Guest Spot: Farhad Mahdavi Tips For Producers

What is trance without emotion? According to Farhad Mahdavi, they are one and the same.

Hailing from Iran, Mahdavi’s production efforts revolve around giving his listeners the opportunity to feel alive. He believes that music comes from nature, and like the roar of a mighty jungle cat, it should resonate deep within one’s soul.

Born in 1993, Mahdavi’s musical journey began during childhood when he found a toy keyboard. It was an instant fascination that evolved into a passion for music and nature. And it inspired a dream to make a difference in the world.

His new and inspired life started when he grasped the passion embedded in trance. He found himself inspired by its uplifting qualities and felt liberated to experiment. Propelled by a desire to create his own style, he fused elements of classical and orchestral music into his work.

Alex Wright Guest Reviews December 2016

The very talented UK based DJ and producer Alex Wright, who has  releases on top labels like Always Alive, Levitated Music, Sundance, Veritas recordings, Blue Soho, and Emergent Shores with support from the biggest trance djs in the world including Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten and many more every month selects and reviews his Top 5 tracks of each month ahead of his radio show Trance Encounters that is streamed on 1mix radio every 1st Friday of every month with great success and big following. Exclusively for 1mix radio and Flux BPM Online Alex Wright chooses his top 5 trance encounters for December 2016. Alex Wright has studied extensively music production and he holds BSc degree in Audio & Recording Technology from De Montfort University, Leicester (DMU). Enjoy reading what he has to comment on each release with his knowledge as producer and DJ and of course put in your diary a reminder to not miss his radio show on 1mix radio.

Trance Sanctuary presents Kearnage review by Alex Wright

Event Review by Alex Wright

On my journey down from Nottingham to London via the train, I was very excited to be attending Trance Sanctuary once again after last year's event which truly impressed me. Despite seeing many of the DJs play already at Luminosity Beach Festival this year, I knew the special atmosphere at Egg would provide an entirely unique clubbing experience, and to see Giuseppe Ottaviani play with his live set up for the first time was another thing which intrigued me.

Alex Wright Top 5 November Trance Encounters

The very talented UK based DJ and producer Alex Wright, who has  releases on top labels like Always Alive, Levitated Music, Sundance, Veritas recordings, Blue Soho, and Emergent Shores with support from the biggest trance DJ's in the world including Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten and many more every month selects and reviews his Top 5 tracks of each month ahead of his radio show Trance Encounters.

Interview with upcoming singer Cassandra Grey by Alex Wright

Interview with upcoming singer Cassandra Grey. Showing plenty of promise in the last 12 months by releasing well-written, emotive songs such as 'Black Bird', 'Into the Unknown', and 'Darkest Light' alongside producers Gerome and Levekar is Cassandra Grey from Lebanon. I had a brief online chat with her to find out more about her inspiration and previous experience as a singer / vocalist.

Interview was written and conducted by Alex Wright, Electronic Music Producer & 1Mix Radio host.

Alex Wright October 2016 Top 5 Trance Encounters

The very talented UK based DJ and producer Alex Wright, who has  releases on top labels like Always Alive, Levitated Music, Sundance, Veritas recordings, Blue Soho, and Emergent Shores with support from the biggest trance djs in the world including Armin van Buuren, every month selects and reviews his Top five tracks of each month ahead of his radio show Trance Encounters which is streamed on 1mix Radio every 1st Friday of every month with great success and a growing following.

Interview with Gerome by Alex Wright

Gerome has been providing plenty of his own rich, uplifting melodic trance to the underground scene this year predominantly on labels Elliptical Sun Energies and the newly formed Emergent Skies. Following on from his dreamy, evocative vocal collaboration with local Lebanese vocalist Cassandra Grey 'Black Bird' from earlier this year, he recently released 'Into The Unknown' which has seen support from DJs Aly & Fila (Future Sound Winner), Daniel Kandi, ReOrder, Tempo Giusto, and more. As he is creating such a buzz with his productions, I am excited to find out what inspired Gerome to begin his career in making music and learn about his production processes, equipment, and future plans.

