Audiation
five steps to production success You don't need to speak the language to move to the rhythm of a tune Hope is given through music to help suffering minds and give a second chance in life
Audiation
Eclectic magazine for the expression of music and the creative arts. For the love of music.. we interpret this passion through variations including fashion, art, lifestyle and words from the heart of the industry. Audiation Magazine is an international publication featuring music content to varied tastes. We are a proud voice for the creative sector and support Independent talent. Audiation Magazine Ltd is a registered company in the UK with writers from across the globe. Each member of the team has their own passions and projects bringing unique ideas to the magazine. The term Audiation means the imagination of sound. www.AudiationMagazine.com
"Music is much more than sound. Music can be a comforter, party maker, career path or a way of life." Ruby, Editor & Company Director "Music joins people together from all around the world, without music life would be pretty boring." Rokuro, Associate Editor "The birth of one's child is the only feeling that comes close to getting lost in music." Cessle, Staff Writer "Music is a form of art that reveals a truth in a world full of mystery." Sarah, Staff Writer "No matter what's happening in life, it's usually great music will keep you going.." Malachi, Staff Writer "Music is life. It's a universal language that has no barriers. It unifies people around the world. It brings people joy." Andy, Staff Writer "Music & love are the same things really. If kids grew up with music in their lives, then their lives would always be filled with love." David, Associate Editor "The moment you feel happy about music, that is the very essence of it. Being in the vibes and understanding what music has for your soul.." Steve, Contributing Editor
Thank you to contributors: LynnMissyJ, PA and Girl Friday to Dirty James aka Ebony Jae Emran, producer & VP at ALT Production Recordings
CONTENTS 8 Radio Listings
Audiation
10 Holiday Music Debut 12 Oggie's Album 13 MaHA Rocks' Video 14 Power Of Music & Dementia 15 The Music Imprint 16 Traditional Azeri Music On Screen 18 Ebony Jae On Countdown 19 Best Before 20 Dear Santa 22 New Music Fashion 30 Aina More 31 Yeezy 32 Southstar Radio 34 Bob Macciochi 40 Top 5 Production Tips 44 Introducing DJ Revitalise 46 Uplifting Tracks 48 Music Related Mauritius 51 Tap sa pou twa 52 Alchemia 58 Festival guide 4
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Audiation
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Editor's note Hello, Bonjour, Ola, Ciao! I hope you're well wherever you are, welcome to our crazy creative world. December, the holiday season is not just about the gifts and how big a celebration, it is about enjoying moments with your loved ones and creating precious memories. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Audiation team for a wonderful year of business development and a nice flow of creativity. Congratulations and thank you also to David who has been promoted to Associate Editor. We are not just a company team, we are a family of music enthusiasts with ambitious hearts fuelled by our passion. This is not just work, it is an extension of ourselves and of the artists/djs/ music folk to express and share a love of music. Inside AM020: 'Tis the festive season which means holiday music is all around us, and we look at the best of the bunch in Sarah's Thoughts. We share some debut's for our independent artists, Oggie releases his new versatile album whilst MaHA Rocks unveils her emotional music video. The thoughts of emotion with music continue as we look into Beatie's project on how it helps Dementia sufferers. Music has also been the second chance for band Alchemia's, Summer, after her severe head injury. The Music Imprint article by David discusses further the way in which sounds aids us in life. Moving onto fashion we check out the new Yeezy collection as well as Aina More who explains the crossover between fashion and music. Rapping on Countdown? That must have been a first, Lynn explains how the MC's way with words helped him on the Channel 4 show. Bob Macciochi is interview by Andy, he delves into the technical side of sound and how to succeed in production. Malachi checks out the new underground 'Music Related' brand. 'Tap sa pou twa' says Steve as he looks into music history in Mauritius. Emran takes us to Azerbaijan by describing the country's traditional music. We've also got your global festival guide, Southstar updates and latest music reviews. Ruby x Connect with us: Facebook /AudiationMagazine Twitter @AudiationMag 6
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RADIO
UK Time
MONDAY 6pm Southstar Radio | Holly L - House 10pm Southstar Radio | Natalie INDYA West - Indie
TUESDAY 2pm Select UK Radio | Danny Blaze National Anthems - Club Classics 10pm D3EP | WisK - House, Garage & Bass
WEDNESDAY 8pm Southstar Radio | Queen E - HipHop, RnB & Grime
THURSDAY 10am Empire London | D'Elle 8pm Southstar Radio | Brazah - New UK Garage 9pm KISS FM | Majestic – UK Garage
FRIDAY 2pm Rinse FM | Sam Supplier - House, UK Garage & Bass 4pm Southstar Radio | Captain Rosko - House & UK Garage 6pm The Underground Sessions | Emma Champion - House & UK Garage 8pm Voice FM | Artful 60Hz Sessions - UK Garage & Bass 8pm BN Radio | DJ Mary Jane Global Sensation - Dance
SATURDAY 12am KISS FRESH | Tough Love - UK Garage & Bass 3pm Southstar Radio | DJ Obscene - House & UK Garage 9pm KISS FRESH | Mike Delinquent – UK Garage & Bass
SUNDAY 10am Vision Radio UK | EssnVee Sunday Rehab – House & UK Garage 2pm Empire London | DJ X-Ray – House & UK Garage 8
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'Tis the season for holiday music!
