Rare Interviews

Progrez

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Bonzai Records - The Story by Red Bull Elektropedia​

This year marks the 25th anniversary of one of Belgium’s most iconic dance labels: Bonzai. The importance this local powerhouse had on ravers and dancefloors worldwide was just astonishing. Multiple generations of fans have grown up with these timeless classics that span from trance to progressive, or the sturdier electronic genres. From bringing out the first record to ultimately becoming a global force with around a dozen sub-labels and hundreds of releases to date, Bonzai have engraved themselves in the definitive history of dance music. To mark this special occasion that is a quarter century of Bonzai, Red Bull Elektropedia has teamed up with the guys behind this legendary institution to bring you this exclusive one hour documentary, showing you the story of the record label and the worldwide impact it had on the electronic music scene.
 

Progrez

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Cosmic Baby from 1994 Australia. This was posted by Cosmic Baby himself on his youtube channel.

 

Progrez

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Moby's Interview with Armin they talk about technical stuff.

 

Progrez

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DJ Fire interview - This is TMF the same producer behind one half of Fire & Ice

This is what Chatgpt told what was said I don't know if it's right or wrong.

  • "The one who thought fire actually until you just called Fire Energy."
  • "Yes, that's right, and a month ago there was a small problem."
  • "Others with the name DJ Energy as a patent in the Netherlands by a Dutch person, so standards had to be met."
  • "That’s why I had to change my name after that into something else."
  • "It wasn’t that long ago, just a month ago."
  • "And yeah, of course, I was having legal problems, so I switched to a new DJ name."
  • "And it is DJ Fire now."
  • "This also represents a change in style—a new direction for me."
  • "The first time or for years, my style was linked to smooth design."
  • "But actually, this shift is related to me and my project, 'Dirty Seamstress,' which I worked on with DJ DerHazDo."
  • "I wanted the name DJ Energy to represent something progressive, not linked to anything too commercial."
  • "I disapprove of anything tied to overly commercial parties and music."
  • "Now, I’m really into progressive styles, going into records that reflect that."
  • "This shift is being recognized internationally as well."
  • "Of course, a new name brings new opportunities."
  • "In 1997, I started a conversation about trends with someone named Laurent Veronez
  • "It was about emotional trends and implied collaborations in music."
  • "From there, my studio was established, and the 'Fire and Ice' project began."
  • "We’re still working on it now with great success."
  • "Three years ago, we tried to introduce some new concepts and songs, but it was too early at the time."
  • "However, in the following year, we performed a few of those songs under pressure, and they turned out to be hits."
  • "Thank you very much for coming to watch me play."
  • "See you soon."

The video discusses the following key points:

  • DJ Name Change: The speaker mentions that their DJ name had to be changed due to legal issues with a Dutch patent holder for the name "DJ Energy." As a result, they adopted a new name, "DJ Fire."
  • Artistic Evolution: The new name reflects a stylistic and progressive evolution in their music. The speaker mentions a preference for progressive music over commercial styles.
  • Collaborations: The speaker has been involved in various projects, including collaborations with others in the industry, and highlights the success of initiatives like "Fire and Ice."
  • History in Music: They share insights into their journey in the music industry, mentioning earlier experiments and performances. One example was a trial performance three years ago, which was considered premature, but later efforts gained success.
  • Closing Remarks: The speaker expresses gratitude for the opportunity to perform and shares enthusiasm for future engagements.
 

Dyon

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Aalten Netherlands
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Progrez

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1741298321990.png


Joining Milo on The Breakfast Spread for a spin on the Wheels of Steel is Perth producer Guy Contact. Known for his powerful club tracks across the progressive and trance-adjacent sides of the genre spectrum, Guy Contact, along with proto/progressive trance and tech house producer and rising star Solar Suite, have released their EP 'Perfect Harmony' on Wax'o Paradiso Recordings. Tune in to hear Guy’s exploration of antipodean downtempo sounds from 8am. Featured on Australia's 3PBS radio station.

