mars

Label: Schlabbaduerst (David) Date: 08-26-00 By: Anoebis Q: Hey David and thanks for doing this interview... First of all... Why did you start with your own label called Schlabbaduerst ReKkords?? A: Well since our latest release on BooM! Records we had no releases for awhile. We were rejected by some labels because our sound was too heavy. So we decided to release something on our own. People had been asking for music and we had none to offer, but now we do. And we felt we had a lot of good music that we wanted people to hear! * We are having a new release soon on BooM! Records though, Scandosound 2, its gonna be great I think. And a reason to release our own music is to hopefully get a major label interested. Q: Can you give us a brief history about your label?? A: Well we started planning last year and went through mastering in the winter and starting selling the CD on the internet a few months ago. It has been great so far, we have reached quite a number of new people that have been positively surprised when they heard the music. So after a year now things are rolling and its good fun Q: What kind of music do you release on the label?? A: Swedish music only, or rather music from our hometown Uppsala only. We have a certain sound here that we want to promote. We were »raised» in the parties in Örebro in Sweden. They were run by Örebro Underground, a few guys who has been to Goa since 88-89. They know how to make a good psychedelic party and there is always a clear distinction of night and morning music. Thats where we learned everything we know about psychedelic trance and after a while the DJs in Örebro played our music which was great. Most people call our music dark, as in the case of Schlab 001 this is probably true, but we also know the importance of morning music, in fact there can be no morning without night and vice versa. They are equally important, and thats why we released Schlab 002. The thought behind the music is the classic psychedelic trance theme, the journey from night to day, from darkness to light. It has to end in a positive way or its not worth anything. We feel that this kind of feeling has been lost in trance music lately, and we listen to old records such as First Flight from Flying Rhino and realise this music isnt made anymore. Its very hard, very techno, very little strong melodies nowadays. Check »Mr. Fantastic» on Schlab 002 (it can be downloaded from mp3.com/Battlebuddhas for free) it is classic morning music the way its supposed to be. Q: Just because of curiosity... What means "Schlabbaduerst"?? A: Nothing....it is just a weird sound in swedish that doesnt mean anything. It's a power noice word though, like »blam», »slam», »slabbadam» »schlabbaduerst»… I hope this makes sense… Its onomatopoetic. Its the same with »jadoorst», looks a bit dutch * but doesnt mean anything. Ka-SoL is calling their studio Dungeon Jadoorst sometimes…its just a game of words and sounds. Q: Your label is still véry underground, do you want to change that or do you want to keep it there?? A: No, we want to expand. Considering how well the 2 compilations were received and considering we only made a few copies to start with we would like to distribute the CDs to some major distributor. We´re making 500 copies of Schlab 002 right now and I think we can sell them all if we get a good distributor. I think we could probably sell 5000 copies if we were a famous label… Q: How were the selling of your first release? And what are the expected sellings of the second Schlabbaduerst-release?? A: We sold about 50 copies so far of Schlab 001 and about 30 of Schlab 002, and the goal was to sell 100 copies for both compilations through the website. When we sell it through our website we get all the cash ourselves, if we sell to shops we dont get so much. But we expect to sell the 500 copies of Schlab 002 if we give it away for distributing. Its much more fun selling through the website cause you get personal contact with everyone ordering the CDs. Q: Did you already had a label-party or do you have plans in that direction?? A: Not really considering that the club-scene in Sweden is really down, bad and struggling at the moment. We had a nice outdoor party in july, but it wasnt like a label-party. But there was a hell of a lot of Uppsala-music played though. Our parties are free parties. They dont cost much and its not much organising but it's a lot of planning and contacting people so we make one each year, we are too lazy to make more and as soon as we try to make an indoor party the cops would try and stop it. Q: What else can we expect from Schlabbaduerst in the future?? A: There will be a 3rd, red compilation with "horrormusic". Some industrial stuff and some great stuff from a guy from Uppsala called Marchaos. Also some new hard Buddha-tracks that kick ass, and some more Church of the Dead Dog that are really industrial. The Marchaos tracks always work really well with the crowd and people are having fun at the silly »horror» samples from the movie Evil Dead 2. * And after that there will probably be a 4th blue compilation with "dawn-music", more stuff in between night and morning, some excellent stuff from Lulle in Ka-SoL. That will be soft but monotonous yet melodic music, really trancey stuff. Music that just goes on forever and you dont wish it should stop. I think we will wait with releasing any full-length CDs from Buddhas and Ka-SoL to see if we can get some more copies printed of the other compilations first. We want to make good covers then and that costs a lot. The red compilation could possibly be released in the beginning of next year and the blue a few months after that. Thanks for doing the interview!! )) Thank you, and keep up the good work with the website! :-) You can have more infos about Schlabbaduerst label at http://m1.182.telia.com/~u18200010/Schlab.html !

Artist: Sandman (Izik Levy) Date: 03-12-00 By: DQ Q: How would you describe your music in few words ? A: Open minded music...with fusion style of more than one style I think it's hard to describe my music (even i think that ) cause I made a lot of styles, from CYBERPUNK to goa and nintendo influenced music, probably the next album will be folk music HAha Q: Why did you start making your music and when did you start? A: I guess I didn't have anything better to do... no but I've been in couple of bands at age 15-16 doing metal stuff and making shows in some of the biggest clubs around (roxen), after the scene died out the natural was to start doing electronic music!!??(as a keyboard player that is) Q: What music and what artists do you like? And what artists / music has inspired you to start making the music you make? A: I like most film music (I have at last dvd for that shit:) it's just better! then any music style exist right now(what to compare..house,club, trance... no thanks in our scene i like most a project called DUBBLE DRAGON... (the hi hat work-too much:) music that influenced me is like- juno reactor (no it's not possible:) skinny puppy (no shit;) infected mushroom (now that is not true hehe) and more.. Q: How do you feel about Witchcraft compared to Psychotoons? do you prefer one album in front of the other? A: Good Q,well I don't think you can compare between an old Mustang (65) and a brand new Ferrari,different world no? like those two albums they have different style, different atmosphere ,different purpose, hope the ppl will understand that Q: I felt Psychotoons being more for the dancefloor, is that something you agree with or what do you think? Was it hard to meet the expectations from the audience because of the first album which was very good? A: Yes ,I tried to make this cd more dancable than Witchcraft but I think/remember when i played for instance Shockwave back in 97 I saw panic on the dancefloor... expectations? Didn't got any:( Q: How long did it take to produce both albums? A: It took me about 3 years minus the playstation sessions and the searching of my haski dog (fucking mouse) every day it run away,ah i forgot the feeding sessions of the piranhas fish(9) Q: Both albums are very good, but what made you change your style from Witchcraft to Psychotoons and are you happy with the results? A: The drugs ! My drug now is the playstation (try it & you'll never stop!) and yes i'm happy from the reactions i get (from the normal ppl!!), but i do think that the witchcraft days (album) are over ,ppl just don't bother understanding this music (janer) Q: Which is your favourite song and why? Choose one from yourself and maybe one from another artists. A: One of my fav is-NATURAL BORN KILLER. TIP, wonder if the new psy generation even heard music from that year... other artists -juno reactor:HAHALILIM or all the tracks of them between the 1st and the 2nd album Q: Which is your favourite album and why? Choose one from yourself and maybe one from another artists. A: I like what we made in the old band i've been with ORPHAND-LAND:sahara and definetly juno reactor:1st & 2nd albums Q: What are your future projects? A: I and Chakra planing an album together (as Witchcraft!!) also a full on project will be released soon on Hommega recs and a crazy 3rd cd from Sandman (back to metal) Q: When do you think psy trance was at its peak? Is it now or was it many years ago? And why do you think so? A: Now nnnnow nnow now now NO! psy trance was at its peak some year ago when we still bean inventing this shit, when every track was like a GALGAL SHINAYIM (the componant inside the clock ) today...forget about it ... Q: How do you think psy trance will develop from now on? A: Full on will still be full on ,psytrance from europe will stay like that ,but every new talented act will come along and will bring his version of the store Q: How did you come up with your name (Sandman)? A: I had many names before,at present: Witchcraft ,Green house effect, Resistance activity and Sandman. I like the store behind this name (go the sleep and qyzer soza will come to you ,ohhh sorry sandman will come to you HEhe:) Q: Is there any artists that u would really like to work with? A: Really !would be Juno reactor !! But on the ground would be this Dubble dragon group Q: What do you do except from making and playing music? A: Nothing much..I try to focus on the art life (dont want to make pahzaniyot (like donuts) again hehe btw: i have an ALASKAN MALAMUTES puppies soon !! anyone wants? Q: What's your musical background from earlier years when not creating this kind of music? A: I've been learning music when i was at age 7 for like 1/2 a year and stopped that cause of boredom after that i was a freelancer a film composing sounds charming for me too, mmmmm Thanks alot Izik, bye! You're welcome, bye!

