i:Vibes has been speaking with American trance producer Brenden LaBonte, better known as being one half of the Forerunners, the talent behind the recent masterpiece single on DeepBlue Records, 'Lifecycle'...
Brenden LaBonte AKA The Forerunners
It is always a treat when young trance talent isn’t only found in Europe, but in other places around the world - especially the United States where the music taste is so large and varied with little escape for trance. Of course the States has established renowned Trance artists like Gabriel & Dresden, Second Sun, Filo& Peri, Thomas Datt or Sean Tyas, but not really more than to count off a set of two hands. In 2007 came the emergence of a huge newcomer from the west named Brendon LaBonte. In just a short year, he has received big interest from well known labels like Conspiracy Records and Deep Blue Records and airplay from the worlds two top DJs Armin van Buuren and Paul van Dyk. He released an EP, ‘Blueshift’, which quickly became an instant favourite in the trance community, but ‘Lifecycle’ as Forerunners released on Deep Blue Records with colleague Simon Duncan can now be seen as his major breakthrough in the summer of 2007. This track sent a big roar through the trance scene and was played on big radio shows like Dave Pearce’s Dance Anthems, The Essential Mix with Pete Tong and A State Of Trance with world #1 DJ Armin van Buuren. This track also got 5/5 in the DJ Mag Track review rating. This is a guy to look out for in 2008, because he is more than ready to build off the success of ‘Lifecycle’. i:Vibes had the chance to speak to this talented new producer…
i:Vibes: Hi Brenden, how are you? Thanks for taking time for a short chat. What is it like celebrating Christmas in Phoenix? Here in Germany we don’t really know what a warm Christmas is…
Brenden LaBonte: Hello! I’m doing quite well at the moment, and thank you for this opportunity. It certainly is different here in the desert come Christmas time when the temperature is still 60 degrees Fahrenheit. As long as I’m around family it still very much feels like Christmas though.
i:Vibes: You look really young in your picture. How old are you and what is your educational background?
Brenden LaBonte: I just turned 22 this past December and I believe the picture was taken when I was about 20 or 21. I’m going to be graduating from the University here in Northern Arizona in May with a degree in finance and business economics.
i:Vibes: You are from Phoenix, Arizona. What was it like growing up there and how did you get in contact with trance music?
Brenden LaBonte: Well I’ll divulge a bit more information here than what my MySpace profile tells you. I was actually born in California, moved to Massachusetts, then moved to Ohio, and then to Arizona where I’ve spent the past 9 years of my life. So I’ve grown up all over the United States in a way. As for trance music, it was a slow progression of discovery starting with groups like The Prodigy on the local radio station, The Crystal Method, and tunes like Halcyon + On + On. Years later I happened upon a recording of Paul Oakenfold’s 1999 Essential Mix from Space in Ibiza. I was hooked from then on.
i:Vibes: I can´t imagine being at a pool party in Arizona with sweet chicks lying around and listening to Trance where you are from or did you maybe introduce trance music at places where you are hanging out?
Brenden LaBonte: It is a rare occurrence to hear trance music blaring out of a car window or at a party… but it does happen on occasion. I like to pass my mix sets around to friends and quite a few of them have been hooked and are starting to spread it around to their friends at parties. I find that the issue here is exposure. I go to school in a small town in Northern Arizona (Flagstaff) for most of the year so it is even harder to find a group of trance fans up here. But as more people are exposed to the sound, you start to see more and more come out of the woodwork.
i:Vibes: I am sure Phoenix has a club scene, but what a bout a trance scene? Do you have the chance to regularly see top trance DJs and if so who have you seen?
Brenden LaBonte: Phoenix does have a trance scene; luckily we are a huge city (5th largest in the country) so we have our fair share of diversity. We’ve had Tiesto come our way, as well as Armin. We also have a local dance radio station that plays shows like ASOT and GDJB. Unfortunately I’ve missed out on a lot of clubbing because of school. The most memorable night I can think of would have to be The Crystal Method when they set up their synths and played live in Phoenix.
i:Vibes: What was the defining moment, where you knew that you wanted to create music for people?
