Featured interviews

Win! We have 15 pairs of tickets to Creamfields Europe!

Creamfields Festival was established in Liverpool in 1998 and during its 10 years of existence, together with Glastonbury, Reading and V Festival, has become one of the biggest festivals in the UK. It is also the most important dance event in the UK and each year it attracts well over 40,000 people.

From 2000 on the Creamfields Festival has also successfully expanded into many other territories – South America, Poland, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Belgium. With 55,000 visitors, Creamfields Argentina has become the biggest dance festival on the South American continent.

The Creamfields Europe team have been kind enough to give us a massive 15 PAIRS OF TICKETS to this event! Click this feature to win them

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Bass Junkie - An Interview With Scott Attrill aka Vinylgroover

Scott Attrill aka DJ Vinylgroover needs no introduction to a lot of TID customers. Since the launch of the site way back in 2004 his productions and labels Traffic and now Riot! Recordings have topped the sales charts both within the hard dance genre and overall. 2008 sees an exciting new chapter in a career that spans the last 15 years.
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Logistics - Reality Checkpoint

In only four years, Matt Gresham aka Logistics has created one of the biggest catalogues of productions and remixes that TID has seen. Regardless of the quantity what’s striking is the quality, and while it’s no surprise that an artist on the ever-ready Hospital Records label is driven to the peak of his skills it’s truly hard to fathom where he finds the time and energy!
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James Zabiela & Nic Fanciulli Miami 2008 Powered by Trackitdown.net

On Friday March 28th 2008, two of the coolest DJ’s will be celebrating their Miami Winter Music Conference in style with a mammoth b2b set to showcase just why they’re the most exciting artists on the planet. Powered by Trackitdown.net, the world’s local record store and home to legal downloads from 9,000 electronic record labels, the James Zabiela and Nic Fanciulli Miami Show is one of the most highly anticipated performances of the legendary music event and this website is here to give you the low down.

Together with James & Nic, Trackitdown.net has created exclusive Top 10 charts, interviews and releases just for you on their pages of the website. Super producer Nic Fanciulli has given new artists a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own 240 production samples from his hard drive to use in their own music. All of these loops and sounds have been tested on the world’s biggest sound systems as components in his recent Skylark album ‘I-Panik’ on Saved Records. James Zabiela’s own productions are rare so we’re honoured to have an exclusive remix of his own Perseverance available exclusively here on the microsite and Trackitdown.net store. It was made by James for his Radio One Essential Mix in December 2007 and to celebrate the MWMC he’s made it available to his fans for the first time.

In the spirit of celebration for this truly monumental event we’re running a number of competitions for fans around the world. Win a signed Pioneer EFX unit and a Q2 dual DJ unit that’ll be autographed by James & Nic on the night!

Nic is also on the look out for the next generation of producers with a remix competition open to all. Purchase his sample pack and send us your remix of a track from ‘I-Panik’ by Skylark on Saved by the 7th April 2008. You can hear and buy all the tracks from the album by visiting Nic’s page on the microsite.

For those of you who aren’t lucky enough to be in Miami for this very special event we’ll be publishing the playlist from James & Nic’s 5 hour set as soon as we’ve recovered from this massive party! You’ll then be able to click through and buy tracks from the set and other products from artists and labels supported during the show. Sign up to the mailing list and we’ll send you the playlist straight to your inbox.

Supernaturalistic Interview With Sander Van Doorn

The new prince of Trance music is undoubtedly Sander Van Doorn, a man whose meteoric rise to fame within the scene has been unparalleled of late. Now launching debut album 'Supernaturalistic', we caught up with Sander to get the low down on the album and future projects.

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Abel Ramos Remix Competition!

Trackitdown has teamed up with legendary Dutch trance label Spinnin’ to offer you the chance to remix the brand new smash hit 'Jakarta' from mega-trance producer Abel Ramos!
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Lisa Lashes – My Year In Hard Dance

What tune has defined this year in hard dance for you?

The tune that never fails to be the best tune of the night every weekend is "Depth Charge" by BK and Kutski. Fabulous, contagious riff to this dark squelchy tune. So many people have asked me the name of this when Ive played it so it definitely does the job and is my defining tune of the year.

Sebastien Leger - 'My Music Is Based On Mistakes!'

House's coolest new superstar Sebastien Leger has slowly been making a name for himself over the past few years with a slew of great productions under his belt and remixes for the likes of Kylie, Duran Duran and Justin Timberlake. We caught up with Sebastien to get the lowdown on his awesome new artist album 'Planets'.
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Massive Remix Competiton - 'Degrees Of Motion - Shine On'

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Black Dog - "You Can Always Stop Prozac But You Can’t Stop Being Dead"

(Words by Jonty Skrufff) As a bipolar sufferer and self confessed heavy user of both Prozac and later Seroxat, Black Dog legend Ken Downie is eminently qualified to discuss both psychiatric drugs’ ups and downs, not least having happily given both up. In this exclusive interview, we catch up with the legendary outfit.
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Unique 3 - 'Wearing Colourful Hats Made Me Stand Out In 1989!'

Unique 3 is undoubtedly most famous for the old skool anthem 'The Theme', a track which defined early breakbeat and remains to this day an old skool classic. This week he launches new album 'Invasive Signals' after a 17 year wait through Fat Records. The TID team caught up with the man himself to get the lowdown..
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Sander Kleinenberg - 'The Art Of Remixing Is Delicate'

Sander Kleinenberg exists as a phenomenon - a producer, DJ and label owner who consistently pushes the boundaries and limitations of what we conceive to be possible. With a new compilation due on Renaissance and with his world tour currently in progress, we caught up with the man himself for a few words..
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Andy Moor: "I've Always Wanted To Put On A Party In A Protected Historical Building!"

Andy Moor is without doubt one of the busiest men in trance at present. Owner of the AVA imprint (available in full from Trackitdown) and with more gigs than we've had hot dinners, he is one of the UK's hottest properties at present. Pete from Trackitdown caught up with Andy to get the lowdown on his career at present and his future movements.
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Eskimo - "All I Will Say Is Jamie Oliver... Wop That In There!

Eskimo is quite possibly the craziest person in psy-trance. He's also quite possibly one of the most talented producers in the scene, wowing crowds with his insane party style. Olly from Trackitdown caught up with Junya (as he likes to be known) in this exclusive interview ahead of his performance at Party Proactive on 1st September at Turnmills, London..
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J Majik: "Some Old Dishes Your Nan Made Were Wicked, But Some Were Awful!"

J Majik & Wickaman have been behind some of the biggest Drum & Bass records of all time including the dancefloor-destroying remix of Hatiras' house anthem 'Space Invader' which has torn up floors from Bolton to Brisbane. With new album 'Crazy World' on the way, Olly from Trackitdown spoke to the boys...
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The Breakfastaz: "We Met Hanging Round The Streets of Ealing Generally Acting Cool!"

