by TranceUnited.com:

quote:

tranceUNITED: Hi Andy. How are you??? Thank you for taking the time to talk with tranceUNITED. Your name has really become more known in the last 18 months. How do you live life? Has anything changed in the last 18 months? Andy Moor: Hi tranceUNITED. I am fine thank you. How are you? I live most of my life like anybody else. I live in a normal city in the UK. The main difference would be that I travel at weekends around the world which obviously affects my life as I have to plan ahead if I want to attend friends weddings, partys etc. Nothing has changed too much in the last 18 months but more trance people have noticed my name as I have changed my style over the past few years. tranceUNITED: You live in Stoke, England which is also the home of Robbie Williams. I guess you are the second most famous person in Stoke? Andy Moor: No I doubt that, I am a very understated person and don’t live for attention or fame. There is not a big music scene here and if people do ask me what I do for a living I tell them I have a boring job to deflect any attention that may have been coming. tranceUNITED: How was your childhood? You learned your first piano piece at age five. How did that happen? Are you from a musical family? Andy Moor: My childhood was great and I was lucky enough to attend good schools, I was an outdoor child who would spend as much time as possible playing football or climbing trees like any other child. My mum was musical and my dad had great taste in music, one Christmas Santa bought my sister an electronic keyboard, but she never got a look in and it never left my bedroom (she was better off with dolls anyway!). My parents noticed my ability after hearing me play music and began to teach me to play. tranceUNITED: What were your early musical influences while you were growing up? Andy Moor: Mainly people like Jean Michelle Jarre and Vangelis who were pioneers of electronic music at the time. For years I would be trying to understand how it was made. tranceUNITED: What was the moment or reason where you decided you wanted to produce club music? I mean you could very well have chosen Pop or Rock. Andy Moor: I had no interest in pop or rock. I made the progression from 80’s electronica to club music with the help of trips to Spain and hearing early Euro dance music. Then I used to get hold of early tapes of Sasha in the early 90’s as he used to play at Shelly’s in Stoke where I live, so in my teens I would hunt out the early trance music. tranceUNITED: There are countless DJs who produce music but would never call themselves musicians. You on the other hand are a true musician. What makes your producing style so unique? Andy Moor: I was a musician before a producer, so I can obviously take this knowledge into the studio. I used to play many instruments such as the Bassoon, but I don’t know many productions requiring the bassoon on the next trance classic?! The main thing that helps is being able to play the piano, and having the music theory knowledge. This is playing a smaller and smaller roll in todays dance music though as technical skills are just as important. If people have a good ear for music then they could get through with ‘trial and error’ but I’m glad I took the classical route first. tranceUNITED: The majority of your tracks could be classified as being trance songs. However you have stated that your sound is melodic house music. Could you care to explain that? Andy Moor: I think people put too much emphasis on the name of the style. If I call it ‘orange and banana music’ it would still sound the same. Everybody has a different interpretation of the same word. I class my music as ‘melodic dance music’ which has elements of ‘house’ music and ‘trance’ music. Trance is a great word but its image has been hurt over the past years due to so called ‘trance’ tracks hitting the charts, then every cheesy song has been called ‘trance’. For me ‘real’ electronic trance is music that is emotional and in that respect I would class my music as ‘trance’, but you can call it what you want. tranceUNITED: You keep on producing high quality electronic music. You are Paul van Dyk`s favourite producer and he has predicted that you could become one of the top producers in the dance scene. How are you able to cope with such a powerful statement from one of the scenes top ambassadors? Andy Moor: Its nice to hear that, but it doesn’t affect me in a personal way, it just keeps me motivated to try and keep improving and keep these peoples interest. tranceUNITED: You are 1/3 of Tilt. How do you guys produce a track? How much producing input can you give when there are two other members? Andy Moor: Since I joined Tilt there has only really been two of us producing. I always like to be in control of the controls, so it is just a matter of relaying ideas between us, same as it is with any collaboration I suppose. I enjoy having someone else in the