Artist: Ra (Christer Borge-Lunde) Date: 06-20-01 By: Children Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself to know you better ? A: I'm currently living in the outskirts of Oslo, Norway. I'm 25 years old, and I have been making music since the age of 16. I'm musically trained in saxophone, but after I started making computer music I haven't used it much (but I'm planning to get a sax MIDI controller!). As for my personality, I guess I would have to say that I'm the kind of person that likes to have alot of things going at the same time. Which is not only frustrating at times, but very confusing I like to take the initiative to get things done, and I like to have control or atleast a full overview over all things I am involved with......hehehe...now this is starting to sound like a job interview, so NEXT QUESTION PLEASE!...hehehehe Q: Ok :-) What about your musical background (studies, first compositions) ? A: I started playing the saxophone when I was about 10 years old. Then when I was about 16 I started composing music on my Amiga, which was when I lost interest in my saxophone playing. Other than that, I think the only formal education I have is one year in a boarding school studying music. In that year I mostly focused on improvisation (saxophone), music theory, music history and I had my own class at night time, teaching other students basic music theory. I made my first composition when I was 16, and my first composition using MIDI was when I was 19. Q: How did your career in psytrance music started and evolved ? A: Back in 1995, I met up with Lars W. Lind, who was also doing music at the time. We had both spent years doing music on amiga and PC, making music for demos, and we wanted to move on. We both loved electronic music, and we decided to hook up and create RA. Not long after that, a good friend showed up and played us "the yellow LP". I think that was the turning point, and after that we were sure of what we wanted to do. I think it was the intricate melodies and the eastern oriented scales, that caught my attention the most. A couple of years went by, making music, finding "the sound" and most of all buying equipment. RA did some gigs here and there. It all seemed pretty stagnant until we decided it was time to send out some demo tapes. 5 days after sending the tapes we got a call from Intastella records, and we had ourselves a contract for a single (ROM/Azure Child). In this period, me and Lars had a falling out, and we decided to go our separate ways. I kept the RA name as my solo project. The single release delayed (as they often do) and not until Jan 1999 things started to get interesting. The intastella crew had gotten themselves a big deal, and it ment that BlueMoon wanted to buy their label. So the RA single was released under BlueMoon UK, and not much later I was on a plane to England to work with Dimension 5. I spent two months there, until BlueMoon decided that we all was to go to Bangkok to do albums. And so I did. After spending a year in Bangkok I had finished off the RA album, written the new Dimension 5 album with Kerry Palmer and an Electron Wave album with Charlie Clarke. The albums were released in 2000 under BlueMoon in Thailand, and now re-released, remastered and fixed under NovaTekk/Velvet Inc. (That's it in a nutshell I guess ;-) ) Q: Why did you choose to make psytrance over any other medium of music ? A: Why psytrance? To tell the truth, it's one of the few music genres that gives me chills down my spine when I listen to it. I don't have any intellectual-well-thought-through-reason for it. Very simple, psytrance/trance makes me feel good Q: What other music styles do you like ? A: Most electronic music is OK in my book, like house, deep house, some club, industrial, drum&bass, ambient and dark ambient, but other than electronica I would have to say world music, indian music, some thai traditional music, japanese traditional, classical (mainly händel, bach, dvorak, grieg and beethoven), grunge, and some jazz. (I'm sure I forgot something in there!) Different things, for moods. Q: Do you project to release a next RA album after "To Sirius" ? When would you release it ? A: Many people has asked me exactly that, and it's a bit tricky to say WHEN I will release it. But yes, I will make more albums, and I'm planning two at the moment. One ambient, and one more like "To Sirius". I'm hoping to have at least one of them finished for this autumn, but we'll have to see. Q: Is making psytrance sufficient for a living or do you have another job ? A: Making psytrance is far from enough!! I have my own company that does music and sound for commercials, web pages, TV programs, games etc. Also I get hired for doing engineering/producing, and I collaborate with musicians doing different things than trance. But in all of this I have to say that trance is my main passion. Q: What are you doing in life except working ? A: Spending much time with my better half and my friends. It's been alot of work, and in this industry you take your work with you home, so you never really feel like you have time off. So I try to chill out as often as I can! =) Q: Your favourite psytrance Groups & Albums ? A: I have to start off by saying that I don't listen THAT much to psy-trance, and I definately don't keep myself updated on the latest stuff (I'm glad I have friends helping me out in that dept.) (But I can say that I still listen to my "yellow LP" compilation from time to time ;-) ) One of my all time favourites must be Shakta - Silicon Trip which I have listened to recently. Transwave - Helium is also a high ranking one. Of more recent stuff I must say that Vibraspheres new album really blasts! =) Q: Where does your inspiration come from ? A: I would have to say that my inspiration comes from everyday experiences, dreams and spiritual experiences and also fellow artists, old classical masters, But to pinpoint where inspiration came/comes from, is beyond me. When I sit down and make something, the track usually writes itself. How this happens is still not quite clear to me (and not really that important either). It's just ideas on top of ideas on top of ideas. It was like that when me and Lars started RA, and it still is. Q: Do you use psychedelics and if so has it influenced the music you make ? A: I don't use psychedelics, but I have tried psychedelics a few times (OK, I was curious! ;-) ). I have tried to compose doing acid once, and that's not something that I'm going to bother with again. Maybe it works for some people, but it's totally useless for me...hehehehe. I don't believe that it is the drugs that does the music for you, but rather a tool that one can use to get inspiration and see new angles to things. If you can reach that creativity without drugs, I don't see the point of doing it. Q: How much time does it take you to make a Track ? A: Usually it doesn't take very long. The main ideas are written down in a day, or maybe two. But I usually spend time being unsure and contemplating afterwards. Adding and removing a few things, until I get tired of it. I have to do it quite fast though, as I get bored easily. If I get bored while making something, I've reached a point of no return, where the motivation dissappears(and you can hear that quite well). If that happens, I usually put it away for a long time, or I just delete the track. Q: Tell us your recipe to make a good RA Track ? A: The day that I use a recipe to make music, I'll either have to stop composing, or I have to really re-evaluate my composing. ;-) But if we refrain from using the word "recipe", I can say that I usually let the track write itself. By that I mean ideas upon ideas, or just following the flow. If I start of with a drum track, string section or a riff is random at best, it's just the fact that one segment leads to the idea of another. Usually I play what segments I have in a loop or either jam on top of it, or sit quitely and listen until I hear the next segment in my head. It all depends on my mood and what kind of track I'm making I guess. Q: What kind of equipment do you use to make your Tracks ? A: The equipment I use have varied so much, so that's quite hard to list up. Right now I have a Kurzweil K2500, Nord Lead, Basstation, Ensoniq EPS sampler, Ensoniq SQ1+ and a Pulsar II soundcard for my 800Mhz PC. A couple of the tracks on the album are using a bigger studio setup which has more external effects like Lexicon reverbs, Ensoniq DP4+, Midiverb4. And synths and samplers like Yamaha A3000, 2x Prophecy, 2x Nord Lead, JV 1080, JV 2080, Mini Moog, Oberheim Oscar, Juno 106, 3x 303, 909 and alot more. Q: Future projects ? A: Ofcourse me and Charlie both want to do another Electron Wave album (we're just waiting for the first one to be released in July). I also have a "new world music" project with a Thai composer called Jirapan Ansvananda. There is another trance project that is hopefully starting soon with two other Norwegian composers. Actually now I have so many thoughts and ideas floating around, so it's hard to say what will happen, but I can say that "something" will defeniately happen. Q: Is there any artist you'd like to work with ? A: I would love to work with Shakta, Bilbo - Cosmosis, Dave - Chi AD, John - Mindfield, Vangelis!. One thing is ofcourse the type of music that fellow artists make, another is how you get along with them. If you're on the same wavelength with someone, the music always turns out 300% better. Ofcourse I'll continue my cooperation with Charlie Clarke (Hunab-Ku, Electron Wave). We've already discussed future projects, and we're planning to stay in the same country at some point, so we can work more closely again (hopefully soon!) Q: What do you think about the evolution of psytrance in the last years ? Have things gotten better/worse according to you ? A: First of all, I haven't seen alot of the trance community compared to alot of other people I know. I've been to a couple of festivals, underground trance parties ofcourse, and Koh Pan Ngan (Thailand). But in my opinion the trance scene has had it's ups and downs. And in the past years it's been changing as it seems to me. And lately it has seemed to me that the trance community is getting slowly more focused on the spiritual aspects of trance, rather than the drugs. Also I've gotten mails from several people lately that shares my point of view. This is not based on any facts what so ever, just a "general feel of things" if you will So I think things are looking up. Q: How do you think trance music will mutate in the future ? A: I think psytrance will break into even more sub genres than we have today, but I do believe that the trance which contains melodies and harmonies will survive no matter what. I think it touches something that a drumgroove with weird noises on top is incapable of touching. Even though I've heard some killer minimalistic tracks, I find that I'm impressed with the production of the track, and not the emotion put into it. And that's where melodies/harmonies come in....the emotional aspect. Q: Some tips for the beginners who make music ? A: - Don't buy monophonic synths with all your money. Wait with the 303's and 909's, and buy something which has 16 channels. - Be patient. - The equipment is tools. It doesn't make the music for you. - You can do alot even if you don't have the newest/coolest equipment. - Try to be as open minded as possible when you compose. - Being critical is fine, but don't take it to far. You'll end up destroying the "rawness" of the track and end up with something emotionless and boring. - Stop finetuning a track when 'you're making changes and not improvements'. Q: A more unexpected question to conclude : what are you spiritual beliefs ? A: Oooh.....a bit personal I think ? =) I believe in one God and I also believe that we're all part of God, but that God is all of us. Or in other words: "We're all a slice of the same cosmic pizza" ... I also firmly believe in reincarnation. What you choose to call "the one God" is really less important I think. The main differences in religions all over the world I think is human made, and has little to do with the truth that lies beneath the surface. Entities like: Ganesha, Shiva, RA, Azekiel, etc etc....are names for entities that surround us. Equivalent to the Archangels in the Catholic faith. It's all the same stuff I think, it just depends what names you want to use. Thx a lot for these great answers and good luck with your upcoming releases !

Artist: Quadra (Ido Liran) Date: 05-12-00 By: Anoebis Q: Hey Quadra, How, Why & When did you start with producing music?? A: Hi Anoebis!! I started producing music back in 1996. It was the time when I started becoming interested in Trance music and I wanted to know where all these sounds come from. I was always into creating music but I never had an urge to do it until I heard Trance. So I started writing music on a general MIDI Yamaha keyboard and I though that it was something that I can do. So slowly, I decided that I want to get more into it and I started buying "professional" (whatever that means) equipment. Q: Why do you make Goa-Trance??? A: I started writing this kind of music because I like it a lot. The other reason is because I can be a lot more creative and not be limited to structure and form in this style of music. Q: What do you think of the Goa-scene at the moment?? A: The "Goa"/psychedelic scene is very different today than when I first got into it. Personally I think that it has lost something but trance parties are still good and still (for the most part) carry the original idea. But as long as there are still people out there who are appreciate good music and continue to support the scene, I am happy. Q: Is there a big difference between the Goa-scene and parties in Europe/Israel and America?? A: Trance parties are always different in every part of the world. I think that culture has a very big contribution toward the party and music style played. You can defiently see how the crowd varies from one culture to another by the way they dance, socialize, etc. No culture can be classified as better, they are just different. You can even feel the difference in parties in different states and cities inside of the United States. Q: How do you think Psy-trance will develop from now on? A: I think that psy-trance will continue its original mission - To introduce new ideas and new sounds to electronic music. That's why this style of music is continuously evolving and heading out into new directions. Q: How would you describe Goa-Trance?? A: I think that a more appropriate term for Goa Trance is Experimental Trance. Only in this style of music we can introduce new ideas, modify structure and go off as we please without being restricted by the "traditional" music form. Open mindedness and creativity are the most important elements associated with this music. Q: Because Boom! Released your album "Digital Stimulant" a few weeks ago you had to play live and you had to DJ, do you also like it or is producing more fun? A: I like DJing and playing live but I like producing more. I started DJing only after I started producing. I don't think that I'd get into DJing if I hadn't been producing Q: Where do you get your inspiration?? A: I can't say exactly where I get inspired but it's probably a mixture of everything that is happening in my life along with good parties and good music. Besides electronic music, I listen to a lot of classical, mostly Beethoven and Mozart. So maybe there's influence there too? Q: What is your favorite track that you've created??. A: My favorite track hasn't been created yet. =) Stay tooned!! Q: What's your favorite Goa Group, Album, Top 5 Goa Tracks? A: The truth is that I haven't heard a lot of new tracks lately. But my favorite trance artists are Hallucinogen, X-Dream, KoxBox and a few others. I like alot of the stuff coming out of Flying Rhino. Q: What kind of equipment do you use?? A: Some analog, others... digital and an Intel inside =) Q: You've made one of the most intelligent and complicated albums I've ever heard, how long did it take to make your album?? A: Thank you very much! This really means a lot to me! I worked on this album for about four months. Q: What are your future projects?? A: My future projects include more psychedelic trance and other styles of music as well. Thanks a lot from all the Goa people community, and give us more great stuff as soon as you can ;-)!! Thanks to you all for making this happen and for giving great inspiration. I hope you enjoy my music as much as I enjoy making it for you. Look for more stuff SOON!!! =) Take care of yourselves and party SMART! Bye bye.