After picking up the award for Best Breakthrough Act at the 2005 Breakspoll awards, The Breakfastaz have been catapulted onto the breaks scene and now exist as three of the biggest talents there are. With releases on Against The Grain, Cyberfunk and their own Breakfast Club imprint, the boys continually impress with their no-nonsense approach to production. In this EXCLUSIVE interview, we got the lowdown on their careers so far..
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Nu:Tone - "If I Could Have Half The Legacy Of Quincey Jones, I'd Die A Happy Man!"

Hospital Records presario Nu:Tone drops his awesome latest artist album 'Back Of Beyond' on Trackitdown and drops by for a quick chat to discuss making the album, the state of the D&B scene, his influences, and what he really thinks of his brother Matt (aka Logistics)...

Christopher Lawrence - "You're Only As Good As Your Last Party"

It could be seen as somewhat unusual for an American DJ to break into the Trance market, seen as classically Eurocentric. Not only has Christopher Lawrence done just that, he has smashed it to pieces. Voted #4 on the DJ Mag Top 100 poll in 2006, Christopher is widely recognized as one of the finest talents on our scene. Ahead of his appearance at the Party Proactive arena at Antiworld's Festival on 7th July, we got the lowdown on Christopher's illustrious career.

Above & Beyond - 'Music Is A Passion, It's Fine To Get Passionate About It!'

In the wake of the release of their brand new compilation Anjunabeats Volume 5 (the fifth in a series of popular compilations from the leading trance label), Above & Beyond talk to Trackitdown to discuss the crafting of the album, future Above & Beyond releases, and what would happen if Tiesto played back to back with Tim Westwood..
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Trackitdown chats to Superstyledeluxe about their brand new mix album and early release on TID!

To crown SuperStyleDeluxe’s busiest year yet, the pair are celebrating finishing their first LP, which is about to drop on their own fast-developing label, The Payback Project. Having gathered their experience from nearly a decade of DJing and releasing records, Dan Holmes and Neil Simons, the duo behind the act and label, have crammed their combined knowledge into a series of all-legal mix-tapes. Spring 2007 sees the release of ‘Breakbeat Flavour’, the first from the ‘Sugar Coated Stylus Pops’ series. Ready to attack 2007, armed with a laptop, a stack of vinyl, and an independent attitude that’ll never die, it’s payback time!
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Trackitdown chats to Cave about his latest EXCLUSIVE on the store!

During his tour around the world, we caught the Norwegian techno guru DJ  Cave in a quiet Monday evening for a short interview for all our friends on Trackitdown.net. Five years after he broke into the techno scene with his huge hit “Street Carnival”, he meets us to talk about the long awaited anniversary release number 10 on his very own Spilo Records, which is already a rocker in the sets of Carl Cox and Sander Van Doorn.
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One of electro's biggest assets, Richard Dinsdale, talks to Trackitdown

Although only a sprightly 24 years old, this new kid on the house block's been living, breathing and bleeding dance music for the best part of a decade. His mouth-watering mix of tech-tinged electro and bass-heavy house is a regular fixture at leading London nightspot The Cross, his solid, groove-led productions snapped up by UK labels Renaissance, Kinky Vinyl, Big Love and Toolroom. He also counts some of the scene's most successful movers'n'shakers - Erick Morillo, Mark Knight, Seamus Haji, Trophy Twins, Plump DJs - among his famous fans.
» More read the full story.

An interview with Psy-Trance's leading lady, Dali

Dali is one of the world's leading psy-trance DJs, and has enjyoed colossal success as of late with the release of her debut album 'Hectic' on the legendary HOMMega imprint. In this exclusive interview for Trackitdown, you can find out a little bit more about one of the world's best female DJs.
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Axel Karakasis prepares for his London set at Party Proactive with an exclusive interview!

In the late 80's Axel began experimenting with Techno sounds. Around that same time he started djing at small clubs in Athens. In 1995 he became the resident dj at Battery club and played Techno music. In 1996 at the Piraeus Iguana club, he launched Techno parties that enjoyed huge success...

With a forthcoming set at Party Proactive (Turnmills, London UK Saturday 24th March 2007) Jess at Trackitdown went to catch up with Axel and get the low-down from Greece’s hottest export.

Antiworld Indoor Festival Preview: Interview with Domestic

Domestic has captured the world of psytrance with his album ‘Art Making Machine’. It’s hard to imagine a psy-trance DJ today who does not have a track or two from Domestic in his or her record box. In anticipation of his set at Antiworld's Indoor Festival on 3rd Feb 2007 at the SEOne Complex, London, Antiworld's Siren enquires about his background and his approach to music production.
» More read the full story.

From chart trance classics to uber-cool electro house - TID talks to Tomcraft!

Tomcraft (real name Thomas Brückner) is a German DJ and producer. He is specialized in progressive house and progressive trance and is better known for having created the tracks "Loneliness" and "Prosac", working alongside Eniac.

Tomcraft began working as a DJ in Munich in 1994, shifting between techno and the emerging progressive trance style. The following year, he released his first track, "This Is No House". He first met in Eniac in 1996, and the two immediately started producing music together, beginning with "Viva". The same year yielded the track "Prosac", but this did not achieve success until it was re-released in 2001.

2002 was also the year Tomcraft released "Loneliness", a progressive vocal track that eventually reached #1 in the UK! To celebrate the launch of his latest track with Jimmy Pop 'Broadsword Calling Danny Boy' we caught up with the man of the moment for a quick interview!
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Ali Wilson and Matt Smallwood get put in the TID Hotseat!

 Ali Wilson and Matt Smallwood have shone out in the last year as two of the most successful young producers to team up and release upfront hard dance and techno.

Sven Vath, no1 DJ and owner of Cocoon Recordings, talks to Trackitdown!

Sven Väth (sometimes Sven Vaeth), born October 26, 1964 near Frankfurt, Germany, is a DJ who has produced a large body of work since his career began in 1982. He was also one of the founders of legendary trance music labels Harthouse and the now-defunct Eye Q, as well as being among the very first DJs to play trance records.

Väth is also known as R U Ready and Sam Vision. He has been a member of the groups 16 Bit, Astral Pilot, Barbarella, The Essence of Nature, Metal Master, Metal Masters, Mosaic, and Off. Today he is the owner of the Cocoon Event Media GmbH, which contains his new Label, Cocoon Recordings. He is also the owner of the Cocoon Club in Frankfurt.

London Techno City Preview - Interview with Umek

Interview by John Bromage. Umek is one of the most instantly recognizable names in electronic music. After countless EPs, a large number of anthems and a reputation as an innovator, he has risen to the top of the Techno pile and is considered by most as a techno legend. In preparation for a UK appearance at London Techno City at The Coronet, London on Sat 4th November (www.familygroove.co.uk), he discusses his influences, his future projects, and why exactly he thinks the UK are more mental than the rest of the world...
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Soul of Man reveal all for the launch of Finger Lickin Thang 4!

