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 We had the chance to have a chat with the legendary producer and DJ Airwave, who will be gracing the Technoclub in Frankfurt with a set on April 10th! Read on to find out what he had to say about his work old and new...
Airwave Visits Technoclub April 10th!
Born in 1977 in Brussels, Laurent aka Airwave is a natural born musician. At the age of 7, he discovered and has developed since then his perfect ear, a precious gift that would later lead him to release his very first records at the age of 18, on the infamous Bonzai record label. Back then, under the influence of 80's and 90's electronica, he already knew what he wanted and fought for his right to express himself, which led him to the very first Airwave release ‘I Want To Believe’ EP. This alongside with the many other aliases and collaborations (Fire & Ice, Planisphere...), and the development of Bonzai records outside Belgium (UK, Germany, Italy and many other countries) made his career take off in 1999.
Releases were just dropping like rain on Scotland, that made him hit dance top tens and DJ charts many times. Versatile in the studio, also extremely gifted as a producer, he's of that generation that breaks boundaries by doing any kind of music, whether it's house, chill-out, trance, progressive or techno. Virtually any DJ has played a record of his in the last ten years, seeing him championed by the likes of Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk, John 00 Fleming, Tiësto, Armin, Judge Jules and many, many more.
‘Believe’, his very first critically acclaimed artist album, was released at the end of 2002. A much better (and of course updated) version of hit ‘I Want To Believe", that in a way "looped the loop" was released in 2003 and confirmed the successful career that he had already achieved.
But he always wants much more...
Because of all this knowledge, because of all the endless possibilities he feels he has as a musician, he put together a new concept as a performer in order to promote his 3CD album ‘Trilogique’, a perfect definition of versatility, bringing the audience 3 different tastes of electronic music into one single package, and showing how much difference matters. As guided by the Greater God like he uses to say, he developed the ‘Triloset’, a combination of DJing with totally improvised keyboard parts on top of them, which led him to promote Trilosets first instead of DJing, although the audience had seen him DJ worldwide since 2000, with many gigs in England, Scotland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, South Africa...
The brand new Triloset concept led him to countries he had never been before, with the likes of Turkey, Qatar, USA, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and many others, finally having the Airwave treatment they deserved!!
Today, Laurent's discography counts no less than 500 productions, a lot of them being collaborations and remix works for the biggest superstars of nowaday's dance scene (Armin van Buuren, Tiësto, Judge Jules, Markus Schulz, M.I.K.E, Yves Deruyter just to name a few). Time saw him finally running Bonzai Records with his long time partners and friends, and also expanding his knowledge of acoustics in order to develop his producer career, as a sound designer among others.
And God only knows what tomorrow will be made of for Airwave, but keep in mind that the boy does deliver whatever happens, this for ten years already, with a huge passion and a huge amount of fans pushing his back up to the top electronic musicians hall of fame. On April 10th, he will visit The Technoclub in Frankfurt.
i:Vibes: Laurent, thank you for taking some time to speak to i:Vibes and Technoclub.tc! You started to release tracks 12 years ago, but it seems like you have been producing for 22 years. Where have you found the energy in the last 12 years to produce so much incredible music?
Airwave: I don't know if it's so much music. Many others tend to release just their best tracks, but we decided together with my label partners (back in that time, they were my management, and they still are) that it was a good idea to release almost everything I do. So there's much, but at least my furniture isn’t full of unreleased material! :-)
i:Vibes: You just moved for the 5th time in the last ten years. Have you now found the perfect home or do you think that you will move again soon?
Airwave: Ack... I hate moving. This time though, I'm moving with my wife and my parents to a place not too far from Liège-Luik-Luttich, right in the countryside, far from big city lights. But I hate this moving so much that the next time I'll have to, that will be for my own house.
i:Vibes: You were born in Brussels, Belgium and what was your childhood like?
Airwave: Childhood was really easy for me. Thanks to my parents. I really owe them on that point, because my brother and I have NEVER been missing a thing. High school and college were harder times for me, as it was for almost anyone probably??
i:Vibes: Who were your early musical inspirations?