Artist: Psyside Date: 04-08-02 By: Anoebis Q: Hello Psyside! let's start with a question about yourself, who are Psyside ? A: We are 2 french guys from Paris . Jean Philippe , musician (drummer) since he was fourteen (Jazz/rock school) and me , Jean Luc not musician just a formation of infographiste . Two good friends who listen trance music since 9 years… I discovered this music in 1993 when i went for the first time in Thailand ( Ko Pha Nang) and after in first free hidden trance parties in France, Guadloupe, Ibiza….this new music style was like a drug for us and during 1994/1996 we spent all saturdays nights in forest parties with sometimes only 50 or 100 smilling people…but with high energy and good vibes :-) Q: How and when did you start with producing music ? A: We started to make music in a middle of 1997 when the trance scene became a little borring for us…too many same style tracks…We thought we could maybe bring something different to this music.. :-) First it was for the fun with a little software " technomaker " and after with time we got a taste to create by ourself something… so we continued but in more professional way. In 1998 we bought few material and equiped our first home studio… 18 months later we played our first live act. Q: Why exactly do you make psychedelic Trance ? A: Because you make better music when you really feel it … :-) We have listened many other style in techno music but only this one bring us the good vibes ! When we began make music, it was a transition period beetween melodic goa style and first new psychedelic sounds and we were always in a learning phase so it was difficult for us to find our way. Our ideas were first more oriented by old school style because we had listened it too many years so it seemed more easier to begin by this kind of music ; but after 5 tracks the result was not bad but not very new so we tried to mix the elements we liked in the old style, like etheral voices, with new trippy psychedelic sounds, but never in the deep dark way. "Virtual reality " is a good example..no ? :-) To resume we make the music that we would like ear on a dancefloor….but we appreciate and listen also many other tracks… :-) Q: There's the big war between full on and minimal-trance those days! You guys are clearly Full On ! Why? And what do you think about minimal Trance ? A: Maybe people in trance scene are too much ellitist and considere that only their style is the best…we think its a wrong problem…each style has talanted bands with nice tracks .You think a track is poor or bad because you dont feel it but maybe another people is in extase when he listen it ! so be tolerant with people who try to bring something to others. Why we are full on ? good question … :-) for several reasons… ! First we like to dance so we find more energy with up tempo. In general this kind of tracks drive people completly crazy on a dancefloor…the expression " go into a trance " find here his true sense. The second reason is more practical. We are not Djs but we like to play our music in the night or at the rising sun so live act for us must be full on at this moment. The third is for a timing reason, because we work outside the music so we haven't enough time to experiment both style and we take time to make a track. Making music must stay a pleasure and dont become a tracks factory… :-) We like also psy minimal when its groovy but not at the same moment…we listen it in the morning or after a party to relax…the difference with full on its that you can easily listen it at home because its down tempo with less sounds but with good work on it and you dont need to push the volume to feel an emotion. Its not really the case with full on who often require powerfull db to create an " hysteria " :-) Q: What do you think of the Psychedelic trance scene at this moment ? A: There are many new projects, few are interesting because they have a personnal touch…few others maybe miss a little more maturity to explode and few unfortunately copy the style of one known artist. Many djs actually want or search to make music to be known and play as international . Djs or ravers, they buy a computer and quickly make tracks and want to release it . Its good to boost the creation and its a challenge for the artists but the quality of the tracks sometimes is very poor and the intensive production on many new labels who want to make money desserve the trance movement because many people actually are boring about all this same release and dont buy anymore psychedelic music, except the top ten or confirmed artists. Its a shame because there are also new real talents inside this production who win to be known. Its the same about the parties. There are few places around the world where people always knows how to live it up like Portugal, Greece, south america…. and Japan when we played in front of 2000 smilling people…it was wonderfull ! There are i hope many other countries where parties and festivals are marvellous, but we have not travel everywhere... Its not always the fault of organisers who try ,for the majority, to do their best but also people sometimes in the party who are never satisfied and complain about all, but dont want to pay more ! In France we've had great parties in the 90's years with 3000/4000 people but now its more difficult to organise an open air party (autorisation/cops) and the indoor parties are often in the same places because many owners refuse to rent their halls for a rave party. Its not new but its more and more the case. So people are less motived and come only for a big event or for the band they like . Time are changing, the spirit of the good years is partly lost in few countries but it can come again. Q: Where do you get your inspiration for the tracks ? A: Its variable, sometimes we watch movies and one of us have an idea about a theme and we try to find audio samples or elements who can coincide with it or we ear a good voice and we create a theme around it. The actuality can be also a good virtual subject… 'O.G.M. red alert' for example. When we have the theme or track name Jean philippe begin to search few synth sounds, bases lines and kick while i search samples voices, fx and try to create the intro. After that we work together on the construction track ; each one brings ideas and its cool when we are both inspired… :-) We want and try to create an atmosphere inside the track. Sometimes it can be more rock, trippy, mental ,hypnotic or all together but always with a structure like a story with a beginning and end. When the result seems to be satisfying, we try to test it quickly in a party. :-) Q: What's your favourite track of Psyside and why ? A: Its impossible to name just one track, but we have preferences…so our top 5 will be maybe Virtual reality (angelic track), lost soul (it rocks), Krusty Burger with cheese make with our friend Gecko (for the fun), Aquasonic with Audio Brain french band (for his stirring theme) and Last train to nowhere (hypnotic ambience) ; Mint taste also for his cheesy trippy sides and Organic blob (easy progressive morning)…Oups ! ! we named 7 tracks… sorry but its very difficult to make a choice… :-) Q: What's your favorite Goa Group, Album, Top 5 Goa Tracks ? A: Its depend of the style but at the beginning like many others we liked danced on Transwave, X Dream, M.W.N.N., Astral projection, Asia 2001, Doof, hallucinogen, Total eclipse, Prana ,Ubar Tmar, Psychaos and more recently Sun project, GMS, Absolum, Skazi,Alien project, Parasence and russian new bands, Logic Bomb, Hux flux, Neuromotor, HyperFrequencies, Biotonic, Suria, Haldolium…. all these good artists have influenced or influence our music but we try to keep our own style…maybe too much weird ! but everybody knows the expression 'one cannot be liked by everyone'… :-) We like the first album of skazi , Infected mushroom, Alien project, Dark nebula, Beat bizarre, Atmos…We like many tracks like 'Idiot' and 'bring your own bios'by Hux flux , 'Frequent flyers' by Logic Bomb, 'Troll' by COP, 'as a child i could walk…'by Delta 'Pulse' by absolum, 'midnight sun' by Alien Project, 'kick inside parallelogram' by Neuromotor…. and in old ones : 'Xfile (monkey mix)' by Chakra & Edi Mis, 'Mahadeva' by Astral Projection, 'Chaotic circus' by Total Eclipse, 'Trance african express' by Jean Borelli, 'Spiritual healing' by Muse Rapt and in ambient trance the killer track 'deeper & deeper' by SUN Project and many many others great tracks but the list will be too much bigger to enumerate here. But we listen also Pink Floyd, Deep Forest, Enigma….and all psychedelic scene of 70's…. Q: What equipment do you use ? A: At first we've tried many differents synths, few old analog like Juno 60, TB303, MKS80 System101/102 by Roland or Korg MS20, Waldorf Pulse+, Roland JD800, Emu OrbitV2…but now we keep only what we use…so in hardware we work on a nordlead 2, Access Virus, MicroWaveWaldorf, ATC 1 Chameleon, MS404 by Doepfer, Clavia Micro modular and Pad SPD11 by Roland for percussion all connected on audio patchs and in midi on a Motu midi express XT. We work on PC pentium3 933 mhz dual screen with 3 audio cards Pulsar with many virtual synths and modules on Cubase5, and logic audio for the lives. we have an analog Mackie 32/8/2 connected to Mackie HR824 monitoring. We use also few effect racks like DP4+, Lexicon MPX1, Roland SDE330 and RS550 and TC Fireworx. We use a double compressor /gate BSS Opal for external hardware and for the voices we have a microphone Langevin CR3A connected to a preamplifier /compressor/gate TL audio Ivory 5051. We have a DAT Sony PCMR500 and 2 headphones sony MDR7506.For live act we have our laptop with Emagic midi interface and audio card. Q: Your first album came out lately, is there a new one coming up or not!? Or do you have other musical future plans ? A: Well normaly the real first album had to be release in 2000, but few circonstances (label not ready or not sure) stopped it. So these tracks were released on different compilations and on a first EP on Shiva SpaceTechnology. The album ''First Contact' had to be released in November but there were few problems with print factory that explain the 2 months late. We have 2 tracks who will be release soon on french label compilation with tracks of Gill and Neuromotor and one other on new hungary label (Procyon record) release in may. We wait also for a release track on a future compilation on S.S.T. and maybe one track on the first compilation of the new label of Fred (Neuromotor) 'Mecanik sound'. Actually we work on our next album maybe always on Acidance label…not release date yet but hope before end of 2002. For now only Jean Luc have another project with Neuromotor named 'Mastermind'. Only few tracks finished (Barcelona is far away from Paris) but we will try to find time to work on the first album (hope also a release before the end of year). Q: What do you do in your life except producing music ? A: We have both middle time activities outside the music. I make psychedelic flyers with a good friend under the name of 'Fractal alchemy' and Jean Philippe works for Creamware France as Hotliner and demonstrator for all their products like Scope & Pulsar platform. He spend also time with his girl friend so we work at our rythm. Music is important but not the only way to live :-) Q: What will the future bring ? More albums releases ? A: Future will bring a numeric technology that is only beginning. Computers will permit us to do many more things in the future and that's a really good thing. Thanks for the interview ! And if you want to add something or tell some more against your fans, this is your chance ! Thanks to you Joske, find a good place for the june party ! :-) and thanks to all the people with good vibes who like our stuff and come to ear us in the parties all around the world…sorry for the others…and for people who don't know us yet you are welcome to discover our music in a party or to listen our first album at Psyshop.com or another online shop. For the serious organisors who want contact us for infos about live act and booking, here is our email psyside@mangoosta.fr All the best for all of you and long life to psychedelic music ! Bom Shankar

Artist: Psysex Date: 02-14-01 By: Jeto Q: How and when did you start to make Goa ? A: Well we go back 5 years ago, Goblin was DJing as a house dj and yoni was a faithful Psy-parties goer for a long time. We met at one of the big parties at that time (there were a lot of outdoor raves before the Israeli police decided to stop them). Goblin was just starting to build his own studio so together we decided to put our love for music to the test and start making it. We formed "CHILDREN OF THE DOC" and our first tracks were quite melodic. Then Avi Nissim from ASTRAL PROJECTION heard our stuff and decided to publish it in ISRAEL"S PSYCHEDELIC TRANCE VOL.1 (the track was "Welcome Friends") and that was the start. Q: How did you come up with your name (Psy-Sex) ? A: Well Goblin made a track called "4 DAYS OF MADNESS" with Dave Saragosi (KAILUM) 4 years ago, and we had MIDI problems with a JUNO 106 in the studio with the SYSEX (system exclusive-one of the ways MIDI communicates with the synths), so we decided to make another band called PSYSEX. After that track Yoni took over Dave and we were both Children of the doc and Psysex. Q: Do you project to release a new album after "Expressions Of Rage"? When would it be released? Do you think it will be like the first album or a new more minimal style ? A: We are actually finishing our second album these days, and we hope to release it by April (on the label HOM-MEGA). We think it's different from the first album firstly in the sound department, it's much more powerful (EXPRESSIONS OF RAGE was done using MIDI only while the second album, which doesn't have a name yet was done using midi & AUDIO)' and has a much better quality to it. We also used less samples this time around and its way less melodic so I guess u can say it is more minimalistic too. Q: Why did the change style from the great melodious style from Full on 2,3 (Martian and Police 106) to this typical new Israeli style ? A: Our style has indeed changed, but we don't think it is more in the typical Israeli style (definitely as far for the second album). When we were doing CHILDREN OF THE DOC tracks we were just beginning to make music and were influenced from the trance scene at that time. Which was mostly melodic and full on. A lot of time has passed since then and our musical taste has changed, and that's what brought us to make the music we're making today. Q: Which of your own tracks do you like the best ? A: Goblin's favorite track is SURVIVEL KIT and Yoni's favorite is BIONIC-BONG. Q: Your favorite psychedelic Groups & Albums ? A: We don't really listen to Psy trance these days, but one of our all-time favorites is Deedrah - Self Oscillation. We like Infected Mushroom's work. From the Swedish scene we like Atmos and Ticon too. Q: Where does your inspiration come from when building a typical Psy-Sex track ? A: It's a bit hard to answer that one, but when we go to a good party we usually get full of energies and run to the studio. Q: What kind of equipment do you use to make your Tracks? What synthesizers are you'll using ? A: We use a Pentium 3 PC, LAYLA Audio Card, SOUNDCRAFT spirit LX7, AKAI3000XL, ROLAND JUNO 60, ALPHA-JUNO & JUNO 106, 2 PHAT FREEBASS racks, DIGITEC QUAD4 effects processor, ACCESS VIRUS Module, Behringer INTILIGATE gate, LOGIC AUDIO sequencer and lots of plug-ins. Q: Is there any artist you'd like to work with ? A: No there isn't a specific one we can think of right now. We just did a track with DuvDev from Infected Mushroom called DIRTY 80's. It turned out really well and it's gonna be on the album. Q: Do you play DJ sets? If so, what kind of stuff do you play as DJ in parties ? Is it live ? A: Yes we are DJing in parties. Especially GOBLIN and of course we also play live. We played in Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, England, New York and LA, Canada, Japan, Serbia and Greece. In the live sets we play stuff from PSYSEX and CHILDREN OF THE DOC, and in DJ sets we play some INFECTED, GMS, DEEDRAH and of course our stuff. Q: When & where was your best party? And your worst one ? A: We had a very good party last year in Switzerland, in the mountains near Zurich. It was a 2 days outdoor party in a tent, with the beautiful snowy mountains view, hard rain and blasting energies. We also had a great fully packed party in Porto, Portugal in "HARD-CLUB" which we enjoyed very much. We actually never had a bad party outside of Israel but in Israel itself we had some really lousy ones over the years. That's it for the question part. Anyway we also have a THIRD band, not related to trance but to our other musical favorite genres like Electro, Drum & Bass and general freestyle music. It's called KOOPA TROOPA and we already did two tracks by that name. You can listen to it in our new website which will be online in March. www.psysex.co.il We still can't give you a track list because the cd isn't closed yet. We can tell u that it will feature the track with DuvDev track with GMS (called IMPRINT) and two tracks with a new Israeli artist called PANIC who we believe will be hot soon. Thank You... Hope to hear some new killer stuff from both of you!

Artist: Psycraft Date: 03-08-01 By: Jeto Q: How and when did you start to make Goa? A: We started doing music about 2 year ago by the name Psycraft but before we were psycraft (Nir,Alon) We were Cybel (Nir,Alon,Guy) and we did music for 3 years. Q: Do you project to release a new album ? When would it be released ? A: We are going to realease our first cd next month on Hommega production Israel. Q: What equipment are you using ? A: Our equipment list kind of big and i dont remember all of it right now but you can check www.psycraft.co.il Q: At a Party you do a DJ Set or a Live Act ? A: We are playing Dj set and live act, it changes from one party to another Q: Which of your own tracks do you like the best ? A: This is a hard question because to tell you the true i love all of our new cd track by track but i had to choose it is: Bizzar (rmx), Wavy Gravy, Time Steach, and Partial Recall Q: Is there another artist you'd like to work with ? A: want to work with Avi Algranati(Space Cat), Infected Mushroom, Xerox but on the top of the list standing Simon Posford Q: Do you have any sideprojects for the moment? Are you making under Cybel anymore ? A: No we dont have nothing else but our album. Q: Which was your best party, and your worst one ? A: Our best party was 2 weeks ago on Oma Coma in Tel Aviv, Israel it was a blast. I think there was something like 1500 pepole and the energy place was great. Our worst party was in Israel also their was like 40 pepole (only man). It was bad, really bad. Q: What do you think of the evolution of electronic music ? Good or bad in your opinion ? A: I think it will be good even if now it doesn't look like it, but I think it will be okay. Thanks a lot !

