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Gareth Emery: 95% of Trance is Cheesy Bollocks (pg. 5)
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| darudevil |
| quote: | Originally posted by Joca
Really oved his comments about the 16 year old kids graduation from Lasgo and producers that suck as dj's getting booked and playing pre planned sets. Darude did that here last year and I just sat behind his laptop laughing at his little cheater notes in word.
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I know I'm probably going to be flamed and called all kindsa fun names taking part in this thread, especially with slightly off-topic post, and of course defending my long-ago-lost honour but now I really am curious about my set in Victoria, your opinion of it...
Bad mixing? Bad choices of tracks? Bad programming? Do you dj? Pre-planning a set is a bad thing?
I definitely do pre-plan my sets, sometimes very much so... I think I owe it to the buyers (and especially the crowd) that I'm prepared when they fly me out from another country and pay me money to come to play at their venue. My cheater notes? Oh crap, you caught me. They're of groups of tracks that I know fit together, key+bpm+stylewise + also in/out time alternatives pre-checked. Other (cd/laptop/vinyl) djs never sort their records before a gig? They never listen to the track and memorize the best mix in/out spots before spinning it out the first time ? I had 40+ tracks on my list (TextEdit on a Mac btw), of which I played about 27 and I had an alternative list handy if I had to "change direction" at one point.
(Btw, cheerz Gaz ;))
Oh, Joca, I'm glad you came to see me and my notes! ;)
Let me know next time, PM me or send an email via my website so I can put your name on my list at the door.
Ville/Darude
PS. I agree with Gareth at least with one thing: I also get a lot of demo tracks and mixes and most of them are not even near to be ready to be released. Having a computer and some software doesn't make you automatically a producer or a dj. |
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| RebeL9 |
| quote: | Originally posted by darudevil
Having a computer and some software doesn't make you automatically a producer or a dj. |
EXACTLY! That's what I've been trying to say on and on for I don't know how long now
:wtf: |
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| Swamper |
It's a vicious cycle - the formulaic sound of most uplifting Trance tracks has left the genre with a 'Cheese' moniker to EDM purists - who unfortunately also usually happen to be those with the loudest voice. This perception means that any time a track strays away from this model - but is still 'mostly' Trance - it often gets labelled as something else for marketing purposes.
There is nothing wrong with being a 'Trance' DJ - BUT - it is upsetting to see the lack of creativity in most tracklists - pumping out anthem after anthem is boring as all hell. |
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| Spirit5 |
| quote: | Originally posted by RebeL9
not only Somatic Sense is responsible for the overflooded market of crappy releases but also Anjunabeats and Armada. |
Even though this is just my opinion, I don't think it's these labels themselves that suck, or that every release is bad, the problem with them is that they aren't consistent. For every one good release, you get two or three or even four bad releases... |
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| Phil raa |
...*click*....
*click*....
90% of everything is
rule of thumb
it's the good 10% that make it worth having. |
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| Rodas |
| quote: | Originally posted by Floorfiller
i agree with everything he said...
but unfortunately for him he doesn't make or play the 5% that he's talking about... |
Ayay.
Let me know when he backs that up.
Rodas |
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| Tayfoon |
I saw fleming not long ago, and he played mostly psy, maybe diff on his radio show, but live sets he pretty much plays psy.
Lawrence im seeing in 2 weeks |
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| Mike_Foyle |
after reading that ive lost a fair bit of respect for gareth emery. as alot of people have already said, coming from him those comments were totally hypocritical. his music is certainly not cutting edge, inovative, original, nor cross genre in any way, shape of form. its fairly generic and basic trance music (apart from maybe his most recent, "back on track" which is alright, but still not that special. coming from someone who produces and plays inovative and cutting edge music, the responses given in that interview would have worked. unfortunately, gareth doesnt i dont think.
no hate to gareth though, fair play to him for getting as far as he has. i just personally think that that interview was quite egotistical and hypocrtical.
edit: on the other hand, having produced some very generic trance in my time, who am i to talk? :haha: |
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| djy2g33 |
| Really cool interview :) |
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| Joca |
| quote: | Originally posted by darudevil
I really am curious about my set in Victoria, your opinion of it...
Bad mixing? Bad choices of tracks? Bad programming? Do you dj? Pre-planning a set is a bad thing?
I definitely do pre-plan my sets, sometimes very much so... I think I owe it to the buyers (and especially the crowd) that I'm prepared when they fly me out from another country and pay me money to come to play at their venue.
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Darude,
I do feel pre planning a set is a bad thing especially when playing in a city that you have never played in before. How do you know what the crowd wants to hear and what if they're not dancing half way into your set? Sure it's great to have a back up plan but what happens if they don't dig that?
