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 We caught up with Oceania who is making waves throughout the Trance scene with a stream of high flowing releases. He is one of the new breed of Trance producer coming on the scene and a very promising one at that. We had a word...
Jeremy Cordonnier aka "Oceania" was born in 1987 in the French town Dieppe. Starting at the early age 8, Jeremy was classically trained on the piano, which led him towards a love for music. As he grew up in the late 90's he found a love for the melodic, uplifting style of Trance. At this early age of 14 he was invited to some DJ/Producer classes, which in turn taught him all about "Trance" and how to make it. Although starting with basic programs such as Dance Ejay, he soon moved up to professional sequencers such as Cubase SX and Reason. After years of learning about these programs and building a very good knowledge of them, he decide to take it a step further by studying a Degree in Music Production which has taught him more than he could have imagined.
His career started back in 2006, with budding producer Niall Hone aka "Bare Bones Project" getting their first tune "Molina" signed to Trance Tribe Recordings under the alias Seventh Function. Although doing a remix for Fabio Stein, Jeremy didn't have the equipment to pursue his career and unfortunately took a back seat to his Degree expenses. Now with a new studio Jeremy is ready to make his mark in trance with his first release "Never forget" released at Well Mixed Records and two powerfull remixes provided for Ask4 Records to "Teya feat. " Tiff Lacey - Only You" and "Michael Tsukerman & Robert Gitelman “Bolivia", and recently followed by a remix to "Ronski Speed feat. Karen Ires - Revolving Doors" at Euphonic Records, with more to come in the future.
i:Vibes: Hi Jez, thanks for taking some time to speak to ivibes.nu. What kind of feeling is it when one of the worlds greatest DJs Paul van Dyk introduces your track and gives you nice compliments. Do you ever need some one to pinch you to tell you your not really dreaming?
Oceania: Well, I can tell you it’s surreal. Since I was in my early teens I have always been a great fan of Paul and the work does, so naturally being signed to his Vandit label and getting the opportunity to mix for his radio show is a great honour, let alone introducing me by my full name! I don’t think pinching is enough!
i:Vibes: You were born in France. Why did you move to the UK?
Oceania: Well I’m half English and most my family is English, so when I was small my family decided to move back home as it were.
i:Vibes: Where exactly are you from in the UK and what was your childhood like?
Oceania: I come form a small town called Burgess Hill, if you know England, it’s just above Brighton. My childhood was your average childhood, had a couple of friends, which luckily one was into his trance. We use to produce every night on Reason 1, which I suppose is how I came to be a producer, I’m sure Joe a.k.a. Temple One would say the same.
i:Vibes: What was the defining moment where you knew that you wanted to make trance music?
Oceania: It was year’s back, I must have been about 13 when I decided that I try it out. Starting out with Ejay!, but I’ve always had an interest in music since I was a little boy, I had piano lessons for years.
i:Vibes: You are classically trained on the piano. What piece of music is your favourite to play on the piano?
Oceania: Years ago I would have said, “Claire Du Lune” but these days I just love playing other peoples tracks, and just playing whatever my hands decide to play!
i:Vibes: What was your first record that you bought? Did it inspire you in any way?
Oceania: Well the first album I brought was the Offspring!! but soon heard one of the Cream compilations and never looked back! I think it was the red one!
i:Vibes: One of your early musical inspirations is Chicane. I can imagine you will agree with me that their album “Far from the maddening crowds” is surely one of the greatest trance albums. Why has this group influenced you so much?
Oceania: What inspired me was the way their song “Don’t give up” had that massive pluck lead! Just awesome!
i:Vibes: Another one of your inspirations is Daniel Kandi. I have seen this before where young producers say he is one of their influences when he is only a few years older. Why does a young Kandi influence the young guns in the trance scene?
Oceania: Daniel Kandi has a style, which is unique, I can refer to him as he uses Reason, which I use to use also, so hearing what he could do in the same program was great!!!
i:Vibes: How is your degree going in music production? What aspect of producing is your favourite up to now?