Brenden LaBonte: Tough to pick a defining moment. At one point while putting together a mix set in my room I thought to myself, “I can write music, it can’t be that hard!”. In this remarkable flash of ignorance I picked up the demo of FL Studio and began the long and arduous road to becoming a producer.
i:Vibes: Do you have any kind of musical background? Have you learned to play any instruments?
Brenden LaBonte: Yes I do actually. My parents had me start early by passing the family coronet (similar to the trumpet) down and enrolling me into the school music program. I played a wide range of music for 7 years, but priorities changed and I have not kept up with playing. I hope to pick it up again and also learn to play piano.
i:Vibes: You have over 20 musical inspirations, but if you had to chose one act that really got under your skin and influenced you the most who would it be and what track from them did it for you?
Brenden LaBonte: Yes I have loads of inspirations and if you had a look at my Facebook profile you’d see even more! Gustav Holst and his amazing work, ‘The Planets’ really does it for me… specifically ‘Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity’. I had the chance to play a couple of these pieces while I was playing trumpet in an orchestra, and I still love to hear this any time of year.
i:Vibes: If you had the chance to hang out in the studio for 24 hours with an act and learn more about production who would you choose and what would be the first question you would ask them?
Brenden LaBonte: Alive or dead? Haha! I have such great respect for the famous composers of the past. But if I were to choose someone from our time it would be Hybrid. I love every one of their albums and the diversity of sounds is immense. First question I would ask, “Where’s the bathroom? ‘Cause if I’m going to be stuck in here for 24 hours...”.
i:Vibes: Do you have any kind of mentor that has helped you in the last year just with getting a foot into the industry?
Brenden LaBonte: I have to give Jon O’Bir big thanks for taking the initial ‘plunge’ and signing my very first EP. Talk about a huge turning point in confidence for my abilities. But the guys behind Solarstone and Deepblue (Rich & Andy) have been extraordinarily supportive. I couldn’t be happier working with a couple of guys like them.
i:Vibes: You released ‘Blueshift’ as an EP. Were you surprised how successful this was and how well you produced it as one of your first works?
Brenden LaBonte: Yeah I was bouncing off the walls when Jon told me he was interested in ‘Blueshift’. It can be tough to tell if your tune is even half decent after spending weeks tweaking it and getting sick and tired of it. Luckily there was someone out there who found enjoyment in the tune.
i:Vibes: ‘Finding A Way’ is another tune from you. What was it like as you heard Armin van Buuren saying your name and playing this track in his famous A State Of Trance program? Do you remember where you were as you heard the news?
Brenden LaBonte: ‘Finding A Way’ is certainly my favourite of the pair and to see people share in my enjoyment of the melody is tremendous. I was actually in class when Armin announced my tune but once I found out, it was like being signed to a record label all over again! Very exciting memories.
i:Vibes: How would you describe your sound? I see a lot of influence of ambience in your tracks. How do create such beautiful sounds?
Brenden LaBonte: Hmmm. I focus quite a bit on layering multiple sounds as well as filtering and applying FX so that things are at the very least moving and evolving throughout the entire song. I think I also simply have a tendency to enjoy those big spacious sounds so I find myself working them into songs without even thinking about it.
i:Vibes: What is the most important aspect that a track needs for you? I would guess the perfect atmosphere.
Brenden LaBonte: You guessed right! A few years back when I started listening to trance, I became hooked because it is a form of music that really takes you away from your current surroundings. I had no clue about labels or artists or what was new or old or cheesy at the time, I only cared about the sounds. I could really become lost in a mix set like that. I try to achieve that feeling with every song I write now.
i:Vibes: How did you form Forerunners? I believe your partner is from another part of the states. Was this an internet kind of relationship where you were sending files back and fourth?
