mars

Hello, Since we had to move to GoFundMe, the link is now https://www.gofundme.com/psynews-org-board-and-domain-upgrade

The Ambient Forest line up has been disclosed !! Live: * E-Mantra – Suntrip Records / Romania * Etnica in Dub – Etnicanet & DAT Records / Italy * Mindsphere – Suntrip Records / Turkey * Ancient Core – Melusine Records / Romania * Pete & Pan – Belgium * Solar Powered Beings (aka Jagoa) – Suntrip Records / Belgium * Skarma – Suntrip Records & Global Sect / Hungary * Menkalian (part of Cosmic Dimension) – Suntrip Records / Macedonia * Encens – Koyote Reocrds / United Kingdom * Haitaka (aka Triquetra) – Suntrip Records / Belgium DJ’s: * Seb Taylor DJ set (Kaya project, Angel Tears,…) – Interchill + Dragonfly / United Kingdom * Anoebis – Suntrip Records / Belgium * Rodminus – Malta * Masala – Neogoa / Japan * TB – Suntrip Records / Germany * Bandagor – Belgium * Kosmologos – Belgium * Yella – Global Sect / Serbia * Pavane – Suntrip Records / Belgium * Dušan Lončar – Serbia * Goasis – Suntrip Records / Australia * Hase – Romania * Longcat – France * Mars – Suntrip Records / France * Mawski – Romania

Hello We just updated the lineup here with all the new artists, including RA ! You may want to have a look at all the DJs we annouced!

Six months later, no news. Nuff said.

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That's right, this place has existed for 18 years ! Crazy when you think how fast things come and go on the Internet. I'm not going to make a long speech. If you want, you can read what I wrote last year Thanks to your donations on indiegogo, we could secure the site for a few years. You may still donate of course ! Thanks to all those who contributed over the years!