Interview was written and conducted by Alex Wright, Electronic Music Producer & 1Mix Radio host.

FSOE 450 UK Kingdoms in Manchester Saturday 1st October

Brace yourself as two of the UK’s premier Trance Promoters join forces for the very first time to present the ONLY FSOE 450 event in Europe for 2016.

On Saturday 1st October 2016, at one of the Manchester's premier & unique event spaces, the bar for UK Trance events will be raised as Goodgreef & Rong collaborate to host one of highest profile concepts in international Trance Music.

After the huge success of the Future Sound of Egypt 350 events in 2014, Aly & Fila celebrated reaching the 400th episode of their weekly radio show by hosting eight global parties.

Over 40 international DJs/Producers played at the events in Egypt, USA, Australia, Poland, Argentina, Guatemala, Mexico and Belarus . Aly & Fila made history during this tour by becoming the first ever electronic music artists to perform at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Alex Wright September Reviews

The very talented UK based dj and producer Alex Wright, who has  releases on top labels like Always Alive, Levitated Music, Sundance, Veritas recordings, Blue Soho, and Emergent Shores with support from the biggest trance djs in the world including Armin van Buuren, every month selects and reviews his Top 5 tracks of each month ahead of his radio show Trance Encounters that is streamed on 1mix radio every 1st Friday of every month with great success and big growing following.

Interview with Edelways by Alex Wright

Pushing his own sound of euphoric trance for the last few years on labels like Always Alive Recordings, Arcana Music, Crossair Recordings, Elliptical Sun Energies, and Unearthed Records is Russian wonder Edelways, who has kindly taken the time to speak to me about his upcoming projects, his inspirations, how he got started in music, and much more.

Interview was written and conducted by Alex Wright, Electronic Music Producer & 1Mix Radio host.

Alex Wright: Hey Arut! It's great to talk to you ahead of the release of this amazing track and learn a bit more about yourself and what your production career entails, how have you been just lately?

Edelways: Hello there! I am very glad and happy right now. Thank you for the invitation :)

Alex Wright: When did you first start producing and what made you want to start producing your own tunes?

Alex Wright Top 5 Trance Encounters August 2016

We present the talented UK based DJ and producer Alex Wright, who has  releases on top labels like Always Alive, Levitated Music, Sundance, Veritas recordings, Blue Soho, and Emergent Shores with support from the biggest trance DJ's in the world including Armin van Buuren.

Alex Wright Top 5 Trance Encounters July 2016

The very talented UK based DJ and producer Alex Wright, who has  releases on top labels like Always Alive, Levitate, Sundance, Veritas recordings and Elliptical Sun Energies with support from the biggest trance DJ's in the world including Armin van Buuren, every month selects and reviews his Top 5 tracks of the month ahead of his radio show Trance Encounters that is streamed on 1mix radio every 1st Friday of every month with great success and big growing following.

Interview with Chris Bekker about his new album Berlinition

Chris Bekker’s list of accomplishments seems extensive though, his latest endeavour may well top them all. Through ‘Berlinition’ – the German’s debut long-player, he’s attempting to do what a fair few others have tried and failed to do before him. The album is a studied effort to condense the essence and soul of Berlin into a musical recording. No easy task, it’s a capital, awash with underground cool and motorised by ever-shifting sonic ideologies, which have been in constant flux for 30+ years.

Interview with Roger Shah

In the big wide world of dance music, there are some happenings that are now as ‘summer’ as summer itself. What, for example, would this time of the year be without the two discs of judiciously compiled, skilfully mixed music, comprising that annual sonic sojourn to the ‘Magic Island’!?

Interview with Antillas

Creamfields Announce Four Fantastic Stages

Creamfields aren’t holding back as they continue on their quest to deliver an all new Creamfields experience this year. 2016 sees the award winning dance fest unveil a ton of new and exciting additions to its format, with heavy investment focused on a series of all-new stage constructions and production concepts, and their latest offering to get you excited - The Arc.