Soul of Man are not just an artistic duo, they are masters of the breaks scene and the duo behind the formation of the awesome Finger Lickin Records.

Starting out with their successful debut mix album “Breakthru Vol. 1” in ’98 Soul of Man jumped over the millennium with plenty more where that came from. They went on to mix and release the compilations “Finger Lickin’ Thang 1” and “Finger Lickin’ Thang 2” showcasing their minty fresh mixing and featuring the best of the label’s releases as well as remixes of the original tracks by some of breakbeat’s finest.

We decided it was high time Soul of Man got up front an personal with the Trackitdown customer so to launch the release of Finger Lickin Thang 4, Justin from Soul of Man got a grilling from Jess @ Trackitdown HQ.

Interview With Astrix (Astrix & Friends 002 Preview)

WORDS BY SIREN.

The name 'Astrix', of course, means a great detail to all psy-trance fans. Charming melodies, driving sound and a 145bpm tempo is his technique to control a wild crowd screaming for music. Avi Shmailov is Astrix, HOMmega record’s chief artist. Eyal label manager says, ‘Astrix is taking psytrance to the highest level of mainstream influence with crystal clear production. His music is the ultimate crossover between psytrance and club’.

Dj Felipe talks to Trackitdown about life at Titanium Records HQ

DJ Felipe has been involved in the dance music scene since since 1992 and there isn’t much he hasn’t turned his hand to! From Artist management to label management from DJing to Production – this guys has been there done that and bought the techno T-Shirt!

Dj Felipe is probably best known for his joint label management of Titanium Records with his musical partner Nicholas Bacher. Titanium has grown hugely since it launched back in 2003 and it even has its own equally successful sublabel Supreme. We decided it was time we got to know a bit about the man of many dance music faces – DJ Felipe!
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Tranzaction Recordings label manager Charlie G spars with Trackitdown…

In just 18 months, Tranzaction Recordings has established itself as one of the most exciting, innovative new labels in Hard Dance. Label head honcho Avaline burst onto the scene last year with ‘Never Sever’, a pounding Hardstyle monster that caused a huge stir amongst DJ’s and clubbers alike, coming runner-up ‘Tune of the Year’ in the 2005 Hard Dance Awards. Label manager Charlie G has had similar success: at just 21 he’s signed to Nukleuz, played alongside all the big names and is considered a star of the future by many of the genres most respected players.
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An Interview With Hospital Records

Hospital Records is the brainchild of Tony Colman and Chris Goss, aka London Elektricity. The label was started in early 1996 from their West London studio / HQ as a vehicle for their own music - the mission statement to put out good, optimistic music. Since then, Hospital has gone onto become one of the dominant forces in Drum 'n' Bass and, subsequently, one of Trackitdown's most popular labels. To celebrate this, we caught up with label boss Tony Colman to find out more about the label's future plans and to find out more about their history.
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Hardcore Nation 3 Preview: Interview with Hardcore legend Stu Allan

Hardcore legend Stu Allan epitomises what it is to be a success in a particular scene. After starting out in the early 90s on northern radio station Key 103, Stu has played some of the world's biggest and best known venues, including being one of the DJs to pioneer the dance scene in Ibiza. With a slew of hits behind him and even more in the pipeline, Trackitdown caught up with Stu to find out in depth about his illustrious career, and the lowdown on his new mix CD, "Hardcore Nation 3", due out on Nukleuz mixed by Stu himself, DJ Seduction & Robbie Long.
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Celebrating 'Red Snapper' - An Interview with K90 (PLUS Competition!)

K90's uber anthem 'Red Snapper' has defined the 'UK Hard Trance' genre ever since its initial release in the mid-1990s. Originally intended as a B side (under an entirely different name!), the track captured the imagination of clubbers worldwide and has gone on to become a timeless classic. With a re-release imminent featuring some brand new mixes for 2006, we caught up with K90 to hear how the track came about, what it now means to him and a progress report on his latest tracks and his career plans.

PLUS! See below this interview for your chance to win two very special K90 prizes!

Interview with DJ Edoardo - Label Owner of Neurobiotic / Sonica Festival Organiser

(Words by Cris Schneider) -

Edoardo is the main man behind Neurobiotic Records (http://www.neurobiotic.com/) in Rome, Italy. He started his DJ career 12 years ago playing techno and acid house, but then he moved to trance – his big passion. His style is a great mix of psychedelic trance with housey, progressive and electronic elements, and he regularly plays in and all over Europe, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, United States, Canada, Japan and many other countries. He has played gigs at huge festivals like Voov Experience, the Full Moon Festival, Shiva Moon, Solaris, Universo Paralello, Fusion Festival and the Glade, always spreading the Neurobiotic sound. In 2004, he created Indica Music (http://www.indicamusic.com) together with DJ Josko, and he is also one of the organizers of the Sonica Festival, the first trance festival in Italy. In the following interview, Edoardo tell us a little about his career, music, current and future projects and the news for Sonica 2006 (http://www.sonica2006.com).

Feed Your Addiction: Interview with Addiction Digital's Olly Perris

Addiction Digital is a label which has come from literally nothing to being one of, if not the biggest digital hard trance label in the world. The 'Addiction' clubbing brand started in September 2004 with the launch of their now legendary free Thursday night hard trance parties in the basement of cult London venue The Southside Bar. The birth of Addiction Digital was inspired by the club night; the aim was to release the music which had been rocking the Addiction crowds to allow the masses to sample what Addiction had to offer. Since the launch, Addiction Digital has consistently been one of the top selling Hard Dance labels on Trackitdown, with every release entering the site's Top 10 Hard Dance chart.  With the launch of Addiction Digital's first album 'Feed Your Addiction: Volume 1' imminent, Trackitdown caught up with label manager Olly Perris to get the lowdown on the new album and the label's future plans.
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Trance Awards Podcast With Sander Van Doorn & Marcel Woods

Thousands of trance fans from all over the world have made themselves heard and now it's time to gear up for the party to celebrate the winners!

Download our special podcast featuring interviews with trance gods Sander Van Doorn & Marcel Woods who will be performing at this years awards ceremony on the 24th June.

One for the Blade fans...Trackitdown welcomes Tim Taylor and Missile Records!

Tim Taylor is one of the most influential figures in techno. From the seminal 'The Horn Track' (as Egyptian Empire) which was remixed by Micky Finn in 1992 and became one of the biggest rave anthems, to the Carl Cox staple Ego Acid (as Pump Panel) which was one of the features of his legendary FACT compilation album, Tim has been there at the inception.

Over the last decade he's repeatedly taken fresh talent and helped to turn them into household names; Cari Lekebusch, Freddie Fresh, DJ Misjah, The Hacker and Frankie Bones have all appeared on his Missile label. And who can forget the techno re-work of New Order 'Confusion' that appeared in the film Blade... serious stuff!