Artist: Dreamstalker Date: October 31st 2016 By: Gagarin This interview has been copied at the request of Psybient.org https://www.psybient.org/love/interview-with-dreamstalker/ Today we are talking with Nikita Om, person behind Dreamstalker music project. He presents Exotic-Trance music. His albums were released by Zenon, Merkaba and Altar records. He is also known in “russian” speaking internet as one of the person behind “Zwook.ru” project, and online music production school. Let’s start Hi Nikita, Thanks for finding time to talk to us Hi! I love your Psybient project and happy to answer some questions here! What does Dreamstalker name mean? There are two meanings behind this name. Dream Stalker and Dreams Talker. Both of them are close to music of this project. This idea of two meanings comes in artwork for the Album Memory, where DNA crosses the word Dreamstalker in a middle. (album cover) When did you encounter something that is now considered as Psychedelic Downtempo music / or Psychill / Psybient if you prefer this terminology? What is a special moment for you ? I was involved in electronic music in 2006 with techno/house clubs in my area. It was a small town in Siberia and there were not so many progressive things in music going on. So that music was fresh to me. After 2 years, in 2008 psychedelic music came to my life. Mostly through my friend Leo, who had really big collection of all Psychedelic electronica. We spend weekends in his place, tripping, listening to this wonderful music. I was amazed by every album. Eclectic sound of Psychedelic Downtempo was perfect for me. It was trancy, electronic, futuristic, deep, smooth, with lots of live instruments. And of course I was impressed by feelings and space that was created with music that time. It was a way more interesting than techno. That time I didn’t look too much in playlist, but of course I remember some names, like Shpongle, Ott, Younger Brother, Aes Dana, Solar Fields… I am in a big respect for all that “music transmitters” and very happy to know some of them personally and play on one stage. It was a great time for me. Life changing. How did you start producing with computer ? I’ve started to produce music on computer nearly in 2003 because my “synth” Yamaha PSR was not so powerful as a sequencer. And it was Cakewalk 9 as a software. I didn’t compose that time, just learning the stuff and trying to make arrangements for some famous tunes. Then I started to use computer to make demo records of my band. That how I’ve started with mixing and using plugins. Seriously I’ve started to produce my own music since 2010. What is the story of your first release ? As I remember it was released on Sundoz records, what is this label with an interesting name. I had a lot of unfinished projects in 2010 and no complete tracks which I could play. It was a shame for me. So I’ve made a decision to make an Album. It took me 6-8 months and finally I’ve made Eclectronica (funny, that most of people don’t see the letter “с” in this word). I didn’t think of any labels or artists to follow that time, no reference. So when it came to the end, I’ve released it by myself for free, and then with Ektoplazm. I’ve had to put some label on it to release. That is how Sundoz was created. As a game of words. Originally Sandos was a name of a lab where Albert Hoffman invented LSD, and if you change letters little bit, you have Sun+doz, like a dose of sun… But it was not serious idea about the label, so I don’t do anything more there. After years I’ve realized that Eclectronica was a powerful record, and I still receive a lot of warm feedback from listeners on this work. Your first 2 albums are chill, latest are in “zenon” trance, what is your direction for future and why ? Chill was more organic for me in terms of production. Like it was more easy to make a true sound there. Couple of times I’ve tried to make a dance track, but failed for unknown reason. And only in 2013 on summer festival I had a critical experience with dance music. Hopefully it was Merkaba live set, 20 kWt of Funktion One, magic dancefloor full of beautiful people around! After that festival I came to my studio and immediately wrote 2 tracks from Album Sensorial Experience (2014, Zenon records). Those tracks are the best from the whole album, as I know from feedback during the live set. What about my future music… To be honest I make much more music than I release. I also make minimal techno, lounge, house, spiritual guitar ambient and even rock music. But all that tracks are “work in progress”. Sometimes they come to release, like my Heart Rock remix on Merkaba – Heart Math. As many producers, I love just music itself, not a specific genre. But anyway I concentrate more on Psy-Trance and Psy Downtempo which I play regularly. Now I have a lot of new tracks for new Album. It will be released on Zenon records for sure and dance tracks will be a core of it. After last gigs I’ve found that for me 140 bpm and several harmonic modes work better, so most of tracks are in this tempo. But I want this album to be the next step in my production, so I will try to put downtempo tracks there as well. And as far as I try to make every Album as a journey, it will be a new challenge! And I am still a big lover of chillout music, so Dreamstalker’s chillout is also coming! Do you think if a psytrance artist starts making a slow version, let’s say 110 bpm, will it have good responses, or maybe there is something more to be added to chill music to be interesting ? I had this idea many times. And it makes sense. You know, recently I’ve received a remix pack on a track from Seamoon (Zeamoon). It was a really slow track, but when I put it in a software, I’ve start to make a sketch 2x faster than original. So it became 140 bpm Psy-Trance from 70 bpm Psy-Chill. Yes, these things push the borders of creativity, so it’s a great idea, and always nice addition for fans. What do you think about fast psytrance 145 bpm and faster ? Have you tried to produce it ? Most of tracks in my dance set are 140 bpm now. I have a track in 150 bpm also, but there is no case to play it in my set, because it’s completely other frequency and state of mind. Not many people know that tempo is more important that track’s harmony in terms of working with our brain. Tempo is also a frequency: for example 120 bpm is 120 beats per minute and when we divide 120 / 60 (seconds in minute) we have a frequency of 2 Hz! Then if we multiply 2Hz on 2 which gives us same note, but in the next octave, we have 2-4-8-16-32-64-128-256 Hz harmonics and so on… I want to say that a track tempo is also a frequency, and, as science say, much more powerful for a brain, and if the tempo is constant, our brain and body catch this frequency and we feel changing in our perception. That’s why music genres have strict tempo ranges. Can you imagine Deep House in 145bpm? So for me better to make music in tempo that can fit in my live set. It’s better to have more new tunes to play on a gig, rather that just have them on my computer or in Internet. Of course I will try something faster, but later! What about techno / minimal 125-128 ? Have you tried to produce it , does it inspire you ? My music trip started with minimal techno played from vinyl. These grooves are so close to me. Like a home. I can produce decent tech track in a couple of days, because I have a very strong feeling of this vibe. It’s already inside me. With Psy music it’s more challenging for me to make a track. And I really want to do a techno minimal stuff and have some tracks, but not so much to play a set, so it will be later, because of time… Do you see big difference between psytrance festivals in Russia and in other countries ? In common they look pretty similar. But there is something to say here. Maybe I don’t have very big festival experience to judge, but I feel that in Russia people can come to festival once a year and spend most of the time sitting in a forest, rather than listening to music on a dancefloor. I didn’t see same thing anywhere else. Personally it’s fine, anyone can do it, but for the festival it’s not good, because beautiful dancefloors with strong line-up are sometimes empty. I remember Kliment’s set on chillout stage in the morning and only few people around. But anyway I love Russian festivals Trimurti and Chillout Planet. Hope this festival culture here will grow faster every year. We just need more people here coming to festivals. Last 2-3 years they simply had less money, so some people didn’t come. I remember festivals in 2012/2013 – there were so many people there… Last year less, but it is just a question of time. In terms of music, location and design, big Russian festivals like Trimurti and Chillout Planet have a good level of production. By the way, all Dreamstalker music will be presented on Chillout Planet Festival in July 2017. Which downtempo / psychill / psybient artists from ex-USSR are interesting for you ? Vena Portae, Mindex, Astropilot, Translippers, Advanced Dreams, Kayatma, Sutra, Ikarushka, Astronaut Ape, Electrosoul System… there are more for sure, every festival I hear a lot of talented artists, but don’t remember all names. Which downtempo /psychill / psybient artists from other parts of the world are most interesting for you ? Right now I am thinking about super deep set of a guy from Yggdrasil/Kurbeats projects. He played different kind of stuff this summer in Russiaб and it was a magic. Completely different approach on mixing instruments and beats. I’ve learned interesting things during his set. Also recently I was impressed by Seamoon with his “Expression of The Moment” — very eclectic and trippy. Happy to make a remix on a track from it right now. Interesting things going on in Merkaba music releases. Some of them sound really fresh. How do you see the difference between psychill and psybient ? It is not my question I think. Because I don’t put a big difference here. Now let’s talk about your PRODUCTION : What advice can you give to people who are starting music production ? Good idea is to learn your instruments really well. Everything from a sequencer and effects to sound systems and synths. Mixing is also an instrument, especially in electronic music. Now it is much more easy than years ago. This will give you a confident skills to bring ideas to life. Also you should see your music in a big perspective, like when you see the painting with everything around the canvas at one moment. It gives a bigger picture and can help with a concept of your project / album / track. Many people ask how to find a unique style. I’ve learned that it’s a good idea first to try everything that’s coming out, that you really enjoy, let it be chillout or fullon, doesn’t matter, because after a while you will see something interesting coming, not an ordinary music style, but your own mixture of colours. Go deeper in this mix, and it can become a unique sound of your music. It will be interesting for you, and so will it be to music culture. I don’t want to listen one more “Ok Trance track”, but I want to listen to a new kind of it, new mixing, new instruments, new approach. Also I have a strong feeling that Psy music can be much more experimental. So many tracks sounds completely same. It is more about straight dance music sure. I try to create a unique story and music blend in every track. It can be more difficult, but it is more interesting for me and, as I believe, more valuable for music culture. And I am very happy that it works: people are grateful, and I’ve heard a warm feedback from very experienced Artists on this side of my music. It gives real support. A good advice for people who starts: look for video tutorials, take pieces of advice from experienced producers, don’t be shy to meet some of them on festivals and ask your question. Sometimes trying to make a question already gives you answers. And try to use not so many instruments on a start. It’s a mistake of most newcomers. Using many plugins will be confusing. It’s better to learn eq’s and compressors, which are already in your sequencer, than download all plugins you’ve seen on youtube videos. Take