Oceania: So far so good, I would have to say that soundscaping for films is extremely good fun, but what I really enjoy is making synthesisers and effects units, for some reason the complexity of it really chills me out, lol , I know, GEEK!!!
i:Vibes: What has been the most important thing that you have learned from Niall Hone as a producer?
Oceania: I would say everything; he taught me the ins and outs of Nuendo and has got so much background and success in all music styles that his tuition is priceless.
i:Vibes: Your first release was “Molina” on Trance Tribe Recordings. That was some years ago. If you look back on that track, how would you say your sound has developed in the last few years?
Oceania: Well that was really weird sounding production, Trance is meant to be atmospheric and produced well, this wasn’t! it was an ok track but listening back to it now, I cant believe it got signed!
i:Vibes: How would you describe the Oceania sound of 2009?
Oceania: Well I hear people say that my tracks all sound the same, so probably not good but I’ve got a few more totally different tunes coming out soon, which will hopefully help me progress as an artist. Look out for my alias “Cordonnier”!
i:Vibes: Why did you call yourself Oceania?
Oceania: Well I’m really not to sure, I’m always a sucker for spin tingling breakdowns and that just reminded me of the ocean, so then it turn out as “Oceania” lol, But my new alias Cordonnier is my surname, which by the way is my techy style alias.
i:Vibes: I really like “Always”. What was your inspiration in making this wonderful piece of music? What was the most difficult thing that you had to do so it sounded perfect to you?
Oceania: I always find that breakdowns aren’t what they use to be, compared to back in the day, therefore I always try to get the break perfect, well to me, as this is the actual trance part! I always leave it when I get Goosebumps on the first listen.
i:Vibes: Your remix for “Boliva” is also a nice track. Did you go to Bolivia for inspiration and where did you capture the waves? Do you have an easy time coming up with names for your tracks?
Oceania: No I’m afraid I didn’t go to Bolivia to get inspired. This was actually my first ever remix that I had ever done and only my second tune that was signed, so I think that just that, made me buzz to complete the remix to my best of ability. I got the wave sounds from a city called “Brighton” although I got weird looks standing there with a microphone! I find naming tracks quite easy as a song normally tells you the name from how it sounds.
i:Vibes: “Never Forget” also is stunning and seems very complex when listening to it over and over. The piano bit is lovely. What was the production time on this?
Oceania: Well this was my first and last ever tune that I made using Reason, and back then I had plenty of time with no deadlines, so I actually remember sending a couple of months on it, and was told to change it several times before it was signed.
i:Vibes: What new productions can we await from you in the near future?
Oceania: I have a few tunes coming out soon and a few remixes, look out for,
Temple One & Oceania Pres. Garrett & Cordonnier ft. Anyem – TBA
Temple One & Oceania - TBA
Hodel & Terry – Impact (Oceania Remix)
Cordonnier – Squares In Boxes
Oceania - TBA
There are a few more but I’m not allowed to say yet,
i:Vibes: When you are in the studio, do you have a certain way of making a track? Some producers will work on a bassline or search for that perfect melody or establish an atmosphere. What is your usual procedure or is it always different?
Oceania: I would say it depends on the track but I think my best work has always been from working on the main melody first as this then sets out the rest of the tune.
i:Vibes: What piece of equipment in your studio could you not live without?
Oceania: Well I would say the whole computer set-up, I use to own a 1.5GHz when I made “Never Forget” and it would crash almost no stop, now with the 13.6 GHz quad core its not a problem, I can have as many VST as I want and it never gives in!
i:Vibes: With what producer would you like to be locked away with for 24 hours in the studio?
Oceania: I think Armin would be a great one although I doubt we would come up with anything as I’d be trying to chat to him non-stop, but saying that I think I’d be to star struck!!
i:Vibes: What are your current favourite tracks?
Oceania: Temple One – TBA
Filo & Peri – Drops of Jupiter
i:Vibes: What are your hobbies?
Oceania: Music, Music, Music, Partying and electricals!
Thanks Jeremy for the chat! Good luck in the future!
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