Holiday music is a genre in itself, with one hit wonders, albums and specials. As it seems the rest of the world is starting their holiday cheer weeks early, why not we do the same?! Here is a playlist portraying iconic holiday tunes, hopefully putting you in the spirit for the most wonderful time of the year. Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You A classic. The classic. Every good party, no matter the time of year, will play this song and put smiles on people’s faces. You can’t beat Mariah Carey’s vocals in this, happiness all around. Bebe WInan - My Christmas Prayer The one Christmas song that brings me to tears. Its genuine and transparent lyrics connected to the spirit of the holidays, beautiful song. Adam Sandler - Chanukah Song Most funny than traditional, this song left a legacy on 10
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Josh Groban - I’ll Be Home For Christmas Off his album entitled Noel, this song has been played annually at the Becker household. His angelic voice with a calming music score makes this whole album a mustlisten-to this holiday season. Charlie Brown Christmas Carols Does this really need an explanation? Only if you don’t know or haven’t seen Charlie Brown, which is something that should be on everyone’s bucket list before 2016. John Lennon - Happy Xmas (The War is Over) Written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, this protest song against the Vietnam War serves more than its purpose, but still exists today in its legend of a holiday song. Shows the shift from societal happenings to inspiration of writing songs, becoming something much more than expected. What a year is has been, I hope everyone has enjoyed their 2015 and is looking forward to 2016! There will be loads of new music and interviews to look forward to, so hang tight with Audiation. Sending everyone across the world a big hug, and don’t forget to smile this holiday season. What a time to be alive. Xoxo
Sarah's Thoughts
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Oggie - Undeniable Chemistry If you've been following Oggie and his music journey, you'll know that this debut album is long overdue. The album oozes soul and vibrancy in a variety of styles. Some have an energetic dance rhythm, whilst others boast of a flavourful summery sound. I have to admit one of my favourite's is the slow jam 'Eskimo Love' with Oggie's sweet passionate vocals really shining through. 'Think' is another to mention, this track can appeal to the entire family with a bright tone. I cannot review this without also mentioning 'Sometimes', incredibly beautiful with strings and gorgeous vocals. Then we move onto UK Garage with the bumpy and catchy 'All I Wanna Do'. Friday December 18th see’s the release of the debut album Undeniable Chemistry from UK South East Londoner Oggie. After featuring on some of the biggest UK Garage anthems, The R&B Vocalist/Songwriter has put together an album of uptempo Urban Pop, with a list of Producers that include Ed case, K warren, Freemonk and Many more. soundcloud.com/oggiemusic 12
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The beautiful MaHA Rocks has unveiled her debut video as premiered by MTV! 'I Am A Ukrainian' is a deep heartfelt plea to the world to help those who are suffering. The visuals depict a journey in search of hope. This in intertwined with visuals of happy moments amongst families and friends dancing, and enjoying life - this joy is all that the people want. Blood seeps down.. "This song stands for peace and it calls every nation to care about each other. I really want every country to face nothing, but welfare. Unfortunately, Ukraine suffers now a lot, so I rely on your support and hope you'll help to spread the word about this pain." MaHA Rocks www.maha-rocks.com
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was carried out over 3 months, patients were played original material and had their reactions analysed.
Aiming to prove that music can have a transformative effect, improve the quality of the patient's life in the short-term and provide a "way in" for those who are otherwise disconnected from themselves and their surroundings.
The results: There was a great positive correlation between the sounds and the minds. 72% of the patients Meet Beatie Wolfe, a singer- responded to music. There were also songwriter who is certainly not one significant improvedments in to follow the rules. Her musical communication and memory. development began from an early age, but she did not study music, she The team plan to create various found it best that she learnt in her workshops to further this scheme as own way with piano and moving onto well as a festival in early 2016. guitar and writing. www.beatiewolfe.com/pom Beatie's debut '8ight' album is the world's first 3D interactive album app. Users can gain access to the full album as well as watch the music videos enhanced to create a 3D perspective. Together with scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs, the project for audio insight to help dementia sufferers was launched. The study 14
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The Music Imprint Music isn’t ours or any man’s in the first place. We can't really create music because it is already there in the universe, in the air that we breath in, it is in us! Music moves us. We cant see music, but we know its there -- spirit, the sensed but unseen. We feel connected with music because we can identify ourselves in it. What is even more magical about music is that while it has the ability to stir us, we are able to manipulate its elements into something that's absolutely beautiful and uniquely ours to share. I believe in the idea of music being spiritual. The footprints we leave behind in our journey of life are like music notation. You can tell a lot about a person from the tracks he/she leaves, and you can do the same with the notes a musician plays. Reading tracks is like reading music, just as making tracks is like making music. Every time you move and every time you play a note, a piece of yourself is left behind. The more we learn about ourselves, the closer we are in finding “originality”. As we grow as a person, our craft grows along with us. -- David 15
Traditional Azeri Music Traditional music is the way of life for nationalities. Traditional music is a mind of genius including emotions, mood, and mentality of the people. Crossover of traditional music is catchy imprint of the various music instruments which characterizes the country.
Shushter inspires a deep sadness, Chargah inspires a feeling of excitement and passion, Bayati-Shiraz inspires sadness, and Humayun inspires a feeling of deep sorrow. Mugham is performed by a trio: kamancha, tar and singers. Tar & kamancha are traditional music instruments of Azerbaijan. Mugham music is famous & popular all around the world, some critics describe it as a trip to the never-ending harmony of music. Mugham is a code of beauty & harmony which describing harmony of life for Azeri citizens.
Azerbaijan is one of the unique countries with unique traditions and culture. The country is the home of world famous Mugham music. It is an example of classical music and forms the base of Azerbaijan folk music performance. There are seven main Mugham types: Rast, Shur, Segah, Shushtar, Chargah, -- Emran Bayati-Shiraz and Humayun. Mugham performers differ from each other according to the original & real essence and nature of classic music. Uzeir Hajibeyov, famous composer and writer of the book ‘Basis of Azerbaijan folk music’, characterizes each type and explains the mood given to listeners.. Rast inspires courage and cheerfulness, Shur – inspires a funny, lyrical mood, Segah inspires a feeling of love, 16
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ON SCREEN
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Countdown is the most watched show on Channel 4 and was the first show that they aired in 1982, it has put out well over 6000 episodes, despite this and the fact it is now a cult show it has never won a major television award …. Grossly unfair in my mind!! The whole Channel 4 countdown team deserve massive props for the way the show is run, and produced, the time ‘we’ spent there was an incredible experience.
pseudonym (aka) Ebony JAE, he was a favourite of many listeners on the airwaves of some leading London pirate radio stations dating back as far as 1998, including Mission FM, Delight FM & Flava FM. Dirty James is currently producing some cutting edge House, Grime and Garage beats with more releases imminent in the near future as well as voicing songs across multiple genres with his trademark flows and intelligent, witty and grimy lyrics. Dirty James latest ' Countdown now seems to be pulling in a feature in the FRIGHT NIGHT music video wider audience, and over the last week with Tuggawar, marks his huge comeback it’s turned ‘Urban’, with support and love on the UK Urban music scene. shown for Dirty James aka Ebony Jae from a huge range of people within the UKG With Dirty James’ MC residency at and Grime industry and its fans, all tuning ‘Splendid’ on Friday nights at Sidneys’ in in and finding themselves engrossed in Gants Hill we are proudly launching an the Dirty James’ Countdown journey!! exciting new dance track: "Splendid!" by Darks & Dirtz (MC Darky and Dirty James) A ‘quiz’ show of lexical dexterity and with the music video currently being numerical agility is well suited to a finalised and launching in December. This person who writes complex lyrics and track is already proving to be a HUGE hit! produces music with heartfelt passion, Also alongside this there are other and who has always had an intense love exciting tracks soon to be released with for maths and problem solving, but never collaborations with the likes of MC Midas the less was not entered into lightly, the (2Sick), Dappa MC, DJ Deekline, and the ability of most of the players is scarily catchy grimy Dirty James solo funky high, hence trepidation was felt, the not house dance track ‘Banging It Harder’!! knowing what you are up against is certainly nerve wracking!! With nerves www.facebook.com/Ebony-Jae-aka-Dirtyof steel ‘James Richards’ went in!! James-1459160281057859
Dirty James is a veteran of the UK Grime/ -- LynnMissyJ Garage scenes. Known by many under his 18
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Watch 'Best Before' at 12.05am every Thursday on Channel 4, or catch up on All4.