Judge Jules chats to Trackitdown ahead of the Trance Awards 2006

Judge Jules is a man who needs little introduction. He has been at the forefront of the dance music industry for the last 10 years and he is responsible for pushing on hundreds of new DJs and producers. He began DJing in 1987 and since then he has gone on to cover almost every role in the industry from A&R to producer, from BBC Radio One DJ to running his own events.

Jules has been titled ‘the people’s DJ’ by most of the dance music press. He has played out to crowds as large as 100000 and had residencies and regular DJ slots at every big name promotion in the scene. Jules, a proud father of two, balances his DJ and music career with family time.

The Trance Awards (powered by Trackitdown) are nearly upon us and we are proud to announce that the awards will presented by none other than Judge Jules! Jess from the Trackitdown team managed to grab some phone-time with Jules en route from his home in Ibiza to Eden itself.

Jan Loper from FTM's District label tells us all about his productions and plans

Jan Loper is no new kid on the block where producers and DJs are concerned. Judge Jules has praised him and even grabbed him to remix one of his tracks. Whilst the industry scene have heard of Jan, he is trying to break the market with the dance music fans. His latest releases on the awsome FTM label are attracting a real following and Trackitdown has managed to rope Jan in for some interview time so we could all get to know his style and history a little better.

Jess: Hi Jan, thanks for taking the time to chat to us. Trackitdown is thrilled to be selling your music digitally. Are you embracing the digital age? What formats to you DJ in?

Jan Loper: If you would have asked this question about 3 or 4 years ago I would have said Vinyl but now the concept of music and the internet the means are endless. I talk to a lot of other producers so they send me great new material on mp3 to play.....

Getting to know the 5 names behind the hot new act 'Avalon Superstar'

Trackitdown loves to bring dance music fans fresh new acts and hot new releases. Avalon Superstar are a new act formed by old hands in the music scene. Their debut release has been an absolute stormer and Judge Jules himself handed them an sturdy 10/10 rating.

We thought we’d give you a little exclusive look into the lives of the 5 men behind the Avalon Superstar name. Jess from the Trackitdown team caught up with the boys and got all the gossip!

Jess: Hello, hello, hello, hello and hello! I was surprised to see that Avalon Superstar is in fact a team of five producers; Andy Manston, Billy Mead, Julian Napolitano, Gene Williams and Simon Langford! How did you all meet?

Billy: It all came about quite by chance really.....

DJ Unknown tells us about his career and why he hates DJ Sy...

Sy and Unknown have been at the forefront of the Hardcore scene for many years now. They’ve captured fans across generations and have created the label Quosh which has churned out more hit hardcore releases than I’ve had roast dinners (and that’s quite a lot).

Unknown (who in my mind will now be known as 'the trickster') gave us the low down on his career, digital thoughts and DJ Sy routing his mum…..

Jess: Thanks for the interview time! Where did your DJ Unknown alias come from?

Unknown: The very first record I produced was on Homegrown Records and because it contained a naughty sample we put it out under the name DJ’s Unknown, the name kinda stuck from there really.

Jess: When did you get involved in the hardcore scene?

Unknown: That first tune was made in 1993 but I’d been bedroom djing and small local events for a couple of years prior to that too.

John Askew chats about his career and his new three part album

So John, you’ve been involved in music in some shape or form for most of your life, you were firstly in a rock and roll band but then decided to grace the decks instead of the stage – what made you make this decision?

I grew up in the Wiltshire countryside where the likes of Universe and Fantasia were doing their massive raves every weekend so it got to the stage where loads of people I knew, who had previously been into rock music, were changing into full on ravers. I was in a band at the time and we had a big bust up one night. In a rage I went out and got smashed at the pub and some other mates were all off to Cornwall for one of my oldest friend’s birthday party which they planned to celebrated at a bit rave. I went with them and it blew me away. I sold my guitars and bought decks the next week. 

You’re involved in the music industry full time - does it have its trials and tribulations or would you not change it for the world?

I think every job, regardless of what industry you are in, probably has its highs and lows. Luckily, after 13 years of stuggling to get somewhere there are more good days than bad ones. Even if it was shit everyday though I would still be here. The one thing that keeps you going is the music and that is something I couldn’t live without. 

Welcome to F8T Recordings - Getting to know DuMonde

F8T Recordings have recently joined Trackitdown.net and so we grabbed to opportunity to interview label owners and managers – DuMonde!

DuMonde as artists have a huge array of successful releases and remixes including the massive ‘Tomorrow’ track. Their sublime and deep trance creations have had the world gripped and the F8T Recordings label has grown from strength to strength in the last 3 years.

Jess: DuMonde is the duo Jürgen Mutschall & Dominik De Leon. How did you both meet and how was DuMonde formed?

DuMonde: It was in 1995 when we joined forces and founded our first studio together. Before that time, Jurgen had been a DJ for many many years, experiencing the sound of the 80s and the club music of the 90s. Dominik was studying audio engineering at the SAE (School of Audio Engineering) and we worked in the same club during that time. We both had other production partners before, but soon we got the impression, that we feel the same vibe.

Jess: You’ve had a great string of successful releases, one of your biggest being ‘Tomorrow’. How did that track come about and were you surprised...

Welcome to Fine. on Trackitdown and Hello to Anu Pillah of Freeform Five!

Fine. (Fine Records) are a label on a mission – to release the best in bleepy, dirty, housey electro. Trackitdown are thrilled to have their catalogue on board and we decided to mark this moment with an interview with one of their leading acts – Freeform Five.

Anu Pillai is the man behind Freeform Five. He is also the man behind scores of hit remixes in the dance music world. Anu Pillai is, in short, a bit of a musical genius and he lists artists such as Mylo, Snow Patrol and Tiefschwarz among his circle of friends. Without further delay lets introduce the man himself, Freeform Five’s Anu Pillai!

Jess: Hi Anu, its great to have Freeform Five and Fine Records material on Trackitdown.net. Do you use the digital format much? Do you have an mp3 player?    
                           
Anu: I use digital formats when I DJ all the time- I burn them to cd’s though as I’m not convinced about taking a computer into a club just yet, and the sound quality of mp3’s bothers me a bit.

Photos From The 2005 Hard Dance Awards Ceremony

Check out the photos from the Hard Dance Awards held at The Fridge on 11th Feb.

Massive thanks to Daf for the photo's

Solarstone chat to Trackitdown about their label DeepBlue

Deepblue is a new label on the Trackitdown site. We have been thrilled to receive their entire content of trance tunes. I was shocked to be informed that successful trance (and previously house) act Solarstone were in fact the company behind the Deepblue label.

It seemed apt to welcome the label to Trackitdown by meeting and greeting the act behind the label management – Solarstone!

Jess: When was the Solarstone duo formed?

