One of the leading acts of the progressive scene is The Forth, an elusive duo who have put some of the finest productions and remixes over the past years and not to mention, quite a few Global Underground compilations as well.

The Forth were previously Andrew Archer & Scott Dawson, 2 guys who have covered a long journey within house, trance and even a touch of breakbeat throughout the past decade and here they tell us about this journey.

We speak to Andrew from the Forth.

i:Vibes: The Forth's latest album is one of pure bliss, and is the latest addition to the Global Underground saga titled "Electric Calm", how was it like to put together this compilation and what highlights would you say it brings to listeners?

Andrew: It was very different putting this album together as a lot of the tracks were not beatmatched. I spent a lot of time in the studio editing starts and ends of tracks so they would blend smoothly together, like the end of the Soku track has loads of looped sections vocoded underneath the original as it fades out then samples from Bluefish are laid over the top so when it comes in people are not suprised. Also the start of Pink Bomb "Requiem" sounds nothing like the original, that took 6 hours!

Some people say its cheating to do it on a "pro tools" system but to me cheating makes something easier and this process takes a lot lot longer to do. A lot of the edits took as long as some tracks. Some highlights include the excellent Evolution mix of Seaside Atmos, a previously hard to get Pink Bomb track and a couple of exclusive tracks and mixes we did in the our studios like Trafik's mix of "Solavox" a mix done by my partner in Trafik, John Elliott. All in all not a total rehash of old Quad/Coded releases as half the tracks most fans will not have heard before.

i:Vibes: This album followed on from the darker and dubbier Arrivals and Departures series which offered something different to the listeners at affordable levels. Were those the only which The Forth will compile?

Andrew: We have actually done another three already. Locations, Destinations and also one titled Passport (a US only release) which are still selling well and plan do put together the next sampler release. Forth to mix Nubreed anyone? :)

i:Vibes: You guys have been at it since the mid 90s, with early remixes including the of "Konya", and "Sander & Stef", how did you 2 come to produce and what has the past 7-10 years been like in terms of evolving music tastes and views on the industry?

Andrew: Both Scott and I were at college doing music production and Scott was very good friends with the A & R guy at Perfecto, he asked if we could remix something for a project and he came back with BT's Loving you More, he said if we did a good enough job then he would release it, obviously blown away by all of this we got to work with James from Global Underground who had a good studio setup. We finished it in four days, played it to BT who loved it then took an acetate to Club UK where Sasha was playing, he put it on last track and the crowd went mental. It was a pretty full on introducuction to the life of a producer! We have always had a broad taste in music from Hip Hop to Heavy metal, there are great tunes in every genre and its just a form of snobbery to say all music from a partiucular genre is bad, I mean some of the hip hop producers are now using techno sounds in their productions which we love. We are really into new music, anything that fits into our view of a good track, it all influences you eventually.

As far as the industry goes it has really had to grow up in the last 7 years, it has become a professional industry with the people who used to go out and get wasted now sitting behind desks making money, maybe this has gone to far with the amount of product out there, it seems everyone has a record label now.


i:Vibes: Extensive work has been done on the Perfecto and Platipus labels over the years but in recent times, there has been less material from the 2 of you. Has your scope on productions slowed down somewhat? and is "Electric Calm" the first of more albums in this chilled GU subseries?

Andrew: I think about four years ago the productions really slowed down, with Global Underground really taking off it meant our original cohort James Todd (GU's Owner) did not really get any time in the studio. So we went back to basics trying to put together something a little different, what followed was the first single "reality detached" which Nick Warren really picked up on and put on his GU Brazil album. Since then it has just been myself, Andrew Archer working on some solo projects and I have now hooked up with John Elliott to do the Trafik music.

i:Vibes: Most people do no attribute The Forth into any particular genre, and with Nick Warren picking up your deeper productions to put onto all his Global Underground discs over the years, a more chilled affair remixing Libra feat Taylor, and a more bouncy remix on Zoe, as well as the very downtempo "Electric Calm". Would you say that The Forth fits into any particular genres? and do you personally favour any genres?

Andrew: I would say we make electronic music with a tranced edge to it, whether that be house, chillout, techier or funkier. On one day we could put together a chillout track but just as easily make a nasty, dirty club track.

i:Vibes: Where does the Forth stand in terms of productions into 2003? and what plans are there for further remix duties to come?

Andrew: There is another single in the making, with some guest vocals. The Trafik name has a few releases planned with mixes of tracks that appear on the "Electric Calm" album and we have a few mixes planned for Quad and Coded and some others I cannot yet mention.

i:Vibes: On the DJing front, you have played at almost every corner of the world, including Hyperstate in Norway, various Global Underground parties in Hong Kong, Israel and the Middle East, any memorable moments in time of music? and any favourite venues?

Andrew: My favourite venue has to be China, playing on the Great Wall to 800 loved up clubbers in the middle of the night, I mean we were on the actual wall on a world heritage site in the middle of nowhere. Favourite music moments are playing Leftfield, Melt at the end of the night in Norway, debuting our "Reality Detached" single and people going absolutely mental and playing Ballroom "Passenger" at the Love Parade after Quad had just signed it and Danny Tenaglia running over to the decks wanting to know what it was.

i:Vibes: With clubs, labels and even magazines closing down, do you feel that an inevitable downturn and restructure of the music industry is taking place?

Andrew: It has to happen really, its all cylclical and the people with the most passion and talent will survive this downturn. I can't see producers being able to make too much of a living from releasing singles though if people just keep downloading them as an MP3. So we will have to look to other avenues for money, maybe that will mean the only club records that will be made, people will do for the love of it.

i:Vibes: Finally, what words would you like to pass onto the readers out there?

Andrew: Album, amazing, calm, electric, buy it out, chill, relax, lush.

i:Vibes: Thanks to Andy for this great interview and many thanks to Clare

http://www.globalunderground.co.uk

The Forth Album - Electric Calm, on Global Underground is out now at your local record / CD shops containing the following tracklist:

1. Soku feat Jess Okoro - Time On My Hands
2. Bluefish - Two
3. Stef, Pako, Frederik - Seaside Atmosphere
4. Pako & Frederik - Atlantic Break
5. Trafik - Your Light (I'm Dark Calm Electric)
6. Forth - Solavox (Traffik's Tsambura Psalm)
7. Digital Monkeys - Skyline
8. Forth - Secret Silence
9. Pink Bomb - Amsterdam By Night
10. Pink Bomb - Requiem
11. Traffik - The Perfume Suite