Inside Pure Trance XI: New Music, Forgotten Gems, and Timeless Storytelling

When Solarstone launched Pure Trance in 2012, it was more than just a new mix compilation series. It was a response to a trance scene that, in his view, had drifted away from the emotion, melody, and sense of journey that first defined the genre. What began as a back-to-basics movement has since grown into one of trance music's most respected brands, encompassing record labels, sold-out events, radio shows, and an annual compilation series that continues to champion the deeper, more timeless side of the sound.

Now, fourteen years after the first Pure Trance album, Solarstone reunites with Finnish trance icon Orkidea for Pure Trance XI. A long-time friend, collaborator, and one of the most respected figures in Nordic electronic music, Orkidea returns as co-mixer for the first time since the inaugural volume. Recorded live at London's legendary Fabric, the compilation blends fresh discoveries, exclusive productions, and carefully chosen classics into a journey that celebrates trance's rich heritage while looking firmly toward its future.

We caught up with Solarstone and Orkidea to discuss the inspiration behind Pure Trance XI, the influence of legendary mix compilations, recording live at Fabric, and why the spirit of pure trance continues to resonate in 2026.

Q: Pure Trance XI feels like a fresh chapter for the series. What made you want to shake things up this time?

Rich: ‘10’ was a big number, and after that I felt like I wanted to do something different for XI. The previous albums were all about brand new music – lots of it – but there are different kinds of mix albums, and I wanted to try something new.After I floated the idea past Tapio on the phone and saw that he was so excited, I knew we should proceed. It’s great to do new things. There's no point in standing still; otherwise, everyone gets bored - including ourselves. I really don’t like repeating myself, especially when the scene is constantly changing. It's just frustrating. Mike Push once said in a post, ‘Don’t be a prisoner of your past,’ and I always remember that. Some fans would be happy for us (artists) to keep on doing the same thing over and over again, because what we do forms only a small part of their life – but it’s our entirelife! So we have to be true to ourselves to be happy.

Tapio: Electronic music culture has always had a “forward forever” mentality, so I’m always interested in new ways of creation. I immediately got excited about this when Rich suggested it. We connect very much both musically and as human beings, so I knew it would be both a great album and an inspiring journey to see it.

Q: Both of you grew up listening to legendary mix compilations like Northern Exposure and Global Underground. How much did those albums influence Pure Trance XI?

Tapio: They are part of my music DNA, so they will always be in my output, but for this album even more so. The flow of the journey, combining progressive and trance, two DJs mixing it together and including some forgotten released gems, is part of the influence.

Rich: Very much. Tapio described it well when he said that those albums consisted mainly of already-released records, but it was their inclusion on a carefully crafted mix album that gained them recognition. I’d never thought of it like that before. People will say ‘I remember this track or that track from Northern Exposure’ – because that album was a soundtrack to their life. The mix is so important in dance music. Individual stand-alone tracks become amplified when they are part of an inspired mix.

Q: Tapio, this is the first time you’ve returned as a Pure Trance co-mixer since the first volume. Why did now feel like the right time to reunite?

Tapio: Musically, trance is in an interesting place at the moment, with both the original generation having new momentum with Tiesto returning, etc., but more interestingly, there is a whole new generation of trance producers and DJs coming in with their fresh take. People like Close Proximity and Autoflower, whose music we wanted to include. So doing this album and building on that musical momentum felt perfect. I also had lots of new music I wanted to include, which made the timing good.

Q: The compilation blends brand-new tracks, forgotten gems, and exclusives. What were you actually looking for when selecting these tracks?

Tapio: Music that touches emotions, moves my body and inspires me with a unique and/or new take on progressive or trance.

Rich: We wanted to span what we both love about trance, from what we liked 30 years ago to what we like about what is happening right now. From some (what we consider) forgotten gems like Tekara's ‘Breathe In You’ (there’s a crazy story about that one, which I’ll tell people about another time) to ultra-modern tracks like our Slowmotion VII, to Close Proximity’s remix of Tre Turner’s ‘Scottish Piano'- which kind of turns things on its head and revisits 90s trance with a modern twist. And of course, it’s about THE JOURNEY – it all has to work together, a balance of new & old, slow and fast, laid-back grooves, high energy. This is why it took us a year!

Q: What made you decide to record the mix live at Fabric instead of creating it in the studio and was that a little nerve-wracking?