www.channel4.com/ programmes/bestbefore www.bestbeforec4.com The programme, hosted by Phil Taggart, runs on a simple concept focusing on the music. It is displayed in a very casual and intimate way. Each week brings a different musician(s) along in a studio discussing music thoughts and allowing them to choose and play their favourite 10 sounds of the past 4 weeks. Hence the 'Best Before' title, it keeps the show current and really pushes people to delve and discover what is interesting out there in the world. The selections are brought together into a mix, which, then crosses over to the digital side - after the show, viewers can check out the website and download this specially curated mix. The online blog site is also updated regularly with new music. 19
Dear Santa, "A good set of earbuds for sure! Mine keep falling apart so I can't listen to music when I would want to." Sarah "A decent music sharing platform, because there aren't any." Andy "The gift of love. I would love to fall in love with the music and not think about who is going to buy my music, or if anybody is going to like my music. I want to love it unconditionally." David "M-Audio stuff for recording my music." Steve "Christmas No 1!" Rokuro "A vinyl copy of Cottam - B-side EP 2 by Paul Cottam as its been sold out for ages and worth about ÂŁ500 if found. but i've heard its due a repress!" Cessle "I love catching up on forgotten festive music." Malachi 20
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NEW MUSIC Paolo Paleologo - Various EP Edgy Techno sounds, 'Various' taking a darker tone whilst 'Flat' brings a touch of zest. The EP is receiving a positive reaction, having been release on Verde Records, it has reached #18 on the TrackItDown Deep / Tech House chart.
Leah Lost & Rdubz - Walk The Line Simply beautiful with nods to soulful RnB. This leads up to a strong and lively climax. 'Walk The Line' is written and voiced by Leah Lost with production by RDubz. It has been released as a free download via Soundcloud.
Tempo Elektrik & PKay ft Martin Carr Going Out The track is a remake of Bizzi’s Party.. A lively bumpy track alongside sexy vocals. The upcoming release on OneFold Records gained it’s radio debut on the legendary KISS FM UK! 22
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Laura Leighe - Boys Just Wanna Have Fun (J C & Danny Phillips Remix) A great Tech-House edit with edgy and sexy vocal cuts. The middle-section holds a secret element of the sax giving the piece extra pizzazz. “I wrote ‘Boys Just Wanna Have Fun’ with the vision of making the dance floor explode with people being free, celebrating who they truly are and feeling free of judgement and insecurities.” Laura Leighe Laura is a bold and brash Southern Belle from Oklahoma, USA who combines modern sounds with vintage keys and brass. She mixes catchy hooks and cheeky lyrics with elements of electronic dance and swing. Her music is as polished to perfection and her style is glamourous, 60’s chic!
Marc Silva ft Toni - Love Is Gone (K Silva Remix) A deeper House edit with a nice contrast of the male tone against Toni's no-nonsense attitude. “Most of us have allowed someone to treat us badly at some time or other. Love Is Gone is about the moment when we realise that time is over and we are strong again.” Marc Silva Love Is Gone is the debut track from dance artist Marc Silva, a talented songwriter and producer from Birmingham, UK. He met vocalist Toni at a local studio and together they created a sound which fuses classic disco strings and hooks with cutting edge production techniques. The club remix of Love Is Gone was produced with KMD, a producer from Birmingham. They have named their production partnership ‘K-Silva’. 23
Disciples - Ape A part of The Following EP , this is the new track 'Ape'. As the track progresses, it brings my mind back to the midnoughties with similarity to Dave McCullen's 'B*tch' and Fedde Le Grand's 'Put Your Hands Up For Detroit'. This, however, pulls that dance sound into 2015 by taking a darker Techno tone. Disciples have had a fantastic year, their single with Calvin Harris 'How Deep Is Your Love' has sales of close to 3 million worldwide. www.disciplesldn.com 24
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A dark tone ensues accompanied by Xara's versatile voice. The beat drops into a bassy techno meld whilst the vocal range climbs also. Ollie Julien's edit takes the bassy note further adding more bounce. The Rufus Miller edit takes a more flavourful turn with a retro attitude. Kane Law teams up with the powerful songstress Xara for this huge track which is smashing up dance floors all over the Uk. Kane's dark bass driven production along with the Xara's super catchy vocal has made this a track we are sure will be ringing in your ears for months to come. www.pro.beatport.com/label/audio-rehab/26956 25
Karina Nistal Hi everyone! It's been a productive two years since my last album and I'm back with a new project called "Living Proof"! Working on this new album has brought me so much joy. I realized I made some personal developments along my journey that I wanted to share. Overall, I learned to be grateful for all people, experiences, and circumstances that are created for our greater good. Thus the title "Living Proof". Thanks to the progress of my last album (100% crowdfunded), I was able to expand my audience on a larger global level. I met some amazing new supporters and producers who extended their talents to me on this project. And I couldn't have done that without you! This time you not only get the exclusive perks and satisfaction of knowing you've backed an artist that continues to advance their career, you also get to share in some of my most personal and universal experiences which serve as reminders of why we are here: It's important to be happy and truly serve our life purpose. www.kickstarter.com/projects/2120511207/new-album-living-proof-fromkarina-nistal 26
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Superhand - 360 Turns The alternative band brings a feisty attitude, as well as unique fusions of electronica, blues and soul music. Their debut album 'American Teeth' has received strong support from the industry. Louder Than War describes it as "two halves of high powered rock then experimental meandering". As premièred via Gigslutz, the brand new video for 360 Turns has been revealed. There are two versions, one as a general radio edit, and the second being an extended version lasting just over 8 minutes. A monochome colour scheme, chopped up visuals and strange hazy motions. Enter a blood red vision as the track heats up. The video, created by Superhand and Max Hartley, is a perfect representation of the band's sound. Incredible versatile sounds, with a look at life in an intriguing way. The extended video rewinds the track entirely with deep visuals movements to match the dark tone. www.superhandland.com
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Hard-hitting Trance for the ravers! Darkwinder is back with his 'Next World EP'. This provides listeners with an immense sense of energy and fuel to go wild! The edgy beats are softened with melodic tones rising to a powerful climax. 'Next World' begins with a smooth bass and acid line. The guitar fills add interest, the piano sections that are gradually introduced are elusive yet emotionally captivating. It moves from an upbeat tempo to a more dramatic one of anticipation then plateaus to a place of ethereal beauty is an emotional enlightenment for the soul. The 'arp' at the climax part represents the signature style of Darkwinder. 'The Last Memory' is a beautifully haunting track filled with layered tones. It begins with a steady upbeat rhythm which then quietens and slows as lyrical, angelic vocals are introduced. This transitions into an upbeat quickening rhythm that then causes the soul to lift and soar to heights unknown. Release date: 10th December 2015 www.awjrecordings.com 28
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FASHION
Aina More Discusses How Music Is Changing Fashion She is killing it with a flavourful combo of rap and an easy-going tempo. The Nigerian MC, based in London, has opened up more to the idea of music and fashion creativity and recently did a shoot for MANIA magazine inspired by her new EP titled 'For People With Short Attention Spans'. Her most recent video, titled 'Killing It', is all about females taking the lead and proving that there's nothing they can't do. Aina tells OkayAfrica: "the more I delve into themes in the music the more it translates in the way I perceive style and ultimately now I pay more attention to fashion." She continues on to explain how a variety of styles are used in her upcoming video to dissuade people into categorising others by the way they dress. "you should never dress for external opinions and likewise never make music for the sake of others’ opinions." www.AinaMore.com 30
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Kanye Clothing Success A little like marmite, you either love or hate this eccentric rapper who, pretty much, wants to run the world! The majority of his actions end up scrutinised and ridiculed by the media and the internet, he is unquestionably deluded at times. Good fashion choices are not what we'd generally associate with this man - the fact that he selects and approves his wife and child's style just proves he's a control freak more than anything. However suprisingly enough, his new collection 'Yeezy Season 1' has sold out within a week of release, despite receiving negative feedback on the runway. The Autumn/Winter 2015 looks were snapped up by Adidas to present a collection that "cherishes universality and timelessness". The look comprises mostly of either baggy hoodies and jumpers and extremely tight semi-transparent outfits, Pretty much sums up Kanye attempting to bring back a retro style but in such a trashy way. And let's face it, the only reason it has sold out is because it's by him. www.adidas.co.uk/yeezy 31
Southstar now in partnership with DNR Vinyl, CTV & What A Girl Needs!