I feel part of being a DJ (yes I do spin) is the spontaneous action of playing something the crowd might not expect or changing the direction of a set. I also don't think being prepared involves having a pre planned set. Being prepared in my mind is having the right tunes, knowing those tunes and to have a level head, not having all your tracks laid out well in advance. Where is the fun in that I ask you?
| quote: | Originally posted by darudevil
My cheater notes? Oh crap, you caught me. They're of groups of tracks that I know fit together, key+bpm+stylewise + also in/out time alternatives pre-checked. Other (cd/laptop/vinyl) djs never sort their records before a gig? They never listen to the track and memorize the best mix in/out spots before spinning it out the first time ?
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In regards to cheater notes, isn't that the exact same thing as pre planning your set? Your list consisted of track selection and the times to mix in and out of those tracks. There is nothing wrong with having the times you mix in and out of a record of but having a list of what your going to play and closely followning is kind of lame. I mean, why not just put a cd on a be done with it because that's bascially what people are hearing and dancing to when they come to see you play.
And of course all dj's listen to their records and know when they should mix out of a record and when the bassline for the next tracks starts, that's another aspect of dj'ing. However when you have your whole set just laid out and all you have to do is beatmatch and mix, it seems rather boring but I guess that's what you think people expect of you. To me it seems like you have set a low standard for yourself.
| quote: | Originally posted by darudevil
Oh, Joca, I'm glad you came to see me and my notes! ;)
Let me know next time, PM me or send an email via my website so I can put your name on my list at the door.
Ville/Darude
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Yeah, that or you can just email me (I don't have a Mac though) your pre planned set and I can save the time and money :)
Cheers
Joca/Jordan |
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| Axolotyl |
Regardless of his releases, he deserves repect for coming out and saying that. Every single other interview I've read from big djs/producers has them saying nothing other than trance is the best its ever been. This eyes closed mentality sickens me. Well done GTR for actually having the guts to look critically at the state of trance.
Theres a lot of very talented trance producers out there however I think they are trapped in a cycle of producing tracks to get released on already established labels that are milking generes that got stale a long time ago. For those new to the genre, its a mindblowing sound, but they are the same tricks, sounds and techniques that have been used for the past 5 years.
For trance to stay this way and rehash the old is contrary to the ethos of EDM. It must always be striving to move forward even through the times. I've thought this for a long time, but trance needs an alternative movement with agendas other than releasing big bombs for the masses. It needs to get introspective again and actually start living up to its name. |
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| Spirit5 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Axolotyl
Regardless of his releases, he deserves repect for coming out and saying that. Every single other interview I've read from big djs/producers has them saying nothing other than trance is the best its ever been. This eyes closed mentality sickens me. Well done GTR for actually having the guts to look critically at the state of trance.
Theres a lot of very talented trance producers out there however I think they are trapped in a cycle of producing tracks to get released on already established labels that are milking generes that got stale a long time ago. For those new to the genre, its a mindblowing sound, but they are the same tricks, sounds and techniques that have been used for the past 5 years.
For trance to stay this way and rehash the old is contrary to the ethos of EDM. It must always be striving to move forward even through the times. I've thought this for a long time, but trance needs an alternative movement with agendas other than releasing big bombs for the masses. It needs to get introspective again and actually start living up to its name. |
Yeah I agree to a certain extent. I've contributed to many of these threads before about this and it seems like Gareth is echoeing the concerns of many people, however what exactly do you mean by "living up to it's name"? I mean you like psy trance, that stuff pretty much lives up to it's name, it's hypnotic as hell, but at the same time, there's other forms of trance that itself is not super hypnotic but it's still trance, it's trance in the "trancedent" way, thats what it seems like, to me at least, as what a lot of the epic and melodic trance producers strive for, a sense of "euphoria" not by hypnotic sound effects and beats as in psy trance, but through layers and melodies and a heavenly feeling. That was a basis for a lot of the big anthems in the late 90s, early 00s, esp the dutch trance. It wasn't made to "put people in a trance" but to give people a sense of euphoria, or escalated emotion, theatrics, like a big action, sci fi/fantasy or epic adventure film. What we probably need in trance is a more mature sound.
A good example of a mature, not over the top, quality "Epic" trance tune is Micro de Govia's "Vital Spark". That sound is what we need more in epic trance, less overly theatrical stuff, and more gradual breakdowns, more natural feelings (still emotional) and less re use of the same trance riffs, the same old sounds. When I think of trance, I typically think of the epic stuff, because that is what has made trance hugely popular, but I am quite aware of the other sub-genres of trance as well (Heck I also have been into progessive trance as well, and I have been getting more into it lately than epic). I am aware that it sounded a bit different before that stuff was popular in 98/99 (I and many others did get into the sound around then), but you have to admit, that is what made it popular, the breakdowns, build up formula, which I will admit is over used. But instead of producers just doing away with them completely (less would be good, but none would suck as well IMO), do like what Micro de Govia did with that track, and a few other producers have done, modify it some so it doesn't sound all "rehashed" with the same old sounds, same old trance riffs. |
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