I will post the link soon.
 

Progrez

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Quivver Interview with Super Progressive.

 
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Progrez

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DJ Tiesto interview LOL at Darude - Sandstorm


© TRANCE.NU - 01-10-2000 - WWW.TRANCE.NU

TEXT: TOMMIE, JEZPER & MACMAN

DJ TIËSTO

Tijs Verwest more known as DJ Tiësto played live here in sweden sunday the thirtieth of september 2000. And the day after he was interviewed by the trance.nu crew.

Whats your full name? -
Tijs Verwest

What do you think of the audioformat MP3? - I really like it, because specially in The States and also here in Sweden it's been good for my name because my CDs are hard to get here. Well, I'm not in there for the money. I'm really glad, actually honored, that people download my music. That's a compliment I think.

What's your best gig ever since you started? - There's a lot of those but I think the first Innercity gig means most to me, because it was the party that made me very famous in Holland. I had my break-thru there.

What's your worse gig ever? - I was booked once for club a in Holland and the guy didn't know what I was playing, he just heard my name. And people they didn't know me either and they asked if I could play r'n'b music. The place was very crowded and I started to DJ and after half an hour it was empty.

What's your advice to people that want to start produce trance or DJ, where should they start? - If you look at me it was a long wait to get there. So start with playing music, start at the beginning (laugh). I started like 15 years ago.

How where you discovered? - It took quite long time because I sent out like 100 tapes to all kinds of labels but nothing worked. But then I played at a club for 200 people in south and a friend from my hometown was there. He worked for Basic Beat and he heard me play. He liked it and asked if I wanted to mix the Forbidden Paradise serie so I started on CD3 and it became very big in Norway. So I had my first big break-thru in Norway and people in Holland though "why is he big in Norway and not in Holland" and then they discovered me.

Do people recognize you on the streets? - In Holland they do, also in Israel. In England they do sometimes when I'm infront of a club.

Does it bother you when people come up to you and want to talk about music? - No no, music is my life so I love it.

The best trancetune ever released, what is that? - It's hard to say, there's so many. But with vocals I think BT's Mercury and Solace is the best one I ever heard, really a trancetune. A few old ones I like is Age of love, Jam & Spoon and Jens with Loops and things those are some classics, really good tunes.

Whats your favorite tune right now? - Hard question, let me think...

Exactly what means trance to you? There's so many opinions what trance is. - For me trance is when you hear music and you forget everything around you. You forget where you are and what you're doing, you just hear the tunes.

Will Gouryella release a full-length album? - We're thinking about it because it's become so big. But I'm also working on my own album at the moment, it's going to be released next year in february or march i think. I think the name's going to be Tiësto - Solo but I'm not sure.

How is it going with the Tiësto Solo Tour? - It's amazing. On Friday nights Holland is dead, most of the clubs are closed and hardly someone goes out. So I took a very big risk to do it on Friday Nights. But almost every gig is sold out allready.

How many projects do you have besides Tiësto? - Allure, Kamaya Painters and together with Armin van Buuren I have Alibi and Major Leauge. I have Vimana together with Ferry Corsten and in Kamaya Painters it's me and Benno de Goeij. And Benno de Goeij is also the guy who made Rank 1 (together with Piet Bervoets).

Why do you use all these names, is it because they all have different styles? - Yes, and I made so many tracks and if i released them all under Tiësto people would think that it's too much. And it's also because I work with other artists, if I do a track with Armin, I can't call it Tiësto because it's Tiësto and Armin.

We got alot of questions about if you will play in USA in the future? - Hehe, It's because the MP3 is there. That's great I'm setting up a tour for next year in march, I'm gonna tour with BT (Brian Transeau).

Any tour in Sweden or the nordic countries? - I would love to come back here, because yesterday I really had a good time (Docklands, Stockholm, Sweden 30th of September 2000).

