Producers talking against the scene

dmgtz96

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Jul 13, 2020
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@Gagi edit:

The fabulous @dmgtz96 turned my attention towards some Airwave's TranceAddict posts, where he talks against the scene, even against himself.

So I thought I'd post those here, and you can add some more and discuss.

These convos are important anyways, and even though 99% of the producers nowadays have hit the safe mode, there still needs to be a lot of non-PR discussions, to figure out how this thing works, what's good, what's bad, and when did it go wrong.

The following few posts have been moved from the Breakfast - Weightless thread.

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Released originally in 2016 with Ghosts, but then pulled from all stores due to controversy, and re-released in 2019 on BRKFST album.
... you're gonna write that in the OP and not spill the tea?
Haha, that is weird. Although trance occasionally has drama, I've only heard of one other instance where an artist could get into this kind of trouble. That was Airwave in the Dutch section of tranceaddict, where he mentioned that a certain powerful individual could basically wreck his career if the latter wanted to.
Good track, btw. Totally added it to my "good modern trance" playlist.
 
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Archon

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I've only heard of one other instance where an artist could get into this kind of trouble. That was Airwave in the Dutch section of tranceaddict, where he mentioned that a certain powerful individual could basically wreck his career if the latter wanted to.
What what whaaaat? Please share more info!
 

dmgtz96

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What what whaaaat? Please share more info!
It was a very old post on tranceaddict written in Dutch. I think Airwave himself had an account on the site and wrote about that. It might have had to do with him ghost producing for someone else, or ghost production in trance in general.
If I could find his account, I would be able to track down that post, but search on tranceaddict is kinda janky.

edit: Airwave's post history. Yikes, imagine wading through 100+ pages
 

Archon

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It was a very old post on tranceaddict written in Dutch. I think Airwave himself had an account on the site and wrote about that. It might have had to do with him ghost producing for someone else, or ghost production in trance in general.
If I could find his account, I would be able to track down that post, but search on tranceaddict is kinda janky.

edit: Airwave's post history. Yikes, imagine wading through 100+ pages
Damn, I'd read them all if I had the time. Let me know if you find it.
 

dmgtz96

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Damn, I'd read them all if I had the time. Let me know if you find it.
Still browsing through them, but here's an interesting post of his around pg. 50 or so, posted on Aug 20th, 2008. The original was in French.

well ... everyone gave each other the word this year. Makes me laugh once again.

This stuff is exacerbating the tensions between artists, especially since the latter, by doing so, to kneel down for votes, save dj mag a bundle of dough and set up a feudal system worthy of the 11th century.

I couldn't prevent my label's site from advertising that I don't approve of, but I will ask for more to be voted for, at least if my goal is not to dismantle this top 100, that does not make any sense. If it were up to me, I would have the closing night with 200 activists to denounce the scandal of this top 100 dj mag and how each is using the other. Open the eyes of a bunch of gentle flower power that we constantly abuse.

The less movement there is around it, the fewer advertisers for the magazine will be, and the less money it will bring to a big publishing machine. We make you believe that the vote is free, without commitment, but behind it all hides the money of the mafia of the pub. And believe it or not, dj mag is making a hell of a lot of money on your back, you who vote. And I'm not talking about the dj's who put up banners, as if their life depended on it.

When the artists finally understand how it works, I put my hand to cut that we will no longer try to classify everything like that. I never needed a dj mag to advertise, and tomorrow will be the same as today. What amazes me is that there are people who are crazy enough to believe that they support their favorite artists like this. We all know that the vote is manipulated, even rigged, and that being made increase your rating. No, but it is a real slump, worse, an example of human mediocrity that this classification that is imposed on us at every moment. Soon you will be asked to rank the family members in order of preference.

SO PLEASE, if you have any respect for your favorite artists, BOYCOTTE DE GRACE this vote, because you won't help them see the reality of things and a lot of people who don't give a fuck about music are going to fill their pockets because of your too much kindness
 

Archon

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Still browsing through them, but here's an interesting post of his around pg. 50 or so, posted on Aug 20th, 2008. The original was in French.
Take a look at this, page 2:

I'll let people decide for themselves, but I wanted to share my 2 cents as someone named me.

If you have to put me into a genre, and if it happens that the genre in question is actually representative of what I've always wanted to be, then I assume and accept it. If today it's psychedelic or progressive house, those genres change all the time while people like me want to remain themselves.

