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 It may have been a while since 'Rain Stars Eternal' from Solarstone but prepare to be refreshed with a remix edition 'RSEMIX' featuring every single from the album. i:Vibes went to find out more from the man himself...
For over a decade Solarstone (Rich Mowatt) has been creating dance-floor traffic jams with a convoy of revered club classics, all-out anthems & critically-acclaimed albums. As a DJ, he spins weekly at clubs around the planet and for globally-recognized names like Cream @ Amnesia, Ministry of Sound, Gatecrasher & Full-On-Ferry. In 2008 Solarstone entered DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs poll for the first time at 93. Releases from Solarstone’s label projects Solaris, solarSwarm, Crashing Waves & Molecule are instrumental components of his highly individualistic sets and are constantly supported by the trance & prog spinning elite. Solaris International, his weekly show enjoys a dedicated fan-base and is broadcast across some 45 FM & Internet stations.
The next instalment of audio from Solarstone is on its way with 'RSEMIX' which collects together eleven remixes from his 'Rain Stars Eternal' album released in the summer of 2008. The original album was superb blend of styles from Solarstone and an all time classic LP that deserves the praise it received when it was first released. The remix edition looks to extend the experience even further with a range of differing adaptations on the original productions by the finest electronic architects. Some names you may well know of and others you might not but it’s the music that’s important and that’s one thing Solarstone gets right every time. Anyway, on with the interview to find out more about this very anticipated new album.
i:Vibes: Rich, congrats on the hugely successful Rain Stars Eternal album that had 6 hit singles and is still being played to death a year later. When looking back at your album, what are you most proud of?
Rich: The main objective behind RSE was the rebirth of Solarstone after a fairly long and difficult hiatus for me, which included lots of artistic and personal hurdles that needed to be jumped. I built up a strong and solid team of people around me who helped make the whole operation run smoothly and as it turned out, largely successfully! I was really pleased with the album itself and I guess the facts that it is still selling well and the tracks still being praised and supported are testament to that.
i:Vibes: How important was it for you to bring a remix album on the market? Would you have done it as well even if Rain Stars Eternal had not been such a smash?
Rich: I'm not sure to be honest, to a certain extent you have to not only please yourself on an artistic level but also react to what the listeners are asking for. The album was fairly across the board in terms of genres, and I felt that all of the tracks deserved some further exploration musically. I think it would have been a shame not to do a little further digging and see what else the music had to offer.
i:Vibes: Finding the right remixes for your album was quite complicated almost like a jigsaw puzzle. How difficult was it and how is this process more different then putting together a mix compilation?
Rich: It's a totally different task to compiling a mix compilation, I wanted the remix album to be as genre unspecific as the original RSE album was, hence why I asked a wide range of producers to take on the remix work. The idea of having 11 trance remixes seemed a dull and uninteresting way of going about it, I love all styles of electronic music and hold a lot of respect and admiration for producers of different genres. Yes there will be tracks on there that listeners with a more genre specific interest may not instantly appreciate, but I do think that the quality of the music will ultimately shine through on RSEMIX.
i:Vibes: You have chosen an array of very interesting remixers. Many less known artists and then a Ferry Corsten. Did you choose fully on the quality of the remixes, or did the artist name at times also play an important role in putting together the remix album?
Rich: The inclusion of 'names' was totally unimportant to me. I carried on the ethos behind the 'Electronic Architecture' album, recruiting artists because I dig their music rather than how famous they are or how likely their name is to shift units. Ferry Corsten's love of 'Late Summer Fields' was the reason he did the remix - which to me is such a beautiful remix, and the same goes for people like Bot Cipryan and Jaksaw, I love their productions and they were very enthusiastic about doing the remixes. We have put together a selection of remixer testimonials on the rainstarseternal.com web page so they could give their own thoughts on their remixes too, it's an interesting read!
i:Vibes: Part of me is remixed by Solar Energy which puts the remix album into a summery and cheerful mood. It has a type of baleric feeling, but at the same time gives the listener a poppy sound. What did you like most about this remix?
Rich: I think Lukasz (Solar Energy) himself summed it well when he said: "During the creation of this remix I wanted to retain the original atmosphere whilst enhancing Elizabeth Fields' beautiful voice by adding soft sounds and keeping the production subtle, more like a chillout production, taking the listener on a journey through the melodic elements, vocals and guitar lines." Lukasz' remix has a delightful gentle atmosphere to it, which I loved in his 'Wanna Feel What You Feel' track, which I released on Crashing Waves earlier this year.
i:Vibes: The Bot Cyprian remix for Rain Stars Eternal is fantastic. He has a very nice sound. Where did you find this artist and what do you like most about this artist?
Rich: Yeah, he is true original, just wait until you hear the two alternative versions he has recorded of his 'Astral Breeze' track (another one from Electronic Architecture). He has a very organic analogue sound which I love, he's given the track an almost Jarre-esque twist too which is pretty cool.
i:Vibes: Probspot had already had a defined sound five years ago, but he has really developed nicely. Slave starts very techy and out of no where moves into a higher moving tempo track with very crisp sounds and a dreamy vocal. What caught your attention to this remix?
Rich: Well, Probspot to me does the perfect kind of melodic drum & bass music, it is smooth and musically diverse, he was the logical choice for the remix of 'Slave, especially as its original tempo was perfect for a drum & bass revamp. I almost prefer it to the original version!
i:Vibes: Stan Void did a nice remix job with Spectrum. He has been amazing listeners for some time now. He also did a nice job changing the song around to his liking. What did this track have that made it perfect?