Artist: Process (Sean Williams) Date: 05-02-01 By: Children Q: First of all, what is your musical background (studies, first compositions) ? A: Self taught.Played guitar and bass in bands before using Atari to make electronic music with Pete Martin aka Slide as a project called "Satori". Releases with Sirius, Aquarius, Matsuri and Transient. Album of Satori tracks available v.soon Q: How and when did you start to make psytrance, and why did you choose to make psytrance over any other medium of music ? A: 1993 because you don't need to organize a whole band and practice rooms etc. You can have your own ideas and pursue them fully. I went to some TIP parties that blew my mind and I wanted to contribute somehow. Q: Which other music styles do you like ? A: All sorts of music from Indian Classical to Brian Eno, Be-Bop, Dub, fusion Q: What are you doing in life except working ? A: Music is my work but I also do it for pleasure and that takes up most of my time. Q: Do you project to release another album ? When would it be released ? A: I'm releasing five albums this year! There are four albums of archive stuff, a lot of which has never been issued on CD and some of which has never been released at all. Then there's a new Process album with the working title "Superior Technology" which is almost all new tracks. They'll all be available through the website http://www.onedroportwo.co.uk in the near future. Q: Which of your own tracks do you like the best ? A: I like the two Beast tracks very much that I wrote with Simon Posford, also X-1 Q: Your favourite psychedelic Groups & Albums ? A: Best group is Ozric Tentacles, but best album is definitely "The Mama Matrix Most Mysterious" by Nervasystem and Aether on Elektric Orgasm Records because it's a totally psychedelic album and not just a compilation of dancefloor tracks. It has those tracks on it but there are so many influences in that I'm sure it'll stand the test of time. Q: Where does your inspiration come from when building a Track ? A: I mostly set up complicated systems with the modular synths which I can interact with and I'll then record a few minutes of performance and edit the results. The performance factor is where the inspiration can express itself because just using a mouse and screen is too detached. Q: What kind of equipment do you use to make your Tracks ? A: Mac, Logic, Analogue Systems modular synth and sequencer, Doepfer modular, and a bunch of seventies/eighties outboard effects. Q: Future projects ? A: More work with Raja Ram on an avant garde/weird tip, electronics for a new psychedelic/jazz/cillout band called "The Mystery School Ensemble", and some solo chillout/farout sufi- singing stuff that I'll be performing in the USA this July/August Q: Is there any artist you'd like to work with ? A: I believe that when the time is right opportunities will present themselves, but if Brian Eno wanted to make some music with me that would out of this world Q: Infected Mushroom, who recently worked on one Track with Simon Posford, say his way to make music is very particular ... as you worked with him on some Tracks, could you say us more about that ? A: He's super fast in the studio and is able to make the most killer sounds in no time. He starts at the beginning and makes everything fit into the tune in a linear way, i.e. he'll make sure the intro is perfect before moving on to the next part of the tune. A sound that might take a day or two for anybody else, Simon can do in a few minutes because he knows his gear so well. Q: What kind of stuff do you play as DJ in parties ? A: I like to play my own tunes obviously, as well as Benji (Prometheus/Cyberbabas), Elektrik Orgasm, Creamcrop. I like playing the odd tune from a few years back, but as long as it's psychedelic and far-out and makes people dance I'll play it. Q: Some tips for the beginners who do DJ or make music ? A: If you only listen to one type of music you're a lot less likely to bring anything new to the music, so I would just say listen to as much as you can and don't get forced by the media into listening to only one genre. Q: When & where was your best party ? And your worst one ? A: One of the best was Fusion festival last year in California. I don't like to talk about the worst. Q: How do you think trance music will mutate in the future ? A: The definitions change so often that it's a hard question. I think psychedelic music will take on board the new technologies and performance will become more important so we'll see different events where you'll get a greater diversity of people and different levels of participation. Q: What do you think of the MP3 revolution ? A: Brilliant. Vinyl and CDs are on the way out in the next 10 years except for real enthusiasts. We don't need to manufacture physical things as it's only the information that we need. I have about 3000 records and if I could reduce all that onto a tiny hard-disk I'd do it. MP3s are not good quality but the next format should fix that problem. It fantastic that you can go on-line a hear almost any track you want. Q: And what do you think of people downloading them without buying the stuff ? A: If it's not MP3 downloaders it's israeli DAT pirates- there's always someone out there trying to steal from you so there's no point in getting upset about it. Piracy will always happen. The hope is that if people really like the music they'll go and buy the CD to get the proper sound quality. You can know more about him at http://www.onedroportwo.co.uk !

Artist: Planet BEN (Ben Wierzoch) Date: 05-27-00 Place: Mexico City By: Pit-UFO Q: What was your turning point to become a musician? A: I’m coming from a very musical family, there’s were my roots are …. I was in school at 14 and a friend of mine had a birthday, he had a mixer there and two turn tables without pitch, without nothing. He was playing trying his best to mix I saw that and ask him, why don’t you let me try? I think that was the beginning of that. Since then I was infected. Q: What is psychedelic trance music? A: It's difficult to me to say something because what’s the definition of psychedelic trance. Everybody thinks something different about it. Can be wrong, can be right whatever it means its subjective. Q: Is pure psychedelic trance dead? A: In my own terms is really dead. If we take the psytrance definition we are in a crossover with trance and techno, its very open. More kind of funky. I like it more the deeper Q: Why do you use psychedelic trance as your music vehicle? A: I think it's my experience, my personal definition of the music, what I like. The result of. negative and positives Influences. Q: Favourite Planet BEN track? A: I don’t think I have a personal favourite it’s difficult to say "Pulse" I like very much. There’s a new track coming on Flying Rhino called Schliefer (means sender). One of my best works. Q: Any new albums coming soon? A: I have to finish a couple of tracks but probably on October my new album is going to be released on Flying Rhino. With Organic Noise (Side project with Jan Mueller) the album is coming out soon. Is going too be a compilation of old releases and some new tracks along with another 12". Then Jan an I are going to be working very close to finish a new album, all new stuff. We are already working on that but first I have to finish the Planet BEN. album. Q: You have a lot of work to do, does inspiration sometimes gets lost? A: Sometimes, the quietness inside, personally. At the moment I’m very busy djing , and playing a lot, so its hard to find it . But soon I have to slow down and get into music. Q: Do you just lock yourself in the studio and begin doing music? A: Yeah, to be productive. Making music its an emotional thing and its not logical so you just can’t press a button and suddenly the music…its not possible… you have to be inspired to be productive. Q: You have worked with very big names. Anyone with whom you like to work? A: It’s a question of time. With Gabriel Le Mar it would be quite interesting. Between this and next year ill will be working in a project with Gus Till and them with James Monroe, probably an album. Q: Tell us your all time favourite albums? A: The First Eat Static album, for sure X-Dream albums…so beautiful work. Slinky Wizard and a lot of Richie Hawtin (Plastikman), and Emmanuel Top stuff. Q: Do you like Hallucinogen, Astral Projection, Infected Mushroom music? A: Not my cup of tea. Q: Besides been a musician and a Dj What else do you like to do? A: Cooking. Q: What do you think about Free MP3 sites like Napster? A: Pirates, criminals... Is a schematic thinks how it works. If you are an artist for sure you have to look forward so you can do further music, and you can keep doing this only if you sell copies of your records. In the psychedelic trance scene you don’t sell that much copies. So if somebody its going to buy one CD and 10 of his friends make a copy of that … this is not the sense on the whole thing. It destroys the whole structure and makes a very big damage for the artists and for the labels as well. So in my opinion to all that: is big shit. I know it’s not really cheap to buy records, and to buy CD´s, but that’s not the idea. Q: But to find records is very difficult and expensive how can we help? A: It’s not that difficult to get this music anymore. It’s not a problem of distribution is a question of how the people in the stores are connected with the distributors. For sure you have limited copies of the records, and sometimes they are not pressed anymore. It’s a question of people asking for what they want. Two years ago companies sold twice more CD´s now labels are not selling more records because of CD toasters and mp3. For sure they want to sell more. Q: Nowadays there are a lot of newcomers; do you think most of them have any standard quality? A: I think there are a lot of fillers. I’m sure there are people that like that but for me I don’t like that too much. I can handle anymore of this melodic 3 finger tone trance, there are a lot of musician that for years are standing in the same step and nothing has been changed, so they stay there for 6 years, its always the same, nothing innovative or creative anymore. It’s sad in a way. They just repeat the formula, this bass drum, this hi hat, this and this editing its like mathematics and kind of recited way of thinking. But this is how thinks are working at this time. It’s just to copy. In the scene there are only a few authentic originals and a lot of people just trying to copy that. Q: Who are these innovators? A: Original and authentic musicians, the originals Simon, MWNN, Jan & Marcus, The Return to the Source, Mark Allen, Tsuyoshi, Nick Taylor… most stuff came from them. Q: Tell us about Flying Rhino as a label? A: In the moment they are doing very, very well. They do quality at the moment. It’s the best label. Not only because I release on this label, it’s my feeling. Other labels I’m sorry, but they don’t have that quality in dance music. Q: If Planet BEN existed in some galaxy, what would it look like? A: God what a question. With very nice temperature, not too hot not in too cold. Is difficult to say, Yellow, green, Red, and white. Something in the middle, something in the middle …