INDYA Rock band performing their debut gig. Followed by Natalie INDYA West & Sunny Andrea performing Bollywood/Pop single 'Goddess'. The Arctic Lodge Bar Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park, London 5 December - 7pm / 12 December - 5pm
Holly Lindfield performing at Kulture Launch Party! The Arch, Brighton 19 December - 11pm 32
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progressed to a four-track 'borrowed' from school, and so on.
Bob Macciochi (aka 'Macc') has been recording and mixing for over 20 years. In addition to mastering for big-selling artists including Wu-Tang Clan, Bob has seen his own music released regularly on vinyl, as well as him taking his live drum show all over Europe. Working across multiple genres and styles, Bob has built up a reputation in the music industry as one of the best engineers available to master your music project. Audiation caught up with him recently to talk about his path into engineering, some of his career highlights, the rise of automated mastering and what he recommends new producers to look out for when working on their own music. Tell us a little bit about life before engineering and what brought you to the career you have now.
Anyway, I was playing drums in a band or two throughout my teenage years, and got introduced to computers for music when I went to university. I took to programming beats and recording my own drums immediately - I remember wondering why the hell I couldn't fit 10 minutes of drums (about 100Mb) onto a 1.44Mb floppy disk. I knew nothing about PCs. I did take to making music in the computer pretty easily though, Radium crew cracks of Acid 1, Sound Forge 4, Cool Edit Pro, no VST effects until a year or two later - all Direct X. Great days. During my degree, about '98-'99, I lucked out and got a paid gig engineering for a well-established house music producer; he'd fallen out with his production partner who did the engineering. I had the keys to his studio unit down in Kennington, running Cubase, using a Mackie D8B desk, Focusrite gear, Roland JV1080s, several good synths, and some other stuff. Dreamland. I'd record female singers doing covers of cheesy tunes (Roxette, Foreigner etc.), he'd build the arrangements and I'd engineer it. They'd go off to get cut to vinyl, and I believe some came out on some pretty big labels. I mention all this because I got totally fed up with the music; after a while I found it impossible to work on music I didn't like or hated, it did my nut in. This turned out to be very important.
I've been making music since I was about 11, and recording pretty much the same length of time. I used to record drums onto one tape via a tiny little condenser mic on my Dad's radio/cassette, then put the tape in another machine. Then I'd So I went off and did the music I wanted play that back right next to the mic on to do – Drum & Bass type stuff really. the first machine, all very close to a guitar amp to do overdubs. I saw a speech by Dave Grohl recently and he described the same thing, which made me smile. I 34
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A demo got signed by Dev Paradox, which got me into that scene. Over the next few years I made a lot of friends and a lot of tunes, many of which got released on labels of various sizes, and I played a lot of live Drum & Bass shows all over Europe. With something of an engineering background and a physics degree, I always had a big nerdy side to me, and loved discussing the technical side of engineering. People started sending me things saying “can you tell me what's wrong with this?” - I'd reply and explain what I thought. I got fed up with writing huge emails (although some things never change), and started just doing the stuff that I felt needed to be done. At the same time, I was attending some mastering sessions for my own stuff. It was around this time that I realised I enjoyed working with sound as much as I did working with music. This dissociation meant I could just sort of disengage from the music, and yet still work intently on the sound. The problem I had before, listening past whatever music was there to work on the sound itself, wasn't a problem anymore.
song is a problem to solve; every mix a unique conundrum for which there is an elegant and effective solution. And yet that determinism has to respect and illuminate ‘The Idea’, the thing that track is trying to say. I bloody love it. So what is it about mastering tracks that is so rewarding? Helping people those final few steps across the finish line. Letting stuff go is very hard for some - arguably most people, often as they lack confidence in the music and/or sound. I can at least help to make sure that the original idea (the point, after all) is shown in the best possible light. Take us through an average day in the life of an engineer. Get up, write emails from the overseas customers who have been in touch overnight. Drive to studio, switch the gear on to warm up. COFFEE. Possibly work on small adjustments of prior work in digital while the gear warms up. Maybe check the last job or two of the previous day now you're fresh, export ready to send back. Panic at the vast quantity of new music that needs attention. Laugh and remember I used to work in an office. Work on music, exercise, eat. Do it all again the next day.
This kind of went on over the course of a couple of years before the big fat penny dropped. Science degree, keen musician, nerd, arty-farty hippy mastering is the natural confluence of all those things. I'm still quite convinced it's what I'm meant to do, it just took me Do you ever feel you need a 'second set years to realise it. of ears' on a track when you're mastering? Fast forward what, 7-8 years or something and skip over a vast number No - I am the second set of ears. Only the of huge life changes, sacrifice, heartache client's feelings matter, in truth, so I do and all that stuff, and I'm still just as get some sort of feedback. If I get to the happy doing it as I ever have been. I just love making stuff sound good. Every
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point where I don't know if I'm making it better any more, I've missed the fundamental problems for some reason, and I should move onto something else. I don't get there very often these days.