your time… Somebody needs 6 months to make a good track, another one — 6 years, and it’s fine. Life of every human is a unique story, so don’t compare yourself with others too much. Tell us about Zwook.ru project and how do you see it’s future ? We make russian music tutorials there, we give feedback for students, we make contests and release some good works, which you can find there for free. Our team now works on a new website engine that will provide easy search and access to the content. In the future I see this website as a main resource for Russian speaking producers to find knowledge online. Can you advise any alternatives for the english speakers ? English speakers have much less opportunity to learn, because we work in russian. He-he. Though you can find almost everything about production on Youtube + there are really big websites as sonicacademy.com / puremix.net / ask.audio, and of course great guys like Mr.Bill and Tom Cosm, who brings light to the world of production. You are working mostly in Ableton. What is so good about it? Is there any other DAW which is interesting from your opinion ? I’ve started with Ableton in 2006 maybe, and since then it’s been my favourite. Simple, easy and very flexible. All modern DAWs are great. It’s a matter of choice, not the specific sound, because with plugins you will have same sound in any DAW. Ableton is good for its unique live mode. It’s fantastic to play with it. I often start new tracks in this mode, and if i play with other musicians or doing a live set, Session View in Ableton is the best here. Can you share with us name of 5 favourites synths for basslines ? I use only 3 ways for basslines: Ableton Operator, Moog (any real one) and Sampler to manipulate samples which could be turned into a bass instrument or to add a top layer for an existing bassline. I use them with different effects like EQ, filters, compressors, saturators, volume shapers. What are the most important effects not to be missed in electronic music production? Volume, Pan and Eq are really important. So simple, but at the same time so important. Deep understanding of these things already opens the doors to many interesting effects in production. Filters are very important as well. They are everywhere: in synths, in many effects, as standalone plugins and finally in EQ, that is just a bunch of filters. So understanding filtering will give you a lot of must have skills. It’s a good idea to look for tutorials about filtering, to understand what is HP/LP/BP… what is resonance, and actually to try a lot of different filters. The secret is that every filter sounds differently. Use it. Compression is on the next place. Every producer should learn how it really works and how to set it fast. There is a certain algorithm that is used for ages. With the right compression you can make a solid mix of sounds, like when you put things in a box… Bad compression will ruin the sound and make it plain. Good compression will put everything together, glue the mix and make a groove stronger, like when everything plays together really well. Space is important. At the beginning raw sounds of samples and synths stand on one line, if you imagine it from one speaker to another. When you put every sound in a virtual room, a track becomes deeper, wider and more real to the ears of listener. So finding a good reverb algorithms and working with them are very important. If we talk about creative effects, delay is the most important. With delay you can do so many good things. Not just adding simple echo, but giving extra dimensions to a track. That’s interesting. And here I can recommend my favourite delay “Echoboy” and “Crystallizer” from Soundtoys. These plugins are the best delays I know, and they give really creative ways to work with them. And a top sound level. This is also important. What are the plugins you use on your master ? Most of the time it’s just a limiter, that prevents clipping and provides proper volume. But when it comes to finalize a track to play it I use iZotope Ozone 6/7. It gives all things you need on mastering stage. What are your own 2-5 favourites tracks for chill ? Together, Mercury, Once again. What are your own 2-5 favourites tracks for main floor ? Wonderful, Complete Freedom, Summer Storm, Spirals and some new tracks that are still not released. What artists on electronic music inspire you the most ? Maybe Trentemoller with his ‘The Last Resort’ album was a big inspiration for a long time. Of course a lot of tracks here and there influenced my inspiration. I don’t remember these names. What artists in non-electronic music inspire you the most ? I really enjoy world music and learn a lot from it. I can recommend Artists like: Avi Adir (his flute you hear on many tracks of Dreamstalker), Anoushka Shankar, Ravi Shankar, Ash Dargan, Byron Metcalf, David Kuckhermann, Dean Can Dance, Inlakesh, Kailash Kokopelli, Nadishana, Steve Shehan. Rock guys like Beck, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Cure, Muse. I don’t like all their music, just some tracks, but these tracks gave me huge experience. LIVE vs DJ SET: How “live” is your live ? In 2015-2016 my set is made of 2 channels of studio tracks, altered versions and unreleases, 4 channels of loops, samples I try to update regularly. Some interesting FX chains on all channels to manipulate the sound. It already gives me a lot of work and opportunities for building a set. For example, when I feel that dancing people need more energy, I bring some percussion / drum loop on the top, and it always works. Sometimes I experiment with live instruments during the set, but mostly for chillout program. I have different kind of stuff to play. Chillout set in 100-110 bpm, Psygressive 120-130 bpm, and 133-142 bpm progressive psy. But I call all these things Exotic Trance. Do you think it is correct to call LIVE a performance where artist play “mastered versions” of his production with no or just minor “addons” (let’s say with an exttra filter and maybe 1 synth) ? I will tell you a funny story. Once in Goa (India) I had a conversation with a promoter guy. He was collecting info for flyers on a party and was asking me: “Do you play live?” I’ve started to tell him a technical info about my set… and then he sad: “Wait… do you use Ableton Live? Ok, then it’s a live set”. I think that’s a modern answer. I see a lot of producers, even respected ones, who play already made mix of tracks with no edits. Just filter in a mixer sometimes. I can’t say it is completely bad, but it just not challenging, not interesting for a guy on stage, and completely non-flexible kind of set. I came from live music, then I’ve been djing for 3 years, hence flexibility, chances to make something unexpectable is the beauty of the live performance for me. So I really sorry for people who hit “play” only once during their performance. If the music is good and people are dancing and smiling — it’s already enough, but for a producer it can be much deeper experience to have even just 1-2 channels with loops and effects, so as to add extra groove and space into a set in the moment. To have extra control in the moment is very important. Hey, 1-2 channels with loops is so simple, why not to try? Best things that I’ve learned about making music came during live sets. Once I was playing @ Sulawesi Eclipse Festival in Indonesia, and suddenly one guy from a dancefloor looked at me, it was a feeling of some connection between us; and I’ve just turned the effect knobs on my loop channel, and that combination gave me unexpected results with amazing sound. So I’m always looking forward for this magic moments during a live set. HARDWARE: What is your favourite hardware synth ? Virus TI Polar, which you can hear on albums from 2012-2014. Mac vs PC ? I’ve been using Mac since 2008. I really like the quality of their laptops, especially pro unibody models from 2012-2013. Which sound-card do you use now to record and produce in studio and to play live ? I have various interfaces: NI 2, Zoom H6, Infrasonic Deux. I am thinking about upgrading to RME or UAD which have better converters, more inputs/outputs and internal effects. Many young producers ask a question, how big will be a difference between a basic sound-card (let’s say 100 usd Native Instruments Audio 2) and a mid/top level (let’s say RME). Please answer both in context of producing (without recording instruments) at home and playing the live set for people. The main difference in soundcards are AD/DA converters, that make analog sound (like a microphone) become digital to work with it on a computer, and then back to analog to send it to speakers/headphones/mixer. Better converters give better sound. It is especially important when you record instruments from outside of computer. If you don’t, then only D/A converters are important for you, when you play live especially. So here it is enough to have even simple 70-100$ soundcard. EXTRA MUSIC QUESTIONS: You are a young father, congratulations. How does it influence on you as on the artist ? We had a natural birth together with my wife in Bumi Sehat (Bali), and I can say it was a psychedelic trip for everyone around. I believe that natural birth is a must have experience for many people. It gives a deeper sense of life. Having baby takes a lot of time, but it gives a lot of power and feelings. Now I look on music and music events differently, I often ask myself — if I want my child to be here with me? Sometimes a party comes to dirty energy, which I don’t want to feel around. I see many options to make events cleaner and warmer, to provide higher energy. I give these concepts to my friends-organizers and hope that they will use them in future. Where is your home now and why you choose it ? We have a house in Crimea since 2012. It was a long story with it and probably not very interesting for you. We’ve also spent some years in Bali and Goa. I love these magic places! What are your daily / weekly rituals ? I try to work on my body regularly because hours of music production can be harmful for it. Simple things like stretching and planks works. Do you do yoga or meditations ? Yes, since 2008 I’ve been doing meditation. It completely changed my life to much deeper experience. What are the book(s) you advise everyone to read ? I just realized I have not been reading books for years. I spent a lot of time on my music, tutorial project, family and travelling… so reading books is still ahead. I really want to take a break for a week or something and read a couple of books. What are the book(s) connected the music that you advise everyone to read ? Mixing with your mind, Zen Guitar, Mathemagical music production What are your interests apart of music and making kids ? Ha-ha, I am not a professional kid-maker, I have just one daughter. A big part of our life is travelling. In 2010 with my girl we’ve left our hometown in Siberia and started to travel. It is very important part of our life. To travel is a good advice. While travelling you come to better and deeper realization of who you are. Living for months in completely different culture does work in an interesting way. And the last question, what is your goal as music artist ? How do you see it ? To provide energy from the outside of our daily world. In altered realities, beyond time and space, there is a wisdom people are searching for. Our music connects people on different levels and give a lot of realizations and inspiration. After years listening and playing music I’ve found that it’s a vibrational codes, which can be used for many things. With the right music it is possible to cure people. Though the main goal of my music is a way to experience The One with everything in the Universe. It was a long one, isn’t it ? Nikita, Thank you for your time, it was a pleasure to know more about you! If you wish to transmit a message to our readers please do it We have a great ability to travel, make music and art, share love and create beautiful space. So let’s keep going with it! It was nice to answer interesting questions, hope it is worth reading. Links: http://soundcloud.com/dreamstalker http://fb.com/dreamstalkerclub