Airwave: There are so many. From movie scores by Zimmer, Vangelis, and John Williams to the electronic madness of someone like Jean-Michel Jarre. I can't go without mentioning the golden age bands like Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd, Marillion, U2, Simple Minds, 80's music in general. I'm not a specialist, but my knowledge of this period is quite diverse: Rock, Metal, Electronic. When I discovered Techno and Trance, my first influences were Cosmic Baby, Ramon Zenker in general, Eye-q, and of course the Bonzai posse. Later on, UK trance grew on me, you know the story.
i:Vibes: What was the defining moment where you knew that you wanted to be involved with electronic music?
Airwave: Back in 1994 when someone told me that I had talent. I didn't want to believe this person first, and I was way too shy to share my music with many people, throw it at their faces. I wasn't the pimp of the high school. I was the low-profile “loser”. In 1996 I found the courage to go and check with record labels. But to be honest, I couldn't believe my ears when Fly told me that he wanted to sign my music.
i:Vibes: You have more than 35 aliases, but how did you decide on your name Airwave?
Airwave: It wasn't me. It was my friend Marnik's idea. He came with that name for another project of mine in 98, and later on, made it so successful that we naturally chose Airwave as my main artist name.
i:Vibes: You are co-owner of Banshee Worx, under its umbrella we find the Bonzai labels. What makes this label so unique and has been one of the leading trance labels in the last ten years?
Airwave: Bonzai is unique, because its historical owners are unique! That's the people behind the scene who really matter, not the artists. They have a nose, they use it the right way. Don't forget that the duet Fly-Marnik made ‘Meet Her At The Love Parade’ huge before everyone else picked it up, same goes for many, many others. If you knew the story about Universal Nation you'd be amazed. But it's Mike's business, not mine.
i:Vibes: Trance started to boom in the late 90’s as you started to make a name for yourself. Now it is 2009. Is there anything that you miss from the early melodic trance from the late 90’s?
Airwave: Just that my generation of people who used to party have kids, families, and don't have time or any energy left to go out late at night. I'm only 31 and some comments make me feel extremely OLD you know. A guy interviewing Ferry Corsten and calling me a “trance veteran” in an interview a few years ago was probably the funniest quote. Everything changed also. Now it's the name you know that works. But I leave that fame game to the douchebags of this industry. They can live on their clouds, God only knows where they will stand in 50 years.
i:Vibes: How would you describe the Trance sound of 2009 in general?
Airwave: As someone said, we're having a huge reset in a way. The simpler, the better. But I think the BEST is still to come, with music that will be as good as 1999 music. Believe me. People will get back into detail and produce quality again.
i:Vibes: As Airwave, Fire & Ice, Cape Town or Planisphere etc, you have produced so many unforgettable tracks in the last ten years. Do you have an all time favourite own track?
Airwave: That's my problem, I never look back. So I can't say this or that record. I'm really proud of ‘Touareg’ in general. But I'm sure I'll make even better music in 2 days. That's how I am. I have no time for looking back as life’s way too short, and there's still so much to do. :-)
i:Vibes: You could almost call you the Belgium Oliver Lieb, because you have similarities in that you both have many different aliases and that you produce a lot of music. You have over 500 productions and Oliver Lieb might be around that total also. Is Oliver Lieb a producer that you have respected through the years? What made him such a versatile producer?
Airwave: Oliver Lieb is a legend. I don't know if he's that versatile, he used to remix a lot of tracks, and I'm sure against his will at some point. His second LSG album is probably the album that had the most influence on me. He was mad at me at some point because I was 20, trying to reproduce his sound a little, but hey, this is just music, it belongs to anyone. I didn't invent water after all, he hasn't either.
i:Vibes: How would an Airwave/Oliver Lieb 2009 production sound like if you could choose?
Airwave: Let me be clear. Oliver Lieb is Oliver Lieb, and Airwave has finally become Airwave too. You'll be shocked when you hear what I'm doing right now for that.
i:Vibes: You produced Sunspot many years ago with #1 DJ Armin van Buuren. What is your nicest memory from working with him in the studio?
Airwave: The fun, total absence of stress too, which is great. Many people stress me out when I'm working with them although they don't realize it. I'd never tell them that – LOL!
i:Vibes: ‘When Things Go Wrong’ is a beautiful track. What was your inspiration in making this track?