So is it usually a case of 'less is more', and is that something that comes from the confidence of experience in the field? Less is more for very solid technical reasons; all processing has a side-effect. It's a question of shooting in the right place, with the right weapon. Accurate judgements giving ruthlessly efficient and effective solutions. This comes from monitoring and experience; recognising the tool to use and exactly how. People obsess over the tools rather too much these days. When all you have is a hammer....
What's the range of music you work I see it like the Kung-Fu master who can on look like - is it any genre? Are some take someone down with a single finger more complex to work with than jab to a specific point. Using a ton of others? techniques is inefficient, and requires more brute force. This also has technical It makes as much sense as any to look at drawbacks which are far too boring to go my workload coming up this week. Off into here (sorry). the top of my head as I write, waiting to work on I have; a Spanish garage rock What have been some of the highlights album, a bass/garage album, an oddball over the years for you? What have you trap/dubstep album, a two track acoustic been proud to work on? folk release for a local artist, a short film soundtrack, some horrid technoid I did a ton of stuff for Wu-Tang Clan and disgracefulness (that's a compliment) Wu-Tang affiliated artists, as well as some and a load of other stuff that escapes me. compilations; I've worked on stuff by GZA, I've worked on beats by RZA, Jazzy The complexity of the work and the genre Jeff. I've got artists whose music I used don't really have any correlation; every to listen to nearly 20 years ago coming single tune presents its own set of to me for their mastering. Stuff like that problems, its own particular is great. requirements. You could have two tracks by the same producer done in the same To be honest though, the very best thing room on the same gear, and one is a is having people I don't even talk to about breeze, the other a nightmare. That's the the work anymore. We talk about football fun of it for me, the fascination; 'how or cakes. That's so nice, to have that trust. much do I need to do, and how little can No instructions – “here's the tunes, do I do, to make this sound right?’. your thing, what about West Ham, eh?” - that makes me proud. 36
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misunderstood? I think LANDR and so on are wonderful. You have people that either don't really want to pay for mastering (say, professionals who just want to do demos in bulk) or don't know what mastering is all about and/or don't have the budget anyway (budding bedroom producers). If they aren't convinced they're happy to pay in the first place, then we're off to a How were Wu-Tang to work with on bad start right away. Those people are very hard to turn around, and are rarely those projects? going to be convinced. I only know the people involved liked Then you have people who understand the work; I dealt with a label. the role a good engineer can play, the Listening to music in an analytical way feeling of security and peace of mind every day must be tiring - so what kind that a good engineer could and should of music do you like to listen to for bring. They know it will come back sounding the best it can, or it will come pure enjoyment and relaxation? back with suggested changes that will That's the trade-off; I practically don't give a better result. These people may any more. I have the sport on the radio, have to try a few engineers before they or the news. I miss out on the outside find the right one for them - this is the world sitting in an acoustic cave all day... nature of what is a largely artistic trade. I don't expect to be the right engineer Having said that, I have a thing about for everyone, any more than I expect mid-60s jazz, I love good hip hop, scabby every hairdresser to cut my hair exactly greasy old funk, anything raw and the way I like it. This is the personal expressive. I like unpolished, shitty- element - in concrete terms, musical sensitivity and musical sensibility - that sounding honesty. Always have. comes with a skilled, experienced Interesting you say unpolished, is that engineer. a reaction to spending every day doing So LANDR doesn't bother me; it's almost the opposite to music? completely unrelated to what I do. It's a Nah, I was listening to scabby old stuff bit like a good local restaurant with good years before I was an engineering nerd. ingredients, good service and a nice It's just an aesthetic/energy I like. Raw. atmosphere, being worried about a McDonald's opening nearby. They're With the advent of Landr and both places to eat, but they're not really automated mastering alongside the the same thing. rise of DAWs do you feel the job of the engineer is being marginalised or 34
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Do you see a larger schism opening up around that as the next generation of Is there anybody you owe a debt of producers come up and don't inspiration to for being where you are understand the benefit of proper now? mastering? Lots of people have led me to where I I think people understand the value of am (shout to Dev Paradox), but as far as proper mastering, it's more that people mastering goes, Beau Thomas has been misunderstand what it entails. Again, the most encouraging and supportive people are way more interested in the voice anyone could hope for. tools - the latest greatest plugin; vintage analogue or whatever - than the truly When people were telling me 'you can't essential stuff. And that means do that', he simply asked 'are your monitoring (room, speakers). Producers customers happy? Are you getting work? of the sort you allude to don't really seem ’. For that alone, never mind all the to get that; they want and expect stuff technical stuff, I owe him hugely. He to get thrown at their track. Some tracks never lets me get the beers in when I visit might need that, but it takes high class them down there though (hope you see monitoring and experience to know that this Beau!!) it does, or doesn't. Mastering is like going to the doctor; you don't want to come out of the doctor with a bag full of medication and several surgeries in your diary. You want to come out with him telling you you're in great shape and he doesn't need to do anything. But it takes years and years of study, and thousands and thousands of real-life 'patients' to recognise that. These people seem to want to come out with a ton of medication, they expect and sometimes demand it. If somebody was starting out as an engineer, what advice would you give them based on your own experiences? Absolutely work your proverbials off, give everything to it. It's competitive, but if you look after the quality of your work then your reputation will take care of itself. Be ruthlessly critical about absolutely every aspect of all of it. And above ALL is monitoring. 38
High end, low cost mastering by Subvert Central Mastering. Top class monitoring in a purpose-built studio, high end analogue equipment and the best in digital processing.
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Bob Macc’s Top 5 Tips for Producers
1. Invest in your monitoring.
recording, but the same still applies. Watch an orchestra play - you won't see Definitely number 1. What's more any auto tune, time correction, or important in mixing music, than the stuff compression. They just do it right, right that lets you hear your music? from the start. Easy peasy. Let's be clear: 'Monitoring' means your speakers and your room; it is a single system. If you've spent, say, £500 on monitors, then don't sell them and buy £700 monitors - waste of time. Put the £200 and a good wodge of time into fixing your room. Buy a Behringer ECM8000 mic, as much rockwool as you can fit in your room, some breathable cloth (i.e. cheap cotton), and get Room EQ Wizard. Use the Energy-Time graph to place your traps such that early reflections in the first 20ms are below -20dB. If this sounds bewildering - learn what it all means. What you learn in the process will stand you in good stead for setting up whatever room/s you have to work in in the future. All that stuff about the 'black art' of mastering is a load of twaddle. Mastering engineers are able to do their 'magic' because they can actually hear what the bloody hell they're doing, and have the experience to do or not do the right thing as a result. My room has stunning timedomain response and is flat from 14Hz to 20kHz. So, you know, I hear it all.
