I dont think people being positive and optimistic about things is weird, but considering the subject of EDM and knowing how far back this man goes, he seems to be hiding a little bit of his truest inner feelings. He seems a bit dodgy about more touchy subjects regarding EDM. but whatever. what do you guys think?

He uses that beatles reply a lot. I don't think people are referring to sounding the same but they are saying the feeling has gone and sounding more noisy and terrible.

What a load of crap, maybe deep techno stuff sounds more like trance but the shit he plays nope it doesn't anything like it.

What's up with that fake british accent?

I will not lie, after knowing that he likes the orb that much almost gives me hope for him doing something decent in the future lmao

quote:

Originally posted by Kilixpree I will not lie, after knowing that he likes the orb that much almost gives me hope for him doing something decent in the future lmao

I wouldn't hold my breath.

___________________
Latest releases:
Endless Cycles [Capital Heaven]
The Charlatan [Morphosis]

quote:

Originally posted by Kilixpree I will not lie, after knowing that he likes the orb that much almost gives me hope for him doing something decent in the future lmao

He's expressed his fondness for ambient during interviews way back in the past, even implicitly as a preference to trance. I think this interview was taken some time around 2006 or 2007:

quote:

5. Your live sets and ASOT radio show has grown so diverse, all the genres of EDM can be found from minimal to house, why has this evolution occurred ? Armin van Buuren: I DJ for the crowd, not for myself, if it was for me the music would be real ambient, weird sounding. These track lists are for the crowd. I want to make sure the people are dancing and into the music, sometimes you have to play a track that's different...

Nearing the end of his career, and with the decline of trance, I get the feeling that it's more for the crowd now than it ever was before.

___________________
He traded sands for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand. Afari, Tales

5. Your live sets and ASOT radio show has grown so diverse, all the genres of EDM can be found from minimal to house, why has this evolution occurred ?

ASOT really is the "go to"-place for finding new and innovative releases from the whole spectrum of electronic music. Where's that cringe smiley when it's needed?

quote:

Originally posted by Kilixpree I will not lie, after knowing that he likes the orb that much almost gives me hope for him doing something decent in the future lmao

Many many years ago he already said what he most liked is ambient.
What he often says about old trance is being slow is such a bullshit as it's only half the story. Hard trance was huge in early 90's, but I think it just wasn't in his field of view at the time. Even Sven Vath played it in 1993:
Edit: an old video with Jam El Mar saying that bpm increased within 5 years from 114 to 140 and up in 1994: https://youtu.be/QfhVbHj4mPs?t=57



I never actually heard him talk about his early tracks which clearly are influenced from the Club music (which I also liked a lot, just not as much as trance).

___________________

Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here

Last edited by Trance-M on Jan-14-2018 at 20:22

quote:

Originally posted by Kilixpree I will not lie, after knowing that he likes the orb that much almost gives me hope for him doing something decent in the future lmao

It's a smoke screen dude it just to shut people up. He is clearly doing it for the money now. The fact that he mentioned that music back then was better gives you an indication.

Come on guys, I don't know you;re taking any of this seriously.

For those of us that knew Armin's records back in the 90's (like Communication, Lost Soul Society etc) he used to make music that was half decent.

By the mid-late 00's he'd completely sold out, playing the same lowest-common-denominator "trance" (if you could still call it that) and what he's playing in past 2012 was juts absolute dross - there's no conceivable way that someone that claims to like the orb and ambient, and put out records like he did, would actually be passionate about the dreadful line array EDM sound he's been putting out.

It's about money. He's a lawyer by education (probably why some of his answers are evasive) and he made a conscious decision to play EDM and devolve ASOT to widen the cash flow. It's earned him millions. I get it though; there's plenty of guys who kept their integrity and had to go get a proper job or another source of income when the scene turned to crap.

When you look at making of video's of his shows you can see that's something he really loves to do (and is good at). Not only doing the shows but also everything to get there. Only with huge crowds he will be able to achieve that. Possibly or likely commercial crap music is a part of that.
I get the feeling the only way to make some money in Trance is to be in ASOT, so I'm not happy with that. It's not good for the scene, but now even JOOF and Airwave are in that direction so the feeling gets stronger although JOOF is convinced some things are going to change for the better (at least for progressive, which could be true). Negative thing is that Armin probably will get the credits.