Rich: Doing a LIVE MIX was where Tapio & I started our initial conversation. This kind of thing is absent from today’s scene; of course, people upload sets to Soundcloud or whatever, but compiling and officially releasing something like PTXI takes a huge amount of work, including getting permission to use all the tracks, getting new tracks, etc. And then planning out how to mix it live, how to deliver the mix to the people without fucking it up. It's really carefully planned. We both know how to improvise in a club - that’s what traditional DJs do (mostly), but we also both know what works and how to build a journey that will work in a particular setting. When we announced the recording at Fabric, we knew that our room would be full of fans who wanted to hear what we had prepared. There was no room for error; it was do or die, so yes – it was a little nerve-wracking.

Tapio: The idea for the live recording came from Rich, so it was his creative mind that was responsible for that. BIG thanks to Sam Mitcham, the Music First team and everyone at Fabric for making it happen! That was very nerve-wracking. Especially when our original plan to get all tracks on multi-tracks didn’t work out for technical reasons, we knew it would need to go 100% with that one take. But we were very well prepared and supported each other. So got to enjoy it too while DJing.

Q: Rich, you mentioned that some tracks only truly come alive when they're combined with other records in a mix. Can you share a "one plus one equals three" moment from XI?

Rich: Yeah, for sure. The mix from Tekara ‘Breathe in You’ to Allende ‘The Weight’ is really something special. Thelooping tail of Tekara creates this massive tension as ‘The Weight’ unveils itself, and when the drop comes… It's immense. ‘The Weight’ is a great track, but it would never work at that point in a mix without the magic the Tekara track adds to it.

Q: In the streaming era, what makes a DJ mix compilation still special?

Rich: I don’t think it’s so much about it being a ‘streaming era’, it’s more about it being what some people call a ‘post-album’ era (something I disagree with). There’s this talk that (some) people are unable to commit to listening to a full album, that they cherry-pick tracks, but those are not the same people who go to clubs to hear a DJ play for 3 hours. They are not the same people who will settle into an artist’s new album & stay with it until it is over. These are different audiences completely. My brother told me the other day that he sat down for a whole day in front of his speakers listening to music - and doing nothing else, including Steve Reich’s ‘Music for 18 Musicians’ – which is 57 minutes of one track! We are releasing music for music lovers, not music ‘consumers’.

Q: How do you think trance audiences have changed since the first Pure Trance album?

Rich: I think they are bigger, that’s for sure! Who would have thought that Trance would become world-conquering again? In all these new forms and with a new generation of young, talented DJs and producers, tracks getting played on mainstream radio, cool clubs opening up across Europe, and festivals like Luminosity in the Netherlands and the ASOT parties are still going strong; it’s amazing to see how the scene keeps evolving, and I’m happy to still be a part of it.

Q: Nowadays, many sounds overlap more than ever. Do genre lines still matter to you?

Tapio: I find it exciting and inspiring to find music from many genres. I search for emotion, groove and an uplifting vibe, but nowadays find it equally from trance, progressive, techno, melodic house or indie dance.

Q: Which newer artists on the compilation should fans be paying attention to?

Tapio: Close Proximity duo has been my favourite for a few years. Happy to see them grow bigger all the time.

Rich: B FROM E and Close Proximity are really buzzing right now, creating music that sounds like what we were listening to 30 years ago, but with a modern twist. It’s dead exciting.

Q: You've both been friends and part of this scene for a long time. What still gives you that buzz about electronic music?

Tapio: The moments in clubs, whether behind the decks or on the dancefloor, are just amazing. Connecting with people through music, being united, and celebrating life. And the ever-evolving electronic dance music keeps me inspired. Every single time I go online searching for new music, I find new tracks and artists that truly inspire me.

Rich: For me, it’s just creating new music, doing my own thing and being part of the wider scene, hearing wonderful newmusic on a daily basis. I mean, listening to the new Boards of Canada album, for example, or the new Gabriel & Dresden single with Blake.08 ‘Velour’ – both are doing something new & exciting. Electronic music keeps changing shapes and evolving; it never stops, so I’m always being buzzed by something!

Q: Fifteen years on, what does "pure trance" mean to you today?

Tapio: It is a modern reflection of the sound that inspired me so much when I first heard it. Music with so much musicalemotion, powerful rhythms, and dramatic progression. And the community around the music. Both locally and globally. That is pure trance for me <3

Rich: It’s still the same thing. Pure Trance started at a time when trance as a sound was being discarded; it was so cross-bred with other sounds that what a lot of other people and I loved about it was disappearing. Pure Trance was always about bringing people who love this music together, giving it a platform and waving the flag. It meant a lot to a lot of people at the time, and now it’s part of the bigger picture in a healthy and vibrant trance scene – what could be better than that?

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