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 Above & Beyond were kind enough to take a few moments from their busy schedule and sit down with i:Vibes for a bit of a chat...
Above & Beyond have enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the global dance music scene, culminating in six nominations at last year's International Dance Music Awards in Miami and a ranking of 6 in this year's DJ Mag's Top 100 list. Their recent artist album 'Tri-State' was rated 'Brilliant (5/5)' by DJ Magazine and has been critically acclaimed as one of the stand-out electronic albums of 2006. The Sun, the UK's biggest selling tabloid paper, described 'Tri-State' as "one of the most original trance albums for years", and it has featured in iTunes’ Top Ten US dance albums for over three months.
The album features 13 original songs written by the guys, including the singles "Air For Life" (winner of Best Underground Dance Track at the 2006 IDMA's) with Andy Moor, "Alone Tonight", "Can't Sleep", World On Fire", "Stealing Time" and "Good For Me".
Above & Beyond's weekly Trance Around The World radio show has built a fanatical global following on the internet. The show stands at the forefront of trance and has been responsible for breaking many of the scene's biggest records.
The best records from the show and from the trio's respected Anjunabeats label ('If there's a more on point label we’re yet to find it' Mixmag) feature in Above & Beyond's popular 'Anjunabeats Volume' compilation series. The latest episode, Anjunabeats Volume Five was released on May 21, 2007. Above & Beyond aka Tranquilty Base have produced a new track “Oceanic”, which has hit store shelves with great reaction. i:Vibes had the chance to speak with Tony Mcguinness...
i:Vibes: Hi Tony, How are you? Nice to speak with you again. Congratulations on making the #9 spot in the DJ Mag top 100. It has been nine months now, has anything changed now that you belong to the elite of the elite and are in the top 10?
A: I’m well, thanks. Now we’re top ten DJs we have someone to peel our grapes for us!
i:Vibes: Every year, Above & Beyond have progressed and now at #6 what else can you guys achieve? What are your most important goals in 2007?
A: Our most important goal is to finish the OceanLab album which is coming on nicely, if slowly. On the DJ front our gigs this year have been amazing: we closed the Electric Daisy Carnival in thr LA Coliseum in front of 30,000 people – that was unbelievable!
i:Vibes: You guys were recently at the Winter Music Conference in Miami. What kind of experience was that for you guys. What was the most important musical aspect that you took from the WMC back home?
A: We did our own event this year for the first time, at Bed. It was really nice to get a totally dedicated and loyal crowd in there and play for a little longer.
i:Vibes: Tri-State was released about a year and a half ago, with a lot of positive feedback. When looking back on the last year, what were some of the nicest memories you had with the whole Tri-State experience.
A: I guess the almost completely positive reception the whole album got. We went out on a limb to make an artist album for home, or for in the car rather than a club mix CD and instead of getting slated, people seemed to love it. For me personally the reaction to "Alone Tonight" was very touching. It is the most unlikely club anthem when you think about it, but it is always great to see a club full of people singing along at the top of their voices!
i:Vibes: “Good for me” is one of my favorite tracks from Tri-State. What is this song about? The melody is really very breathtaking.
A: Paavo and Zoe were both expecting their first babies at the time and so it’s a song about how that can change you and how you feel. Zoe wrote the melody, so credit to her.
i:Vibes: You just recently produced the new Above & Beyond “Oceanic”. As so often is the case, I fell in love with it after one listen. After “Razorfish” and “Surrender”, now “Oceanic”. What is this song about? The melody is incredible, how do you guys time after time ALWAYS create these killer melodies?
A: Thanks! I’m not sure what it’s about: instrumentals are always open to interpretation. I think the thing with us is there are three people that need to be happy with something before we say it is finished, so our quality control is pretty strict.
i:Vibes: It surely won´t be easy topping Tri-State with the new Oceanlab album. How do you guys deal with the never ending pressure of keeping the productions at top level for the fans?
A: We had a lot of songs written but had been trying lots of different production routes to find the voice for the album. Now we’ve solved that issue and we’ve got into the swing of production again. As you’d expect it’s not a quick process.
i:Vibes: Justine Suissa is the voice behind Oceanlab, but you guys also worked with the talented Texan Ashely Tomberlin. Will you guys be working with her again?
A: We borrowed Ashley from Luminary (the group she was in with Arksun) primarily for that one track. She's also done some tracks for Paul van Dyk.
i:Vibes: You guys have been touring the globe nonstop for the last years. What are some places where you haven´t been to yet and where you would like to tour?
