“I Could See How He Was Really Taken by the Track, So I Offered Him the Chance to Collab” — Steve Brian & talkofthetown on the Making of ‘San Diego’

For more than two decades, Steve Brian has been one of the most beloved names sitting right between trance and progressive — a producer known for emotional melodies, clean grooves, and that unmistakable “Steve Brian lift” that fans instantly recognize. Growing up in Hildesheim, Germany, he first found success as part of the duo Marksun & Brian before breaking out on his own with the 2009 single “Yaya”, a track championed by Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, and Kyau & Albert.

Since then, Steve has built an enormous catalogue of around 700 productions, four albums, countless remixes (from Tiësto to Mike Oldfield), and millions of streams across Enhanced, Euphonic, Armada, and beyond. His music has landed Tune of the Week on A State of Trance, topped the Beatport charts, and taken him to international dancefloors and festivals like Luminosity.

With a career that’s still evolving and a fanbase that spans generations of trance lovers, he remains one of the genre’s most consistent and inspiring voices.

While Steve brings two decades of melodic mastery, his collaborator, talkofthetown, represents a fresh new chapter in progressive trance. Behind the alias is Matty Driver, a UK producer from Farnham who has recently stepped back into the spotlight after some time away. His return as talkofthetown isn’t just a comeback — it’s a reconnection with the sound that first shaped him: deep grooves, soaring melodies, and that unmistakable progressive-trance warmth.

His releases like Groove Cruise, Here And Now, Serengeti Skies, and Under The Lights quickly reminded the scene of what he’s all about — big energy, clean musical storytelling, and “good vibes music” at its core. With plans to collaborate with industry-renowned producers, talkofthetown is building a project full of colour, optimism, and dancefloor groove.

It’s the perfect contrast — and complement — to Steve’s long-established sound, making their partnership one of the most exciting pairings in modern progressive trance.

Hi Daniel, please let us how did you first fall into electronic music? Was it love at first beat, or more of a slow burn?

Steve Brian: I started getting into trance in the late 90s. I loved listening to music but it wasn’t enough for me; I wanted to be the one making it and playing it, so I turned my hand to production and was lucky to have a friend (Markus) in my hometown of Diekholzen who taught me how to use Cubase. I put in hours of practice when I was 15, 16. The hard work paid off and I was lucky enough to release a track on Euphonic Records with a friend, Markus. I still retain that same enthusiasm and work rate to this day. Attention to detail, time and effort will reap rewards.

Your catalogue is huge. Is there one track you feel was completely overlooked, and another that received more praise than you expected?

Steve Brian: I’m a simplistic guy and I try not to get too up or down on how a release does. I make music and enjoy the process. Every time someone plays my music, it makes me feel happy that I have brought joy to someone somewhere. I like it when someone hears a Steve Brian track for the first time and then digs deeper into my discography. That's quite cool that they find tracks they never knew existed. I’m very content with my releases to date. I’m lucky to be in a position where lots of my tracks have been pitched into millions of streams. Life is good.

When you’re working on a track, what’s the moment where you go, “Yep, that’s the Steve Brian sound — this is exactly what I was aiming for!”

Steve Brian: For me, it starts with the chords and if I feel within me that they sound good, then the process flows well and quite quickly. It's what I call my ice breaker. I frequently collect parts that can be used in my tracks, and I know precisely what can be used. I know what leads sound to use, I know what percussion to use, and I know what vocal parts to use. Flow is the key to my best work, which gets the Steve Brian signature sound.

Matty, your talkofthetown project marks a comeback after some time away — what inspired this new chapter, and what did you want it to represent?

talkofthetown: I walked away from music in 2015 for all the wrong reasons. I wasn’t in a great place mentally at the time and ended up suppressing my true self. But time heals. Fast-forward ten years and a lot has changed. I’m married with a great family, I run my own business, and I feel settled and content. It shouldn’t be underestimated how a solid base gives you the confidence to make things happen. I’d always looked back at the way I left the scene, knowing I’d sold myself short; this time round, I know I’m giving it a proper shot. Last time I made music, I didn’t try hard enough to get the tracks signed, so those first couple of releases in Summer 2025 were very proud moments for me.

Initially, I was going to release under the name Matt Driver, but to me, it’s a name that checked out years ago musically. I’m coming back now with fresh ideas and full of enthusiasm. I felt that creating a stage name would be cool and something I could really get into. Ironically I had initially called a track Talk Of The Town, but then after looking at the name for a while, I thought it sounded cool as a potential alias. I bounced this off my wife and a couple of mates who suggested joining the words together, and ‘talkofthetown’ was born, ultimately it represents my take on making music that’s good for the soul.

What’s the most unexpected place or moment that sparked inspiration for a talkofthetown track?

talkofthetown: For anyone who follows me on Instagram, they’ll know I’m involved with Farnham Town Football Club, and I often take my earphones to games and listen to music. One week, I was listening to reference tracks whilst watching a game and the eureka moment struck. I noted a few things down on my phone and then shared them with one of my co-writers. I always try to name the tracks close to something that inspired the idea, and as this was whilst watching a night match, ‘Under The Lights’ was created.

Stefan and Matty, you’ve worked together multiple times now. What’s the most surprising or memorable moment from your collaborations?

talkofthetown: We were lucky in June of this year to grab two days at Kontor Studios in Hamburg. This was the first time we had met in person, as Stefan lives in Germany, and I live in England. The energy between us in the studio was superb. I think it helps that we’re both very jovial characters, so a relaxed atmosphere was set and a fire was created. It was an awesome weekend, and I look forward to doing it again next year. As a pair, we’ve matched well from day one. I have a huge amount of respect for Stefan as a producer and as a person also.