Many people wanted me to make either more Dutch trance, or go entirely progressive and dark. I made the choice and simply didn't choose anything.

The truth is that trance today is so far away from what it used to be, and the same can be said about progressive. You'll hear my record with the initiator of the genres in Belgium, a French dj called phi phi, in the next few weeks, and you will realize that. It's the perfect balance, so then you cannot classify the record. On the other hand I've got two records at 140 coming up too.

15years ago, Oakley could start at 125 and finish at 140 nobody here to complain. Where. Is. That. Frickin. Time.

I made a mistake in the past, and embraced a sound that wasn't for me, or that wasn't representative of who I am, many records as fire&ice, airwave, lolo with those stupid melodies and supersaws and a complete lack of originality compared to some 98 and 99 records of mine., and you could hear that. Dark lines released a year ago was the first correction. And I'll keep digging into this direction. Not too smart, not too stupid, no bullshit, no niche genre. Just myself. Like many others who didn't follow paths and for that reason stood the proof of time.

The dj generation almost killed our scene. Complete nobodies with zero skills took the place of talented people.

Then comes the inevitable question. Isn't that because of the way we've been making records for the last ten years. Then I remain positive as technology is finally there to put that into perspective. I'll explain my idea later on though.
 

dmgtz96

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John Askew's rant against the electronic dance music scene for Junkee, March 20th, 2014:

“I’m afraid you might be disappointed with my answer here. You probably want me to say something controversial but unfortunately I don’t really have or see any problems with the scene that I belong to.

“Yes, I like to have a dig and take the piss out of various aspects of the top guard EDM lot as well as various mates of mine who have decided the grass is greener on that side of the fence, but in all honesty the scene they all belong to, the scene that has become widely known as EDM, I wouldn’t really classify as having any relation to the scene I consider myself to be a part of.

“On one side you have the electronic music scene with pioneering producers and DJs like Laurent Garnier, Scuba, Maceo Plex, John Digweed, Adam Beyer, Hawtin etc. etc. pushing the boundaries of creativity and technological experimentation. On the other side you have a formulaic prefab sector of the pop music market whose biggest selling commercial “artists” happen to DJ as opposed to playing with a band when they “perform”. To even suggest that the two sides of the scene are in any way linked is almost laughable. In my view the only cross over is the fact that the two sides sometimes share festival bills.

“And while I could happily go to town on music that makes up the EDM scene I don’t want to give you guys the wrong impression because I really do value the contribution the EDM headliners have made to the electronic world. That contribution is the millions of new fans they have attracted. Kids who have heard the music on their local commercial radio and who have dug it. Fans whose musical tastes will mature as they do – and broaden beyond the obvious sounds fed to them by radio.

“When I think back on the first music I was into when I got into dance music in the early 90s, a lot of it was pretty embarrassing, cheesy (by 90s standards) and generally shit. That’s what happens – you get into the obvious, predictable, and most easily available sounds first and then when you find your feet, learn who’s who, you start to explore what else is available below the surface. I would say that’s the same no matter what genre of music we’re discussing.

“So while there may be millions of kids around the world currently having a great time dancing to the commercial pop music that dominates the main stages of the key electronic festivals, I would argue that a substantial portion of them will eventually migrate towards the other stages where the real electronic music is being played. Music that you can dance to in the safe knowledge you’re not going to have your night ruined by a fucking cake landing on your head.

“To conclude therefore – I have no issues with the way things are.”

Source: The biggest problem in dance music today...with John Askew
 

SecondNature

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"Music that you can dance to in the safe knowledge you’re not going to have your night ruined by a fucking cake landing on your head."
Hahaha, I was always amazed how much the kiddos were from literally begging Aoki to throw a cake at their face. Like, why? Such a waste of cake, lmao...
 
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dmgtz96

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An interesting take on the "scene" - in this case, the scene is the internet community that kept trance alive well after its commercial peak.