Artist: OOOD / Unconscious Collective (Colin Bennun) Date: 05-15-02 By: Mike Indidginus Q: [Tape starts] [Wind noise; rustling clothing; the scrape of plastic on rock] Good evening Colin, and may I say that's a lovely frock you have on. Could you please describe for us in words of no more than 1 syllable your OOOD/Unconscious Collective projects. Your time starts now... A: Hello… one, two… is this thing recording? Ok… ahem… Actually, Michael, it’s not so much a frock, rather a US Special Forces camouflage poncho. Admittedly, the camouflage pattern does look somewhat floral, but I thought that seeing as you wanted to do this interview up here in the mountains on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it would be better to keep out of sight. But I digress… Let’s see now… one syllable… “Good vibe for you, fun for us, good vibe for us, fun for you”. Q: Are there any differences (other than name) between the two? For instance, does one have special dietary requirements and the other an odd shoe size? A: Well, OOOD has always had a fixed membership; me, Steve and Nigel. We’ve developed our own style over the last 8 years – mainly concentrating on powerful, melodic psy-trance intended to make you smile and dance uncontrollably. The Unconscious Collective is a much more fluid entity, more based on collaboration with as wide a variety of musicians and genres as possible. With this we’re able to experiment much more without worrying about what genre it falls into, although much of what we do still works very well on the dancefloor. The two overlap though; if Steve and I do a track together it will be either OOOD or U.C., depending on its vibe. By the way, I can’t help wondering if you’re not a little too visible in that bright yellow ski-jacket and jester’s hat. I’m sure I can hear gunfire over the brow of the hill… Tell you what, let’s move down to that gully, I’d feel safer down there. Q: Indeed learned colleague. You have also worked with various other musicians. Can you tell us a little more about your experiences, please? A: I’ve been lucky enough to have had side projects with a few people, including Mark Allen and Tim Healey; in fact Tim was one of the original members of the Collective back in 1996. Tim’s a highly intelligent man and a talented producer and engineer, but, and this is strictly between you and me and that sniper… SHIT! DUCK! … Fuck, that was close… Er, where was I… Oh yes, between you and me Tim suffers terribly from a rare form of Turette’s Syndrome and can only speak in Shakespearean English. You can imagine the sessions we had: “Colin, methinks ye Basse Drum could perchance be raised in volume”, and “I have conceived of ye most Splendidde and Turbulent idea for our Acidde Riff; mayhap I could perform it upon ye Electronic Clavichord device?” … Hey, Michael, I think the sniper’s gone for now, You can get up off the ground. I told you that hat was a bad idea. Yes, take it off… Good move. Hey, check it out! I can put my finger right through the bullet hole! Ha ha… As I was saying, I also play keyboards with a band called Cosmic Smiles; we’re a five-piece band doing the blues/fusion hippy music thing; you know. The leader of the band is a brilliant songwriter and guitarist called Geoff Smiles – a truly one-off original kind of guy, devoted to saving the planet. I could tell you some stories there, but they’re all covered by the Official Secrets Act. Why? Well, you’ve heard of ‘Black Ops’ – government operations that are so secret that their existence is officially denied – well Geoff does the same for the good guys; Cosmic Smiles are effectively a kind of ‘White Ops’ unit run by the Pagans and Druids of the West Midlands. Q: Are there any musicians out there whom you would like to collaborate with that you haven't managed to yet? You never know, they might be listening A: Hey, that gunfire’s getting closer, you know… Anyway, I’m up for anything, me. I’ve heard from a friend that Elvis has been gigging again, and I’d love to get some of his classic falsetto on a track. Kajagoogoo… we’re working on a version of ‘Too Shy’ at the moment and we’re keen to get Limahl involved, but he’s so busy at the moment it’s impossible, so we’re considering getting a session trombonist instead. Limahl’s well into our version though, except he keeps telling me he wants it ‘more metal’. Apart from that, I’m always open to offers. I find that it’s when you work with someone else that the music takes on more of a life of its own, and it’s a great feeling to be involved in that process. Hey, what’s that face for? I know it sounds pretentious, but that’s just the way I feel about it, ok? … Shhh… The shooting’s stopped. Q: [Whispered] What instruments do you play? A: [Whispered] Let’s see… Piano, keyboards, bass, percussion, vocals (badly), guitar (worse), didgeridoo and the Balinese chtu-phid, a bass instrument which consists of a 12-foot elastic band. You hold at one end between your feet and the other goes over the top of your head and is held with a hand behind the back. You pluck it and vary the pitch by straightening your back. Hang on… Can you hear footsteps?… No? Must be the wind or something. Anyway, there is also a version that uses a high-tensile steel string, but it’s a specialised technique and I can’t find anyone to teach me, although I’ve been told that having dreadlocks helps… Er, Michael… Turn round slowly, we’ve got company. [Louder] Hello, gentlemen of the Northern Alliance. Having a good war? [Whispered] Michael, say something! Q: âyâ (šomâ) mifahmid nemitavânam nemifahmam mitavânam kojâ ast? Ha, ha, ha! (Roughly translated as: “Gentlemen of fierce and bearded appearance, what are your favourite tracks at present? Don't be ashamed to mention "Barbie Girl" by Aqua We know how popular that is here at present. May there be much rejoicing and wearing of festive hats!”). A: Afghani Soldier: I am liking very much the sounds that is coming from the East Side, some of those rappers are knowing their shit. But I am wanting to say you are very stupid to be talking here, the al’Quaida are not far, it is snowing and you in the yellow jacket are not wearing a hat. Please to come with us, we will take you to Kandahar where there is a plane to be taking you to Kabul. You will be safer there. Please, come. You are not journalists, no? A pity… Tell me, do you know a band called Out Of Our Depth, the man with them, his hair is long like yours, you look like him… [Tape stops] ********************** [Tape starts] [Diesel engine noise; the rattle of a vehicle driving at speed on a dirt road] Q: What are your favourite OOOD/Unconscious Collective tracks? A: Eh? I can’t hear you… Favourite tracks? For the Unconscious Collective, the Fluorostan EP has got to be up there, I suppose, along with more recent tracks like ‘Slowflakes’ and ‘Squatter And The Ant’. My favourite OOOD track I think is either ‘Kundalini’ or ‘I’m Funk Definer’, but really, I suppose my favourite track is always the one I’m just about to write! God, these seats are hard and I’m being bounced around like crazy. Looks like we’re heading into the mountains again. Q: Do you have any thoughts about the direction trance music may take in the future? A: Check out that view… Wow… I think trance music will continue evolving as long as there are new studio toys and tricks. But I also think that many of the ideas developed in the trance scene are finding their way into other scenes too, I mean there’s some deep house around at the moment that is really quite trippy. It’s a lot slower than much trance, but really hypnotic and with more than a touch of psychedelia. Talking of speed, I don’t like the way we’re taking some of these corners; it’s a bloody long drop... Anyway, I think it works in reverse, too; trance is always taking in influences from other styles, and I think this is what will stop the scene from stagnating. The boundaries are becoming blurred – trance, house, techno, breakbeat, Country & Western, it’s all just one big… thing really, isn’t it… Say Michael, how long has it been since we last stopped? I really need to take a leak and all this bouncing around is making it worse. Q: What other styles of music do you enjoy? A: Hang on, I’m going to have a word with the driver… Yeah, cool, he says he’ll stop at the pass just ahead… The only thing I don’t really get off on is heavy metal, but that’s only really because I value my hearing too much to go to many metal gigs! I’ll listen to anything, really. Like I said, good music is good music and is always worth listening to (except heavy metal, of course). And it’s everywhere, too. I mean, check out the sound of the engine as it changes gear and the stones bouncing off the bottom of the truck; lead line and rhythm, right there. I live in a house where there is always music of some kind either being made or listened to; the rest of the Collective have very eclectic record collections, from Englebert Humperdinck right through to Alice In Wonderland – The Musical, so there’s always something on the stereo... Ok, here we go, we’re stopping… Back in a minute… God, I’m bursting… Q: What is your understanding of the relationship between pony trekking in Iceland and the Argentinian Transport Ministry? Come on Colin! Chop, chop! We haven’t got all day you know! I’m meeting the Queen of England at 5, and she’s on a tight budget! A: Can’t you wait until I’ve finished? Oh, alright… From what I’ve heard, the Argentinean Transport Ministry has been importing ponies from Iceland because they’re adapted to the cold weather in the region of the Andes where the Argentineans found all those crashed UFOs. The region is inaccessible to vehicles so the ponies are being used to retrieve alien artefacts from the crash site, but because of the large number of UFOs – the story is that the landing beacon at the Roswell airbase malfunctioned and sent a whole ET tourist fleet to South America on autopilot at 16,000 kmh – the Argies haven’t got enough ponies of their own. They’ve imported over 3/4 of the entire pony population of Iceland, which has obviously been disastrous for the Icelandic tourist industry; there are now thousands of European tourists wandering around the tundra, looking for something to ride and finding only Eskimos. You know, the Inuit have had a hard time recently but now they have their own country north of Canada, they… [shouting] Hey! Stop the truck! Where are you going, I’m just… Stop! You can’t just drive off! Michael! Stop the fucking truck! Stop!!… And to end... thank you for your answers Colin. I am sure those reading will find them interesting yet somehow educational Looking forward to our live set at the PsyNews party in June, if you make it back from Afghanistan in time [shouting, faintly] Stop! Come back! I’ll give you a free CD! You can have my US Special Forces camouflage poncho! Please…! [Tape stops]

Artist: Nomad (DJ Mael) Date: 04-10-02 By: Danger Q: How did you get into the psyscene ? How was it then ? A: When the first dragonfly record appeared in france with the teleport track of MWNN, i was trancecore dj just before.My vision change Q: How long have you been involved in making music and what was the inspiration and the idea when you started ? A: i started making music in 1997, and my inspiration was TIP, juno reactor, xdream, transwave. And i wanted to make full on music. Q: You have some collaborations, like Elixir, CRMB. Will come new tracks from this groups, possibly an album ? A: No possible too difficult for getting time together. Q: What do you do in everyday-life except making music ? A: I sleep or I eat sometimes. Q: Where does the inspiration come from when building a track ? A: It depends the feeling i have in this moment , bad or good Q: What was your aim with your album, what's your opinion about it? A: I think my album is just for starting, i wish a better work for the next album Q: More collaborations in the future? Is there another artist you'd like to work with ? A: I started a track very quick in israel with Astrix, very good experience I learned a lot more, it was good, i would like to make music with spacecat I like his work very much Q: What equipment are you using to make your music ? A: mac g4 , motu 828 , nordlead and cubase with virtual synth like fm7, jx16, pro 52 Q: Whats your favourite Nomad track ? A: Spaceshiptrippers, revolution, gladiator Q: Future plans, releases and a second album ? A: a track on phantasm , it's an old track but very cool, "Welcome to paradise" and a track on the moon spirit compilation called "Physical" and a track "Cabaret" on the next 3d vision call Inside Q: What do you think of the psy-scene nowadays ? A: I think it's getting better and better Q: Best and worst party ? A: Best in Japan and in Israel Q: What are your favourite groups and tracks now ? A: Astrix "kali" "scientific reallity", SpaceCat , and Vampire from GMS Thanks for the interview and keep up the good work !

Artist: Neuromotor / ESXS (Fred Talaa) Date: 02-10-03 By: Mars Intro : Well some people think you are one guy, others think you are two, some think you are french, others spanish, some think you lived in Gwadloop, others in Ibiza...argh ! Q: So Who are you ? Where do you come from ? A: First of all i m alone for most of my project execpt the Crazy Lion's Cult (with Gill of Hyper Frequencies ) and Master Mind (with Jean Luc of Psyside), my name is Talaa Frederick and i'm from France. Well actually i live in barcelona where my heart as been caught. Q: What have you done before being Nuromotor/E.S.X.S ? A: Many things ,but concerning the music, i ran a band of hip hop when i was 13/15we were playing in the center of france .then when i got 16 i lived in paris and i discovered the boy's club so my first encounter with acid house ,well i was quite closed to altrenativ music like joy division or syster of mercy, cure , depeche mode bahauss, front line assembly and some kind of electronic music also. as far as i remember i was listenning some pink floyd , krafwrek, tangerine dream, autrek... so i keep follow this road to techno and i built my life all over it (partys,clothes where i was working......)few years after i left france to go in the carribeen seen there also some guys were involve inside the electronic scene and promoting the first party there really trance ....so as it should be i failled into it and trance begin to be my way of life. Starting deejaying in the some party that i ve done i went to ibiza for about 6/7 month then i became the resedent dj of a bar called the Khumharas in San Antonio,and the end of 1999 i built up a studio came back to France and started Neuromotor. Q: And now what are you doing in life except making music ? A: Well, actually i m running a label with my wife, called Mechanik Sound Records in Cataluna (Barcelona), and managing one other in France . Really i don t have too much time to spend it in some others activities, u know spinning around the world , live act, producing music, the label and trying to be as most as possible available for my wife and my family..... Q: Were you helped by any other artist to start ? A: No never, i started by myself and until today i never had this oportunity. i'd like to work with some of those guys well now we were talking with skazi to to do something together,and also xerox that i've met in japan ....i have some side project which include other producers like Crazy Lion's Cult with Hyper Frequencies...we are talking also with Samy from Biodegradable to hang together to do something, for sure we ll do it. Just need some time. Q: How would you describe your style ? powerful ? somewhat aggressive ? why Where does the inspiration come from when building a track ? A: I think u just mention it ...it is a kind of agressive and somehow very tribal, very. I think it is really me u know like my caractere and my way of life. The inspiration comes out with my living of all the days but most of it from my wife Gemma, our love is for me an amazing source of inspiration . Q: What equipment do you use ? Has it and/or the way you're working changed with the years ? A: Well now i just bought some new gears like Andromeda Alesis, Eventide Eclipse, a Charisma (it is like a tape machine) and a mono channel/compressor/tube spl. And i already have a Korg Triton, Nordlead 2, JP 8080, o1v Yamaha, 2 macintosh (733 and Titanium for the live) Motu 828, Dynaudio Bm6 for monitoring, and Logic Audio user with full virtual sinth. For sure now i can feel a bit of evolution , and the sound comming now has changed. It is more mature i guess and i have a more proper sound. Q: You have released 2 albums in a row under 2 different names. Do you think there is such a difference of style ? A: Well i think about Neuromotor and Plastyk Elephant are both very agressive but that the Neuromotor Album it is more strict and somehow more techno, Plastyk Elephant it is more acid and more psychedelik, but for sur both of them are really Mr Talaa Frederick Q: Any other Neuro/Esxs album planned ? Any other projects ? A: E.S.X.S album should be out next year, well i want to take time for this one. As for Crazy Lion's Cult, we are working on the release but it takes time cause we are not living in same place, One in Lyon and me in Barcelona ... Q: Would you like to make tracks with some other artists ? A: Yes, my favourites are Hyper Frequencies, Silicon Sound, Biodegradable, Psychaos, Skazi, Kox-Box, Xerox, Parasense, Hux Flux, Logic Bomb, Joujouka. One of them is alredy done (Hyper Frequencies), some others are planed like Skazi, Silicon Sound, Biodegradable maybe Psychaos ...i m very exiting about it ,and very curious too. Q: Now you're going all over the world, When & where was your best party ? And your worst one ? A: I think my best one was in Brasil, Ypi Poti : the promoters were so professionnal and the party was really magic, i felt like in an old one 6 years ago u know this energy and this sensation that everyone is connected though the music. People, the deco, the place, the music, kind of harmony. My worst....yes one in canada 1 year and half ago...no way, i don't even think that i need to talk about that time. Q: What do you think of the Psy-scene at the moment? A: I'm quite confident on it, and happy cause it is so various, i mean the music, u can find everything u want to ear. If u want some kind of hard and strong tunes to blast your mind until the most deepest melody and trancy rythms, pass by some really killer groovy housy tunes, well i think thru all those years we have achieved a very high level of production. I just hope that we ll try to keep this energy we had in the partys. After all those gigs where i played sometime this is the only thing that i'm afraid of.... Q: And what do you feel when you see people totally freak out to your music? A: I always feel surprised...and so happy too that people can like my music, i never understand this. I'm so unsecure on that point. Q: As a DJ, what are your current favourite groups and tracks ? A: Hyper Frequencies with some Killer Tunes : Alien Fashion or Fire Storm . CPU with Begin Japan Rmx and defenetly Xenomorph wich is a really killer producer, very precise. Also Hux Flux, Parasense, Skazi, Silicon Sound. Q: As of today, what is your favourite Neuro/Esxs track ? A: For neuromotor it is a new one called truck driver released on a japanese compilation, and for E.S.X.S, the bloody sword cause of my wife. Q: What do you think of the MP3 revolution, and what do you think of people trading them without buying the stuff ? A: It is a real problem, i mean OK, it offers us a big promotion, but the cd industry keeps seling less...so we are one the first to suffer for that...well i don t have any solution to give, it is a whole system that doesn t work so u know... Q: If you know Etnica, do you think it is possible for us to get an interview with them, and if yes, do you think it could be before 2024 ? A: No i don't know them. Thanks very much and we wish you good luck for the future ! You can have more infos about Neuromotor / ESXS at http://www.mechaniksound.com !