Luminosity Beach Festival 2016 Review by Alex Wright

Luminosity Beach Festival took place from 24-27 June 2016 and was an absolute success with positive comments flooding the social networks from trance fans who expressed their deep satisfaction and gratitude to Luminosity for organising such an unforgettable event.

Interview with Manu Riga about his album 'Surrounded'

Surprise or otherwise, Manu doesn’t hail from Riga. Nor is it his real name. It is in fact the alias assumed by Adriaan Baussens, an underground production wunderkind who resides deep inside the Bonzai heartland of Belgium.

Amsterdam Dance Event 2016 Announce First Festival Acts

The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), the world’s largest club-based festival and conference for electronic music, will take place this year from the 19th to 23rd of October. The organisers are expecting around 375,000 national and international visitors for the 21st edition. The first wave of festival acts is revealed today, along with further keynote speakers for ADE Conference.

Alex Wright Top 5 Trance Encounters June 2016

The very talented UK based dj and producer Alex Wright, who has  releases on top labels like Always Alive, Levitate, Sundance, Veritas recordings and Elliptical Sun Energies with support from the biggest trance djs in the world including Armin van Buuren, every month selects and reviews his Top 5 tracks of each month ahead of his radio show Trance Encounters that is streamed on 1mix radio every 1st Friday of every month with great success and big growing following. Exclusively for 1mix radio Alex Wright offers his top 5 trance encounters for June 2016. Enjoy reading what he has to comment on each release with his knowledge as producer and dj and don't miss his radio show.

Interview: Stuart Knight at BMC2016

Stuart Knight at Stealing Our Own Success panel at BMC 2016

During the  very successful Brighton Music Conference 2016, on Friday 15th of April, the well-known UK house "institution" Toolroom records, has organised at Dead Wax Social, the whole day event Toolroom Academy that included production technique seminars, demo drops and dj sets from the most well known Toolroom artists such as Prok & Fitch & Funkagenda . We approached Stuart  Knight, Director of Toolroom records and we requested an interview with him and we are glad that he accepted the challenge for our interview that you can watch right here and right now.

Interview: John00 Fleming for his Album Alter Ego

Flux BPM Online Interview

The legend DJ, music producer, label owner, and radio host John 00 Fleming has recently released his third long player called Alter Ego. The album has been welcomed from the electronic music online community and there were positive remarks from fanbase and reviews too. It is fantastic that despite his busy schedule John has found time to reply in our questions and he gave us some interesting glimpse of the backstage process of producing this psy trance masterpiece. Of course the interview attempts to place the album within the past, present and future of John 00 Fleming magnificent career who has left his stamp in the electronic music scene and his legacy will be discussed in the years to come. John has helped many new artists to come forward and find platform in his label and radio show to communicate their music with the wider public.  Press Play on your media player and enjoy Alter Ego while you read his though provoking honest and really truthful answers.

Alex Wright Trance Encounters May 2016

The very talented UK based DJ and producer Alex Wright who has releases on top labels like Always Alive, Levitate and Elliptical Sun Energies with support from the biggest trance DJ's in the world including Armin van Buuren. Every month he selects and reviews his Top 5 tracks ahead of his radio show 'Trance Encounters', streamed exclusivly on 1mix radio every 1st Friday of every month with great success and following. Exclusively for 1Mix Radio, Alex Wright offers his top 5 Trance Encounters for May 2016. Enjoy reading and don't miss his radio show.