Artist: Hinkstep (Jonas Tegenfeldt) Date: November 2016 By: DJ Chien This interview has been copied at the request of Psybient.org. https://www.psybient.org/love/interview-with-hinkstep/ We are happy to publish an interview with the Swedish master Hinkstep (Jonas Tegenfeldt). Interview made by DJ Chien. 1) How did you get into electronic music, particularly Psychill? I started out playing the drums in my mother’s basement, mostly to rock music like Nirvana and a big dose of Guns’n’Roses. In my early teens I got in contact with drum’n’bass and triphop (Roni Size, Goldie, Massive Attack, Portishead) and during that time I downloaded a cracked version of Fruity Loops and started experiment with electronic music. It wasn´t until I had my first psychedelic experience that opened my mind for psychedelic downtempo music and albums, like Converting Vegeterians with Infected Mushroom was a big influence at that time and a couple years later the Hinkstep project was born. 2) What about the electronic scene in Sweden, particularly concerning Psychill? The electronic music scene in Sweden is great I guess, but I can´t really tell about the psychill scene because I don´t really listen to any psychill at all haha. 3) What might inspire you? (not only musically speaking…as Simon Posford said, anything can be an inspiration) My inspiration mostly comes from music in any shape, everything from singer/songwriter music to drum’n’bass and progressive rock. Generally I don´t like to put music in different genres except good or bad music, I try to listen and get inspiration from good music A great view or a magical forest also tend to inspire a lot. 4) Your debut album “Sunrise From The Treetops” begins with an odd 9/4 rhythmic signature, much uncommon in electronic music. Have you been studying music theory or anything like that? I took some drum lessons when I was young, but it was more an excuse to skip classes and play music instead, I didn´t really learn anything. But I´ve always had a fascination for signatures other than the classic, it kind of stimulates the brain in ways that that 4/4 never could. 5) Do you always compose with the same place/setup and how might it affect the way you produce? I have never made a song outside my own setup. It´s super important for me to have all my plugins, my speakers/headphones and even the sensitivity settings for the mouse in a way that it’s comfortable and familiar. All this so I can be 100% focused on the actual music making. 6) When producing a track/album, do you sometimes have a precise master plan in mind before playing or do you just follow the pen? Just follow the pen brother, for me emotions run the show totally. It´s impossible to make music if it doesn´t come from the heart, I have tried, but it feels fake and never leaves the “loop stadium”. 7) When composing/mixing/mastering, is there a workflow that suits you better? Or do you just hit the board at any hour and stop when you’re exhausted? I´m always waiting for the “flow”, you know that true blast of inspiration that comes when you least expect it. This can occur anytime, any place and anyhow. Just going with the flow and I´ll have a song made in a day or two. 8) Any favourite piece of gear (hardware, software, voodoo puppet…) in your studio or live setup? There are a few things that I couldn´t live without: Cubase, Soundtoys, Softube and my preciuos Moog Little Phatty. Those pieces are more or less used in every song I have made so far. 9) Any collab you’d dream about? With another producer / filmmaker / visual artist / Martian intelligence…? I would love to work with José González (Swedish singer/songwriter), Steven Wilson and Joakim Berg from the Swedish rock band Kent. 10) Can you manage to do a living with your music only? And if not, would you think of it as a possibility for you? At this moment I cannot make a living from music alone. I wish I could make a living from it one day and I do think it’s possible, but the main thing is that I’m having fun doing what I do and if that could somehow pay the bills, well I would be very happy. 11) Any thought about future technology? Stuff like Virtual Reality and how it could affect music playing and listening? Brain to MIDI would be a nice feature skip that “playing the keyboard” part. 12) Make a wish: in a parallel universe, is there any era and place on Earth you’d like to travel to because of the music down there? Right here, right now. I think we are living in an era where cool music is being born everyday, and it is exciting as f*ck! Thank you for your time … if you wish to transmit a message to our readers please do it A huge thanks for all the support and love you have given me throughout the years. I´ve met so many beautiful souls around the world thanks to the music <3