I totally agree, there's always something in the back of my head telling that something is not right when listening to Armin. Why can he be so happy about something which obviously is far from Trance and the music he claims to love? And at the same time he remains holding on to that Trance tag. Money is the most obvious explanation.

___________________

Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here

quote:

Originally posted by Trance-M When you look at making of video's of his shows you can see that's something he really loves to do (and is good at). Not only doing the shows but also everything to get there. Only with huge crowds he will be able to achieve that. Possibly or likely commercial crap music is a part of that. I get the feeling the only way to make some money in Trance is to be in ASOT, so I'm not happy with that. It's not good for the scene, but now even JOOF and Airwave are in that direction so the feeling gets stronger although JOOF is convinced some things are going to change for the better (at least for progressive, which could be true). Negative thing is that Armin probably will get the credits. I totally agree, there's always something in the back of my head telling that something is not right when listening to Armin. Why can he be so happy about something which obviously is far from Trance and the music he claims to love? And at the same time he remains holding on to that Trance tag. Money is the most obvious explanation.

Speaking of JOOF It looks like he is trying to get a piece of the pie of the commercial crowd. The beating tactics did not work for him so he is now joining the guy who basically stopped supporting their music for a number of years. Armin stopped supporting tracks by Airwave for a number of years and now all of a sudden they ask Armin for a stage and he accepts.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN It's about money. He's a lawyer by education (probably why some of his answers are evasive) and he made a conscious decision to play EDM and devolve ASOT to widen the cash flow. It's earned him millions. I get it though; there's plenty of guys who kept their integrity and had to go get a proper job or another source of income when the scene turned to crap.

I think reducing it all to a matter of money is a bit too simplistic and even rather unfair. It looks more like him just coming to terms with his profession. He's a trance DJ, and he does what he explicitly said he does in the interview I posted earlier: he gives the fans what they want. And although the only definitively positive thing he said about trance in those clips is how it 'sounds' better, it's not like he doesn't believe in his own product. A clown at a children's birthday party isn't amused by his own antics, but it makes the kids happy, and for Armin that's enough.

BTW (embedding has been disabled for this clip for some reason), but I always come back for the occasional laugh on Armin's comments about DJ Sammy back in the mid 00's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjBZzN_Fzk

___________________
He traded sands for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand. Afari, Tales

Last edited by Paradox Lost on Jan-14-2018 at 02:02

quote:

Originally posted by Trance-M When you look at making of video's of his shows you can see that's something he really loves to do (and is good at). Not only doing the shows but also everything to get there. Only with huge crowds he will be able to achieve that. Possibly or likely commercial crap music is a part of that. I get the feeling the only way to make some money in Trance is to be in ASOT, so I'm not happy with that. It's not good for the scene, but now even JOOF and Airwave are in that direction so the feeling gets stronger although JOOF is convinced some things are going to change for the better (at least for progressive, which could be true). Negative thing is that Armin probably will get the credits. I totally agree, there's always something in the back of my head telling that something is not right when listening to Armin. Why can he be so happy about something which obviously is far from Trance and the music he claims to love? And at the same time he remains holding on to that Trance tag. Money is the most obvious explanation.

Joof acts like a superstar DJ himself.

He doesn't, but if we'd be violently forced to pick one who'd actually deserve to be the star of the show it'd probably have to be him for not just being a quality guy in his field of work but also being absolutely decent and sincere. Regardless of whether you like the records he plays, produces and releases on his label or not.

I'm not sure J00F is particularly "sincere". So much of what he says is exaggerated self-aggrandisement prefixed with proclamations that he's one of the most humble people in the industry. He's done very well for himself by marketing himself as the face of "deep" trance music, when in reality I've seen him at least ten times in a club and never heard him do anything but bang it out. It's only the naivety and musical ignorance of modern trance crowds that allows him to sell himself as "deep".

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

I was under the impression that mostly everyone here holds J00F in pretty high regard, and with some form of respect. What happened? I haven't heard too much of his stuff, but some of it is pretty good. Did he fall off or go overboard on something recently?

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Pluviose he seems to be hiding a little bit of his truest inner feelings. He seems a bit dodgy about more touchy subjects regarding EDM. but whatever. what do you guys think?

I think he's been clenching his teeth for the past 15 years. As everyone else has said, he's lawyer-educated, smart, diplomatic and personable, and thus the basis of his appeal to a lot of people.