Steve Brian: Matty got in contact with me at the start of the year and we spoke at great length about production and general life. It was evident that we shared a lot of core values and when I was asked if I wanted to get involved with the new project he was setting up, I thought yes, I could help. Since then, we’ve worked on collaborations together, and I’ve also helped with some of talkofthetown’s solo projects. Hamburg was a great couple of days. So much fun, cool ideas were put down, including ‘Tidal Wave’. Matty is a kind guy, and I value our friendship. In December, I have a gig in the UK, so I look forward to catching up in person with Matty then.

You both sit right between progressive and trance. What’s one “rule” from each genre that you love breaking on purpose?

talkofthetown: Don’t have any preconceptions when making a track, and this rule opens your mind more to possibilities. Music is always a fusion of sounds. If you listen to talkofthetown music, you’ll hear elements in some tracks of Synthwave, Afro House, Melodic Techno, Balearic Beat, and somehow mixed together, make what I would call a Progressive Trance. Ultimately, the listener won’t care what genre it is as long as it’s a good tune.

Steve Brian: For me, I never had any rules; you can blend genres together and make great music. Don’t create borders. Just start working and let it flow. You'll ascertain quickly what works and at the end of it, whatever the genre is, it doesn’t matter; all that matters is that you've made a good track and enjoyed the process.

Your new release, ‘San Diego,’ really captures your vibe. What’s the story behind it?

talkofthetown: Stefan played this to me in Hamburg and wasn’t going to release it at the time. Knowing the backstory of it (which I’ll let Stefan elaborate on), I just said, "You’ve got to get this out there, mate. Look at the hair standing up on my arm listening to this, it's pure magic." I felt really emotional listening to it. He kindly offered me to collaborate, and I worked on the tail end of the track with some fine-tuning in the UK with my mastering engineer. Sometimes those initial ideas are good, so you don’t need to change something for the sake of them.

Steve Brian: Well, it’s a story about a hard drive and my son putting one of his figurines on it. Sadly, the said item had magnets in it and ended up corrupting my hard drive. I lost a lot of work, and I must admit that for a long time I struggled with motivation. However, thanks to my family, I got the inspiration back and recreated ‘San Diego’ (named after a location where I played at a boat party) part by part. I was just happy that I’d remade it, but then I didn’t have a plan to get it out (I’ve got loads of projects like this). Then, in Hamburg, I randomly showed Matty some demos and I played this one. I could see how he was really taken by the track, so I offered him the chance to collab. He then took it back to the UK into the studio with his mastering engineer to bring some elements out further. The final master sounded huge. I’m looking forward to playing this one on a big sound system soon.

Black Hole Recordings and Magik Muzik have been home to several of your tracks recently. What made these labels feel like the right match?

talkofthetown: I’m lucky enough to own various albums on CD from Magik Muzik I collected whilst in my 20s. I recognise the history of the label, and to be part of it is a great honour. Working with Arny (Bink) and his team has been a superb experience for a new artist like me. I’m learning a lot, and that guidance is priceless. I also like the fact that the label doesn’t just pitch itself with a certain sound, it looks for quality and luckily for us, a few tracks have been well received.

Steve Brian: For me, I recognised when releasing my first track with Black Hole that the team was very kind and fair. They keep things simple, which is great for me as I’m a straight-forward guy. I recommended Black Hole to Matty for our collabs, and I’m really pleased that he also loved working with Arny and his team.

Stefan, if you could send a voice note to your younger “Marksun & Brian” self, what would you warn him about?

Steve Brian: There are lots of people in the industry whose intentions may not be honest. Make sure you pick the right people to work with who share your values and match your efforts.

As someone championing the UK progressive sound, Matty, how do you see the global prog-trance scene evolving right now and how do you see yourself fitting in?

talkofthetown: I think Progressive Trance needs to be given more of its own proper platform. The problem I see is that Trance gets lumped together as a genre; the difference between the opposite ends of the spectrum (Prog vs Hard) is huge and always gets dominated by what is popular at the time. This means wrongly an area gets less spotlight.

For a platform like Beatport, which can help shape the musical landscape, why not give Progressive Trance its own proper spotlight and categorisation? There is plenty of decent music within the genre being made; you’ve got acts like Above & Beyond, Darren Tate, Kyau & Albert, Dan Stone, and Farius, to name a few, fronting it who are huge draws.

All we can do as a collective of artists is keep making quality music and hope that’s good enough to see some positive change. It's nice to now see events geared towards Progressive Trance, including the Euphonic Label night in London (Dec 6th), which Stefan is playing at.

2025 is around the corner — is there a new direction or experiment you’re both excited to explore?

talkofthetown: For me, it's all about getting good releases out there consistently. The project has taken a while to get off the ground, so now that I’m rolling, I don’t want to stop. In 2026, expect to see plenty of releases from talkofthetown, and variation in the sound also. I’m pretty sure that there will be further collaborations between Stefan and me. We've had lots of fun to date, so why not keep up the winning formula?

Steve Brian: Lots of fresh new stuff is on the horizon. I’m constantly working on material when not occupied with family stuff. We had the arrival of our second child this year, so balancing things has been a challenge, but as my daughter gets older, things will return to normal. I’ll keep pushing new cool sounds for Steve Brian and collaborations with Matty. As ever, I’m excited and motivated to create more great music.

Matty & Stefan – Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us both. We appreciate your efforts in sharing our music and thoughts. Hopefully we can speak again soon. All the best.