Artist: Miranda (Miranda Silvergren) Date: 12-14-00 By: Children Q: You're one of the very few women producing psytrance music … how did you discover this style and what made you decide to produce Goa ? When did you start producing it ? A: I started 7 years ago to produce serious music. Before that, I was only playing around. Why Trance? Well, I started go to underground clubs in Gothenburg 93 and I felt in love with the music. Q: Do you project to release a new album ? When would you release it ? Could you describe us how it sounds ? A: The new album "Asynja" is coming in the end of february on Goldhead music / Sweden. It is a little bit back to basics whith more riffs and touch of industrial influences. Q: Which of your own tracks do you like the best ? A: My personal best tracks are Gnocchi remix, Feel the effect, Enigma, Keep calm and Real rush. Q: Your favourite psychedelic Groups & Tracks ? A: Best tracks are Hallucinogen "LSD", Indoors "Atlantis", Man with no name "Teleport" and The delta "As a child..." Other very good groups are X-dream (The Delta), Astral projection, Transwawe and so on... Q: Tell us your recipe to make a good Miranda Track ? A: 1) A lot of nice smoke 2) A lot of time 3) A big cup of tea 4) Really bad weather, like rain of snowfall Q: Where does your inspiration come from ? A: Don't know ... Q: What kind of equipment do you use to make your Tracks ? A: Cubase VST,synths,Kurzweiler 2000R sampler Q: Future projects ? A: Maybe a new Ominus album in 2002. Q: Is there another artist you'd like to work with ? A: There are many.... But With Simon Posford or Jean-Michel Jarre could be very nice. Q: When & where was your best party ? And your worst one ? A: There are so many good parties in different ways. The worst one (one of them) are on "The Tube" in Copenhagen. Only one synth without power and leads and no stage so I had to stand on the Dancefloor so the people could see that the synth wasn't connected. Really embarrassing. Q: As you're in psytrance for many years, what do you think about the evolution of psytrance in the last years on a musical point of view ? Have things gotten better/worse according to you ? A: In Sweden it's going straight down because of the police. In the rest of the Europe it's more okay to listen to trance and have a party. The music starting as well to be a little bit boring, because everything has already been done. I think people has to be more open minded so the music can keep on developping. You can know more about her at http://www.miranda.nu !

Artist: Miraculix (Thomas Hammarstrom) Date: 09-27-02 By: Danger Q: How did you get into the psyscene? How was it then ? A: The first trance CD I bought was the Goa-Head1 compilation. Don't really know how the trance scene looked by then because I started going to parties years after that. Q: How long have you been involved in making music and what was the inspiration and the idea when you started ? A: Can't say what the actual idea was because I was so young when I started getting involved in music. My father was kind enough to give me a synth when I was only seven years old. We went into a music store to buy me one of those cool electric guitars, but we came home with a syntherziser instead... I got the guitar a few years after that. Q: Any collaborations with other artists in the future ? A: It's impossible to say at the moment, but that might be cool..! All I know now is that Jonas Bergvall (former member of Logic Bomb) wants to make a remix of one of my tracks named "Stop them!" We're close friends so I'm fine with that. I used to work with a friend of mine named Daniel Hagenfeldt on a club trance project and mabe I might do something with him as a sideproject later. on. Q: Where does the inspiration come from when building a track ? A: Dancefloors... shouting-screaming-jumping... Dancefloors! Q: What was your aim with your album, what's your opinion about it ? A: I really wanted to do a full-on album for the dancers and I'm so glad with what I've acomplished so far with the 9 tracks on the Detonator album. Q: What equipment are you using to make your music ? A: I'm using a PC AMD 1500 running Cubase VST and a whole loads of software, Novation Supernova2, Roland Mc-505, Korg Poly6, Alesis Dm-5 drum machine, Alesis NanoBass, a Behringer Mx-8000 24 channel mixer, a Behringer compressor, a Alesis MidiVerb4 effect, Behringer Truth studio monitors, a Zoom Sampler wich is for sale cause I never use it. Q: Whats your favourite Miraculix track and why? A: Actually I'm so happy with how the album turned out, it feels like all the tracks on it are my favourites! Q: Future plans, releases and a second album? A: The plan after the album is to get some tracks out on various compilations and whenever I feel ready for it, produce another album for Alchemy Records. Q: What do you think of the psy-scene nowadays? A: Hard to say because I only visit other countries while I'm there doing gigs and I don't get to experience much more of the scene there then the parties I'm playing at. The thing in Sweden is that we've got these really nice outdoor parties in the forests during the summers. The police on the other hand doesn't like these parties because most of the time there are a'lot of people doing drugs there. Most of the time they just drive out to the party location to make a great entrence with their big blue jackets to frighten people not to take drugs, but sometimes they even shut down the music and makes sure people go home. Q: Best and worst party? A: Best parties are when people show up and are really feeling up for dancing the night away. The worst parties are the opposit or when the police shows up. Thanks for the interview !

Artist: Mind Warped (Kent Friedman) Date: 06-20-00 By: Anoebis Q: Hello Mind Warped and thanks for doing an interview with us!! A: Thanks for the opportunity! Q: Let's start with the first question... How, why & when did you start with producing music? A: I started back in college (1993) with a guitar, drum machine and a few odd synthesizers with the intent of creating some sort of fusion between the modern techno sounds I was hearing at the time and the primarily British pop music I had grown up with (Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, Slowdive, Ride). At this time I joined a project called Madmen In Vienna which continues to this day. A few years later I came across a compilation CD featuring Hallucinogen's 'LSD.' At the same time I was listening to a copy of Juno Reactor's "Transmissions" album, randomly picked up off the Novamute Records catalog. I had a feeling that this was special music and at the time I could only imagine the people and the studios involved in creating this music. I was curious for more and before too long I realized that this "psychedelic trance" was something completely new; a departure from the rest of the techno around at the time. I felt there were deeper layers of meaning within this music and it was the complexity and transformative nature of this music that made it so alluring and refreshing. I think for some reason some people are more intrigued by resonant filter sweeps and other such atmospherics, and somehow I managed to fit into this group and was blown away by the ever-evolving sounds found within this style. Once the bug bit me I was hooked and thus began the exploration of how to make trance music. For many years it was difficult to find anyone in the US who was interested in producing trance and I had to do a lot of learning on my own through careful listening and self-exploration of analog synthesis. Even to this day there are only a handful of US artists with commercial releases so collaborations and cross-fertilization of ideas are still rare. There are some young producers in New York City that are looking like they have some serious potential though - so look out! Q: Why do you make Goa-Trance and not other kinds of music? A: I actually also create techno-influenced pop music when I'm not writing trance! I think I make trance music because it appeals to my interests in altered levels of consciousness and allows me to share the experience with others. I think trance music is interpreted in so many ways by different people and it truly is a mind-expanding cultural phenomenon. I also appreciate the sacredness of all music and it ties in nicely with the religious imagery and rituals found in trance dancing and trance music in general. Q: How would you describe Psychedelic/Goa-Trance? A: This music can mean a lot of different things to different people, and it has fragmented into so many different styles now that it's hard to describe in a nutshell. To me psychedelic trance is best characterized by any electronically generated music that facilitates passage into a transcendental state on the part of the listener. Of course people all over the world enter altered states with many different styles of music, but I think trance is especially geared towards this experience. There are of course many non-electronic elements in this music as well but I think the tones generated by synthesizers tend to stimulate our minds in unusual ways and contribute to the trance experience through mechanisms of perception that are only partially understood. I think the almost human-like qualities of some resonant filters impart a particularly vibrant effect on the listener. Q: What do you think of the Goa-scene at the moment? A: I can't comment much on other areas of the world but I would have to say the the New York City scene is particularly vibrant at this point in time! There are often several indoor events and outdoor renegades on the same weekend. There are so many artists, DJs, musicians, promoters involved now and the international influences in New York make for a particularly fertile scene these days! Q: Psychedelic Trance is changing at the moment, it becomes more like Techno, is it a good or a bad thing? A: I can't say that I feel that any change is necessarily good or bad. Artists are responding to their sonic environment with a new focus, and this is never really a problem for me unless the quality of the music is compromised by external influences such as money or fame. I have enjoyed seeing the various styles evolve within trance music and I hope the trend continues. I think the breakbeats, industrial elements, progressive sounds, minimalistic styles, etc. have all broadened the scene in a positive way. Q: What's your favourite Goa Group, Album, Top 5 Goa Tracks? A: I can't say that there is one group or album that is my favorite, as different works of creativity shine in their own unique ways and can't fairly be compared to one another. I can say that the albums that were very influential to me initially include Hallucinogen's "LSD", Juno Reactor's "Transmissions," Cosmosis' "Cosmology," and the early TIP compilations and Astral Projection albums. There are so many great tracks I don't think I could narrow it down to a list of five that would have much meaning. Q: What's your favourite track that you made on your own? A: My current favorite track is called 'Circadian Rhythm' and is produced under the alias of Shape Shifters. It's currently unreleased but we'll see about that soon I hope! Q: Here in Belgium you're a pretty known artist after you're album Fluolizard, do they know you too in America or is there still a big difference between America and Europe? A: I think trance music is still kind of "underground" in the US in that the mainstream population does not understand the difference between a trance party and a "rave." I think that most DJs and hardcore trance-fans are aware of what Hugh Sharpe and I (the two members of Shape Shifters) have been creating although we could certainly could be doing more to promote ourselves. Both Hugh and I have busy schedules with school and work which sometimes limits how much time we have to promote ourselves and play at parties. Q: Where do you get your inspiration? A: My inspiration comes from people, parties, the visual artists, and of course the musicians and DJs involved in trance. I think I also get inspiration from the natural beauty of the real world and its transformative qualities as well as other people and cultural phenomenons that don't strictly relate to trance. Q: What kind of equipment do you use? A: The list has changed over the years but now includes: ProTools|24 on a G3 running Studio Vision Pro, EMu e64 sampler, Novation Supernova, Waldorf Microwave XT & Pulse+, Yamaha FS1R, EMu Morpheus, Ensoniq DP/4+ fx, dbx dynamic processors, and a Mackie mixer and a smattering of older Roland and Korg analog synthesizers which I don't use as much now that I've got the modern gear. For live performances I control my synths with a Powerbook. Q: What are your future projects? A: For now I am developing my sound under the name Shape Shifters, which includes collaboration with NYC DJ Hugh Sharpe on numerous tracks. Thanks a lot from all the Goa people community, and give us more great stuff as soon as you can ))!! Thanks! I look forward to performing live in Europe in the future!