I think he enjoys what he does, but I don't believe he truly enjoys most of the stuff he plays. I guess he forced to play a lot of it by his management / labels etc. I cringe at most of his studio guests. You can almost hear him faking his enthusiasm for a lot of it.

I believe he has a lot talent, knows what's what in the music-tech field and wants to go in a new direction with it, but hasn't been able to pull it off quite as some of his peers have. A very confused / conflicted artist in my opinion.

___________________

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Mikey Mike Social outcasts are often of the opinion that they must have a drink before being able to loosen up with their inhibitions, thus being able to have a good time. There's a word that sums up this sort of behaviour, and that word is 'reject.'

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Pluviose I was under the impression that mostly everyone here holds J00F in pretty high regard, and with some form of respect. What happened? I haven't heard too much of his stuff, but some of it is pretty good. Did he fall off or go overboard on something recently?

I don't think that changed for most here.
At Luminosity he, and to some degree also Airwave, played a lot of Spy.
That Airwave often plays a lot of Bonzai classics isn't a surprise, but the Spy at least did surprise me a bit. And then JOOF's set had even more. Let's see what they both play a ASOT, although it's a dedicated Progressive stage.

___________________

Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here

Last edited by Trance-M on Feb-12-2018 at 12:15

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Pluviose I was under the impression that mostly everyone here holds J00F in pretty high regard, and with some form of respect. What happened? I haven't heard too much of his stuff, but some of it is pretty good. Did he fall off or go overboard on something recently?

I think his schtick just got old, J00F has been preaching the "deep trance revolution" for like what, 10 years now? At some point you just stop believing it. I think J is right when he says that J00F's success is down to the rest of the trance scene being fucking awful. Most of his more recent sets I've heard online were just a mix of bog standard whitenoise bigroom techno (that would honestly get him laughed out of any serious techno club) and what sounds like decent psy/prog-psy to me (not super into that stuff, so can't really judge the quality). Fair play to those that like that combination but it's certainly not going to revive trance. Especially when there's so many techno/house/jungle/ambient etc. producers right now making great trance-influenced music that actually stands on it's own without having to be compared to ASOT garbage.

___________________
June 2018 mix

I cant say I ever was arsed about J00f really I cant think of many tunes i've ever liked where it turned out when searching for them he track listed.


* sidenote *
I swear though he was on some BBC Two tv show in the UK about dating or finding it hard to date with busy working life. If i dreamt that one up then it felt very real and is quite weird.

That's pretty much it. The recent resurgence of trancey techno and progressive house has left him looking pretty lightweight. Even in the early 2000s when he was doing the Progressive Euphoria and White Label Euphoria CDs, he was always “progressive for trance fans”. He could never resist throwing in some silly glowstick stuff near the end. He’s still the best trance DJ around, alongside Airwave, and is very good at smashing a club to pieces with pounding music. But it gets remarkably tiresome reading his social media essays that are extensive exercises in self-congratulation.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by the-sixth * sidenote * I swear though he was on some BBC Two tv show in the UK about dating or finding it hard to date with busy working life. If i dreamt that one up then it felt very real and is quite weird.

He was on Place In The Sun twice. Might be what you're thinking of. He's married, so I doubt he'd be on TV complaining about dating.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

When I read his FB message of today, I think, yes, that's how it used to be and that's how I liked it. I'm not even a big fan of his music, but I totally feel what he's saying.

quote:

The world of the DJ is a very different place to when I started out all those years ago. The celebrity superstar DJ culture didn’t exist back then, in the underground specialist world it was often very difficult to figure out where the DJ both actually was, in many cases hidden in the corner of the room or in clubs like the legendary Turnmills within a closed room with tiny window looking out. From my personal experience and seeing others around me, that’s the reason it attracted music geeks like me whom were able to share their love and passion for music without the intimidation of being thrown in the limelight, we could put our heads down, rummage through our vinyl collection and get on with the job of playing the music. As we well know that culture has changed today, the DJ is now on a huge stage, big lights and the star of the show. Being honest, if that was the case all those years ago when I started, I wouldn’t be a DJ today. I’m a super shy guy, extremely uncomfortable with being on the stage, but over the years been forced to adapt because I love playing so much. As many promoters and lighting teams will know, the first thing I ask for is for them to turn off any spotlights that are shining on me/the stage, make it as dark as possible. I don’t want to be the star of the show, I want to be in the musical experience with everyone else and be part of the party, and not be the celebrity that everyone stares at as I don’t do the cliche antics. I want to feel as if I’m on the dance floor with you, so that I can connect both musically and spiritually, this way I know and feel where to take the journey I’m about to unfold. When I feel the music and the emotional moments, I want to be with you as I close my eyes, shed some tears and beam with euphoria and being hidden in darkness allows me to do this. This also may explain my often quick departure from venues after playing, I still can’t comprehend that John the quiet music guy from a small seaside town in the UK is getting all this attention and become an international DJ. But It’s very much important for me to thank you all, and doing this in person is very special to me, but then the shyness kicks in and it feels surreal, even all these years later.