Artist: Dragon Twins Date: Dec 20, 2017 By: UES Mag This interview has been copied from UES Mag at the request of Neogoa Dragon Twins: It’s not only where you are or with how many, there are a lot of other things that, when added up, makes some moments unforgettable Dragon Twins is a project le by Mathias Pico from Belgium. About 10 years ago, he came in contact with goa trance and soon he started experimenting with it. Today he plays under Cronomi Records label (If I Wasn’t Humand I’d be A Trance Track, 2013.), but also has releases on UAF’s Goa Overdose 3 compilation, 2013. – “Fire and Earth”, an EP on Neogoa Records Only For The Wicked, 2014. and a track released on Suntrip’s Aurora Sidera, 2015. This saturday, he will perform live in Stara škola (Novi Marof) so we wanted to know him a little more.. UES: How did you came up with the name Dragon Twins? DT: Around the same time I was finding my way in producing goa trance and looking for a name for this project, I found out that I am actually one part of a twin. Sadly my other half didn’t get to see life on this earth before it was born. It kind of felt like finding a piece of a missing puzzle though, and I decided to use the name ‘Dragon Twins’, in reference to the year I was born, that of the Dragon, and to remind myself to try and create music that would have the fire and energy of not just one but two people combined. That’s why ‘twins’ is plural: it’s more a name for the project that is this music, instead of just an alias for me personally. UES: How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before? DT: Hmmm, hard to tell… Nocturnal trance music for your inner caveman, perhaps! UES: Any thoughts about current state of newschool goa scene? DT: It’s active, but honestly I don’t follow it as I used to. There are a couple of names and labels that I follow, in the forest trance scene as well. There are a handful interesting releases every year, but I feel that not much people are looking for new boundaries. It’s a genre that has a lot of potential regarding going different directions, which when it reigned the couple of years in the nineties has shown. It needs more experiments right now I think, so I’m curious what the future will bring. UES: How does your live look like? DT: You mean live sets right? Well, what I do when bringing gear to a gig is not an issue is this: a mixer (with at least 10 tracks), my 5 unit rack with all kinds of effects in it, and about 3 to 4 synthesizers. Depending which one, I can have up to 6 synthesizer tracks and 4 audio tracks from my DAW going to the mixer, and mix everything on the fly. I don’t do much sequencing myself, I rather tweak all the tracks with effects on the mixer, and modulate every synthesizer that is running. Fun! That’s only when I do live sets in Belgium though, going abroad with all that gear is a whole different story. In the future I’d like to sequence without a laptop, because I don’t like looking at a screen all the time, but we’ll see! ((oops)) maybe I misunderstood, the question was how my everyday life looks like? (smile) I’m a freelance sound recordist, mainly for TV and fiction. The free time I have I spend on bouldering (a climbing discipline), reading books about time and the universe and trying to wrap my head around all those theories, analog photography and synthesizers of course. UES: Which gear are you bringing for this party? DT: Well probably a Minibrute SE, a xoxbox and a Dreadbox Erebus. 3 great instruments that stand on their own. UES: Where did you enjoy playing at most? DT: That’s a though one! I remember the first time I went to play in Israel, I was arriving at the party near the desert around sunrise, and hundreds of people were already dancing… Very cool! When I play live in Belgium I can bring a lot of my gear with me though, and that’s where the real fun starts. It takes more effort and can be a bit nerve-wrecking, but the reward is so much bigger. One of the most fun times I had was actually on a small private party with only 50 people, but the connection I had with the crowd was truly great. It’s not only where you are or with how many, there are a lot of other things that, when added up, makes some moments unforgettable. UES: When can we expect album or new releases? DT: Yeah, an album… Something in my head for a long time, but that hasn’t had the chance to complete yet. I’m a freelancer and I don’t have a 9 to 5 agenda, which affects my time making music. So I’ve learned to stop setting this deadline. But the end of 2018 would be nice! Plans are coming together, the path in which way I want the music to go is showing, so we’ll get there. The sure thing is that it will be on Cronomi Records, and that it must be something different, a concept as a whole. Not just 9 four-to-the-floor dance tracks after each other. This December there’s a new track out released on Dimensional Gateway V, of Croation label Neogoa Records, so be sure to check that out! One of the most interesting labels around, I hope I can be part of it a lot more in the future. UES: Anything else you would like to tell us? DT: Yeah I have some new music for the album which I will test on the Croatian dancefloor 23rd of December, so be sure to come out and have a blast! Croatia is one of the big countries regarding the newschool scene, so I look forward meeting the people! Thanks for your questions, hope you can do something with my answers. UES: Sure we did. Thank you for the interview and see you on the dance floor! For all of you reading and wondering where is your next stop, we recommend 2nd anniversary of Goawakening. -K&M-