One more question from the visitors of trance.nu, will you release all your magikal remakes on one album? - I'm not sure because its all different companies and it's really hard to get the rights from a major company, they never give you the right to use the track.

Magikal remakes, is there some special way of remixing them because they're very unlike the original mixes? - I call it magikal remakes because the word remix is so used and I didn't want to use it and magikal because they call me the magic man (laugh), the magician from Holland.

Here's one question from one of Swedens most famous radio-DJs. He's wondering which one of the following DJs you would like mostly to co-operate with: Paul Oakenfold, Mauro Picotto or Judge Jules? - Paul Oakenfold. He's got a lot of experience and feeling so he knows how to read the crowd.

So you actually read the crowd and play by heart or do you have a playlist? - No, I just start off with some songs and try to feel the energy in the crowd and then I test some things. If I go too hard I try to soften it down and if it's to soft I try to get it harder.

Did you start out as a DJ or musicproducer? - I started out as a DJ.

Which song that you have made is best by your own opinion? - It's still has to be made I think. It can allways be better but I really liked the first track from Gouryella, it's really special.

Which one of your remixes of other artists tracks are you most satisfied with? - I can clearly say that it's Delerium - Silence, I really like it.

What's the name of your first release ever? - I think it's Allure with When She Left but I'm not sure because it can also be Carlos - Silmarillia that I made together with Piet Bervoets, and he's also in Rank1 together with Benno de Goeij. With the name Tiësto it was Theme from Norefjell.

What equipment did you use when you started making your music? - I had a sampler, a Roland DJ-70 and experimented with sampling during my set. It was nice to start with. And later on I started to build a studio.

How do you do your compilation CDs? Do you do them live on turntables or do you make them on a computer? - I do them live, all of my mixes are mixed in one take because I think that's the way to really put the feeling into it. Because if you hear like the Global Underground CDs it sounds so technical and you miss the feeling I think.

Did you use a playlist for Magik 6 - Live in Amsterdam? - Yeah, I used a playlist because when you sell the CD you have to have promission to record the tracks before you use them so when I recorded it I knew which track that was going to be next. I'm very happy with the result because I took a really big risk recording it live in Amsterdam.

When was Black Hole Recordings founded? - It was in November 1997 I think. I tried to start my own label at Basic Beat Recordings but they didn't want me to start my own label so decided to start on my own. So Black Hole recordings is my own company together with Arny Bink.

Do you meet up with Armin, Corsten and others or do you just meet them in business? - At the moment we are so busy but maybe when we are retired. *laugh*.

Will you play in Sweden soon again? - I don't have a booking but I'm really up for it because I really like it. Arrange me a good party and I'll come.

How are the plans for the future? - Next year I want to conquer England, that's my big target. It's going pretty well there and I got a lot of bookings so I'll work hard there and then I'm going to the tour in The States. Finish my album, keep fresh and try to do new things to keep the trancescene going because at the moment there's many artists taking advantage of the music and try to make alot of money on it.

What do you think of Darude - Sandstorm, do you like it or not? - Well actually I do like the song but I don't see it as a trancesong. It's just a commercial, it's nice to hear when you're in a pub drinking beer.

Do you work as a DJ on fulltime or do you have something at the side? - I've got alot of things. I'm DJ'ing ofcourse, I produce records, I have my recordcompany which I work for and I have the store so that's pretty much.

What do you think about the future of trance, how do you think it will develope and spread all over the world? - The trance is already big all over the world, right here in sweden the scene is fresh and still growing which is something to be proud over because in some countries trance is dead. Nothing new is happening. I think in the future trance will develope and become a little deeper and get back to the beginning.

What do you think about the extended use of drugs in the tranceculture, or that the trancemusic is related with drugs. - It's not really true, I mean you see drugs everywhere. If you go to a popconcert or so, it's on all scenes but you see it more on people on the trancescene. I think the trancemusic is the only music you can listen to without taking drugs. You can really feel the emotions in it. You can get on another level without the drugs. If you listen to techno, it so monotone so then you really would need drugs to enjoy it. ••
 

Progrez

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Hi folks! I'm excited to announce that this episode is an interview with someone who I hold in very high regard: Laurent Véronnez, better known as Airwave!