___________________

Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I'm not sure J00F is particularly "sincere". So much of what he says is exaggerated self-aggrandisement prefixed with proclamations that he's one of the most humble people in the industry.

Couldn't agree more - it's pretty much the norm for him to spend the first 5 minutes of every one of his radio shows rambling on about the above. That, and his tired lines about 'real trance making a comeback' have actually put me off him as a personality in the scene now, even though I do still find the stuff he plays to be decent.

quote:

Originally posted by Midlothian He doesn't, but if we'd be violently forced to pick one who'd actually deserve to be the star of the show it'd probably have to be him for not just being a quality guy in his field of work but also being absolutely decent and sincere. Regardless of whether you like the records he plays, produces and releases on his label or not.

Are you sure about that? Have you been reading his social media page? Apparently, Armin 'cares' for the Trance scene.
Hint hint since you are not getting it Joof. He did this because of money not because he cares. Same as you. Enough with your bullshit already.

quote:

ASOT 850 was more than just an epic gig for me, as many of you know and heard the interview with Armin on ASOT radio there’s a nice story behind how myself and Armin van Buuren made this stage happen. The world of the internet is full of presumptions and theories believing that underground DJ’s dislike mainstream DJ’s, as much as they are desperate for this to be true to create some glorified social media entertainment, I’m going to quash all that in the next few minutes. This is more the case of two old mates from different spectrums of the scene uniting together to reinvest into the Trance eco system that they both feel passionately about. If there’s one single person I know I can have a deep knowledgeable chat about Trance, its Armin and thats exactly what we did for a couple of hours as he drove to Tomorrowland. He cares just as much as I do about the more specialist/underground side of Trance and why he wanted to make this Progressive stage happen for me and for that reason we all need to thank him. ASOT has become one of the leading dedicated Trance festivals in the world now covering all flavours of Trance music all under one roof, thats something to be very proud of. Armin was extremely busy that night, hosting the live ASOT radio broadcast, performing and general running around, so for him to head to the Progressive stage and hang out for a while with me, shows how much he cares for this scene too (see pic). Thank you to everyone that attended this new Progressive arena, the atmosphere was outstanding. You all love live sets, heres a rare one from me, my set from A State Of Trance

https://www.facebook.com/john00fleming/posts/10155132680380927

Last edited by Omnisphere on Feb-21-2018 at 20:32

quote:

Originally posted by Trance-M When I read his FB message of today, I think, yes, that's how it used to be and that's how I liked it. I'm not even a big fan of his music, but I totally feel what he's saying.

He sounds like those preachers who constantly preaches about religion.

quote:

Originally posted by Omnisphere He sounds like those preachers who constantly preaches about religion.

Just like preachers you don't need to listen or believe all of it.

___________________

Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here

quote:

Originally posted by Omnisphere He sounds like those preachers who constantly preaches about religion.

No reason to delete your last post referring to this JOOF interview at page 34: http://en.calameo.com/read/000390171c26414f565d2

He didn't say anything I didn't already hear from him.

___________________

Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here

quote:

Originally posted by Trance-M No reason to delete your last post referring to this JOOF interview at page 34: http://en.calameo.com/read/000390171c26414f565d2 He didn't say anything I didn't already hear from him.

Deep down he knows how much of a wreck the scene is. Pretending like everything is okay is never a good sign. I am just disappointed that he sunk to this low and basically made friendships with Armin but then again, this is for PR reasons. Trance was very futuristic and very creative. Now you get extremely boring productions that don't go anywhere and don't excite you as much. All that touring I am sure is to blame for them losing their creativity.

I actually remember J00f playing tiny venues (and I'll say him talking about playing turnmills as some underground value is a rehash of history as he didn't make that grade for a long time in the circuit. That was one of the biggest clubs in the south and the main floor (trance on Saturdays, hard house on Sundays) was 1000+ people, with people like Oakenfold and Tall Paul regularly headlining).