We ask the artists. Usually the rights have returned to them (licensing contract ended or record label closed). Then we make a direct deal with them.

As you can guess we're seriously busy with the Apsara Festival now... ...but here's some Suntrip Music News !!! "Ecstatic Planet" is the debut album of one of the most talented goa-trance producers these days: Triquetra! These Belgian twins, Elric & Jurian, are blowing away the scene and played allover the world already, Israel and Japan included! Why? Because their music simply kicks ass! Acidic, uplifting but melodic for all lovers of old school goa-trance! We even heard people making a link with old Cosmosis... Can you handle that? The journey starts with a melodic track, which is supposed to be the Gate to Happiness! Good, because indeed, happiness is imminent: The following tracks are pure blissfull acidic old school goa-trance! A good portion of TB303 & acid sounds, uplifting melodies, old school kicks and an interesting rhythm section! With "Gargantuan Tribes" they take a break from the madness, and show their other side: tribal trance with live didgeridoo and drums! The second part of the album evolves to more typical melodic goa-trance for the morning hours! Many dancefloors already exploded with this music, we hope you will too! Release date is Janury 19th, and if you can't hold your breath until then, you better get your hands on the samples on the release page ! Aaah this one is a jewel...One of the most distinguished trail-blazing legends of the nineties Goa movement, Ray Castle, has salvaged his DATs from a rhyzome time capsule stash containing artefacts from a truly revolutionary epoch. "Mystique Of The Metaverse" is a pedigree selection of tracks resulting from mind-melding sessions at the apogee of Goa trance’s ascension as a multi valiant style of dance music nuanced in metaphysics and cosmos and psyche. And they have been remastered by Tim Schuldt from the original DAT tapes! DJ-ing in Goa, India, from the late eighties, Ray was able to translate the ultra word “Goa-state-of-mind” into this numinous music, seminal to psychedelic-intentioned dance music for wilderness settings. Game changer, Rhthmystec, is testimony to his long-term relationship with Nick Taylor and what was happening in Byron Bay in the mid-nineties. An artistic catalyser in Japan from the late eighties, he made parties and collaboratively conjured tracks. Time Traveller Of Trance was channeled with Masayuki Kurihara above his family restaurant, to become a Goa masterpiece, now reanimated with JoyfullNative’s stellar remix. In the Roland robot kingdom, under the spell the far East, he had visions of a “neuro tribe” with Susumu Yokota and Take Tokuda, out of which came the Sonic Sufi sessions. Deep in the Australian bush, together with Nick Spacetree and Mark Turner, he engaged in rituals and field recordings in the company of disembodied spirits and extra-terrestrials. These paranormal, and out of the body, experiences are Insectoid. In the great Suntrip mixup tradition, this SUNCD47 will be released on February 9th, after Triquetra's SUNCD48, and guess what ? I just made the samples available on the release page. Still here ? OK. Morphic Resonance's second album, codename SUNCD49 is next. It's almost ready and it will kick your ass in your bedroom as surely as it did at Connection. Expect the massage in April. Then we have no other choice but to release our "mythic" SUNCD50 compilation during spring before Apsara :) The concept: CD1: Sunshine Goa CD2: Darker Goa CD3: <surprise-surprise> We're already selecting tracks but don't hesitate to submit some more promos! We seriously have no idea of what we'll release in the second semester, we just know several other artists are still working on their new albums: Celestial Intelligence (2nd album), Cosmic Dimension (2nd album), Merr0w (2nd album "Odysseus"), Mindsphere (the 3rd "Mental Triplex")... We sure hope the prospect of seeing you dance at Apsara will give them extra motivation !!!! Have a sweet sweet year 2018 and see you on the dancefloor!