Solarstone: Technically 1997, but Andy and I began working together in '95

Jess: Your style has moved from progressive house towards intelligent trance. Was this a deliberate move or have your styles just changed with time?

Solarstone: Intelligent Trance? That's a new one!! It's a genre-buster!!! We always deescribed our style as 'quality-trance'… unfortunatly the 'trance' and 'pop' borders got blurred a couple of years ago… we just do what we feel and label it afterwards.

Jess: The new Solarstone mix album out now - 'Destinations V1’. How did you select the tracks for this album? How would you describe the finished sound?

A (Mark) Knight in shining armour gives us the news from Toolroom HQ

The Knights, Stuart and Mark, are knights in shining armour to the house scene. Their label Toolroom has championed the charts and impressed industry folk all around the globe.

Mark Knight’s productions are renowned for their tight production and big drops mixed with euphoric arms in the air moments. He has been hailed and praised by many and frequents the airwaves and DJ boxes of the best house DJs around. To celebrate his latest release, Insatiable, Jess from Trackitdown went to catch up with Mark to get the low down on life at Knight HQ aka Toolroom Records, what he does to relax and his plans to cool down on the remixes.

Jess: You just got back from a tour in Australia & South East Asia. Did you enjoy the experience?

Mark: I always loving playing in Australia it’s a great place. This year I did Nye at wicked party in Sydney harbour then on to Sydney’s best club kink on new years day. The rest of the tour was a good combination of massive festivals and underground after clubs so it tested me at both levels of my DJing spectrum...

Getting to know George Acosta - A Five AM hero

George Acosta has become a Trance hero for many. He has 9 successful compilations to his name a dozens of hot releases. He has recently teamed up with Trance champions Five AM under the strong management of Alexis Hooper.

Jess of the Trackitdown team went to brush up on her trance knowledge ahead of the launch of the UK Trance awards (www.tranceawards.com) and got to know the musical maestro of the moment; George Acosta.

Jess: When did you get interested in Trance and was trance the first dance music genre to grab your attention?

George: The first genre that grabs my attention was house music, I was signed to strictly Rhythm and produced a few so called big records. Now, Trance grabs my attention and I started attending big rave parties all over the world due to a successful song I did back in days.

Jess: Do you play any instruments?

George: Yes, I play the keyboards....

I predict a Joey Riot! It time to get Hardcore...

Blow you whistles, blow your horns as I predict a Joey Riot! (I never was much cop at MCing). DJ Sy is one of the godfathers of Hardcore and when he sent Trackitdown over the latest Quosh releases we were thrilled to see Joey Riot’s name on the front cover!

Joey Riot has been bobbing about in the Hardcore scene for a while now. His latest track with The Ripper on Quosh is a stormer. With plans to launch his own label it seems that Joey Riot is here to stay. Jess from the Trackitdown team went to catch up with the man of the Hradcore moment!

Jess: We know you are Hardcore, but do you know the score?

Joey: 1-0 to Celtic wasn't it? woop!

Getting lippy with the Chicken Lips crew!

Chicken Lips are known for their crazy name, crazy productions and crazier remixes. This trio of musical wizards have been churning out the breaks tracks, hit after hit of madness! They have taken the ‘Adrift Records’ label and propelled it to great heights.

Dean and Andy Chicken Lip(pers? Lipees?) rose from the flames of Bizarre Inc. and with the addition of Stevie the stage was set for a groundbreaking act. Their tunes have influences from dub to acid house and if you are after a track which has something a little bit ‘different’, something you just cant put your finger on…then I suggest you check out the Chicken Lips back catalogue.

Brent from Aquasky gives us the gossip at Passanger and 777 HQ!

In the land of breaks and drum and bass, Aquasky need no introduction. They have forged themselves a solid career and the trio of lads have clocked up and enviable number of hit releases and remixes.

Both their live sets and DJ sets are legendary and since their formation in 1995 the boys have bonded, blossomed and bend the breaks world into shape.

It was an honour and a privilege to get to chat to Brent of the Aquasky trio about their musical style, personalities in the studio and future plans.

Jess: Hi boys! First things first, for those who don’t know that you are a trio of artists, can you give us a breakdown of your names and solo artist aliases?

Brent: At present we only work as a trio so there have been no aliases since 2002. The names are: Brent Newitt, Kieron Bailey and Dave Wallace...

Tom Real and Rogue Element face the Trackitdown hot seat!

Tom Real and Rogue Element are old friends but new breaks champions! They have taken the breaks and electro scene by storm with their recent releases 'Resistance.06' and 'He's So Hot right now'.

Jess from the Trackitdown team gave them both a good grilling about productions, friendships and brotherly love!

Jess: How did the two of you meet?

TR: I had the pleasure of moving into London with the Rogue, we’d both finished University the same year and knew each other through mutual friends Tom Neville and Martin Dawson (AKA King Roc) Me, Tom, Ben and a friend of mine decided to move in together in Balham… a party house if there ever was one and early memories of the Rogue hark back to him being a messy so and so.

RE: Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones Thomas, neither of us were pure as the driven snow…

All hail to the King! King Roc chats to TID about life, electro and future plans.

King Roc has arrived on the Electro-house scene with a a bang! His release 'Prime Evil', featuring the vocals of 80s legend Marc Almond, had everyone sitting up in their seats waiting for more. And he hasnt disapointed. With a new release on the freshly launched iO Music and other releases on label greats such as Adrift, Bugged out and 1Trax, King Roc is hot property!

We sent TID's Jess over to scout out the King and get his thoughts on the dance music Kingdom.

Jess: Welcome to the King!  What made you decide on King Roc as your alias?
 
K.R.:I guess it really came from my original love of rock music. That’s where my roots lie. Without rock I would be where I am with my music....

The Celtec Twins! Bringing you Irish Techno on Advanced Records!

2005 was a good year for Techno and 2006 looks sets to be even better. The Celtic Twins have turned out hit techno tracks fresh from Ireland and released them on the label 'Advanced Records'. Jess from the Trackitdown team caught up with the twins to get the low down.

 Jess: Hi guys! First things first…are you Celts and are you actual twins?

C.T: Yes we are twin brothers and we’re from Ireland.

Jess: I can’t think of another actual twin duo involved in dance music! Does twinship make it very easy for you to agree on the final mastering of tracks or do you have different styles in the studio?

C.T: Well a lot of stuff happens long before the mastering stages that could potentially cause havoc. But we get on well and usually come to some sort of agreement. If not we usually have a fencing dual. The first one to draw blood gets to decide. 

Knowwhere and Trackitdown party info plus quick fire with Adam White and Anthony Dean!

Knowwhere and Trackitdown join forces on Friday 3rd Feb!

Phil York chats to Trackitdown about his hard dance label collection and his 2006 plans!

Trackitdown’s Jess chats with hot hard dance property ‘Phil York’ about his labels, his career highlights and the forthcoming Hard Dance Awards!

Jess: When and how did you get involved in Dance music?