Some were basically glorified squats in dingy parts of north or west london. Great times, but honestly j00f struggled to get out of that lower circuit; there was nothing really apart from a novelty name (they always spelled out john "00" Fleming in those days) and there were several other guys killing it production and DJ wise, especially when the dutch sound exploded in to the trance scene.

I honestly think a lot of John's eventual success was just plain perseverance where a lot of guys just quit as the scene died or evolved and he just kept playing "that" trance in smaller venues. I remember guys that were actually doing better than him on the circuit just eventually packing it in as they were never going to make it all the way as things consolidated with the death of superclubs in 00's and the rise of ASOT etc. He was kind of the last man standing in a way and his recent stature was really a result of hanging in there while endlessly promising a return to a glory of former years.

I will say if anyone has the right to profess that, it's him - some of those venues were literally 80 people in a dark room with a strobe or disused railway arches, and he kept plugging away.

I'm not sure if the Armin link now serves two purposes; it gives J00f a bigger platform to finally cash in (he must be tired of it all by now) and it somewhat gives Armin some credibility from a DJ that's actually playing something that resembles the music that Armin came up on but long abandoned in the pursuit of money.

Those defending Armin on a creative basis (i.e. clown that makes kids laugh) need to wake up; You just likened him to a clown. The guy's a lawyer, in charge of a massive entertainment corporation> sure he might get a kick out of a massive crowd, but there's no way a guy that made the tracks he did, DJ'd and lived through a scene that we had in the 90's actually thinks anything coming out of his ASOT speakers now isn't complete tripe.

It's valuable tripe in terms of income. But It's tripe.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN I actually remember J00f playing tiny venues (and I'll say him talking about playing turnmills as some underground value is a rehash of history as he didn't make that grade for a long time in the circuit. That was one of the biggest clubs in the south and the main floor (trance on Saturdays, hard house on Sundays) was 1000+ people, with people like Oakenfold and Tall Paul regularly headlining). Some were basically glorified squats in dingy parts of north or west london. Great times, but honestly j00f struggled to get out of that lower circuit; there was nothing really apart from a novelty name (they always spelled out john "00" Fleming in those days) and there were several other guys killing it production and DJ wise, especially when the dutch sound exploded in to the trance scene. I honestly think a lot of John's eventual success was just plain perseverance where a lot of guys just quit as the scene died or evolved and he just kept playing "that" trance in smaller venues. I remember guys that were actually doing better than him on the circuit just eventually packing it in as they were never going to make it all the way as things consolidated with the death of superclubs in 00's and the rise of ASOT etc. He was kind of the last man standing in a way and his recent stature was really a result of hanging in there while endlessly promising a return to a glory of former years. I will say if anyone has the right to profess that, it's him - some of those venues were literally 80 people in a dark room with a strobe or disused railway arches, and he kept plugging away. I'm not sure if the Armin link now serves two purposes; it gives J00f a bigger platform to finally cash in (he must be tired of it all by now) and it somewhat gives Armin some credibility from a DJ that's actually playing something that resembles the music that Armin came up on but long abandoned in the pursuit of money. Those defending Armin on a creative basis (i.e. clown that makes kids laugh) need to wake up; You just likened him to a clown. The guy's a lawyer, in charge of a massive entertainment corporation> sure he might get a kick out of a massive crowd, but there's no way a guy that made the tracks he did, DJ'd and lived through a scene that we had in the 90's actually thinks anything coming out of his ASOT speakers now isn't complete tripe. It's valuable tripe in terms of income. But It's tripe.

I was referring to both and infact most producers wear out. I already know that Armin is a lost cause but it seems that Joof had different ideas. Your post proves my point that the scene is absolute shit. Most Trance fans don't give a shit attending these events anymore because it's not what it used to be.

Previously people gave a shit about the Trance scene, you know when it actually Trance. Now is whoever can take a selfie, or draw love hearts and be part of the "trance' family.