Rich: Stan was faithful to the original version of 'Spectrum', but incorporated it into his sparkly new sound. It's got that house / trance crossover tinge to it which I think works well with this track. Stan is a bit of a strange fish to be honest, you don't hear anything from him for ages, and then he hits you between the eyes with something interesting and refreshing... my favorite kind of producer! I receive sometimes a new track every week from some producers, usually they do nothing for me, and I wonder why they bother.. it's a big arrogant to assume that everything you record is worthy of release, it should really be a case of quality over quantity.
i:Vibes: I loved Late Summer Fields when it was released and heard it over and over. I think you hear the Ferry sound out. He did change the break very much and made a beautiful version. Was getting Ferry for this project difficult or did he jump on board right away?
Rich: Ferry loved the original version so much, it was kind of inevitable that he would remix the track. You can hear the passion and love for the music coming through in his remix. It sounds incredible not only on an iPod but one a big club system too.. I love it when I see people singing along to the track when I play it out, the record has so much love invested in it... it's my favorite Solarstone track actually, and I have Alucard to thank for that for providing the stunning blueprint many years ago.
i:Vibes: The Breakaway remix from Jaksaw is about as funky as one could ever make a track. Give it to Sven Vath and we would play it to death. What distinct feature in this track makes it unforgettable?
Rich: It has to be Jaksaw's particularly bonkers approach to creating music. He throws all the parts in the air, chops them into tiny bits and then creates a myriad of tiny grooves out of them. He's a bit like a Michelin-starred chef, his tracks look bizzare but taste amazing!
i:Vibes: The Jox dub mix brings a totally new feeling to Filoselle Skies. As a remixer, did you at times wonder what was going through the remixers minds as they were recreating your works and think I might of done it differently?
Rich: 'Filoselle Skies' was a tricky one, because of the tempo of the original track it was always going to be difficult to translate into a trance record, but Jox originally did a bootleg remix of 'Filoselle Skies' and sent it to me, even before RSEMIX was planned, in fact it was his bootleg which spurred us into action on the rsemix project.
i:Vibes: Bissen has been around for a while in the trance scene and he made the Last defeat Pt 1 into a straight forward floor burner. How did you like his break recreation? He must of felt a lot of feeling and emotion?
Rich: Yeah its a full on peak time monster trance remix! was actually a few days into doing a Solarstone club mix of 'The Last Defeat Pt 1' when I heard a track by Bissen, and decided to hand the job over to him instead, as what he was doing with his sound was the direction I was taking the track in myself. It would have been odd to have had one Solarstone remix on RSEMIX alongside all the other 3rd party remixes, so I think the right decision was taken. It's such a solid mix, proper euphoric trance music!
i:Vibes: The Lunar Rings remix from Pedro Del Mar and Dj Cosmo is also very nice. Del Mar has been around for a while keeping German trance alive with his brother Dj Shah. What did you like most about this duo´s remix?
Rich: Pedro emailed me asking if they could remix the track. He is one of the good guys in our scene so I say 'of coarse!'. To be honest, Lunar rings has been around for such a long time that I was a bit tired of it, I produced it about 4 years ago. Pedro and Cosmo put a nice shiny new spin on it which I felt it needed.
i:Vibes: The Beetseekers remix for Dark Heart add a nice twist to the track. How important is it for you to have enough tracks in the remix CD that could be played at peak time in a club?
Rich: That's an interesting one.. it really depends what type of club it is and who is djing.. Solarstone is not and never has been all about solely trance music, although trance is an important aspect of the sound... I think the Beetseekers remix is more of a radio record than a club record, which is fine by me. The original version of 'Dark Heart' was only originally a bonus download with the RSE album, but it was so popular (over 3000 downloads!) that I decided to get it included on RSEMIX in remixed form. Beetseekers remix is almost Pet Shop Boys in it's overall sound, and as they are one of my favorite bands, I was chuffed to bits with the remix.
i:Vibes: You end the Remix collection with the afterhours remix to 4ever which has a bit of a 70s feeling in the intro ala Barbara Streisand with her “What kind of fool. This is a really beautiful remix and ending. Where did this remix put you in your thoughts?
Rich: Ha! I never made that connection... I love the 'Guilty' album by Streisand so I'm surprised I didn't spot that! But I guess you are right.. well spotted! Update Project is an incredible producer, he remixed many things for me when I was choosing the music for deepblue, so I wanted him to be part of the RSEMIX project. His sound is so beautiful and elegant, and his remix of '4ever' is so beautiful... it's prefect really.
i:Vibes: This remix album was a lot of work. What are your plans for the future?
Rich: The new original Solarstone album is underway, hopefully we will release it mid 2010, I always have irons in a lot of fires but i don't want to give too much away right now!
i:Vibes: The DJ Mag Top 100 winners will be announced soon. Who will be he #1 DJ this year. Above & Beyond would be a nice choice, but still not as big as a Tiesto, Armin or PVD?
Rich: My money is on David Guetta. It's time for a bit of a change at the top spot!
i:Vibes: Thanks for the chat Rich. Thanks for giving the world your beautiful music!
Rich: Thanks for having me, it's always a pleasure chatting to iVibes!
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