Phil: I started from an early ages listening to and DJing trance and happy hardcore from the age of 13.When I got a little bit older I started clubbing in my home town Newcastle at clubs like Peach and Promise to a mix of hard house and trance and started playing more hard house and trance. When I moved up to Edinburgh at the age of 18 to study Biology I set up a club night called naked to bring up hard dance DJs and it really all went from there...

Paul Jackson - Underwater Audio Therapy For All - Skrufff.com

UK producer/ DJ Paul Jackson remains best known for his string of highly successful club singles on his friend Darren Emerson’s label Underwater, though after a 12 month hiatus on releases he’s back on Dave Seaman’s imprint Audio Therapy.

Like his biggest hit The Push, new single The Seeker is dark, melancholic though immediately engaging, which was clearly how Dave Seaman felt when he first heard the tune.

“Dave was doing a compilation for Renaissance and he got in touch with me and said ‘I really like your stuff, have you got any unreleased tracks hanging around?’ So I sent him a couple including The Seeker, more to see what he thought, to be honest, and he came back straightaway saying ‘I really love this, I really want to use it’,” says Paul.

Cari Lekebusch: Practise Makes Perfect :: Skrufff.com

Fifteen years after he launched his career Cari Lekebusch remains one of Sweden and the world’s most prolific producers, releasing scores of electro/ techno tracks under a bewildering list of aliases including Mystic Letter K, KJB and Shapechanger.

“I’ve used so many different pseudonyms over the last ten years, mainly because I was releasing so many records on so many different labels that I couldn’t put my own name out there three or four times a month,” he explains.

Public Domain offer Trackitdown an Exclusive 1st release and Mark Sherry gives us the group's gossip

Public Domain have been ‘kickin it to us’ (excuse the pun) for several years now. Whilst the line up of the act has changed several time, one thing has remained constant and that is their ability to churn out stomping tracks! They are probably best known for the monster tune ‘Operation Blade’ which received huge praise and even landed them with a number 5 slot in the national chart!

Today, Public Domain are back and they have offered Trackitdown an exclusive look at their two new EPs. Not only that but Mark Sherry, who has been with Public Domain since its birth, has also given Jess from the Trackitdown team a chance to get the inside scoop on hectic and crazy world of the group.

I have to warn you this interview contains the BEST story about a performace you are ever likely to hear!

Hard Dance due Vinylgroover and Red Head give us the gossip from Traffic Records HQ!

Vinylgroover and Red Hed have been working together for 14 years now and in that time they’ve got to know each other not only as collaborative artists but as good friends. Between the two of them they’ve knocked up an impressive number of releases and have collected quite a following of fans.

Their label, Traffic Records, has impressed all hard dance fans across the globe from their first release ‘Don’t you want me’ by the due themselves to their most recent release ‘Pay attention’ by Anne Savage. Scott (Vinylgroover) and Jim (Red Hed) seem set on a path of success with Traffic Records and the Trackitdown team can’t wait to hear what comes next!

Jess from the Trackitdown team thought it was high time we got to know the duo a little better.

Nicolas Bacher of Titanium Records tells all to Trackitdown

In recent months I’ve been lucky enough to interview many exciting and successful DJs and producers. This interview will however stick in my mind as Nicolas Bacher proves himself to be an extremely creative and intelligent person. He has taken personal and financial risks to achieve his goals and he has never been afraid to give something a try.

As a hugely successful DJ and producer he has enough on his hands, however he also runs two successful labels Titanium Trax and Supreme Entertainment. Nicolas Bacher has put his neck and wallet on the line to help keep dance music and clubbing alive in some areas of Europe. His ambitions are never left as dreams and he is prepared to push for what he believes in.

It was a real honour to interview Nicolas about his studio time, his ambitions and his views on clubland.

Anjunabeats presents Hawk - a young producer with a bright future!

Is it me or are the hot producers and DJs of the moment getting younger and younger? Anjuna present us all with a Christmas gift and one of their youngest producers on the books; Hawk.

Hawk has been interested in dance music since the age of 12 and at the age of 20 he is proving himself to be a first rate producer. His release ‘Need for Cognition’ has received rave reviews and was tipped as one to watch in recent editions of Mixmag magazine. I was really impressed with this track myself and it was great to get to know more about someone so young with such strong potential.

The almighty X-Press 2 chat to Trackitdown about life, production and live shows!

X-Press 2 have been in this industry for 15 years now. If you need any kind of nudge as to who they are I need only sing you (*achem) the lyrics ‘Ooh Im wicked and Im lazzzzzyyyyyyy…’! This track not only blew the dance world away but also commercial charts around the globe.

This trio of musical wiz kids have experimented with blips, vocals and beats and created a flurry of hit releases. Their debut album Musikism has left a lasting impression on the dance music world and even introduced older generations, fans of David Byrne from Talking Heads, to dance beats. Both my mother and I still have this album as in our top 10 of all time!

The music they make doesn’t fit into a box, it is what it is and it doesn’t care what you think. When I first heard Lazy it really challenged my grasp of what dance tracks were. What was this track with this funky dance beat and sleazy laid back vocals? X-press 2 had me hooked and it was a thrill to find out I was to interview them!

Rat Records' bad boy Ivory tells Trackitdown the score...

Ivory was born in the south London melting pot of all things cultural; Brixton. During his early school years Ivory (then, just Robin Innes) knew his musical tastes spanned beyond the burgeoning Jungle scene that he was fast getting himself involved in. As soon as he met Jason Air, (Jason had just finished producing Stevie Hyper D's album for Island Records under the moniker Dfrnt Lvls) the 'Ivory' sound began to evolve. Ivory says, ' It was quite simple really, Jason was Dfrnt Lvls with Stevie Hyper who wanted an artist to produce for. I was an MC looking to create my own sound. We vibed, made some tracks that we felt were fresh and different and took it on the road!'

» More read the full story.

Get to know a bit more about Jody 6 the man, the label and the artist

Is it a man? Is it an artist? Is it a label? Jody 6 is in fact all three. Jody 6 hails from Brisbane Australia and now lives in Japan. He’s experienced very different dance music scenes and has combined his experiences to create his own unique sound. Although he’s been DJing out and about for 4 years now, Jody 6 really only came into his own about a year ago when he spoke with Trackitdown’s Nolan about the possibility of starting a Jody 6 digital label.

Since establishing the label through Trackitdown, Jody 6’s material has grown in popularity and seen him develop and expand as an artist. We are proud to have helped Jody to get involved in the world of digital releases and we wanted to bring you all a deeper look into Jody’s world.

With almost 500 trance releases to his name we felt it was time to bring you fresh Airwave!

Laurent Véronnez aka Airwave is his own musical library! With almost 500 unique releases and over 80 remixes Airwave has an army of hit releases. He discovered clubland at the age of 17 and by the age of 18 he had signed a deal with the hugely successful record label ‘Bonzai’.