A: We’ve been pretty much everywhere: from China to Argentina, Colombia to New Zealand, so there aren’t many countries we haven’t been to. We’re doing another six countries on our up coming South American tour so that’ll be another continent ticked off! I guess the middle of Africa is one place we haven’t really been yet, that would be nice.
i:Vibes: Anjunabeats Volume 5 was released in May 2007. It´s MT Rushmore meets Above & Beyond on the cover. That is really a brilliant idea. Who came up with that idea and why with the cover?
A: The Anjunabeats Volume Series covers are light hearted visions of a future world where Anjunabeats is huge: the first was our future global office building, we’ve had Anjunabeats cloud formations and an Anjunabeats Hollywood sign. So this was just another gag in that series that Jono and I hatched on a plane once I think, but it’s hardly original. Deep Purple did it in 1970 and the Muppet Show did it loads of times!
i:Vibes: Sunny Lax is a brilliant producer, for me one of the best young producers who understands how to bring 100% emotion into a track. How big can he get and what makes him such a special producer?
A: Sunny is one of the exciting young producers making important tracks for Anjunabeats at the moment. We’re looking into doing more Anjunabeats live events this year and so for people like Sunny Lax, Nitrous Oxide, Daniel Kandi, Super8 & Tab and the rest there will be a live presence to add to their considerable record output.
i:Vibes: You guys work together closely with your friends Kyau & Albert and their label Euphonic. Will anything be planned in 2007?
A: We love Ralph and Stephen, they are real characters who are fun to be with. Plus they make great records and run a great label with some really important artists. We have a mutually beneficial relationship – they look after us in Germany and vice versa, so that will continue.
i:Vibes: It is not often that an Anjunabeats artist is given an album, but Stephen J Kroos has released an album “Tecktonick”. Why did he get this chance and what makes him such a unique Anjunabeats artist?
A: Unlike many artists who send us one or two tracks in the beginning, Stephen sent us eight – and they were all amazing. By the time the album came out he’d submitted around thirty tracks, any one of which would be memorable if sent alone – he’s incredibly talented, amazingly prolific and always, always unpredictable. He’s a unique talent and we are extremely proud to have him on the label.
i:Vibes: You guys also have Anjunadeep, which has given the world seven releases. How is the label doing and what releases can we await in the future and what do you want to achieve with the label down the road?
A: Anjunadeep has gone from an idea to a reality in a very short period. The idea at the start was to allow us to release stuff that we were playing in our DJ sets but which didn’t quite fit on Anjunabeats. Our dream was that we might attract some different artists eventually but the amazing thing is that we are already winning the battle to sign artists with labels that have been operating in this area for years, so we are extremely happy.
i:Vibes: Super 8 and DJ Tab have been producing killer Tracks in the last year! What else can we expect from them in the future?
A: Super8 & Tab have been working together for a year or so now and have a very special relationship, combining production and DJ experience which makes them a considerable asset to the label. They are working on their own artist album at the moment.
i:Vibes: You moved into the Fortress studios some years ago. What has changed in the studio with equipment in the last years? What is the secret in making your tracks so clean and crisp? Do you rely more on Cubase or Protools these days?
A: We don’t use Cubase or Protools, actually, but Logic Audio. In the last two years we’ve bought new Apogee DA/AD converters and they made a huge difference to the sound we get in the studio – you realise how great even16 bit digital audio can really sound with those. Plus we bought a lovely Drawmer compressor and a valve EQ for vocals and then everything gets mixed through our old Soundcraft Ghost desk. The latest thing we bought is a gorgeous Martin acoustic guitar that sounds so expensive but was only £1,000. The secret of our crisp sound is that we have TWO brilliant sound engineers (Jono and Paavo both did music production at university) in the group, so HIFI sound comes as standard.
i:Vibes: What is the most important thing you have learned from your two bandmates Paavo and Jono?
A: I’ve learned an awful lot about the technical side of production from them, but not enough to make me want to take control of that side of things. I’m still mostly interested in the songs themselves, both lyrically and melodically, or as Sting once said, “what the milkman is going to whistle”. For me it’s about the story, or the journey in the track.
i:Vibes: When will Above & Beyond do a collaberation with another artist? With whom would you like to produce a track with?
A: I guess when we get some free time! I’d love to do something with Muse.
i:Vibes: What can we expect from the next Anjunabeats Volume 6 and when is another mix CD coming like the worldwide Vol 1?
A: We’re currently thinking about how we mark the 100th Anjunabeats release (which will be later this year) and this may swallow up one or other of our compilation CD series, so it’s all up in the air at the moment, but we have been signing some fantastic tracks from our amazing artists so hopefully the quality will be up where people expect.
i:Vibes: Thanks for the interview, and it was nice talking to you again Tony.
A: No problem – take care!
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