In modern music made/mixed in a computer, this means tapering. Do more work at the individual channel stage (if you didn't get the sound right at source, of course), less at the buss/group stage, and if you've done your job right, you'll need nothing at all at the master buss stage. That's not to say you can't 'stress test' your mix using processing on the master buss, but do it at unity gain and bypass it most of the time. Don't lean on master buss processing to pretend you have a good mix. Putting a load of lovely icing on a cake made of cow dung, doesn't mean you have a nice cake that people want to eat. 3. Do less; view fancy stuff as a last resort. All signal processing has a downside. All engineering is a balancing act of (and I wish I could remember who to attribute this quote to) 'subjective improvement vs objective degradation'. There are kind of two aspects to this:
a) Technical drawbacks. EQ affects phase, which affects signal integrity. Oh and don't buy that acoustic foam Compression adds distortion, stuff, it's hopeless. undesirable modulation of the signal or other stuff. Multiband stuff has 2. Get the sound right as early as you numerous drawbacks. And so on. None can in the signal path. of this is a problem until it's a problem; but once you take things too far, it's a After the creative stage is done, all very real problem indeed. engineering is just making up for prior shortcomings. In the old days it was about making up for deficiencies in the 41
b) Efficiency problems. It's this simple: 4. Close your eyes more often. The more stuff you do, the greater chance One of the best things about analogue you have of getting stuff wrong. gear is that you can close your eyes while Marry those two aspects and you see you use it. The human brain is only that the more you do, the worse things capable of so many things at one time, are likely to get. Remember the Kung-Fu and the more things you try to do, the master's death touch. If you need 12 less each one gets. Music goes into your bands of EQ on something, chances are ears, not your eyes. Allocate your you missed the target, and messed up resources appropriately. the sound in the process. Staring at little GUI knobs, watching This all applies even more to fancy pants meters, watching analysers, drop down processing. With point 2 in mind, you menus, readouts, numbers.... I get that if can see that if you feel the need to reach you don't have perfect acoustics and a full bank of analogue gear, you need for the multibandmegaspandexdoublekickfliperiser, them. I get that. But for every second your you missed something earlier on. And brain is engaged with that stuff, sound is you're pretty likely to get one of those still going into your ears and your 2000 knobs in the wrong place. As a objectivity is going down the drain. You general rule, any plugin that has the can't close your ears, after all. phrase 'powerful features' in its press copy should be approached with So get the knob you need with the mouse, close your eyes, get it right, and move extreme caution. on. Work quickly and accurately. Quick list of fancy stuff: Multiband Dedicating maximal resources to your compression, multiband widening, ears, making good judgements, and then sidechaining (you really don't need it as implementing them efficiently and much as people say), Mid-Side effectively processing (the current 'magic bullet' for everything – it's not) and so on. Last 5. Develop a good relationship with a good mastering engineer. resort, people. I could have put a million things for this last 'tip', but in the context of this interview, this seemed most appropriate. One of my greatest satisfactions is having customers whose mixes sound miles better than they did when they first got in touch with me. I'm not going to claim all the credit for it; they put the hours in and they attack their craft with passion. But knowing they aren't making 42
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mistakes they were making before, and that their sound is all the better for it as a direct result of our discourse over time - makes me incredibly happy.
career on good headphones to get around the acoustics thing, and did some decent work. And some people fitting the above criteria might just not be your cup of tea. But when you find one you trust, they're worth their weight in gold, and will help you to develop as an engineer. That will help you to better express your ideas as a musician.
To put it another way, mastering isn't about this tune, or this EP. It is, in my view, about having someone who can tell you what you need to improve, and help you achieve it. It's about having someone to assist with the development And that's what it's all about. of your sound. It's about helping you bring your sound closer to where it is in FFI : www.scmastering.com your head. -- Andy
What to look for in a mastering engineer? I'd suggest: a) A CV as long as your arm (thousands and thousands and thousands of tunes). There's a reason most renowned ME's are a bit older; they've taken years and years to establish themselves and build their experience. b) Monitors that make you wince when you google the price, and a room to match. Ideally a room entirely built for listening to music. If their room looks pretty much like yours, and they're using the same stuff you are, then...... That's not to say there aren't people doing great work that don't fit these criteria, not at all. I started my mastering 43
INTRODUCING: DJ Revitalise, club DJ & producer from Brisbane, Australia. He has had over 10 years of experience with gigs across the world as well as global radio support of his music. Productions include genres of House, Electro, Pop, Rnb, Trance, Dubstep & Trap. He is currently DJ'ing regularly and residing in Norway. His debut single titled 'Ambidextrous' released on 405 Recordings is a great uplifting Trance track.
artist, and they can sing all the words in English along with the song. But then when the song is over, you speak to them in english & ask them a question, like hwy how are you, where are you from, or do you like the song? They almost can't answer you, because they suddenly feel they dont speak enough English to communicate. But with a song they feel more comfortable. The music industry in Australia is pretty good, but still we are small when it comes to a global comparison. A lot of bands/ artists & even film stars move towards UK & USA to pursue their careers further. We have a lot of large EDM festivals in Australia with several thousand people attending, and they get pretty good responses. I started with DJing Trance Progressive in Australia. Although we have a decent fan base, mainstream Pop & House is still the preferred music genre in the club scene. Myself, I have ventured over to Europe to DJ these past couple of years now.
Music to me means soul. When hearing music, it ignites a spark of excitement inside of me. I hear a great melody & it bring a sense of warmness inside of me. Sometimes I hear a good song and it even inspires me to make a mashup or try a remix of it. Music, as most people say, connects the world, regardless of the language you speak. It unites us all. What sometimes is www.djrevitalise.com amazing is someone from a nonEnglish speaking country can know a song from an American 44
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5 Uplifting Tracks Some music records influence the conscious of human being. Simple drum section & simple melody could blow the minds of a million listeners. What is the key to a mind blowing tune? A merge of instruments in music compositions make the tune catchy & magnificent. In pop music, the production duration of 3 minutes make a hit on radio broadcasts. The ballad productions become a hit with music videos from movies basically. What are the main criteria of making hit records? A lot of label managers of major companies will say that the secret is properly right promo & adverts. Of course adverts going big do work, but charging money is not enough to buy hearts of the music audience. Experienced hit-making producers & songwriters will say that the secret is experience, hard work & talent. In conclusion good budget, experience, hard work, talent is the main key of all musicians to release hit productions.
5. Alabama Shakes – Don’t Wanna Fight Alabama state based American Rock & Soul band, Alabama Shakes, hit the hearts of millions with the song ‘Don’t Wanna Fight’. Soulful vocals from singer & guitarist Brittany Howard make this record very emotional & strong. Released by Capitol records in 2014.
4. Massive Attack – Teardrop Here are 5 compositions which Catchy tempo & smooth vocals, this change conscious & motivate to is crossover of Massive Attack. This song is simple in structure & idea, but the best emotions. sounds very powerful & massive. Classic Brit awards winning song released in 1998.