You’d think with the amount releases Laurent has, that he’d have little time to leave the studio. No so! Laurent is also a successful DJ having played at the biggest events in the UK and beyond. Airwave is man on a mission; determined to bring you more high quality music than one can believe!

Laurent is an bright, gentle family man and an extremely talented and creative person. It was a pleasure to interview him and get his thoughts on life, family, time in the studio and his experiences in the dance music industry.

Dance legand Billy Nasty brings his three labels to Trackitdown and gives us an exclusive interview!

Billy Nasty has been DJing for over half of his life. Any techno fans who have yet to hear him play out have not yet lived! I recently caught his set at Party Proactive in London and he absolutely blew the place away! It’s very rare that you find a DJ with such a huge weight of experience and skills behind the decks and in every mix and tune selection he makes, you feel more and more astounded!

Billy has been DJing across the globe for over 10 years now and when he is not behind the decks he can be found in the studio or running three labels. Billy has his fingers in more pies the Jack of hearts with his own releases, remixes, nights, DJ promotion company and three labels over the years! Trackitdown now welcomes all three of Billy’s labels, Tortured, Electrix and Painkillers, to our online store.

It made sense to tie up the launch of Billy Nasty’s catalogue on the site with an interview. But with so many questions to ask such a hugely successful icon of the dance world… where should I begin?!

The mintiest of electro tastes! Creme de Menthe!

Matthew Aldworth aka Crème de Menthe has been lurking on the dance music scene for some time now. After a hugely successful electroclash hit, ‘Plastique’, he went into hiding and has been steadily working on tracks for his recently released album.

The album releases trek from bizarre electroclash to banging and intelligent electro. His lyrics are somewhat strange but the vibe is excellent. Having adored the Plastique track when I heard it almost 3 years ago, it was a surreal and an honour to get to interview Matt (Crème de Menthe) and get to know what makes him tick as a producer.

Wonderboy Richard Dinsdale tells us all about his amazing career and life at Toolroom!

Toolroom are recognised as one of the strongest house labels around. I was thrilled when we received their new releases and noted the name Richard Dinsdale. I’ve recently heard many whisperings about this electro house prodigy and thought that this was the golden opportunity trackitdown needed to get to know some more about this wonderkid!

Since the age of 13 Richard has been collecting a string of residencies and not content with taking the DJ world by storm, he has also produced some of the hottest tracks around. He has been hailed the one to watch in 2006 and has been highly praised by the biggest names in the industry. Its not everyday the house world produces someone with so much potential.

To celebrate the new release on Adrift Records we decided it was time for you all to Meat Katie

If you haven't heard the name Meat Katie by now then YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING IN A BOX for the last few years! He (yes it is a he despite his Katie Alias) has had a stream of hit singles, two highly successful albums, dozens of hit remixes not to mention 4 hugely popular Mix compilations including the highly praised Fabric Live 21 compilation!

To celebrate the launch of the Meat Katie and Elite Force release on the new label Adrift Records, Trackitdown brings you the Meat Katie interview and his full biography!

Phantasm's prodigal son! Ladies and gents...Eskimo is in the TID houuuuuse!

Phantasm Records has shone out like a label of light in the psy trance world. Its almost too fantastical to imagine that John Ford, the label owner and successful psy artist in his own right, has gone on to have a prodigal son. Junya aka Eskimo, the prodigal son, has developed as a DJ and producer and has gone on to inject new life and direction into the genre his father helped shape all those years ago.

Eskimo has had a stream of huge hit releases in the psy world and has toured the world playing at the most successful parties. He is young in years but his production skills are wise beyond belief. He has created an entirely unique sound and is at the forefront of the psy scene and indeed helping shape the dance music world.

Psy trance owes a lot to the Phantasm clan. Having already brought you an exclusive John Ford interview, Jess from Trackitdown thought it was about time to meet the second generation of family von Phantasm and its musical mayhem! The Trackitdown hills are today alive with the sounds of Eskimo and without futher a do, I introduce the young man of the moment:

Merv Peppler once of Eat Static fame chats to TID about his new project 'The Flexitones'

Two favoured electronic acts from the Nineties were without a doubt Eat Static and Propellerheads. Merv Peppler from Eat Static has now joined up with Will White from Propellerheads to create an exciting fusion of styles – Flexitones!

Both members of Flexitones were pioneers of their own sound and each received something of a cult status for their normative sonic achievements. Many a music-lover lost consciousness through waiting with bated breath for the second Propellerheads album only to find out that the two members had gone their separate ways! Propellerheads were deep in the limelight when they parted as they had appealed to a wide audience with the remix of ‘On her Majesty’s Secret Service’ that dragged Bond towards the 21st century, a collaboration with Shirley Bassey for ‘History Repeating’ and of course the infamous Mission Impossible theme tune sounding ‘Spybreak’. Its about time we heard some noise from the almost forgotten Propellerheads talent pool. This is where Will White comes back to claim his throne.

Eat Static however have been an ongoing force releasing a string of great albums, each one a totally different flavour from the last one. Over the years, Merv’s sound has been evolving from the hardcore days of early Eat Static with their bone-crunching beats, zing-pong percussion and mind-melting melodies of distorted mayhem towards a more refined and particular, jazzier and less violent style. His latest work was the massively underrated ‘Hi-Fi Companions’ (Bbeat005cd also from Twisted Records) written with Steve Joliffe from Tangerine Dream.

Jess from the Trackitdown team got head to head with Merv to chat about the new flexitones project:

Hard Dance Hero BK chats about G5 Macs, a new label and DJing on the top of a volcano!

BK aka Ben Keen is a Hard Dance Hero. His releases have dominated the Hard Dance charts since 1995 and he has over 100 12" and remix releases behind him! He began working in the world of music at the tender age of 16 and from his early days as a trainee engineer he has showed immense talent.

He moved on to work at Nukleuz where he met Ed Real. A friendship and partnership was formed and RIOT was launched. Now, as Ben and Ed prepare to launch a brand new label, RIOT has never been in a more powerful position. And BK the DJ is also blooming with global success. His Djings sets have seen him tour the globe several times over at the biggest parties in the world. His weekly diary reads like a flight log for a chartered pilot!

Working in the room next to BK has been a real personal eye opener for me and I doubt you could find a more dedicated and gifted dance producer. He is ever throwing out new hits and each one reflects his unique ability to blend storming bass lines with memorable riffs and melodies. He truly deserves the respect and fame that he has earned over his years in the industry. It was great to finally put aside time to chat to Ben and get an exclusive interview for you all:

Om Hiphop Presents Colossus!

San Francisco, CA- Om Records announces the formation of Om: Hip Hop, the new imprint within the Om family devoted to hip hop music.  Known for releasing many soulful, funky, groove heavy releases, Om has built a sizeable hip hop catalog with releases from such artists as People Under the Stairs, DJ Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz, J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science, and more.  Om Records’ commitment to hip hop continues with Om: Hip Hop, kicking off with the upcoming debut release “West Oaktown” by Oakland based hip-hop collective, Colossus out now!
» More read the full story.