But then again, talking isn't going to solve anything. I don't think anything will until we see this stuff come crumbling down, so my rants won't really do much.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN I actually remember J00f playing tiny venues (and I'll say him talking about playing turnmills as some underground value is a rehash of history as he didn't make that grade for a long time in the circuit. That was one of the biggest clubs in the south and the main floor (trance on Saturdays, hard house on Sundays) was 1000+ people, with people like Oakenfold and Tall Paul regularly headlining). Some were basically glorified squats in dingy parts of north or west london. Great times, but honestly j00f struggled to get out of that lower circuit; there was nothing really apart from a novelty name (they always spelled out john "00" Fleming in those days) and there were several other guys killing it production and DJ wise, especially when the dutch sound exploded in to the trance scene. I honestly think a lot of John's eventual success was just plain perseverance where a lot of guys just quit as the scene died or evolved and he just kept playing "that" trance in smaller venues. I remember guys that were actually doing better than him on the circuit just eventually packing it in as they were never going to make it all the way as things consolidated with the death of superclubs in 00's and the rise of ASOT etc. He was kind of the last man standing in a way and his recent stature was really a result of hanging in there while endlessly promising a return to a glory of former years. I will say if anyone has the right to profess that, it's him - some of those venues were literally 80 people in a dark room with a strobe or disused railway arches, and he kept plugging away. I'm not sure if the Armin link now serves two purposes; it gives J00f a bigger platform to finally cash in (he must be tired of it all by now) and it somewhat gives Armin some credibility from a DJ that's actually playing something that resembles the music that Armin came up on but long abandoned in the pursuit of money. Those defending Armin on a creative basis (i.e. clown that makes kids laugh) need to wake up; You just likened him to a clown. The guy's a lawyer, in charge of a massive entertainment corporation> sure he might get a kick out of a massive crowd, but there's no way a guy that made the tracks he did, DJ'd and lived through a scene that we had in the 90's actually thinks anything coming out of his ASOT speakers now isn't complete tripe. It's valuable tripe in terms of income. But It's tripe.

Apologies DJ Rann (I like how auto correct turns this to DJ Rant) , we must be very close friends that speak every week as you are talking on my behalf, but I don’t recall ever speaking to you once?

Let me refresh your memory of when I was resident at the legendary Zap club in Brighton for 8 years (1500 capacity) with Techno legends Dave Clarke and Eric Powell. At the same time resident at Sterns in Sussex (3000 capacity) and The Manor in Bournemouth (2500 capacity). In fact I held a handful of residencies at the same time, Bagley’s films studios every Friday in London (4000 capacity), Sunny side up at SW1 London (1800 Capacity), World dance club Angel London (1000), Colosseum London (2500), when signed to React records was resident weekly at their Wildlife nights each week at the legendary Heaven London (2500), then every other weekend at Trade Turnmills, London (1800 Capacity), Return to the source, Peach, Camden Palace and the list is endless.

I don’t ever recall playing at dingy squat parties in London, because I didn’t have time. That was probably due to my career expanding when the legendary Golden club made me resident in the Midlands, the same promoter ran Cream in Liverpool, so I was there once a month. Same story at Gatecrasher. Oh lets not forget my long residency at Gods Kitchen, I also compiled and mixed all their mix compilations, but never put my name to them.
International was same story, resident for Spundae at 1015 San Francisco and LA (club now called Avalon), and every month at Government Toronto (9,000 capacity). The list goes on.
That was probably something to do with me selling over 10 million mix compilations?

Yes I made this tone sarcastic, only to highlight that most of you here are second guessing whats going on and creating the now famous term fake news. Instead of contributing and rebuilding the Trance scene, you are contributing to the demise of the genre by being keyboard warriors and policing this forum and pointing the finger of blame. I personally know a handful of legendary producers that have given up due to forums like this because they couldn’t handle all the fake stuff going on. So there’s your contribution to the scene right there. Somehow I’ve learned to hardened up to it.

Armin isn’t responsible for fixing the scene, we all are. But it can’t be done by armchair forum police puling people down. I’ve been so close to leaving Trance many times because of this, it's a horrible eviroment especially here and why no DJs come here anymore and its slowly becoming a ghost town.

Trance is currently very healthy and growing in size, theres a massive underground scene thriving you just need to find it, I’ve been investing a lot of time meetings with Beatport, DJ mag, festival promoters, producers and they all identify this too and are looking to support it.

If you spent time researching, instead of being lost in your own bubble here, you’ll all find it and contribute and enjoying. But your negativity’s has created this lonely ghost town, a quick read through topics only highlights none of you see what we are seeing, hence why you are disconnected with reality…just like DJ Rann was with my history.