A 20+ year veteran in the underground dance music scene, Laurent has witnessed a lot: the digital revolution, the peaks and valleys of the prominence of trance music, and the commercialization of various flavors of “EDM”. Throughout all of this, Laurent has kept true to the sounds that move him.

Airwave is a hugely popular (and deeply respected) name in the dance music scene, with a very loyal fanbase. He is especially known for his work in the trance genre, both progressive and psychedelic, and is an open and honest speaker about the state of the industry. As such, I just had to get him involved with the podcast… and as you'll hear, we had a fantastic discussion!

In episode 5, Laurent and I discuss:



  • What it's like to be a traveling DJ and raise a family simultaneously
  • Why you have to be a little bit fully crazy to pursue music full-time
  • Why the accessibility of music creation tools today is such a good thing
  • Why Laurent would never go back to the days before the “digital revolution”
  • Why tools don't make the musician
  • Where Laurent thinks the trance genre is headed in the future
Items mentioned in this session include:

One Last Thing…​

This is only the fifth episode of the podcast, and we've already covered a lot of ground. We've had two great interviews and covered a number of helpful topics. I've been getting awesome feedback from people emailing me or posting on the Facebook fan page, and for that, I am extremely grateful!

If you feel that you're getting some value out of this podcast, would you please take just a moment to leave an honest review and rating on iTunes? This will help to put the podcast in front of more people, and will help to keep me accountable in order to keep improving the quality of the podcast. It only takes a moment, and would be super helpful.
 
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Progrez

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Super Progressive Interview's Paul Van Dyk



I
n this special episode of Super Progressive, I sit down with Paul van Dyk. We chat about the evolution of progressive house and trance, the fluid boundaries between genres in the 90s, and the iconic clubs that shaped the electronic music scene, from his early days in Berlin's underground to his unforgettable residency at New York's Twilo. We also delve into the significance of the Love Parade and the DIY ethos that fueled the scene's growth.

This interview comes just ahead of Paul's new album, ‘This World Is Ours’. This album, due for release on April 11th via his VANDIT Records imprint, is his first studio album in five years.

00:00 - Introduction
02:08 - Intersection of Trance and Progressive House
05:09 - The original definition of Progressive House
06:29 - German Underground Scene in the 90s
11:42 - Residency at Twilo
14:26 - Love Parade
 

Progrez

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In this episode of Super Progressive, we interview Cass Cutbush, a legendary producer in the progressive underground music scene. Cass shares insights into his career, his creative agency "Our Secret Lab," and his return to music production. He discusses the inspiration and process behind his new EP 'Gothmania' and reflects on the evolution of the electronic music scene from the late 90s to today. Cass also recounts memorable moments from his career, including the creation of the iconic track 'Perception' which was included on Sasha's Global Underground 013 Ibiza and his experiences with other influential DJs like Danny Tenaglia. The conversation touches on the changes in music production technology, the importance of passion and dedication in the industry, and the enduring appeal of progressive music.

00:00 - Introduction
00:52 - Our Secret Lab & Gothamania EP
06:33 - The seriousness of progressive music
10:54 - The 90s & 'Perception'
25:43 - The Original Mix of Perception vs the Vocal Mix
33:03 - the current state of Progressive
 

Progrez

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@facade1984 If you are in Melbourne city - Some Balance Progressive legends are visiting this vinyl shop.


 

Progrez

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@Julian Del Agranda

I disagree with him entirely. The reason why it sounded amazing in the present moment is because it was fit for that purpose but modern day tracks give me more anxiety and they are not made for quick fake gratification which sound horrible in the present moment hence they have such a low shelf life. Modern day tracks have no flow in them compared to the older tracks which might give me a heart attack in the future hence why I have stopped posting newer stuff.
 
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