From Markus Schulz, last edited October 26th, 2004
Hi everyone,

I have never posted here on Tranceaddict, I choose to be the quiet type, just reading peoples views and opinions on everything from music to production and I have even occasionally wandered into the political forums, as I feel that tranceaddict.com is a community of people who I can relate to. Alot of the people here are misunderstood in the real world, or have a passion for music that few outside of an Internet community can relate to. For this reason I have held tranceaddict.com in a high regard. I can also say that I am not the only one, there are alot of big DJs that feel the same , but are uncomfortable posting. Whenever there is a gathering of Tranceaddicts at any gig, whether I am playing or not, I always make it a point to thank every one of them. Lately the boards have really taken a turn for the worst. I am not sure if it is just from a noisy few members or what, but it really has
made the board feel unfriendly and uncomfortable to read at times. I certainly don’t think censorship of any kind is acceptable, however I think its time for the moderators of the forums to get things under control here. This message board is not just about music; it is a community of passionate people who have music as a common bond. We should all respect each other. When coming across someone who has a different opinion than you, maybe continuing a discussion in a non-offensive manner may reveal that you have a lot more in common than you think. Even if there are people whose music I don’t like, I am still friends with them and respect them, because I have gotten to know them outside of just their music. Dave Dresden and I argue all the time about some of his tracks, but he is still a great friend who I have a lot in common with and enjoy hanging with away from the music. Dave also proves me wrong a lot, and I humbly admit it. Ozgur Can thinks a lot of my music is too “progblipblop”, but we are still good friends, and support each other. I have read many posts with opposing views then my own, and respected the person, for giving well thought out points. I have also read many peoples views about the music and that I and the other members of the “Evil Trio” play. I know that not everyone enjoys the music that I play, I accept that. I actually find that a challenge, because it keeps me working harder, to try to win you over. But just remember, music is art, and not everyone likes the Mona Lisa. But the people that do are very passionate about it.

Thank you to everyone who is supportive, I appreciate your kindness. I hope that I am able to bring some joy to your lives through music. The people that don’t like my style of music, that’s ok too, maybe we have a sports team, a politician, TV show or a favorite Pop Idol wannabe in common. Respect me, and what I am doing is all I ask. I do it for the love of music, I am just lucky to be able to support my family with my career in music.

Respect to you all!
Markus Schulz

Link to the original tranceaddict thread. It's 22 pages of... stuff. Feel free to read it if you'd like.
In the days of old, drama in forums was common, and around the time of Markus' post the tranceaddict community had a thing against "McProg." That's probably what prompted Markus to write it.
Looking back in 2021, TranceAddict reminds me a lot of the Italian cartoon Winx Club. It was hugely popular around 2004-2007, with a community and everything, and it still exists! ... It's just really weird.
 
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Toadcop

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they should better produce some quality stuff and not talk up B-)
all industries are shit))) thats why they are industries.

NCkJ2cH.png
 
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dmgtz96

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It looks like Airwave saw this thread and deleted his tranceaddict post history
Can't blame him - I would have done the same in his situation

Most of it was just him talking about gaming, music production, his daily life, and his frustrations traveling and getting paid by promoters. He also commented on a couple of threads about big-name DJs performing at events. From what I saw, I did not notice much "beef" against other artists. Mind you, this is only for the 60 pages I looked at. We'll never know about the other 40-something pages, as they've gone missing.

That was Airwave in the Dutch section of tranceaddict, where he mentioned that a certain powerful individual could basically wreck his career if the latter wanted to.
This became a fever dream at this point.
 
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Archon

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It looks like Airwave saw this thread and deleted his tranceaddict post history
Can't blame him - I would have done the same in his situation

Most of it was just him talking about gaming, music production, his daily life, and his frustrations traveling and getting paid by promoters. He also commented on a couple of threads about big-name DJs performing at events. From what I saw, I did not notice much "beef" against other artists. Mind you, this is only for the 60 pages I looked at. We'll never know about the other 40-something pages, as they've gone missing.


This became a fever dream at this point.
Yeah can't blame him, just be angry with myself that I haven't read all of those, in order to know a bit more about what and how he thinks. It's tricky, getting some dirty stuff out in the open - and it sucks that it has to stay hidden in order to not piss anyone off.
 
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Hensmon

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Deleted all those posts before. Not relevant to the thread and weve heard it all before.
 
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dmgtz96

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Now that I think about it:

If Airwave was ever threatened by someone in the music scene, I don't think it would have been another producer (like Armin). I would think it's a promoter/manager with the money and connections to block Airwave from getting booked anywhere or from releasing anything.
Of course, this is all pure speculation because the post did not appear, but surely cases like that do happen within the music industry? Airwave, as outspoken as he was about his frustrations with the scene (and as we see in some of the posts above), likely triggered one of these guys at one point in his career.
 
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