Artist: MFG (Aharon Segal & Guy Zukrel) Date: 08-29-00 By: Gustav Q: So...could you tell us a little about yourselves? A: Guy Zukrel is 30 years old and single, i'm (Aharon Segal) 30 years old, happily married and have a 4 years old baby girl and expecting a 2nd baby boy in about 4 months. We've been playing electronic music together for many years, we met in high school when we were about 15 years old and we never stopped playing together since then. Q: Were you involved in any musical projects before MFG? Did you play in rock bands like most people seem to have done? A: No rock bands, we were always writing original electronic music of our own in various styles, nothing really that good that could get us famous, but we had a lot of fun and so did our friends who always support us Q: How did you get in touch with psychedelic trance music and when? A: While we were trying to make our first album of electronic industrial music (in the sound of Skinny Puppy, Front 242, Front Line Assembly) a very good friend of ours played us some tracks by The Infinity Project (TIP) and we liked it a lot, until that day we were sure that electronic music must be dark and heavy and then we found out that the same instruments and sounds can be used for a different kind of pure electronic music, a happy style, with positive inspirations that we didn't know before, and we simple fell in love with this type of music. We then wrote a couple of tracks and went to meet Oren Kristal from Phonokol Records which said that we sound too dark to enter the scene and played us (for the first time) an Astral Projection track called "Let There Be Light" (i'm sure not if that's the right title!?) and we left, after two days we came back and Oren thought that we forgot our keys in his office but we came back with our first psychedelic trace track "Shape The Future" and right after we played him the track he signed us for 3 albums on his label. That was a very quick start for a new band like ours, and it took about a couple of months till our first album "The Prophecy" was released in Israel, France and the UK. Q: What's the best/worst thing that has happened to you as MFG? A: The best thing was the way it all started, so fast (as i wrote above), we found ourselves touring all around the world, meeting lots of people and having lots of great time. The Worst thing is that the trance scene was starting to fade not a long time after that, and we could feel that happening when our second album "New Kind of World" was released, less sales, less shows around the world, also through our third album "Project Genesis", but we survived because we also have a day work and we knew from the start that being a trance artist is not enough to make a living. Q: What do you think about the progressions in the "scene" during these years. Have things gotten better/worse or is it just the the same? A: As i said above, we had the chance to experience the trance scene in it's best days and also lately when it started to fade, but it still exist in it's original underground size, we think, which is good. Q: Which musical artists do you admire the most? (both psytrance/non-psytrance) A: From the trance scene we like our friends Astral Projection, also Hallucinogen, some of X-Dream, old Transwave and Etnica and some others too. Outside the trance scene we like bands like Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, Front 242, Numb and lots of others, they are all playing dark electronic industrial music. Q: What kind of studio are you using now? I only know you used to share one with Astral Projection long time ago. A: We only used Astral studio once when we recorded our first (non-album) track "Shape The Future" and then we also wrote the track "Radial Blur" together for Astral album, since then we always used our own little homey studio with our own equipment. Q: Do you have any sideprojects for the moment? As far as I know, Guy Zukrel is involved in Emuna & The Passenger. A: That's all of them, we wrote a couple of tracks with California Sunshine, released some tracks on compilations but not any side projects beside those you mentioned above. Q: Which track of yours are you most proud of and why? A: Aharon: i like "Why" from our 3rd album "Project Genesis" the most because i find it more deep and interesting than the rest, but i also like many of our other tracks too ofcourse... Guy: "When We Dream" from our 2nd album "New Kind Of World", and i also like all of our other tracks too. Q: I've heard very little of you as a live band. Your name is very rarely found in the line-up for parties, except for some far-away parties. How come, is most of the time spent in the studio or is your personal life pretty demanding? A: We played a lot around the world through the years, believe me, but maybe because we also have a day work and sure we have our own personal lifes you couldn't find our name everywhere and in every party. We also didn't release anything in the last year so beside of a few shows in the USA we didn't preform anywhere, but soon with our new album i'm sure everyone will get the chance to see us in his county, so get your self ready to party with us, we're coming back really soon... Q: At least the last months I guess you've been quite busy working on the new album. How long has it taken and when will it be ready? A: We started working together again about a couple of moths ago and we believe our new album "The Message" will be ready in about two more months. Q: You have changed sound quite alot during the years as MFG, especially with Project Genesis; going to darker, more alienated sound. Can you give us a little hint about the sound of the new album? A: We have 6 tracks ready so far, we plan to write two more and one Ambient track (we never wrote an ambient track until now), the album sounds like a new MFG album, a bit melodic, a bit darker and always new, we never give up, we always try to create new atmospheres otherwise we might get bored... Q: I hope we expect some heavy touring when the album is finished. Is that planned? A: We are ready, it all depends if the party organizers will like our new album and will like to invite us to play, we sure hope to reach every country on this planet (and beyond) with our new album and meet all of our fans. Q: Would you like to give any special message to everyone reading this? A: Well, i must say that although people like to relate the Psychedelic Trance scene to drugs, we don't use drugs to write our music so we would like to recommend all of our fans and listeners to save their lifes and listen to us without using drugs, we think drugs kill people and their personality, hiding the truth from them and stopping them from doing things in their lifes, we plan to write something about it in the booklet of our new album, i hope we will. Thank you very much for you taking your time to do this interview! Best Regards, Aharon Segal & Guy Zukrel MFG.

Label: Medium Date: 11-12-00 By: Mindbender Q: Tell us of the beginning of Medium Records? What made you establish a record company and how did the beginning go? A: At the first i start to be a DJ after a some time Important Records ask me if I like to create a Label and i did it (Full Moon Production.) But i had my problems with this Company and so i sayed it is better to do it by yourself And so it did it. In the beginning it was hard There was not to much money and Artists but i had a good name as Dj and so the Artists below in my Words and so we start with the Compilation Goodfellas Q: How did you choose the name Medium? A: I think the Music is the main Medium to get on a Party into Trance. So every Track on our Label is a Medium to give the People what they are looking for. Q: Could you give us a short history of your label? A: Medium is founded 1999 from me and my Partner Thomas We found us on a Party here in this Area where he made the Backline and the Soundsysthem. We had from the first moment a good Time and so we become to be Friends. From there we did together Medium and it goes well Q: How would you describe the music that you release? A: We release the hole Spectrum of our Trancemusik You find on our releases from Ambient to progressive and psychedelic Trance every style of our Music. So every CD or Vinyl is a suprise and you will never no what is on it We try to do our best that you can listen to the Music at home or on a Party and we are everytime open for something new Q: What artists does Medium work with? Any upcoming, never heard, killer artists? A: We work with a lot of DJs and Artists About my worke as DJ wold wide i know a lot of people and everybody like to worke with us We had releases with :Man with no Name , Atmos , Tim Schuldt ,Johann Bley, Noma , Andreas Krüger (Der dritte Raum) and a lot more Check our releases under www.medium-records.de We will have some killer next year with the Bitmonx and Auricular for sure. Q: How do you see the future of your label? What new records are you releasing? A: I dont know our future but this moment it looks very good for us We try to do our best that we like to be a good Label with some good Music not only made for the Partys it have to be Music for everytime in your Life The next releases are: Mahasuka Vibration 3 Elevator Bitmonx and Haldolium Bitmonx Album and a Compilation from our DJ Sascha Q: What will be your style of music in the future? The same as before or not? A: It is very important that a Label is open for the future and the Music of this. We like to stay in trance from the hard night into the Morning Glory But we will see where our Music is going. In the end the people on the Partys have to show me what they like to heare in the future Q: What artists would you like to work with? A: I worked with the most of Artists of our Music and it is not important that the Artist is famous. So i like to worke with everybody when the Production is perfect and nice.We like to give everybody achance so long the music is made for the floor and the people at home. Q: How about your growth? Has Medium grown and what do you think about it? A: Yes inside of 16 month we came bigger as i hoped and this is a good feeling when you do worke like this it is very important that you know that there are some people in the world who like your music. and when there are comming more and more then it is like a dream Q: What other labels do you appreciate? A: I have no special label and i like to listen to every record witch i find but for sure Spirit Zone,Aurinco , Free Form, and Flying Rhino did a good work Q: What are your favourite records and artists? A: Man with no Name is my favorite artist and in this Moment is our new Vibration my best record. Q: You're also a DJ. What type of music do you play? Do you anything else to say about DJ'ing? A: DJing is a hard work for sure and you have to be very mental at your worke Iam open for every style and i take o look on the Dancefloor and i hope everytime that i find the right music for the right time. In the End it is trance music in every style Q: Does Medium arrange parties? If you do, how have they been and which was the best one? A: We have a lot of promotor who like to do labelpartys with us they rent our deko and soundsysthem and we make the line up but we do no partys by ourself and i thing every party what they made with us was the best. Q: Tell us about the best party you've been to? A: The best was for sure the japan partys the people are crazy and open for every style of our music the city (tokyo) is like a hit in your face and all in all it is everytime a Advanture. Q: How about the worst one? A: i thing it was here in germany there was not enough people and the promotor and all workers runs away with the money in the end we was alone there it was a shame for everybody. we never saw some money and the people who payed for this party standing on the floor, with tears in there eyes it was a nightmare Q: What do you think about the psy-trance scene globally? Should psy-trance become more popular or is it better underground? A: The hard psy-trance will be for sure made for the underground but there are some bands like Element and iam sure they will find a way to be popular. And this will be good for our Music Q: What do you think about the musical evolution of psy-trance itself? A: Psy-Trance by himself has no more evolution but a lot of artists create from this Music a new style like progressive or elastic trance. This is very important for our music here is the way to go from the Underground into the Overground. Psy-Trance by himself is made for a small part of people in ths world but it is to hard for a lot of people so it is and have to be a special kind of music for special people Q: Do you have any advice to those, like me, who dream of setting up their own label some day? Or practical advice to those who are already in the process or even just got the company set up? A: Belive in your work. Be fair to your Artists Check your Money before you start Be open for different music also when you dont like it but the people on the floor like it. Give your music to some good Djs before you release it and take a look on the floor if the people like it. Make a good Cover it is more important as you know Good Luck Q: Finally, do have anything you'd like to say to the Medium fans out there? A: I hope we have some fans and i like to say thank you to everybody and when you see me everywhere in this world speak to me and tell me when we do something wrong. Save our music Copy kills our music Thanks a lot for this interview. Thank you and i hope we see us again Helsinki was a good Party and the people are very good, big thanks to Peter the Promotor of this Party his worke was perfect I had some good days in my Life You can have more infos about Medium label at http://www.medium-records.de !

Label: Mechanik Sound Records (Fred and Gemma) Date: 02-10-03 By: Mars Q: How & when did your Mechanik adventure start and > where are you based ? A: Well, Gemma and me wanted to be more indepandent on my produtions , wanted to have a better control on this , also work more closer was an important point which bring to this idea ,.,and we were a band of friends (Hyper Frequencies, Ananda, Jessy, The Yeti) so we talked all together and thought we could work all of us in this project, that was in february 2002 and that's how it came. Q: How did you choose this name ? A: Well it was quite obvious, Neuromotor, Hyper Frequencies, we thought that our label had to be very clear...so mechanik was the closest so far. Q: Could you describe us the style of trance you want to favour to be released under your label? Do you favour a particular country in the musical orientation of your label? A: We would like to keep the line of Hyper Frequencies, Neuromotor, we'd like some dance floor staff , Yechnoid psychedelik and defenetly rock our next compilation gonna give to the people an obvious flavour .....called "Psycho Laboratory" (note : it's released today !!) Well about the country we wanted to be connect with some scene like Brazil that why we released Lotus Omega (even they are not there, but they were really inspired). I played lot of times there, i feel in love with this country. But we are not gonna stuck on one country, there's so many good productions everywhere in this world ....so we ll probably release from all over. Q: How do you see the future & growth of your label? What new records will you release? A: We are positive when we think in this term, we are tying to be most professionnal as we can, at that time. We are still learning the way it goes, but fortunatly we have a good team which feel really involved in this label, so that helps. We'd like to bring some good productions out, work with other label, events in differents countries, and actually we have a project which is a T.V program well, we're on it so we ll talk about it when it'll be ready. Our next release should come out around marsh 15th, it is a compilation called as i said before "Psycho Laboratory" which contains the artists we like now and we wanted to see all together on the same album : Hyper Frequencies, Xenomorph, Parasense, Neuromotor, Skazi, Beat On Phobia, CPU, Lotus Omega, Talamasca. Then after it we ll release a new Fyper Frequencies album , which i should say it is a blaster one...it is a subtile mix between techno, rock psychedelik, hypnosis, acid...well u'll see, we are kind of proud to produce this artist. Q: What artists would you like to work with? A: Silcon sound, Biodegradable, Skazi, Psychaos, Xenomorph and Parasense...we have planned already with all of them to do something, let's be patient it's gonna come. Q: Is there another particular label you appreciate a lot for its musical orientation? A: Yes, for sure Acidance, Shaffel, 3DVision, and a lot Ultimae Records. Q: Do you organize parties with your label ? A: Yes are actually planning a tour with a lot of promoters, like Japan, Costa Rica, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and France this should start around jully... Q: Are you used to DJ in some parties? If so, what kind of stuff do you play in these parties ? A: 60% Neuromotor stuff, and mostly the music that we are going to release, like CPU, Hyper Frequencies, Xenomorph, Parasense, Syriuisness...I play dark and psychedelik mostly, but it depends on the party; i also played groovys and melodic. The only type i'm not used to play is progressive. I like it but doesn't fit in my set, and well i don t have any of those tunes, so... Q: What do you think about the psy-trance scene globally ? How do you think it's evolving ? A: What i think is we can be happy, this is growing up we play it all over, the music is changing new people are comming...Well it is not anymore trancy like it used to be but it is stomping and it is rocking the earth. It's an answer to our life and to our system...i really enjoy to be a part of it ,and i beleive in our future . Q: Finally, do have anything else you'd like to say? A: ...(seems not) You can have more infos about Mechanik Sound Records at http://www.mechaniksound.com !