Finally for the record. I’ve been very good friends with Armin for well over 20 years. Its not suddenly a new thing. Same story with many other DJs from various genres.

Last edited by John 00 Fleming on Feb-28-2018 at 13:41

That's some quality dick-stroking right here.

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June 2018 mix

i have NFI what goes on in "the scene", but us being cunts to everyone and each other has very little to do with TA's decline. the real culprit is the surge in other social media platforms.

while some famous names definitely had a sook before quitting TA (dresden, lol) the simple fact is TA has not been an efficient platform to promote oneself for a really long time. and that's what most "names" were interested in back in the day.

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quote:

Originally posted by Woony That's some quality dick-stroking right here.

As pointed out full sarcasm mode, to point out what a load of fantasy drivel was spoke about me and my career.
The same slanderous stuff said about others too.

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN i have NFI what goes on in "the scene", but us being cunts to everyone and each other has very little to do with TA's decline. the real culprit is the surge in other social media platforms. while some famous names definitely had a sook before quitting TA (dresden, lol) the simple fact is TA has not been an efficient platform to promote oneself for a really long time. and that's what most "names" were interested in back in the day.

There's a rise in forums popularity again due to social media being full of trolls. If you want good specialist information, head to a dedicated forum where you get informative help and advice.

Music equipment forums are a perfect example of this.
Car forums.
Photography etc.

I used to love Tranceaddict due to this, but most topics seem to get derailed by the same old faces with their personal opinions. Myself and others would be here a lot more if it wasn't due to this.
The key with any buisness offer good quality content, and you'll get the clicks.

Trance needs as much help as it can get at the moment to help it step out of the dark place its currently in, a time everyone should get together.

TA is dead because trance is dead. It's that simple. People were kicking lumps out of each other here even when the forum's traffic was booming. Even J00F's own forum gets about three posts a day now, and that's effectively a fan club.

We all jumped on the promised "deep trance revival" circa 2011 and it never went anywhere. What's left to discuss? Naff psy-trance and Armin's latest monstrosity?

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Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Last edited by SYSTEM-J on Mar-01-2018 at 11:26

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J TA is dead because trance is dead. It's that simple. People were kicking lumps out of each other here even when the forum's traffic was booming. Even J00F's own forum gets about three posts a day, and that's effectively a fan club. We all jumped on the promised "deep trance revival" circa 2011 and it never went anywhere. What's left to discuss? Naff psy-trance and Armin's latest monstrosity?

Oh I'm sure there's lots to discuss. But then I didn't actively jump on any "revival" circa 2011 so I can freely act like a naïve Dutch kid. From the twenty-first century trance-like music originating in other corners of the electronic music world some of which, I think, Woony rightly referenced in one of his posts in this thread, through Platipus's revival (if that's an acceptable term there) to at least part of what John 00 plays which may be "naff" and un-trance to you but not necessarily to others. For instance. There's a lot of trance that bears little to no meaning to me personally (the "mainstream" side of it). There's all kinds of releases from the psy-side that I consider outrightly boring. Doesn't stop me from continuing to look for new music that I consider sufficiently trancy to call trance. I discovered Rickard Berglöf's solo EP on Tribal Vision and considered it partly nice and trancy. I've been listenening to some of James Warren's Visceral and heard stuff I'd play early in a "trance" set. Just a few random things that came to mind while typing this reply on my work break.

Naïve?

So many of your posts re trance and progressive I consider very informative, adds to my knowledge, but not necessarily everyone jumped on the same anti-bandwagon. Far to easy to just declare trance dead & consider it should be over with.

But then what I take from this thread is that categories are only becoming increasingly useless. John 00 for instance may not agree at all about some of the music I consider "trance"; whereas, say, Woony might not agree with some of the things John as DJ and I as audience both consider very "trance". Thát's a discussion probably going nowhere.

I'm still here, not ashamed of telling that I love Uplifting or the 90's stuff others think is crap.
Like you said John, we all have to do it, running away, looking for forums with just fans that match your taste is not helping.
Accepting that there are people here with different taste is one part and at the same time very welcome.
It's totally ridiculous not a single DJ shares an opinion about Armin's recent productions which are far from trance.
And maybe the people who are complaining and sound negative actually are the real trance fans who also find those less known productions released by smaller labels.

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Longest (classic) Trance playlist on YouTube (5000 tracks released up to and including 1997), click here