Interview: Above & Beyond

Interview: Above & Beyond

14 September, 2008 | 8.19AM

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News:

With the festival season coming to an end, Beatportal caught up with the Above & Beyond men, Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamäki, to ask them what they thought of this summer’s controversial festival line ups.

While we were there we also found out what their favourite tune is at the moment, who they think will be trance’s next big thing and what their thoughts are on the great trance debate.

Many of this year’s festival line ups had a mash-up of genres. For example Glastonbury booked Jay-Z and Global Gathering booked KanYe West. What did you think of this?

Jono: There was a lot of criticism about this, but I didn’t feel threatened by it at all did you?

Tony: No I didn’t. I think it’s really good.

Jono: Because of the headliners, people who weren’t originally dance music fans were attracted to dance music festivals, which meant that they may have gone into a dance tent and discovered house, trance, progressive or whatever.

Paavo: For example, because of KanYe West, an extra 5,000 people came to Global Gathering this year and discovered electronic dance music. Result.

Tony: One of the great things about festivals is that you get a more cosmopolitan crowd.

There are some people who like a specific type of dance music, you know, “I only like German minimal that’s made between 2003 and 2005 on these three labels - and none of the red sleeved ones”.

I know that some people are like that, but most people aren’t.

People just aren’t that regimented.

And also, clubbing for me has always been about an inclusive vibe.

You know, you go out clubbing and you come back with five best friends - that’s the whole point of it.

I think to start building walls that don’t really exist is counter-productive.

The whole point of it, I think, is to go out with an open mind and just walk around and see what you hear and if KanYe West’s on and that’s really rocking for you, then fantastic and if you’ve never been before then good on you and good on Global Gathering for doing that.

So what do you think to the age-old debate about trance music being dead?

Tony: It’s a stupid question. Just look at the top ten DJs. Next question.

[Everyone laughs]

The reason I ask is because whenever trance music comes up in news stories and on forums, it always seems to create such huge debate.

Jono: Sometimes people just get angry about something that’s popular.

People slag off R&B, they slag off hip-hop and it’s the same with trance.

You could even say the same for house, but trance is maybe more victimised.

It’s certainly not dead, though, is it?

Paavo: I also think that people find things at different times.

In July we were in Russia where we played on top of a nuclear bunker to 700 people and probably half of those people had never been to a party like that before.

So it’s clear that trance is alive and new people are discovering it every day and that’s what makes it really exciting for us.

Tony: Earlier in the summer we played in Los Angeles in a club called ‘Vanguard’ and that was to about 4,000 people.

We had a residency there and we’d sell the club out.

We also did this festival last summer at the Electric Daisy Carnival in the Olympic stadium and because it’s all ages, there were 15,000 people there.

It’s the young kids coming through that make that number and when we played our big hits they were all singing along.

They knew the words and these are like 18/19-year-old kids, so there’s new people discovering trance music all the time.

Our perspective is obviously international and I think the UK has had so much club music for the last 10 years that they’re a little bit tired of it, but thankfully the world is a little bit bigger than the UK!

So what’s your favourite tune at the moment?

Jono: I think one of the biggest tracks of the moment is Bart Claessen & Dave Schiemann ‘Madness’.

It’s got both the uplifting side of trance and the techno side as well.

And finally, who do you think is going to be the next big thing in trance?

Jono: I think Oliver Smith is doing some excellent things at the moment and so are Signalrunners.

They’re two of our artists who I think are really going to come forward this year.

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