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Second Sun - September 6th, 2003
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| Scottaculous |
Second Sun, founded in 2000 in Montreal, Canada, is composed of two members; Antoine & Adam. They now both live in Los Angeles, California. Together, they stormed into the electronic dance music scene with their first single, "Empire" which landed them a record deal with Paul van Dyk's Vandit records. The track was remixed by PvD to be found on his first compliation "The Politics of Dancing" in 2001. Their latest project "Crush" will appear on Paul's soon to be released album "Reflections".
Scott: Alright, first of all, thanks for the interview guys. Your latest project "Crush" has been the subject of a lot of talk recently. Let's start off by telling the readers a little but about yourselves (Name, age, where you guys are from)
Antoine: 22. From Montreal, Canada (lived in New York City for 4 years when I was a kid). Started going to raves when I was 13 and my passion for the scene and the music hasn't died out since. Love to travel and party. Work hard-play hard! Oh, and I also enjoy fine dining & long walks on the beach! lol
Adam: 28. Born & raised in Montreal, Canada. Dangerously high energy level from being connected to synths all his life (we've both been playing music from a very young age).
Scott: Ever been to Twilo Antoine?
Antoine: Oh my gawd are you kidding me? Twilo was like school for me!! When I didn't have a car, I would regularly take the bus down to NYC to go to Twilo and party with my New York crew. Then, when I got my car, I would drive down regularly. We actually got our contract with Paul from when I gave him a copy of Empire @ Twilo. As you can see I'm very fond of the club and miss it much.
Scott: How did you two meet and start producing together?
SS: We met in Montreal when I (Antoine) was wanting to upgrade my studio. At the time, Adam was working in the keyboard dept. of a very big music store. I really wanted to work with Adam, who at the time didn't know that much about electronic dance music. After introducing him to the whole scene, we started working together and formed an incredible bond.
Scott: What's the story behind Empire? A lot of people, including myself, feel it is your greatest work to date. It is your breakthrough track, and one which caught the attention of Paul.
SS: Even before I met Adam, I had this melody in my head. When I played it for Adam, we both felt that it was a killer riff. We then took 6 MONTHS (!!!) to complete the ing track! It actually took us so long because we were still getting used to working together, among other reasons. The day we finished the track, Tiesto was playing in Montreal. I handed him the track and while we were after-partying in my loft, I got a call from Tiesto himself saying he loved the track and wanted to sign it to his label, Black Hole recordings. Needless to say we flipped our lol !! A little while later I handed it to Paul @ Twilo and a week later we got an email from Berlin saying he also wanted to sign us. As you know, we made the choice to go to Vandit.
Scott: That is awesome. So many young producers want to be in your shoes.
SS: Good luck to all of them!
Scott: I've noticed the latest two public projects, “Crush” and “The Spell” both has a story behind them. Does Empire have a story behind it?
SS: Actually, with Empire we really wanted to make a highly energetic track that was powerful yet emotional. With this blend of emotions the track can affect different people in different ways. So, for some people, it can be a love song, for others it can represent power and for others it can feel like being an ostrich running through a field in the rain (what?!)
Scott: I can't say I hear the ostrich... but to each their own. Tell us about the Spell. Are we ever going to see a release of this gem?
SS: "The Spell" was the first track where I wanted to incorporate the songwriting abilities I had developed in the other non-electronica bands I was in. I've always felt compelled to write about the darker side of love and instead of hiring a hot female singer for the vocals, I decided to do them myself. We also wanted to explore different crazy production ideas like having a beautiful, dreamy breakdown and then a huge alarm-like sound that comes in to kick your ass. I want to make songs that I would like to hear in a club. With "The Spell", I wanted you to have that "Oh, my god" feeling that I've had with other tracks at weird times of the night and in altered states of consciousness ; ) The other thing with "The Spell" is that it was so different that when we gave it to Paul we were like "either he's gonna love it or kick us off the label", being that the track was slower (130 bpm) and not really Pa. ...We were relieved when Paul wrote us a letter telling us how much he enjoyed it and even more excited when he started playing it because the track was so different than what he's used to playing. We've just completed a re-master and made a few changes here and there to make it even more banging. The track will come out around WMC time (March 2004).
Scott: I'm excited to hear the changes. Hopefully it's not another "PvD Club Mix" style banging. ;-) Can you tell us who is remixing the track?
SS: Cass from Cass & Slide is taking a stab at it. There will also be another remixer that has not been decided yet.
Scott: Let's move on to "Crush". Your latest project with the now famous line, "I know you want me." I feel it touches on similar subjects like The Spell. Will we be seeing a release and perhaps remixes of that track?