By the way I just wrote a (rather) long post on the Suntrip blog for more 2018 information + samples !

Yeah exactly! Thanks for noticing it. By the way I just wrote a (rather) long post on the Suntrip blog for more 2018 information + samples !

We were very close from not having any news for 1 year. Which are not news because it seems nothing moved. See you in 6 months then.

Let's say the mastering engineer has a much lower degree of action once the music is already mastered/limited/compressed.

This thread aims at listing all Psynews benefactors over the years. As you may know, Psynews is non-profit and runs on a dedicated server that some of us have been paying with their own money for years. Since the summer 2017, we have now an Indiegogo campaign for those kind enough to help us and support the site financially. Communications here and here. We believe we have to show some respect to those without whom the site wouldn't exist anymore. Hence we present you the Psynews Hall Of Fame !! Manu Psysurfeur (FR), who has been paying for the server hosting psynews together with his own sites since 2007! Children (FR), for buying the psynews.org domain name with me back in 2001 Moni (RO), very early Psynews member who helped with the first board license in 2006 Tatsu (CH), for the same reason Nemo (SE), for the same reason - RIP my friend Martin DeathPosture (DK), for the same reason and for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Vladimir (RU), for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Phil Wild (UK), for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Antti (FI), for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 chrizzftd, for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Trunksan, for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Luis Pabon aka BlackStarrFinale (ES, Neogoa Rec), for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Ivan Paric aka Richpa (HR, Neogoa Rec), for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Jérôme Lesterps aka Proxeeus (FR, Goa Madness Rec), for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Colin Bennun (UK, OOOD+Mastering studio), for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Jose Serna, for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Thanos Papadimitropoulos aka DJ Ene-miss (UK?), for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 jon (UK), for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 drambon, for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 punit.shetty, for donating to the fundraiser in 2017 Daniel Wilde, for donating in 2018 Losy Curtis, for donating in 2018 THANK YOU ALL - Psynews lives thanks to you ! (PS: if you think I forgot you, please shout!)

That kind of answer rocks!! Why don't you uplaod it to discogs?

I am still very happy with my AKG K240 MK2 at home + Creative Labs Aurvana In-Ear 3+ at work https://www.amazon.com/AKG-240-Semi-Open-Studio-Headphones/dp/B0001ARCFA/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507236396&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=AKG+K240+MK2 https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Aurvana-Ear-Noise-Isolating-Headphones/dp/B004SNCZ3K/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1507236428&sr=8-1&keywords=Creative+Labs+Aurvana+In-Ear+3%2B

The hardest is to convince the artist to do it, for a reasonable price. Some are OK with it, some don't because they prefer to promote their newer music. The music has to be available in good quality. Either by getting the tracks from the artist himself (from our experience there's 2 kinds of artists: those who don't have their own tracks, and those who are anal with them and have kept every recording and midi files), or by ripping the original CD with 100% accuracy -which is hard to find will you repeat- (and no remastering is possible), or by ripping the master DAT from back then and restoring the parts with static, ripping the vinyls and cleaning them, or even re-recording the tracks... The other issue is the rights. Who actually owns the tracks in 2017 ? It's a hell of a mess and there's lots of grey areas... The artwork is also a pain in the neck. It's a risk to scan the original artwork: the image will be ugly because of the offset patterns (see image below). There, either you find the original artist who may have kept the artwork or knows how to reproduce it (our case with Dimension 5 Transdimensional), or you remake it from scratch (also our case sith Asia 2001 Psykadelia, or Zion 604 with Tandu's Multimoods - that's a lot of work), or you scan anyway and apply some median/gaussian filters and hope for the best (what Inpsyde used to do), or you do some totally different artwork. It's not THAT difficult overall. But most labels can't only live in the past and also have newer stuff to release. If you're in for getting into this niche and re-releasing some old gems, I'd be happy to give you some hints, really. Another thing we could do IMO is release some old vinyl-only tracks on CD (or digitally). Like you said, oldschool Goa music is hard to find as downloads (well, it's finadable but you need to read cyrillic...)