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absolutely amazing chilled vibes with dreamy & relaxing sounds. This tune is supported by different genre producers with remixes. Composition sounds cool in different genre variations & various beats per minute interpretations.
3. Moby – 1000 Moby is a multi-instrumentalist, electronic artist based in New York, famous by his electronic & instrumental worldwide hits. Unique sounds with incredible & simple vocals are the main crossover of this artist. Absolute fantastic hit, ‘1000’ released in June of 1993. Tempo rising 1000 beats per minute make the composition one of the fastest in the world.
1. Zhu – Faded Los Angeles based music producer & singer made his successful debut with the ‘Faded’ single in 2014 on Mind of Genius record label & management. The vocals are recorded by Steven (Zhu) himself. Special edited vocals make the song magic & magnificent. The song was up for a Grammy award in nomination for the best electronic track. Steven is a professional jazz musician who prefers not to show himself on press or photo shoots.
-- Emran 2. Donald Wilborn – Manila Donald Wilborn is Dallas based music producer released ‘Manila’ in 2007 on his own label Embarcadero records. Downtempo & lounge crossover producer creating 47
Tell us more about what triggered the decision to start the label?
We caught up with Ben Murphy to find out more about the birth of his and Luke Hazell’s label ‘Music Related’ Over the pass couple of months you have been extremely active, keeping busy with a number of releases and live sets at a number of forwardthinking London based events, Now you have an amazing event coming up in January which lovers of real music are all looking forward.
After DJing at many parties in London over the years, producing my own music and building my sound, it just felt like the next natural step. I've been thinking about it for a while now and the time just feels right. About 2 months ago I decided I was going to give it a go. My now label partner, Luke Hazell, contacted me shortly after I released the news and asked if he could be a resident. I'd already decided before that, that he was going to be my top resident because we used to have the best back-to-back sets at Dawn. In the space of a couple of days it made logical sense for it to be a venture for both of us. He has a similar sound to me and an equivalent drive for making Music Related a reality and to be the best it can possibly be. What is the intention for the label the moment and what’s your ethos?
Ben Murphy 48
Our intention for the label is to build our brand first, establish our name in the London scene so people know what we are about. We aim to keep the first installments of our parties small and intimate. There's no better feeling than being within touching distance of the DJs, from anywhere in the room, with a group of like minded people properly feeling the music and having a good time. Some of the parties in London at the moment are at the same venues with the same headliners and the same vibe. Our first party aims to break that www.AudiationMagazine.com
mould, we want to keep the art of warm held on the 29th of January at the up DJs; upstairs we have some wicked Shelter Club Kings Land Road with DJs providing minimal Techno setting James Dexter headlining! the mood, then, downstairs from midnight we step things up and make full use of the small basement in the shelter. As you can tell from the line up plan we have, the sound will range from quality deep and dubby minimal Techno to peak time Tech-House. Just quality well produced music!!
-- Malachi
Luke Hazell As you have a great team of DJ’s and producers, when should we be
listening out for a debut release? We hope that by mid June next year we will be in a position to start releasing music, it's all currently in the making and we will keep you posted!! Music related launch party will be 49
MAURITIUS
I recalled of MTV Unplugged being broadcasted late at night and would prepare my VHS tapes to get some recorded. I love that style, meaning alternative rock, unplugged performances and anything that these genres can encompass.
Tap sa pou twa! This is for you!
Internet has been a major boom to music listening and discovering. Every information was available, the lyrics, the chords, some forums to debate on the meaning of the song, covers and loads of related links. The outburst of social media helps artist to be known, being followed, listened to and supported. My listening modo has changed for quite some times. I am more on the look for those artists being on the networks, off the traditional circuit and proposing stuff, which prove to be kind of a rare pearl. What I have appreciated through the exchanges was the direct interaction with the artist and ability to share my opinions with instant feedback from the latter. One of my discoveries was Neal Hoffman (Amphibic on SoundCloud) with tune “Under A Different Sun”. It was just a three-minute escape under a different tune. I felt the warmth of the sun while closing my eyes and just cruised for a nice escape. Today I am sharing, so: “Tap sa pour twa”!
It was my cousin, when in the 90’s, he handed me down two tapes: Nirvana – In Utero and The Cranberries – No Need To Argue. Wow! Amazing! My first fully owned music. I was just so excited, being only exposed at that time to some mixed tapes or KuschelRock volumes, I have embraced a genre that will mark my life. The need for other musical encounters was pushing. Smash Records was the place to be for such discoveries. I recalled starting my listening by keeping one principle, to buy albums. Getting in touch with the creations of the artists rather than only listening to www.soundcloud.com/amphibic the hits and through this modus operandi I have got in touch with loads of goodies. My best discoveries were, -- Steve but I would rather say “are” Travis and Athlete. The two got some great thrills within their albums with favorites Writing To Reach You and Wires respectively. The exposure to music was quite narrow at that time and getting hold of any musical event was awesome.
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The brother & sister duo with big hearts and versatile sounds. The Mauritian band, Alchemia, is comprised of Summer on main vocals & production, and Yahska on vocals & instruments. Their single “Warrior of Light� brings a more international style with English vocals and an Asian influenced melodic track. It has gained a remix by global DJ Mikey Gallagher as well as strong radio support.
anything. I was not allowed to watch TV or do regular normal things because since it's the head, there's nothing you can do apart from rest. I think that music is the only thing that got me through this life changing event. This got me thinking, when I was feeling a little better - since I still can't work from the side affects, my vision is still sometimes blurry, I can't really work a normal job. My family asked me what I wanted to do because I couldn't just sit - I wanted to do music. I asked my brother if he wanted to do some music just for fun, to make a print out there in the universe and try to help other people like me who were in the same situation. "Warrior Of Light" is one of the songs that describes that feeling.
I caught up with Summer to discuss It's amazing how music has helped the band's music and ideals in you since the injury bringing hope to the world. Tell us about your background and how you each got into music.
I think that music is everywhere, the world is sound and my brother will also think that. A lot of researchers involve music as a therapy for children, some countries have even helped where music is used to reduce aggressivity and kids that are hyperactive. It really works wonders because it's very pure. We are music, every heartbeat that we have inside of us in a particular rhythm and beat. We're alive.
We have always been a music family, my mum sings and my dad also. We never had taken music lessons, we just sang in prayers. I started singing when I was six years old, and my brother started playing the tabla at the age of four. Our music really started when we were young but we never really thought about making a career out of it.. I'm really very grateful that I have a supporting family and also I was able Last year I had an injury where I had to sing my heart out. a linear head fracture. Basically my world stopped. I couldn't move or do 52
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Being siblings how do you find the process together? Do you both find it easy to agree on ideas and decisions? We've done music our whole life together, it is really something very natural. It's a special kind of bond because very often we don't have to speak about things, we just understand each other which is quite cool. There's no particular rules or anything, so if he comes up with an idea I hear him out, and vice versa. We try to really put our souls into it. You don't do songs to do songs, it comes from inside of us and once the inspiration is here then we work on it. Otherwise, sometimes there are weeks where we don't do anything.