studio with me as it can be a very boring process otherwise. Hence seeing a lot of collaborations and involvement with other people, for the social element too. tranceUNITED: When you are in the studio, how do you go about producing a track? Do you first search for a bass line or create a melody or find a groove? Andy Moor: First you have to find inspiration, whether it be from a piece of music, a person or a happening. Only then will I attempt to make a piece of music. Every track I make has a different course of events. I have never used the same sound in more than 1 track so the format of producing the track is different depending on many different factors. tranceUNITED: What is the usual production time of a track? For example how long did it take to create the “World doesn’t know”? Andy Moor: ”The world doesn’t know” was actually done in a very short time period, a few days if I remember. There is no 'usual' time really, sometimes a track just goes together and gels and can take days, other times it can take over a month. tranceUNITED: You have produced beautiful tracks over the years as Leama and Moor. Your debut album will soon be released. What can we expect from this album sound wise? Andy Moor: It will be a continuation of our development so far. It will feature a lot of 'listening to' music as an album should be. You will be able to play it and get a different feeling from it every time, dependent on your mood. A lot of downbeat textures and soundscapes are included and the whole album will be blended together, with some more traditional dance tracks featuring later in the album. tranceUNITED: You recently visited Above & Beyond in the studio and produced one of the summers nicest tracks “Air for life” How was it working with Above & Beyond? I heard the studio time wasn’t only spent finishing the track? Andy Moor: It was great, nice to go and work in someone else’s studio and split the work load. It was nice to work on a track, then disappear for an hour and come back to find something had changed for the better, makes it more of an enjoyable process. tranceUNITED: In 2004 you started Whiteroom with Adam White. What makes the collaboration with Adam so unique? Andy Moor: This is because Adam is also a musician, the ideas we bounce off each other are not just conversation, but also musical ideas. We can speak in musical language and understand each other which is great, and he can play ideas on the keyboard as well which splits the process more evenly. I use this collaboration to explore the more 'trancier' side of music as i try to stick to certain styles with each of my collaborations and solo. tranceUNITED: You just finished a remix for Kuffdam and Plant “Summerdream” which will be released on Vandit. Paul van Dyk sticks to the beautiful melody in his mix. How did your remix turnout? Andy Moor: I haven't heard Paul's remix yet, but our remix sticks fairly true to the original and keeps the original melody but adding some more production values and just takes it in a slightly different direction. tranceUNITED: Torsten Fenslau the founder of Culture Beat who tragically died in a car accident in 1993 was a big fan of the movie “Bladerunner”. I read you were interested in doing something with the theme? How would the Andy Moor version sound? Andy Moor: It has been done before, but if i was let free with this theme it would not be a piece of dance music but a really long piece of epic music that explores the melodies progressing throughout, morphing from one instrument to another, or something like that. tranceUNITED: You are a true musician experimenting with so many different styles of music. Wouldn’t the next logical step be making a movie soundtrack? Andy Moor: That has always been my ambition, and for my solo album I will be writing a piece of music to a visual idea I have so that people can watch and listen to a whole audio/visual experience in surround sound, but that will be in time. Eventually I would like to compose for films as I have a lot of interest in the way sounds and pictures can psychologically effect people, so far I have only dipped my toes in these waters but i would like to dip a lot more in! tranceUNITED: What studio equipment do you use? Andy Moor: I use apple macs, emagic logic, powercores, uad cards and lots of software, I still use bits of hardware such as my samplers, desk and fx units. I sold a lot of my hardware during the 'digital revolution' but am considering buying it back and getting a nice balance between formats. tranceUNITED: What do you prefer hardware or software and why? Andy Moor: Its a question many people feel the need to know, but it has no answer. Every piece of hardware and software has its advantages/disadvantages and limitations. It’s about investigating these and utilising them to suit your strengths and purpose. I like a mixture of them both. Software has more 'creative' advantages, where as hardware