Home News What's On Annual Poll Photos Forums DJs Features Music Venues Reviews Links

Features Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters!

Get Nocturnal with Matt Darey Reported by HarderFaster / Submitted 02-06-08 19:14 An innovator from the word go, Matt Darey has been at the forefront of the trance scene for well over a decade. Considered by many to be one of the founders of the trance scene his work has defined many a euphoric night out on the tiles. With classic records Gamemaster, Liberation and Beautiful under his belt and still rinsed today, these days you’ll find him just at home spinning those perfect hands in the air tracks as you would pushing his new sound, Rocktronica. It’s unsurprising then that despite the scrubbing of dance music from radio and TV stations in the UK, his home country, that his Nocturnal show is syndicated to well over 110 stations around the world. But these are FM stations not just internet stations, with only two of the total being online, Ministry Of Sound and DI.fm. An impressive total, we think you’ll agree and one which led onto the perfect opening question… What do you think this says for the health of the dance scene around the world? I think the scene is building up again and radio really helps get people listening to new cutting edge dance music. Even so, I think some of the big stations like BBC Radio 1 have pushed dance music out of the peak time slots which is band news for the scene in the UK. Like many other radio shows, the format you have is two hours with your own mix straight off and guest stars picking up the second hour. What do you think is unique about the show that brings so many listeners in? It’s all about the music selection. I like quite a broad spectrum of dance music from electro, prog, breaks, trance, rocktronica, minimal, etc. I try to play the best of what’s out there each week and the mix up of styles means there’s never a dull moment. Would you agree that FM with its population reach is still as vitally important today as it was 10 years ago? With Podcasting and streaming on mobiles people have more choice and I guess from that perspective FM radio is less important than it was. As you said you’re focusing on a range of genres in the show. After many years of fragmentation do you think the time is ripe for convergence of dance genres? Yeah, there’s a lot of fusion of styles going on nowadays and the lines between genres are becoming blurred. In the club you have to feedback off the crowd and I tend to take people on a softer journey between genres. Radio and club are very different in that way. Why do you think major stations here in the UK have recently reduced the coverage they give to dance music and what can be done about it in your opinion? Commercial pressures in the UK. Galaxy, Kiss and Radio 1 are all competing for the same audience and when ratings fall, the programme directors seem to be going more and more mainstream. It’s a bit of a knee jerk reaction in my mind with the ultimate result being that all radio stations will sound the same, just playing Top 40 tracks. I think stations need to be bolder, chose their own style and stick to their guns. What cites or areas do you think are key in your growing radio empire and why? USA, Australia, Eastern Europe, South America. They’re all loving the dance music scene right now. How are you incorporating technologies like Podcasting into the show? I do a monthly Podcast for Nocturnal on iTunes selecting some of the best tracks each month and mixing them up for about 80 mins. You can also download the MP3’s direct from my Matt Darey home page. Listeners today have become used to choosing their favourites, having a voice and being part of what they are listening to. How can your listeners interact with the show? Occasionally I give the listener a chance to make selections of their favourite tracks from previous shows. So far we’ve fone 4 – 5 shows like that and the mixes have been amazing – They are all archived here along with over 200 hours of shows and guest mixes. You’re now working with Dale Corderoy from Mondo Records on the show. What reasons brought you to this link up and how is he key to helping achieve your next set of goals? I’ve known Dale and Darren Tate from Mondo for a long time now. I brought Dale on board to help spread the word about the show. You are also taking the brand on the road with a series of gigs. What areas are you most looking forward to and why? I do love to see new far away places and different cultures but I love playing wherever I go. I guess the best times are where people are really familiar with my show and then I can really take them on a journey with no limitations and they ride with it. How are you looking to translate the show to the stage and who can we expect to see play? As with the show, I play a wide range of sounds but it really depends on the crowd as to which genres are emphasised more. I’ll play electro house to pumping electro to electro trance, progressive, even some breaks. I carry over 2000 of my favourite tunes with me so I’m ready to go anywhere with my sets. Have you got any surprises or secrets for the shows you’d like to let us into? I guess the biggest surprise is the music you’re going to hear. I try to go with the crowd but at the same time introduce them to new sounds they might not hear elsewhere. You’ve been in the scene now for 17 years or so. How do you continue to keep things fresh in your mind and what drives you forward? I always loved dance music and I’ve produced many styles from house, breaks, trance and progressive. I try not to get attached to one style cause there’s always something fresher round the corner. There seems to be a mood at the moment in dance music for dance bands, take for instance what Chicane is doing, or Pendulum. How do you think Urban Astronauts will fit into the scene and just what is rocktronica? Rocktronica is the fusion of rock and electronica / dance. It’s not really a recognised term or genre yet but when I started making trance back in ’92 it didn’t have a name. I started out as a singer in a rock band back in my college days and I started experimenting with fusing dance and rock about five years ago with No Submission (featuring Indie band Alabama 3) and Animal (featuring Sunscreem’s lead singer). At the time no one really got it apart from a few open-minded DJs, now there seems to be a small scene and I recently released these tracks again with new mixes. The sounds are now getting a lot more air play and I’m now making an album. Urban Astronauts have just signed a deal with North America’s biggest Indi label, Kock Records. Once the album is finished we’ll start touring. It’s great to see other bands out there doing their own take on rock and I hope Urban astronauts with be influential in shaping that scene. Your sound (with UA) compares in part to the work that Stuart Price does under his various aliases. What are you aiming for with the rock / dance crossover sound? To be honest, I don’t know where this is all heading because it’s new territory. I’m just following my gut and making music I love. Like I said earlier, there seems to be a scene emerging, bands forming around dance producers from all corners of the dance world. I have a good feeling about it all. How do you envisage this project developing over the next year? The album is taking shape, taking influence from many genres of rock and fusing it with dance production. It’s a very varied sound and I think that’s essential for and artist album. I see a lot of experimentation going on with the sound of Urban Astronauts. Later in the year we’ll be taking the live sound of UA on the road. What else are you looking forward to over 2008 and beyond? DJing has taken a backseat while I’ve been getting into this UA album, so I’m looking forward to getting back on the road with tours in Asia, Australia, USA and Europe on the horizon. Photos courtesy of Matt Darey. Not to be reproduced without permission. Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: Other Features By HarderFaster: HarderFaster Awards 2016 - The results are in! HarderFaster Awards 2014 - The results are in! Lashes, Dimples and the Brighton Music Conference HarderFaster Awards 2013 - The results are in! HarderFaster Awards 2012 - The results are in! The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable. Comments: From: Not Marcus on 3rd Jun 2008 11:00.30 Have you seen his rider? The amount of hair care products in there are staggering. From: onthebass on 8th Jun 2008 11:55.28 Always tune into Nocturnal every Sunday night here in Australia (Radio Metro 105.7 on the Gold Coast). Thanks for providing an alternative to the endless Top 40 pap we get exclusively on radio here!!

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. All other content is (c) 2001-2024 HarderFaster.

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Statement | Text Mode