Airwave: I was incredibly down and made that one in 4 hours so I could express that after sadness joy will come back. It happened. ‘When Things Go Wrong’ is timeless, and you can play this melody in any genre. I'm now doing another surprising version... but God only knows if it'll ever get released.
i:Vibes: My all time favourite production is ‘Summer Morning’ from DJ Fire and you. The perfect track for an after hour chill-out session. Was that the idea when you made the track?
Airwave: That went so fast you know. Three hours and the track was there if I remember. I don’t remember the main idea, as it’s more Jurgen’s track than mine, you got to ask him. On that point, Jurgen always comes with a lot of ideas at first, not me.
i:Vibes: The atmosphere and melody in ‘Summer Morning’ is really beautiful. What was the most difficult thing you had to get right in the studio so the track sounded perfect?
Airwave: Perfection doesn't exist. It's such a simple thing you know. I can take 3 years for a track and it doesn't have the magic that's in a 3 hour track.
i:Vibes: What productions can we await from you in the next months?
Airwave: Planisphere's ‘Cyborganic’ and Airwave - Qaudri (my first huge compilation at a ridiculous price) are just out. After that, it's classified!!! I'm working on something big, in fact there are many big things I'm working on right now. Remixes, own tracks. Keep an eye on my website!!!
i:Vibes: You will be playing in the legendary Technoclub soon. How excited are you about playing together with Talla 2XLC?
Airwave: Talla has always been supportive and I honestly can't wait!!! Technoclub is probably the place to be for artists such as Airwave.
i:Vibes: How important has Talla 2XLC been for the electronic music in the last 30 years? You were one year old when Talla started his DJ career.
Airwave: He released good records in the 90's, and good remixes too (his remix of Komakino!!). Later on he made a lot of stuff possible for us too, when he was running Bonzai Germany in the beginning. Thanks to him I got a lot of connections into the industry.
i:Vibes: When you were growing up in the 90’s, what was your opinion of the German Techno scene? Why was Germany in the 90’s so innovative in the scene?
Airwave: Ask the guys who started this out: Paul van Dyk, Cosmic Baby, Mark Reeder, Sven Väth, Humate, Steve Be-zet, DJ Dag, Dick, Westbam. Those people made the German scene as it is now, and they even changed the face of dance music for the whole continent.
i:Vibes: What can we expect from your DJ set in the Technoclub?
Airwave: People want to hear Airwave, the records, the man. It's exactly what they will hear. His records, and who he is :-D . I'll play keys on top of the set too.
i:Vibes: Will you play many of your classic tracks?
Airwave: SURE!!!!!
What makes a night with Airwave so memorable behind the decks?
Airwave: Behind decks I still think as a musician and not as a DJs. Sometimes it's not as natural as it could be. But I'm a musician, a human being, and this is what makes Airwave sets so special. They're human.
i:Vibes: Your buddy Yves De Reuyter will be DJing with you in the Technoclub. He is a legend as well. You guys run Bonzai. What has made the working relationship with him so memorable in the last years?
Airwave: When I was 17 I was Yves' biggest fan!! I was wearing his T-shirts, I was going to his club, Cherry Moon, near Gent... but I never told him that afterwards. In 2002, I got to work with Yves too, and ended up telling him quite recently.
i:Vibes: With what artist would you like to be locked away with in the studio?
Airwave: True musicians, whoever they are. I'm not a fan of working with people who can't at least play an instrument, although I'm quite used to that. They bring me so much input and inspiration too. I have my favorite, but I'll keep them for myself.
i:Vibes: What are your five all time favourite tracks?
Airwave: Cosmic Baby - The Space Track
Humate - Love Stimulation
Sasha and Maria- Be as One
Way Out West - The Gift
Jean-Michel Jarre- Oxygene
i:Vibes: What are your hobbies?
Airwave: Spending time at home with my wife, some gaming too, I have a huge gaming collection, even vintage stuff here. But I have little space for hobbies as you may know that I work 70 hours a week with music... all this for maybe 20,000 Euros net income in a year.
i:Vibes: If you had to play your last DJ set tomorrow, with what track would you end your set with?
Airwave: ‘When Things go Wrong’? ‘Save Me’? Or ‘Ladyblue’??
i:Vibes: Thanks for chat, Laurent, and see you in Technoclub!
Airwave: Thank you! :-)
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