Brenden LaBonte: Yes, we met through a mutual friend online. This friend of mine knew Simon and actually lived near him (in Wisconsin). Simon sent some of his ideas to me over the net and I liked the direction he was going.
i:Vibes: Why did you name yourselves The Forerunners? Does it have a particular meaning?
Brenden LaBonte: To Simon and I, Forerunners and trance simply go together. The connection to the videogame Halo is interesting, but it was not our reason for using the name.
i:Vibes: What makes Simon Duncan so unique as your partner with the Forerunners?
Brenden LaBonte: His fresh perspective is by far his most unique characteristic. If you listen to his own solo work you’ll find the guy is damn good at mixing a track and really making it sound amazing, but when we were working on Forerunners music I found that his fresh ideas became a source of inspiration for myself. I’d write an idea, and he would turn it into something amazing and vice versa. There’s a new collaboration tool we’ve been fooling with recently and the ideas simply flow like water once we get a beat going.
i:Vibes: I absolutely adore ‘Lifecycle’. What was your inspiration behind this track?
Brenden LaBonte: Simon and I had only just met and we both felt that we should take a stab at writing a full trance song. A couple weeks later ‘Lifecycle’ was sitting on our hard drives waiting to be sent out to labels. It really wasn’t a long process for us, and we didn’t think it would go far. Of course that all changed when Deepblue emailed us back.
i:Vibes: Do you know the classic track ‘Sacred Cycle” from Pete Lazonby? ‘Lifecycles’ reminds me a lot of ‘Sacred Cycles’, but I would almost say ‘Lifecycles’ could become a classic ambient track that people won’t forget in 10-20 years. I won’t forget it!
Brenden LaBonte: Of course I do! The Probspot remix is up there as one of my big favorites. Any time ‘Lifecycle’ is compared to another favorite tune of mine I’m simply taken aback. I still don’t think my work ranks up there with the likes of Lazonby or anyone else we’ve been compared to. Music to me is an escape from day-to-day business, so if I can help even a few people get away from it all or make that connection, then I’m content.
i:Vibes: Were you surprised by the big response to this track? It is more an ambient track that is not as popular nowadays as is uplifting and progressive trance.
Brenden LaBonte: Yes I was very surprised. Solarstone kept pumping it up and playing it and saying it was amazing, so of course Simon and I were thinking this is normal because the label will want their artist to do well…but when we started seeing the great reactions outside of the Deepblue Radio Show, we became even more excited. I was happy to see fans recognize this tune as more of a ‘traditional’ trance tune because that’s exactly what we were trying to create.
i:Vibes: How was this track produced? This is just a 10. Was this a track that was difficult to produce or did you bang it out quickly?
Brenden LaBonte: Simon and I are both FL Studio users and yes we banged it out quite fast in my opinion. 2 weeks and this one was done. The fact that we work off of each so other so well really helped the process move along. I cannot say that every tune works that way though, some simply take a long time to finish off.
i:Vibes: This track has the perfect atmosphere, something that is so important for me in a track It takes me to a special place when I listen to it. When you listen to your track, where does it take you and what kind of thoughts do you get?
Brenden LaBonte: Tough to say really. They call this area of the U.S. (Arizona) “Big sky country” ...plenty of natural inspiration surrounds me here. I think you can imagine what witnessing the grand canyon can do for a person, and I simply try to turn these experiences into music.
i:Vibes: I wish more kinds of tracks like ‘Lifecycle’ would be produced where the atmosphere is more in the foreground. Is this a route you will continue to go as the Forerunners and as a solo artist? I would be very happy if you did!
Brenden LaBonte: I agree with you. All of my favorite tunes have some sort of significant atmospheric component to them. Atmospherics are something I work on first and last in almost every tune. I can’t say that atmospherics will be at the foreground every time, but the idea of taking people away from their surrounding still remains, and I believe that feeling will continue to come through in future productions.
i:Vibes: What is the next step for The Forerunners? Is a new release planned in 2008?