Ocean Trax has been a successful label on Trackitdown for some time now. However they are here to bring us something new to celebrate the launch of Electro on the website. Blake brings us three hot new electro releases and throws in an interview with us to boot!

Enjoy electro and enjoy Blake of Ocean Trax:

“One deck, two deck, three deck, four…” – Max Cooper interview on Trackitdown.

Max Cooper was hailed Mixmag’s Future Hero in 2003. All eyes turned to this breaks wielding magician and his almighty decks of tricks! Did he let us down? Hell no! Not only did he go on to become a fully fledged breaks hero, but he also developed possibly one of the most unique DJing styles across any dance music genre.

Max is famed for his scratching and skitting across anything from 2-6 decks and he has secured some of the best residencies as well as a radio one slot! What I find most exciting about this new and fresh talent is that we still have so much more to see of his work. Max has many of his own productions resting neatly ready to go and I have no doubt that when he fires them our way, we will again be blown away by his style.

It was great to catch up with Max and pick his dark and twisted brain…as a pre warning comment I MUST inform you that this interview contains mentions of ‘gabba’, ‘Sandpaper’ and an interesting story about ‘Steelo, Pete Jordan…two pineapples…models..’. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Bring on Max Cooper:

D'n'B with John B - A lesson from a master!

Anyone with their eye on the Dance scene for the last few years will have come across John B at some stage. A classically-trained musician, he broke into Drum and Bass when it was still an emerging genre. His early productions were played by the doyens of D&B, Fabio and Grooverider, and he was quickly signed to Goldie's seminal Metalheadz label.

Releases followed on practically every important D&B imprint, from Moving Shadow and Renegade Hardware, through to Hospital and Defunked, representing all the colours of the D&B spectrum, from tech-step to liquid funk and more. On a more commercial note, he has also produced big-room trance-flavoured tracks on  Paul Oakenfold’s  label, Perfecto, and had tracks appear on compilations alongside high-profile acts like Madonna and Justin Timberlake. John also has his own clutch of successful labels, Beta, Tangent, Nu:Electro and Chihuahua, which not only gives him artistic freedom over his own material, but allows him to push and promote upcoming production talent.
» More read the full story.

DJ Preach gives us the inside scoop on Relic, his DJ career and his work with Marco G

Techno has been developing a growing in popularity greatly in the last year and one name that has been doing the rounds has been DJ Preach. His Relic Music record label's releases have gone from strength to strength and DJ Preach has won over the hearts and ears of the likes of Carl Cox and Marco V.

His Relic Mix compilation has been a regular on the Trackitdown sound system and we felt it was about time we found out a bit more about the one they call Preach!

Whitby Whitby Whitby! - One of Hard House's finest chats to Trackitdown

“Whitby! Whitby! Whitby!” was the scream from the front of the crowd. I moved forward to investigate and found a group of girls with a huge banner also reading ‘Whitby! Whitby! Whitby’. They threw themselves around to the beats of this young guys DJing on stage, pumping his fists in the air and shouting 'come on'! This was my first experience of seeing Andy Whitby play out at Frantic. The ladies love him and the men…well I’ll leave that for the men to decide!

Few DJs manage to escalate to fame with such speed and even fewer manage to do it at such a young age. Andy Whitby has quickly become one of the main players in the Hard House scene. His main residency and associated night is with the Legendary Frantic. Recently there has been a lot of hype over his forthcoming compilation ‘Frantic Residents 5’so Jess from Trackitdown caught up with Andy to see what all the fuss was REALLY about!

Rui Da Silva Touches Trackitdown!

If you think back to the biggest dance releases of 2001 you can’t fail to mention Rui Da Silva’s humungous hit ‘Touch Me’. For many, this was the first time their ears pricked up to the name Rui da Silva. With a back catalogue of huge solo releases as well as joint releases with his partner Chris Coco under the name of Cocodasilva, Rui has established himself as one of the big names in the industry.

He established the House Label ‘Kismet’ back in 2000 and is currently building the profile of his newest venture ‘64 records’. Trackitdown was thrilled to have the opportunity of interviewing the man himself, Mr Rui Da Silva, and sent Jess of the trackitdown team over to get the gossip!

Psy Trance Legand John Ford tells all about life at Phantasm Records

Its taken certain parts of the world a long time to cotton on to the styles and sounds of Psy Trance en mass. However, times are a changing and the genre is going from strength to strength. Israel and Thailand have often been named as THE places to head to hear the best Psy Trance played out. Yet here in the UK there has been one label that has solidly been releasing some of the best in Psy Trance since 1993 – Phantasm Records.

Phantasm Records has a powerful back catalogue and a bright future. The label was founded by John Ford and the late Simon Carman and since its birth its releases have received a huge amount of praise across the world and its artists have enjoyed global success. Eskimo is a name many will associate with a new future for the Psy Trance scene and it just so happens that his Father is none other than Phantasm founder John Ford himself! Trackitdown’s Jess spoke with John to find out more about the Psy Trance past present and future.

Tim Stark of ATCR, E-TCR and Surface offers the lowdown on life as one half of Haylon and Rapid Eye!

The dance music industry is full of busy boys and girls who are keen to get involved in as many aspects of the scene as possible. One man they could learn a lot from is Tim Stark who has a finger in more successful pies than most!

Tim Stark is a labels Manager, independent artist, collaborative artist, Artist Manager, PR wiz and he ‘aint half bad at responding to interviews too! He has truly thrown himself into his career! You can check out Tim’s label releases on Surface, ATCR and E-TCR here on Trackitdown and Jess from the Trackitdown team now gets the low down on Labels, Appleton and his releases under the name Rapid Eye…

Trackitdown brings you Hardcore Seduction...

Trackitdown has recently been on a hardcore drive to bring you more or the best in the Hardcore scene. Among the most successful Hardcore artists around is Seduction and so naturally we tracked him down and signed him up! Not only are we bringing you his catalogue of releases, we also offer you this exclusive interview with the man himself.

John Kalkan aka Seduction has been bringing Hardcore fans release after release of gold dust! He has topped hardcore charts as a producer, played storming sets around the world and created some seriously strong Hardcore Labels. Without further delay let me introduce the man himself!

My Definition of Sound - Ilogik

Ilogik is one of the most logical DJs and Producers you could wish to interview! With a stream of successful releases and performances and some of the coolest and most talked about hair in the industry, Ilogik is hot property!

With the release of his album ‘My Definition of Sound’ Ilogik offers us a glimpse of how he views the Hard House scene. He is one of the DJs and producers trying to offer us something new and refreshing by scratching and DVJing his way into the hard House history books. Jess gets Ilogik’s views on fashion, relaxing and clubland!

» More read the full story.