Review: Above & Beyond Acoustic 2

Event Review: Above and Beyond Acoustic II at The Albert Hall Manchester Sunday 1st May 2016. The Grammy nominated trio Above & Beyond surprised the electronic music world in 2014 with their decision to perform their beloved electronic music songs mainly produced through digital technology with a 15-piece band at London's famous Porchester Hall, and at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The YouTube video of the event hosted at Thump has had around 3,150,000 views so far and it is big joy to watch it again and again particularly when you need inspiration and motivation to move forward. When they announced that Acoustic is back with a second instalment this year, their fans were absolutely obsessed with the idea, and the tickets for the majority of the shows in Europe, USA and Australia have sold out. What is more, this time Above & Beyond have changed their supporting vocalists, except for Zoe Johnston, they added Justine Suissa, Cobi, and Natalie Holmes. Also as a supporting opening act they have added the beloved Solomon Grey, well known with their collaboration with Lane 8 on Diamonds. One of the latest days added to this magnificent tour was the iconic venue Albert Hall, in the music city of Manchester.

Alex Wright Top 5 Trance Encounters April 2016

Guest Reviewer Alex Wright ahead of his monthly radio show Trance Encounters that is streamed every first Friday of the month on 1mix Radio  presents his top 5 anthems for April 2016. He describes in his own words why these tracks have attracted his attention as professionally educated music producer and most importantly trance fan. Enjoy reading them and put in your dairy to listen his radio show.

Interview: DJ Producer Label Owner Paul Thomas

Interview with Paul Thomas. Paul’s big break was landing a residency at Birmingham’s Godkitchen and their globally-syndicated GlobalGathering festivals a decade back; a dream foundation for any aspiring DJ to build their career on.

Take a look at the impressive and varied list of labels he’s had track signed to: Spinnin’ Records, Steve Angello’s SIZE Records, Toolroom Records, Doorn Records, Ultra, Gareth Emery’s Garuda, Michael Woods’ Diffused, Vandit records, Outburst records ...the list goes on and on. His golden remix touch has been requested for releases by legends like Basement Jaxx, Chicane, Underworld, Josh Wink, D Ramirez & Mark Knight, Deadmau5, Tiesto and Paul Oakenfold and he’s collaborated with Mark Knight and Jerome Isma-Ae, and more recently, Andy Moor and Funkagenda

Interview: Relaunch about his album Experience

The very talented underground trance dj and producer Relaunch is about to release his second album in his own record label Relaunch Music that he recently established. With support from the greatest trance djs  in the industry and releases on magnificent labels like Bonzai Progressive, Saturate Audio, Lost Language and more Relaunch new album will be welcomed from the fans of real underground trance sound that carry your senses and mind away and invites you to escape from what we all accept us being reality. I'm very glad that Maik aka Relaunch accepted the challenge to reply in my interview and here you can read it with the hope that you will discover maybe sides of his career that you may don't know already. If you are introduced to his music from this interview why not to contemplate this first contact with his album Experience that will definitely  inspire and elevate your inner self. Enjoy reading his great answers.

Interview is written and conducted by Dimitri Kechagias, Music Journalist and radio host at 1mix radio.

Alex Wright March Reviews

Guest Reviewer Alex Wright ahead of his monthly radio show Trance Encounters that is streamed every first Friday of the month on 1mix radio  presents his top 5 anthems for March 2016. He describes in his own words why these tracks have attracted his attention as professionally educated music producer and most importantly trance fan. Enjoy reading them and put in your dairy to listen his radio show.

Interview with Max Graham about Cycle 7

Max Graham, a man of many musical talents especially known for blurring the lines of trance, techno and progressive, has once again created his one-of-a-kind installation that transports you to a dark room with intimate vibes. The yearly time is here again where Graham delights with the very awaited Cycles 7, a jewel full of unique sounds with unexpected twists and turns.

The perfectly curated tracklist, which includes work from seasoned veterans, familiar names and up-and-comers, will for sure take your breath away. Graham’s favourite producer of the year, Rick Pier O’Neil, delights with three new originals including bassline-dominating piece “To Declare”. Also making an appearance are THNK, Henrik Zuberstein and Ewan Rill’s “Lotos” featuring Avenax’ stunning vocals; all staples in Graham’s sets. His keen ear for up-and-coming talent gained Dimi Mechero and Apsara a spot on the mix as well. And marking the 15-year anniversary of Graham’s “Airtight” comes an out-of-this-world rendition, which Graham called his “Remix Of The Year”, created by no stranger to the Cycles family, Tim Penner.