HelloPsynews has been delivering psytrance news and forums FOR FREE since January 2000! From a recycled Pentium II 400 with 16Mb ram running FreeBSD in a wardrobe connected to some home ADSL line......to a recycled Athlon 1.3 Ghz with 1Gb ram (running Windows, and which eventually caught fire!) connected to a faster ADSL line......to another recycled machine running Linux......to a dedicated Linux server in a proper datacenter, with proper backup, and a 1Gbps line !!! This server also runs suntriprecords.com, psysurfeur.com, filteria.com, toidoi.fr, 604bookings.com and a couple of other websites related to Psysurfeur's job. Manu Psysurfeur (http://psysurfeur.com), a Goatrance veteran who's been filming parties for 10+ years, has been paying 36€ incl VAT each month for that dedicated server since 2008! I donate him 100€ when I can/remind to. We've also paid for domain names, SSL certificates, mail service, and we updated/upgraded/tuned/secured/monitored the server and its websites for free! All these years. Psynews also runs on an Invision board, which is super stable and cool, but its licensing model changed and it costs $50/year now. Therefore, in the summer 2017 we started an Indiegogo generosity campaign to raise funds to keep the site going. We had to move to GoFundMe since. https://www.gofundme.com/psynews-org-board-and-domain-upgrade More than $300 were gathered in a few days, which allowed to renew the domain for several years, and purchase several semesters worth of forum licenses. THANKS for that. The site is safe for now, but please remember: if you enjoyed surfing on Psynews, if you learned interesting things about Psytrance, met great people, found out about yummy releases or parties, then it would be really appreciative of yours to donate a few € every other year to help us. >> The Psynews GoFundMe generosity campaign << Thank you in advance

Note we can install more themes. Some of them are ultra nice but you need to pay for them.

Here is the license conversion invoice, which is zero $, thankfully, as we explained in the fundraiser. Now we'll only have to pay $25 per semester for the license renewal. 2017-09-18 Psynews license conversion.pdf

Wow this is just incredible, you made it happen, we reached the goal in just a few hours! Thanks so much for your generosity! Since then, we got our IPB license converted, and I managed to upgrade to IPB 4.2. That was tough. I added $250 in credits on the Invision account, which will provide for 5 years worth of license renewals! The rest of the money (+what I received via paypal) will go to extend the domain name validity.

Great inititative!

Hello This post is issued by Insejn, RTP (admin/moderators) and I (tech support). We are launching an Indiegogo generosity campaign for Psynews: https://igg.me/at/D9j5urd2QHc As you may know, Psynews has been completely free since it started 18 years ago: Hosting, Domain name, forum software, mainteanance, all paid by its creators and a few supporters (Manu / Psysurfeur, Fabien / Suntrip, the moderation team, a few kind sponsors (Daemon...)). Back in 2006, following spam issues, the moderator team purchased a so-callled "perpetual" Invision Power Board license to replace the previous archaic board and everything went fine for years. However, in 2016, as it introduced its v4, Invision services managed to get rid of those perpetual licenses! See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invision_Power_Board#Version_4.x.x Outraged by this move, the moderators team decided not to upgrade to IPB v4. However, since April 1st 2017, the Psynews.org community is at risk as no more security patches are distributed for IPB v3. The Psynews community is now calling upon your generosity to fund several years worth of Invision Board v4 licensing. We've been in contact with the Invision Support Team and here the deal we came up with: In order to upgrade to version 4, you would need to have a standard license agreement. We can switch out your perpetual licence for a standard licence free of charge if you would like to upgrade to this release. This would then mean that there is no charge to convert your legacy license to a Standard License. Once that has been done, going forward, the cost would be $25 every 6 months to renew support, for ticket access and software updates. Awesome! That means we would NOT have to pay the one-off $100+$100 for Core + IPB product (see https://invisioncommunity.com/buy/self-hosted), but ONLY for license renewal, $25 per semester. What's included? Ongoing access to new software versions, including major updates Technical support for the entire renewal period The IPS Spam Defender service, to protect your community against spam Access to the IPS Marketplace for new themes and addons Customer-only peer-to-peer support forums The technical upgrade and maintenance will be performed by us, and will be, as usual, free of charge. Furthermore, the psynews.org domain name is expiring by the end of september 2017. We'd also like your help to keep it going for a year or two. The price for a "dot org" domain is 15,50€/year (+21% VAT) with our registrar, Gandi.net, which is one of the cheapest. See: https://v4.gandi.net/domain/price/detail/org/ The goal set here is for 3 years worth of renewals ($25 * 2 * 3 + 15.50€ * 1.21 * 3 ~ $220). By then, Psynews.org will be 20 years old, and we can be proud it is amongst the very few sites that have been up for more than two thirds of the whole Intenet lifetime! The Indiegogo campaign is available here: https://igg.me/at/D9j5urd2QHc Please share!