Brenden LaBonte: I have a number of projects both completed and in the works for the Forerunners so we’ll just have to wait and see! A good place to find out first is the Deepblue Records Radio Show.
i:Vibes: What releases as Brenden LaBonte can we await in 2008?
Brenden LaBonte: I’ll have one of my never before heard tunes out on my friend’s digital label here in the U.S. Beatport will carry that one when we get it all sorted out. I really took a break from producing straight up tunes for the past couple of months to refine my techniques, but now I’m starting to ramp up the workload again. “Quantity does not mean quality” drives my work ethic.
i:Vibes: Tracks like ‘Dynamic’ and ‘Lost Time’ are so soothing and beautiful. What were your inspirations behind these tracks?
Brenden LaBonte: Two very different tunes, but with very similar feeling behind them. I love the sound of strings and brass so when I’m not working on trance I tend to put these sorts of tunes like ‘Dynamic’ together for fun. ‘Lost Time’ is a straight up trance track of course but with those same string and brass influences. Tough to pinpoint inspiration for every tune really.
i:Vibes: Could we expect you to change your sound sometime or will you continue with your current style?
Brenden LaBonte: I hope my sound changes a bit! Simply because I’ve learnt a lot of new techniques which make my tracks sound cleaner and more moving. I have some very experimental tunes in the works right now, but I certainly haven’t given up the melodic and atmospheric tunes. I’d say you will simply find a wider range of music coming out of my studio in the future.
i:Vibes: What kind of studio do you have? What equipment do you have and besides your PC or speakers, what piece of equipment could you not live without?
Brenden LaBonte: My studio consists of a windows based PC running FL Studio 7 XXL. I’ve yet to purchase monitor speakers, so I use my Sony MDR-7506 headphones to complete all my production work. I couldn’t live without those Sony headphones…as boring as that may be they’re damn comfortable, still work great after years of use, and they’ve served me well as monitors when mixing my songs.
i:Vibes: How serious are you about DJing? What could we expect from you in a two hour set?
Brenden LaBonte: I’ve become a bit less focused on DJing recently. I used to host a show on party107.com called Altered Reality, and you may still find some of the recorded sets online. Production work and school have taken up the front seats though. I’ve had a couple invites to play some clubs around the country and I’ve kept my DJ equipment around so that when I find time I can pick it up again. I hope to expand my DJing experiences in the near future.
i:Vibes: If you had one last track to play in your last DJ set ever what would you play?
Brenden LaBonte: Wow, real tough one here! ‘Finished Symphony’ by Hybrid comes to mind, ‘An Ending’ by Brian Eno does as well. There are many amazing tunes that would do wonders as set-enders in my opinion.
i:Vibes: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Brenden LaBonte: Travelling the world and experiencing new places. I’ve always had a passion for travel and every couple of years I find myself further and further from home for a couple weeks at a time. I’d love to see Europe and Asia.
i:Vibes: What are your current five favourite tracks?
Brenden LaBonte: If I were to stick to the trance genre only: Milan Lieskovsky - Elenya Emtional Horizons - Love Won’t Leave You Alone Alan M - Famicom (Temple 1 Remix) Lexwood Feat. Ferrin & Low - Chimaera Ilya Malyuev - Sunshine Flowers
i:Vibes: What are your five all time favourite tracks?
Brenden LaBonte: Once again if I were to stick to trance only: Solarstone - Seven Cities Brian Eno - An Ending (Ascent) (Leama & Moor Remix) Art Of Trance - Mongoose (Tek^Tonik Remix) Altitude - Altitude (S.H.O.K.K. Remix) Tranquility Base - Surrender
i:Vibes: What are your hobbies?
Brenden LaBonte: Writing music! I’ve also got an XBox 360 in the room here and I love to play golf, ice hockey and table tennis whenever I can.
i:Vibes: Brenden, thanks for the interview and ‘Lifecycle’! I hope to hear more beautiful tracks in the future from you!!!!
Brenden LaBonte: Thanks again for this opportunity, 2008 is going to be a great year I think!
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