punk’d and Mike Foyle’s Shipwrecked. Tyas most recently appeared on Armin Van Buuren’s 300th episode celebration of the “A State of Trance” weekly radio show, and spun an hour long set. His works can be found on Armin’s Armada label as well as John Askew’s Discover. His latest track Candida is available now on BeatPort.com and Trackitdown.net, coming out in the near future: Drop, Sean Tyas presents Logistic-One More Night, and his remix of Thomas Datt’s 2v2007. Tyas will be appearing at Dance Valley in the Netherlands this summer.
Trance.nu says:
Hello Sean, where are you from and where do you live now
Sean tyas says:
Originally I'm from New York, and now I'm living in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Trance.nu says:
Why Switzerland?
Sean tyas says:
Well at first it was Cologne, Germany, but had a more stable offer from Moonman Productions here in Switzerland, and since I was already dating my now-wife Mirella, who is Swiss, it seemed a no-brainer to drop everything and just move.
Trance.nu says:
How did you first discover electronic music?
Sean tyas says:
My uncle gave me a cassette tape in 1990 of the various mixes of Apotheosis O'Fortuna. I think there were 3 mixes total. I loved them so much I actually just made another cassette with the 3 mixes and listened over and over to both sides and would literally listen to these mixes all day! Hadn't heard anything like it until then.
Trance.nu says:
First of all would you rather be considered a DJ or producer
Sean tyas says:
Producer more than DJ, though it gets more and more enjoyable to DJ each time.
Trance.nu says:
So how did you take that 1st step from fan to producer?
Sean tyas says:
About 7 years ago I guess, I finally decided to install Cubase VST/24 and buy a Yamaha AN1x . At the time I had limited knowledge about anything, but figured eh, just suck it up and get started. It wasn't too long before I started opening up more credit cards just to feed this growing addiction of gear-whoreishness.
Trance.nu says:
Has having producers like Markus Schulz and Christopher Lawrence from the States, made it easier for you, as an American, to break into the trance scene
Sean tyas says:
Hmm as successful and skilled as they are, America still is really not known as being a trance generating country. I think in any country it's never easy per-se to break into the scene. But like anything in life... You beat on that wall long enough, it's gonna come down.
Trance.nu says:
Was the success of "Lift" surprising for you and how did it change things in terms of your music career
Sean tyas says:
It just brought whatever I was doing at the time directly into the limelight due to the surprisingly amazing play listing it received. That one track basically and oddly began my DJ career.
Trance.nu says:
How can you go from being where you’re at now, to the "star" status of an Armin, Tiesto, etc?
Sean tyas says:
No need, I love where I am now. I just want stability, quality, and consistency and I'm really satisfied.
Trance.nu says:
I was at your show in NYC and I noticed something unusual for our scene, your father was there supporting you, Is your family a big part of your music?
Sean tyas says:
When I'm in New York, both of my brothers and usually both parents are there to support. It's really amazing to even have my parents there; I think they finally see the reason I used to terrorize them by shaking the house all day when I was living home.
Trance.nu says:
Tell us about how important your website and other online networking tools are?
Sean tyas says:
Its a terrific tool for getting correct and official info directly out there. Though it's such a strange phenomenon, MySpace, in that now every artist's MySpace page is essentially more important than their own professionally done websites!! It's just a very positive and good environment
Trance.nu says:
Since I am writing this for trance.nu which is known for its coverage of the entire scene worldwide, but its forums/message boards are big part of the site as well, tell me your feelings about forums
Sean tyas says:
They are different now than 6-7 years ago. I think back then it was very positive because it was filled with people that actually went out and enjoy the clubs, and really just enjoyed the night life by dancing. Now those same people still roam the boards, but they are also filled with many people that forgot that, well, this scene is supposed to be fun, and not to be taken so seriously.