SS: Yes, it touches similar subjects like "The Spell", but on another level. "Crush" is more about when somebody totally looses themselves in the person they are in love with, and in the end loosing their sense of judgment and lucidity. This song was inspired by my curiosity with the phenomenon of stalkers; men (or women) that become obsessed with a person of their liking (or even people the stalker doesn't know like public figures and celebrities). Their obsession drives them to start of following, harassing, and even in some cases murdering the object of their affection, all under the name of love and adoration. I've done extensive research on people like John Hinkley, who stalked actress Jodie Foster in the early '80s, and then went on to try to assassinate U.S. president Ronald Regan in an attempt to impress her. The book "The Catcher in Rye" (by J.D. Sallinger) and the movie "Taxi Driver" were also inspirations for this song. I don't know if you guys have heard the full vocal mix. Anyways the "Vandit Dub" of "Crush" that Paul is spinning a lot at the moment will be the first track on his new album "Reflections" (out in the U.S. on October 7). The single with all its mixes will be out in late December-early January.
Scott: We've heard the full vocal mix. :) I actually like the breakdown with the breakbeats better than Paul's Vandit Dub. What's next for Second Sun? Any upcoming gigs/performances?
SS: We've just finished a full on breakbeat track called "Rock The West Side", which was originally conceived only for our live shows here in California but after very good audience feedback we decided to work on it some more. We'll send you guys a clip of it. As for live shows, we've told our booking agents to wait. We're working on lots of new material that we want to finish before we get on stage again. We are perfectionists in a way therefore we don't want to get up on stage unless we feel totally satisfied with what we have to play. So, after almost a year of preparation we'll be on tour all over the place, including the big European festivals. We can't wait to get back on stage!
Scott: We can hardly wait! Are you guys full time producers? Any jobs on the side?
SS: Full-time! This is our life. We live in our studio so basically we're working all the time.
Scott: Can you tell us a little bit about your studio? What do you guys use to create your sounds?
SS: We work on Logic. Here's what we use:
Yamaha EX5R, Roland XV-3080, Ensoniq ASR, Access Virus, Oberheim OB-12, Sequencial Circuits Multitrax, Roland SH-101, Akai S-2000, Yamaha O1V mixboard, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Yamaha SU-700, and the list goes on... We love our toys!=P~
Scott Was there any source about production know-how that particularly helped you guys?
SS: Technically, it's our hands on experience and musically, it's from studying the music being played in the clubs. For us it's not just about partying, we also always analyze and dissect the music we hear.
Scott: Let's wrap this up... Any words of inspiration for your fans?
SS: Yeah. Many people are puzzled when they see where we are today thinking "how the did they get there?". What some people don't realize is that if you want something really bad, you just have to make the right steps, take action and make it happen. At the time when we had just finished "Empire" I thought to myself "who in this industry would I most want to work with" and the answer was Paul Van Dyk. So I just drove down to New York and handed my CD to him, it's as simple as that. Lots of people create inexistent obstacles for themselves because it's easier that way. I say " that", if you really want it, make it happen. And that goes for everything in life, not just the music industry. Here's an example: I was in Berlin to record "Crush". One morning, I was being driven to the studio to meet Paul to record the vocals. I was chatting with the young driver that now works for Vandit. I asked her "How did you get your job working for Vandit?" to which she simply replied "I just asked!". Remember: You create your own reality.
Scott: Great Philosophy. Thank you guys. We'll see you on stage and definitely keep in touch with us about your upcoming gigs and projects.
SS: We will for sure. Thanks to you, Scott and to all you guys @ Tranceaddict. You guys rock!
Links
http://www.vandit.com |
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| sykadelik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Scottaculous
Anyways the "Vandit Dub" of "Crush" that Paul is spinning a lot at the moment will be the first track on his new album "Reflections" (out in the U.S. on October 7). The single with all its mixes will be out in late December-early January.
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ROLL ON DECEMBER!! :toothless |
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| xtr3m |
| I wish Second Sun would stick to their Empire-style... |
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| Scottaculous |
| quote: | Originally posted by xtr3m
I wish Second Sun would stick to their Empire-style... |
Actually the majority of their tracks are non-vocal. It just so happens what you hear from Second Sun is picked by PvD. There was an Empire-like track named "Changes" I heard that was spectacular. Maybe they will be generous enough to send us some clips. ;-) |
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| Excite |
the vocal mix of crush is so much better than the dub!
when is second going to start doing live performances? |
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| ASOT100 |
| what other second sun tracks sound like empire? that track is one of the most amazing things i've ever heard. |
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| armandzadza |
Gotta love the guys from Second Sun - so much energy in their music and so much enthusiasm in their personalities...
Second Sun - Empire is on my Top 10 of all time. |
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| udham |
Great interview! :)
And yes, Empire rocks my world. It's prolly my all time fav song! |
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| danceaddict |
| Very nice interview man really enjoyed readin it! They are definitely on a roll with quality tracks can't wait to hear more of them, I hope I can see them doin a live show @ next year's summerfestivals! |
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| djSlain |
Empire indeed. In fact, i love ALL their productions. Spell was a very catchy track and Crush, was, well, ING AWESOME.
Somehow, i think a lot of people still don't know about the epic-ness of Empire. I see all these "all time favorite" threads and i rarely see Empire, even if the thread asks for the top 10, 20, 30, 100!!! It's a diamond of trance.
good luck second sun! |
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