Artist: Masada Date: 12-14-01 By: Mars Q: First of all, what is your musical background (studies, first compositions) ? A: We started making music long ago (Mathias in the early 90's and Torsten in the 80's). Mathias was into different styles. He started out making music with Soundtracker/Protracker in the Amiga era. He has also done soundtracks for radio and smaller films. Torsten started with synth/electron back in the 80's, turned into italio disco in the late 80's and then progressed into funk and ambient. He also did some tracks with Fasttracker 2 in the group Phluid. Q: How and when did you start to make psytrance, and why did you choose to make psytrance over any other medium of music ? A: Both Mathias and me started listening to different kind of psytrance. Back then it was stuff like Astral Projection, Man with no name, MFG and melodic stuff. We liked the atmosphere of psytrance. We thought it sounded fresh and inspiring. I remember that it reminded me of JM Jarre's old stuff at the double speed and with massive drums. Another thing that apealed to us was that you didn't need any vocals. Another thing is that we are both creative human beings, I think we have to be creative to feel good about ourselves. We are not the kind of person that sits around doing nothing. Q: Which other music styles do you like ? A: Besides psytrance Mathias listens to a lot of different music, mostly pop/rock (for example Spiritualized and a fantastic band from Iceland called Sigur Ros) but also electronic music like Air, Orbital and Underworld. Torsten is deep into detroit, ambient, some reggae and stuff like Air and Manu Chao. Q: What do you do in everyday-life except making music ? A: Mathias works in the telecom business with broadband communications and Torsten is a full time musician. Q: Do you project to release other tracks soon ? A: Our upcoming debut Oceanic will soon be out on Tsunami Productions. It's the first album in a serie of 4 albums. Most of the tracks on Oceanic and the 3 others are older and more melodic stuff than we make today. A better sample of our current sound is the upcoming 12" on Koyote Records with the tracks Bollen and Centralen. Q: Which of your own tracks do you like the best ? A: Torsten: Bhongo Bhonged, Bollen, Centralen, Population with large heads. Mathias: Invalid K-bytes, Population with large heads, Signal Degraded Q: Your favourite psychedelic Groups & Albums ? A: Torsten: Wizzy Noise - Cybermancy, Absolum - Wild, Logic Bomb - Headware, and some of SUN Project and The Delta. Mathias: Hux Flux - Cryptic Crunch, Power Source - Cosmic Waves, Wizzy Noise - Cybermancy, Son Kite and Logic Bomb. Q: Where does your inspiration come from when building a Track ? A: Torsten: It often starts when I hear something in a track that I like. Could be a sound, a bassline or just a mood. Going to psyparties is another huge source of inspiration. Mathias: I listen to a lot of music, not necessarily psytrance. It gives me a great feeling of creativity. If that doesn't work I usually log on the Internet and look at the incredible number of downloads and great feedback we've recieved on our mp3.com site, that's something that inspires me to make more music. If this doesn't work either, I drink a bucket of coffee... Q: What kind of equipment do you use to make your Tracks ? A: We used to be a Cubase/synthesizer act, but after discovering Vaz Modular and VSTi's we decided to go 100% software more or less. We have a couple of "hardware" synthesizers left, but we hardly use them anymore. Using software synths is a fast and easy way to write music and today's software sounds so good we don't feel like we need additional hardware. When we write music we do it seperately, we lives in different cities and collaboration is hard. Q: Future projects ? A: Keep on making good music with Masada and maybe collaborations with other artists. Q: Is there any artist you'd like to work with ? A: It would be great to something with Wizzy Noise for their hybrid of psytrance and techno with evil breakbeats. SUN Project is another band that makes real funky psytrance and working with them would be very nice and inspiring. Q: What kind of stuff do you play as DJ in parties ? A: We don't DJ (yet?) Q: Some tips for the beginners who make music ? A: Try listening to other artist and then exerimenting with your own gear and try to make something that sounds good. Imitation is often a good way to learn, but if you keep imitating others you won't progress. Q: When & where was your best party ? And your worst one ? Our best party was when we played at the same party as Astral Projection in Sweden. The audience was +1000 and the atmosphere was wild. People went bonkers when we entered the stage. The worst party was our first appearance at a party called Vampires. The organizers supplied us with one working speaker and a reciever as amplifier. The sound was so distorted that everyone in the audience left the room in 10 minutes and we ended up playing for ourselfes. Q: How do you think trance music will mutate in the future ? A: It would be great if psytrance and techno could come closer. We like hard and minimal stuff, but pure detroit techno can be dull after listening to it for hours. Maybe trance will be more influenced by electro. We think that there will always be a more melodic side and one monotonous side. Q: What do you think of the MP3 revolution ? A: MP3 is here to stay and we have mp3.com to thank for a lot of our success. It gave us a chance to share our music with the people without having to release an album first. We have recieved hundreds of letters from people listening to our music and that feedback kept us continue. Q: And what do you think of people downloading them without buying the stuff ? A: If it's possible to "steal" music or software, people will continue doing it. I think it's impossible to avoid that. The good thing with it is the posibility to "try before you buy" or listening to music you would never hear if it wasn't for mp3. I think it's all good and a natural development. Thanks for the interview and we wish you good luck for the future!! Big thanks to you too! Cheers!

Artist: Luminus (Amir Dvir) Date: 07-07-00 By: Anoebis Q: Hello Luminus and thanks for doing the interview... How, why & when did you start with producing music? A: Hey Anoebis and thanks for publishing this interview and contributing so much with the site. Actually, im dealling with music since i remember myself. the first time i picked my first guitar i was about 8-9 years old... and as i child i always liked heavy metal bands... started with Iron Maiden/Guns n' Roses/Metallica shit.... and later on much harder stuff as Sepultura/Cradle of Filth and shit... when i was about 12-13 years i bought my first computer and started checking out all these BBS (to whom which doesn't know - it was the early age of the internet) and downloading all these wierd music tracker files, back than it was S3M and shit like that... and i liked it!! so i decided to try it myself since i always was into music.. and i found out its pretty easy for me. so i made a few cheesy dancy pop tunes and went to some "Demo Contests" and participated. there i met Miki Litvak (ex-Shidapu to whom who remembers) and learned alot from this guy about all the programs and helped me with sounds and all the inpiration for starting my way as a trance artist....so finally i was about 15 when i made my first "trance" track . Q: Why do you make Goa-Trance and not other types of music? A: Well i guess i just like the vibes and the energies in this music... also, its much like heavy metal with the power and the energies in the music, a thing i like very much. Q: What do you think of the new, progressive Psychedelic Trance/Techno? A: After a few years of damn hard screaming and scratching psychedelic trance, people have come to conclusion that its time to chill out a little bit (for my opinion) and started to low down the BPMs and more deep stuff (e.g. scandivian new stuff, flying rhino and much more), and i can say that this wave has caught me too. Q: Why is there such a big difference between the European and Israeli Psychedelic Techno? A: This question has one simple answer - The Mentality. almost always you can feel by the act of the person how his music gonna sound. Israel is a country with alot of sun and alot of beaches means its much lighter.. for example germany is a cold country and thats why the music there is much darker. Q: How do you think that Psychedelic Trance will evolve in the future? A: People will dress like monkeys and eat bananas in the north beach of Pakistan.... now seriously.. i have no answer for that question cause psychedelic trance is a freestyle music (more or less). Q: What's your favourite Luminus Track? A: My favourite is "Diablo" that was released on the german label "Shiva Space Tech." and also on my album. Q: I've read on the cover of "Hypnotica" that your next album will be different from the Luminus albums, can you tell us more about that and what will be your new name?? A: Yah, thats true. i guess now it the time im supposed to reach out other level with my music. these days im working on few tracks with every one of them is a TOTALLY diffrent styles, i wouldn't recognize myself if i was hearing it for the first time so i guess im on my way to find a new style right now and im not really locked on anything. about the name... HELP ME PEOPLE!!! cant find anything yet. Q: What are your Top 5 Goa-Trance albums and artists? A: 1. Hallucinogen - All the Albums 2. Etnica - Alien Protein 3. Prana - Geomantik 4. Green Nuns Of The Revolution - Rock Bitch Mafia 5. M.F.G - The Prophecy Q: Where do you get your inspiration? A: I live in a beautiful and peacefull village in the center of israel where i shove all my inpiration from and also from my dog - Shetz that all the time im composing music sits near my legs and licks them. Q: What do you think about Free MP3 sites like Napster? A: Acutally, i just finished reading an article about Napster and that genious kid who invented all this shit, to tell you the truth i really dont like it as an artist but im sure that if i wasnt dealing with music i was doing the same stuff. Q: What kind of equipment do you use? A: My studio contains: Mackie 24*4 Mixer Akai s3000 Sampler Clavia Nord Lead Synth Roland SH-101 Synth Waldorf Pulse Synth Roland MC303 Shitty Synth Zoom 1204 Multi Effect Alesis Multi Effect Gina Sound Card DBX compressor Roland midi keyboard Event 20/20 monitors all running on pentiumII 450mhz. not too big... but enough for now. Q: What are your future projects/releases? A: As i said before no projects for now... chilling out a bit and trying other stuff after 2 albums. Thanks alot from the Goa-community and give us more great music as soon as possible! )) Thank you!! good luck with the website and keep contributing so much to the trance community. byebye.

Hello everyone ! We are sorry that the party stopped at 5.30. The cops came with the needed papers and they made us stop the music in the middle of Silicon Sounds' wonderful live act...shame ! Anyway we hope you had a wonderful time until 5.30 We are very sorry for this situation although we can only be disappointed by the cause of all this : at first we thought this was due to complaints with the noise, but there were also fights in the parking and the sum of both decided the cops to stop everything...extreme shame !!! That's all the more worse as we had done literally everything to secure that party. We had thought about every detail, we had told the owner 10 times : "you are aware, right ? Techno music, all night, boom-boom, until 9AM" And it was all right ! Sorry it ended up unexpectedly like that. So OK time for some to learn again what's PLUR : In order to make you forget this painful night more easily, there will be a FREE private "Suntrip" party soon. We'll tell later who/when/where, but as far as I know, it will be fully melodic and Anoebis that couldn't play this morning will be on the decks ! Watch for updates soon.

Kob - Fylonetic (new Filteria acidic project)

Here's a new board where you'll see artists & labels interviews. This is a read-only place. People interested in posting here an interview should contact any moderator or admin.

And reminds me from Transit Festival 2004 in Spain Tetraktys was playing, opening the festival, and it was raining mad...and crash Aaah good festival times. I hope nobody got harmed this time either.

I am fully supporting this decision. I also veto'ed not to have the ban length lowered because enough is enough ! There is no reason to make a poll about that, even though I'm cohnfident about the result. Goazzz you may be sarcastic with your "put a smile" rule, but if you look at the rule, they say on the first line : Shall there be Peace/Love/Unity/Respect in ONE place in the world, do your best so that it's here. Once you are on Psynews, you are open, you accept its members, share with them, contribute in a positive way.. And later : - Of course, you may not like something and say it. You may agree or not on someone's point, and say it too. But be a gentleman/woman doing so. Be constructive !. I'm sorry but Cinos was very far from that, not to say the contrary !