has better 'sonics'. I think it is important for people that just use software to explore the capabilities and basic theory behind it. This will help so much in their development and their understanding of sound so that they do not just use a preset from a soft synth but create a sound perfect for what they need and process it in a relevant way. tranceUNITED: What has been the most influential piece of equipment for you in the last three years that has been invented? Andy Moor: A lot of the analogue modeling software such as the new plugins for the 'UAD card' such as the Fairchild compressors and Cambridge EQs, they give performance almost identical to hardware which costs a lot more to buy. tranceUNITED: This interview is for tranceUNITED.com. What DJ/producer tips can you give the members at tranceUNITED? Andy Moor: I have looked at your website and noted the links with your producer members and have tried to include a few tips in previous questions. I will be having a 'tips' section on my website soon which will have a different tip every so often. If i was to give one tip I would say that software makes it very easy for us all to make music now, but to make music different than everybody else that has that software you have to be creative with it. Use it for things that maybe nobody else has thought of, and learn the principles behind each piece of software. It´s not about how many softsynths you have, but how you use each one. tranceUNITED: What has been your favourite own production as well as remix? Andy Moor: I listen back to some of my tracks and cringe as I feel like I am developing and maturing at a faster pace than before. I have just built a new studio which has excellent acoustics and helps me to hear way is could have done things better in my previous work. Because of this I do not have a favourite one. I hope my next piece of work will be my favourite as I get bored of my music very quickly. tranceUNITED: You are a successful DJ around the world. What is the most important thing for you as a DJ? Andy Moor: The most important thing is to please as many people who are at the event as possible. It is to create a party atmosphere, whilst still trying to impress the so called 'trainspotters' with records that they have not heard and edits of popular tracks that i make just for my sets. I don’t play on many internet radio shows and this keeps things fresh for the people who turn up to my gigs. tranceUNITED: You are not the typical DJ who just plays all the hits for two hours. But you are known to play styles of music that nobody has ever heard before. With this said, how would you describe your DJ sound? Andy Moor: I sometimes find it difficult to put words to describe music, but if I had to I would say melodic funky uplifting emotional groovy trance/house which will appeal just as much to the under 20 year olds as to the over 25's. It also consist of a lot of live fx and looping to fit the mood of the night, and most of the tracks I play I have re-edited in my studio so that people are hearing something new all of the time. tranceUNITED: What has been your most memorable DJ gig you have ever had? Andy Moor: Each one is memorable in its own right, I wouldn´t like to single one out. There have been some fantastic events in countries I had never heard of before so every gig is an education, and I love coming home with information I would never have gained if I wasn’t a DJ. tranceUNITED: You have DJed in Germany before. What is your opinion in general about our club scene here in Germany? Andy Moor: From what I can gather you have a crazy club scene! It seems like you have something for everybody, whatever they are into. There has been a lot of famous DJ's/Producers that hale from Germany so I think your country has been through a similar situation to the UK where people had seen it all before a few years ago. Now however there is a new breed of DJ and clubbers that have catapulted the scene back to its former glory and it seems to be growing every day. Let us hope it continues at its current rate of expansion. tranceUNITED: What are your five all time favourite tracks? Andy Moor: I have many so far, but I hope I am still to hear my all time favourite in the future. If I can get clearance I am hoping to make a compilation to represent my musical tastes with a combination of music both old and new, all of which will be my favourite tracks. tranceUNITED: What are your hobbies? Andy Moor: Lots, obviously making music! After that comes many sports, mainly football, I play many racket sports such as squash, tennis, badminton etc to keep fit. I love creating all forms of art, from modern paintings to photography to graphic design, anything that can be manipulated into a piece of art. tranceUNITED: Thanks Andy for doing this interview. Good luck for the future. Andy Moor: Thank you and good luck to you too

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