Interview with Gai Barone about his album 'Toward'

The Italian Gai Barone is a man who played electronic music long game and played it faultlessly. Turning it into something approaching an art form, brick-by-brick, track-by-track, he built a discography every bit as imaginative, as it is admired. Placing the music ahead of the DJ or the persona, he bided his album time, waiting for the perfect career point to deliver a comparably matchless first long-player.

On the 29th of Feb, that countdown reaches zero... The virtuoso will pull back the curtain on 12 months of tireless studio work, with 15 tracks that encompass his first album-long body of work. 

As it approaches its milestone 100th single release, Germanys Afterglow Records are delighted and proud to bring you this as-eclectic-as-it-is electric debutante. An extraordinary (in the truest sense of the word) outing, it is as far removed from the musically routine as it’s possible to envision. 

Sand-like, it shifts across musical borders, passaging at will between the beat and the beat-free, the cool and the intense, the instrumental and the vocal. Lying, as he has, under the populist radar for a half-decade or more, many have tried to put a name to what Gai does. All have failed. So put away your classification books, cast aside those cookie cutters and close that electronic music atlas up tight!

Interview: Sean Tyas - Degeneration

             

Highly respected international DJ, studio genius and veteran of the Trance scene Sean Tyas has been pioneering cutting edge sounds for the genre for well over a decade. It may therefore come as a surprise to learn that Degeneration is his debut artist album.

Having remixed a diverse range of artists including Armin van Buuren, Moby, Pink, Gareth Emery, Dash Berlin and Bloodhound Gang as well as releasing countless critically acclaimed hits on the likes of ASOT, WAO138?!, Subculture, Captivating Sounds, VANDIT, Discover, Spinnin, Doorn and of course Black Hole.…. Sean Tyas is without doubt a certified member of the A list Trance elite.

Alex Wright's Top 5 Trance Encounters - February 2016

Guest Reviewer Alex Wright ahead of his monthly radio show Trance Encounters on 1mix radio every first Friday of the month presents his top 5 anthems for this month and explains in his own words why these particular tracks make him happy and what elements through his own experience as producer appreciates more.

Event Review: Digital Society 9th Anniversary

The outstanding trance event Digital Society celebrated with true glory the 9th anniversary at the usual home base 02 Academy Leeds in a spectacular event that took place 5th of February and delivered unforgettable precious moments for all the lucky ones that have attended and took with them memories that will last for ever. 

  Digital Society is organised for 9th consecutive time and in the previous years Digital Society events were taken place in more frequent basis by inviting top names in the trance scene such as Above & Beyond, Paul van Dyk, Ferry Corsten, Markus Schulz, Gareth Emery and many more. For their 9th anniversary there were two stages operating the whole night. The mainstage was home of the wide variety of trance subgenres from big room to uplifting and psy tech trance presented by names such as Gareth Emery, John O Callaghan, Paul Oakenfold, Sean Tyas, Ben Gold, Luke Bond, Standerwick and Gareth Mitchel. The underground area in the basement was hosted by the world famous trance imprint In Trance We Trust with stars such as Menno de Jong, Alex M.O.R.P.H., Mark Sherry, Adam Ellis, Johan Ekman, Amir Hussain, David Rust, Alex Ryan and Paul Pearson.  From 8 in the evening until 6 in the morning trance fans could enjoy their favourite side of trance music played by world famous and well-established artists.

Interview: Infrasonic Recordings artist Andy Tau

Andy Tau is a Trance producer and A&R for Infrasonic Recordings. He makes Trance that he likes in his spare time while balancing his work as a studio producer and mastering engineer.

We are extremely pleased that Andy accepted the challenge to reply to our interview and you can enjoy his great answers right here and right now while you listen his latest single 'Lost Without You' featuring the beautiful singer Katherine Amy. 

Interview is written and conducted by Dimitri Kechagias, Music Journalists and radio host at 1mix Radio.