www.seantyasmusic.com
www.myspace.com/seantyas
Sean Tyas is an American trance producer and DJ who has had many hits including “Lift” and famous remixes of Sander Van Doorn’s Punk’d and Mike Foyle’s Shipwrecked. Tyas most recently appeared on Armin Van Buuren’s 300th episode celebration of the “A State of Trance” weekly radio show, and spun an hour long set. His works can be found on Armin’s Armada label as well as John Askew’s Discover. His latest track Candida is available now on BeatPort.com and Trackitdown.net, coming out in the near future: Drop, Sean Tyas presents Logistic-One More Night, and his remix of Thomas Datt’s 2v2007. Tyas will be appearing at Dance Valley in the Netherlands this summer.
Trance.nu says:
Hello Sean, where are you from and where do you live now
Sean tyas says:
Originally I'm from New York, and now I'm living in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Trance.nu says:
Why Switzerland?
Sean tyas says:
Well at first it was Cologne, Germany, but had a more stable offer from Moonman Productions here in Switzerland, and since I was already dating my now-wife Mirella, who is Swiss, it seemed a no-brainer to drop everything and just move.
Trance.nu says:
How did you first discover electronic music?
Sean tyas says:
My uncle gave me a cassette tape in 1990 of the various mixes of Apotheosis O'Fortuna. I think there were 3 mixes total. I loved them so much I actually just made another cassette with the 3 mixes and listened over and over to both sides and would literally listen to these mixes all day! Hadn't heard anything like it until then.
Trance.nu says:
First of all would you rather be considered a DJ or producer
Sean tyas says:
Producer more than DJ, though it gets more and more enjoyable to DJ each time.
Trance.nu says:
So how did you take that 1st step from fan to producer?
Sean tyas says:
About 7 years ago I guess, I finally decided to install Cubase VST/24 and buy a Yamaha AN1x . At the time I had limited knowledge about anything, but figured eh, just suck it up and get started. It wasn't too long before I started opening up more credit cards just to feed this growing addiction of gear-whoreishness.
Trance.nu says:
Has having producers like Markus Schulz and Christopher Lawrence from the States, made it easier for you, as an American, to break into the trance scene
Sean tyas says:
Hmm as successful and skilled as they are, America still is really not known as being a trance generating country. I think in any country it's never easy per-se to break into the scene. But like anything in life... You beat on that wall long enough, it's gonna come down.
Trance.nu says:
Was the success of "Lift" surprising for you and how did it change things in terms of your music career
Sean tyas says:
It just brought whatever I was doing at the time directly into the limelight due to the surprisingly amazing play listing it received. That one track basically and oddly began my DJ career.
Trance.nu says:
How can you go from being where you’re at now, to the "star" status of an Armin, Tiesto, etc?
Sean tyas says:
No need, I love where I am now. I just want stability, quality, and consistency and I'm really satisfied.
Trance.nu says:
I was at your show in NYC and I noticed something unusual for our scene, your father was there supporting you, Is your family a big part of your music?
Sean tyas says:
When I'm in New York, both of my brothers and usually both parents are there to support. It's really amazing to even have my parents there; I think they finally see the reason I used to terrorize them by shaking the house all day when I was living home.
Trance.nu says:
Tell us about how important your website and other online networking tools are?
Sean tyas says:
Its a terrific tool for getting correct and official info directly out there. Though it's such a strange phenomenon, MySpace, in that now every artist's MySpace page is essentially more important than their own professionally done websites!! It's just a very positive and good environment
Trance.nu says:
Since I am writing this for trance.nu which is known for its coverage of the entire scene worldwide, but its forums/message boards are big part of the site as well, tell me your feelings about forums
Sean tyas says:
They are different now than 6-7 years ago. I think back then it was very positive because it was filled with people that actually went out and enjoy the clubs, and really just enjoyed the night life by dancing. Now those same people still roam the boards, but they are also filled with many people that forgot that, well, this scene is supposed to be fun, and not to be taken so seriously.
www.seantyasmusic.com
www.myspace.com/seantyas
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