Page 21 - Zone Magazine Issue 015

Do you remember the first time you heard trance music? How did you connect with the genre?
For me I started clubbing in NYC around 96-97 during the time of some of NY’s best clubs around, Twilo, Tunnel, Limelight, Speed, Exit, Roxy etc. I was really caught up in the magic of just dance music until I started to get more specialized in my tastes one specific night in 99. Tunnel had been shut down and my friends and I needed to find another spot to hit up. Finding a flyer for Twilo. It was for the same night, with Paul van Dyk in huge letters. I heard heard some tracks by Paul by this time and thought hey let’s go. It was one hell of a night, and one that led me to my obsessive love affair with trance music overall. I connected with it because I loved the driving techno-influenced drum programming over such gorgeous and emotive melodies over the top. It certainly didnt hurt that Twilo had one of the finest (if not the finest) sound systems to ever grace the tri-state area.
What influenced your decision to become a DJ? How did you know that music was the path you had to take?
Well, to be honest, I never sought to be a DJ at all. I just eventually wanted to learn what was behind the scenes in the sense of making the music itself. I would read books and magazines (there wasn't a billion Australians making YouTube tutorials just yet mind you), just to get a grip on how to get things done and start putting together, very haphazardly at first and for a while, my first tunes. It was a couple years later that offers to start to come to play at clubs were coming in, and decided to go with that flow.
Was there a track that you produced that allowed you to explode into the scene or was it a steady rise?
I think my 2006 release of Lift on Discover Records really helped me gain the exposure to kickstart the whole process. After that, winning the remix competition for Sander van Doorn’s "Punk’d” solidified things helping me to get access to better remix offers to come.
Can you lend us some insight into how you go about producing your records?
These days I’ll always start one of two ways. If I get a melodic idea I’ll put together some nice chords and play freestyle over the chords until I come up with a general motif to get it to flow as well as be memorable, then go from there, with more melodic elements until I had a good general idea — and THEN start with the kick and bass end.
OR (and this is what I’ll do more these days)
I’ll actually start by getting a solid kick and bass combination and build upon that foundation from there, eventually getting to the melodic elements.
Tell us about your newest release, Black & White, what was your vision behind the record?
I wanted a pure hybrid record, one that poaches elements of trance, techtrance, psy, and even a bit of tricks from drum and bass production I’ve learned over the last 2 years. Black and White is a good way to describe the flow of it as it goes from dark feeling to light feeling and back...
How has your sound evolved over the years?
I am far more technical than I ever have been, with much more detail in my tracks than years ago. I LOVE tiny details, especially details that might even occur just once for a few milliseconds in a track.
What other genres of music influence your sound?
DnB & Psytrance influence my trance sound big time.
How do you feel about trance becoming a staple genre in the United States? Do you think Insomniac played a major role in bringing trance to a large audience in the US?
Insomniac’s introduction of Dreamstate to their “EDC” massive clubber-base has increased visibility of the genre in such a great way. I have been saying for years that the big festivals are a great
opportunity for the new generation of ravers to be introduced to something new to them just by accident, whether walking by a stage on the way to where they were originally going, and deciding “holy fuck, this shit aint bad at all” and sticking around a bit, or just by a friend of theirs dragging them to hear “that dude I’ve been telling you about”. Longest sentence ever I think there.
Tell us about your radio show, Degenerate Radio, what made you start your own radio show and why do you call yourself “the degenerate Sean Tyas” in the introduction?
I think I earned the term the degenerate over the years due to my party reputation, but that’s what the scene is really all about. Having an amazing time with your friends, meeting new ones, taking things to a new level really. We’re all young only once, it doesnt happen again. I started the radio show just to consistently bring tracks out into the spotlight based on what I considered great tunes, and also a good platform on which to try tracks before integrating them into my live DJ sets.
10. Are there any big upcoming events your fans can see you at?
As far as some big ones, you have of course EDC Vegas, Tomorrowland 2017 in belgium, Luminosity Beach festival near Amsterdam, Open Up Tour in Australia, Street Parade in Zurich, Earthcore 2017 in Australia later in the year, and quite a few more that have not been announced yet, as well as many club shows throughout. but anyone can just check out facebook.com/ seantyasmusic/events to see whats up and what’s been announced.
Connect: www.seantyasmusic.com Pic courtesy of sean
tyas
Words By Andrew Lazar & Taylor Beebe
" I earned the term 'the degenerate' over the years due to my party reputation, but that’s what the scene
is really all about. Having an amazing time with your friends, meeting new ones, taking things to a new level really.
We’re all young only once, it doesnt happen again. "