He did a great job of it, he understands the soul of the music. Sometimes when you create a song originally it might just reach to a specific kind of people. By doing the remix, we realised that we were able to make people dance and feel this music in different kinds of ways and reach different countries. At the end of the day, our music travelled more than we did, that's such a magical part of it. To be able to really knit this global universal music. We all say that music is universal and there's only one language. We really lived it with our music, we come from a small island lost in the Indian Ocean and our music is being played all over the world. It's just amazing.
How do you feel about the industry Tell us about the ideas that went in Mauritius right now? And what do into making the debut album. you think should be done to improve it? During the time that we were writing the album, there was the Hindu When we created the music, we never festival of Mahashivratri and we thought of it as an industry but when thought that it was a nice way to thank we slowly got into it, we realised that life and give meaning. I was listening it's very tough. People are very a lot to Susheela Raman at the time. demanding and, especially here in So really into that mood of creating Mauritius, we have so many songs that were not neccerily influences and we should explore understood but connected people on different kinds of music. Somehow another level. Just listen to the music we still get trapped in where we think and connect with it without really that we need a specific kind of music. listening to it. This was the trigger of There's a lot of potential here and we writing the debut album. should allow people to discover new things and not stay on what is In regards to "Warrior Of Light", international to make a living out of it. how did it feel to get the remix by Mikey? 54
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What does music mean to you? We listen to all kinds of music, I can listen to classical and my brother can too. We can spend a whole day listening to any kind of music. It really describes our vision of music and how we feel about it. Our influences are mainly Susheela Raman, Hilight Tribe and Kultiration.
It's my second chance. Music is Life. There is music everywhere - in every breath we take, every heartbeat. If you really focus on your every heartbeat, you’ll see that it beats at a particular rhythm and that it is in tune to your every breath along with every movement of your body making life an amazing musical What have you got planned for the symphony. future?
What are your future aspirations? We are waiting to do more shows, we had our first in Mauritius on 12th We are currently writing our second September. We'd never performed on album - we don't know yet if it's going stage, it was quite nice. We just want to be an album or just some new to take things slow, we exist only songs. We just want our music to since July and it's very important that reach people and to get feedback. It's we learn how it works and we get been really amazing because we've better at what we do. had a couple of people writing to us saying how our music touched their Any last words? lives in a nice way. For example, we had this couple that wrote to us and Music captures life in one way or said that 'I would like to thank you another. Alchemia represents hope because I was fighting with my that anyone can achieve what he/she girlfriend in the car and we just heard wants if they really believes in it. We you on the radio and we turned up can become whoever we want to the music and stopped fighting.' It become if we give ourselves a chance just makes you smile and makes you to do it. There's a lot of potential in want to carry on doing music. This Mauritius and all over the world other lady, who is more into people are just afraid to go out there traditional music, said that she felt and show to the world who they are.. happy and keeps listening to it in her My message is, I'd really love for car. Our aspiration is to really make people to embrace what they like and people happy through our music and show it to the world. to touch their souls. We are normal human beings, we are You have a fusion between modern just trying to make life a better place. & traditional to appeal to many people. 55
When you come out of a lifechanging experience, it changes your vision of the world and humbles you. You realise the essential of life is to be happy and make others happy. We tend to focus on so many things that are completely ephemeral when it comes to the reality of life. I hope that people can feel that in our music and can have this hope for something better for themselves. We're not claiming to change the world, it comes from an individual level, if you can touch one person then it's enough.
You have strengths and if you are willing to, you should believe in a dream. The universe really conspires with you to make it happen. The whole world right now is suffering and we need happy music. We need to connect with something, and the best thing is music. You don't need to speak the language to move to the rhythm of a tune or to just feel happy. The magic of music is that you don't need launguage or words or anything, you just connect to it. We have so many different people here with different origins. There's festivals and when you see the musicians that are going to be there and how creative they are, this is what the music industry looks like and should be like. A mixture of just jamming with other musicians and having a good time. A mixture of just jamming with other musicians and having a good time. www.band-alchemia.com
-- Ruby
It's inspirational to others, who have gone through similar situations as yourself, to know that music has helped. 56
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FESTIVALS Bergfestival 13 - 19 December 4 - 6 December Avoriaz, France Saalbach Hinterglemm, Austria X-Massacre 18 December The Warehouse Prague, Czech Project: Weekend 10 Republic 4 - 6 December Manchester, United Weather Winter Kingdom 18 - 19 December Paris, France Toxicator 5 December The Warehouse Mannheim, Germany Project: Weekend 12 18 - 19 December Sonar Bogota Manchester, United 7 December Kingdom Bogota, Columbia I Love Techno Europe The Warehouse 19 December Project: Weekend 11 Montpellier, France 10 - 12 December Manchester, United Blackpool Rocks Kingdom 19 December Blackpool, United SEMF Kingdom 12 December Stuttgart, Germany The Warehouse Project: Boxing Day We Are WHSE: Cream Weekend Ibiza Presents 26 - 27 December 12 December Manchester, United London, United Kingdom Kingdom Vic Falls Carnival Transition Snow 29 - 31 December 58
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Amore Festival 30 December Rome, Italy Awakenings: New Year's Eve Special 31 December Amsterdam, Netherlands Eastern Electrics NYE 31 December London, United Kingdom Cosmo New Year's Eve 31 December Rome, Italy TikTak New Year's Eve 31 December Amsterdam, Netherlands We Are WHSE: New Year 31 December - 1 January London, United Kingdom
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The Warehouse Project: New Years Weekend 31 December - 1 January Manchester, United Kingdom
2016 Awakenings: New Year's Day Special 1 - 2 January Amsterdam, Netherlands Storyland Festival 2 - 4 January Cartegena, Columbia
The Peacock Society Winter Edition 30 January Paris, France Pollerwiessen Wintercruise 31 January Cologne, Germany Awakenings 6 February Manchester, United Kingdom Let It Roll Winter 26 February Prague, Czech Republic
Paul Van Dyk: The Garosnow - Les Angles Politics Of Dancing 3 8 - 10 January Album Tour Les Angles, France 26 February Brno-Kralovo Pole, Awakenings Eindhoven Czech Republic 30 January Eindhoven, Ultra Netherlands 26 - 28 February Cape Town / Sneeuwbal Winter Johannesburg, South Festival Africa 30 January Utrecht, Netherlands
DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY
We Are WHSE: Rumors 30 January London, United Kingdom
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Issue AM020 On The Cover: Bob Macciochi's Studio
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With love Ruby, Rokuro, Cessle, Sarah, Malachi, Andy, David, & Steve xx
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