One of the biggest producers at the moment is Les Hemstock, part of the Hemstock & Jennings production team. He talks to i:Vibes about upcoming releases, the commercialisation of trance, and his background.

2 years ago, you would not have heard of Les Hemstock's productions, and would not likely know who he is. But since mid-2001, Les has been on top form, producing with his production partner Chris, they have made a huge impact on the scene, doing productions and remixes with some of the top guys in the circuit. In 2002, they aim to boost their name even higher than before with a few massive remixes upcoming and their new production with one of the master of trance John '00' Fleming.

Hi there Les, thanks for taking the time out to do the interview with i:Vibes.

So, just to start it off what is your background like? Did you have a lot of influence related to music when you were young? and tell us a bit about yourself in general, as I'm sure the readers are interested.

Les: Well, I'm originally from Yorkshire, born to a working class background serving the standard school terms and always excelled in art & creative studies, so it was quite natural for me when I took up trumpet lessons as my first insight to playing a musical instrument.

2 years ago, noone had heard of Les Hemstock in terms of productions and remixes, and now, in particular throughout 2001, you have put out a series of top productions and remixes such as Mirage, and Ian van Dahl's "Will I" remix. What can you say about your success in the dance scene?

Les: It hasn't happened overnight, believe me! Since creating my earlier "pop" mixes, I've had a lot to live down and it's been extremely hard work to gain the sort of recognition I now have with the dance music industry. This is a very fickle business to success in and I've reached my present status through hard work, determination and the love of music.

When people mention the name Hemstock, immediately one things of which comes to mind your production partner Chris Jennings. How did you come to producing with Chris, and hows that been like?

Les:Chris and I were introduced through Chris' old manager as we both live in the same area and didn't know of each other.
Once we hade made our acquaintances, we hit it right off and found our common love of music has been our driving force to produce one driving production after another. It's great working with Chris as we have loads in common outside music also, so there's a real kinship there and regardless of how the music went, we will always be good friends.!

You have various guises, such as H2J, Sagitaire, and also under your own name. Do each of these guises represent a different mood? or symbolise anything in terms of production style?

Les: Yes, for example, a Sagitaire production would be more of a cross-over / chart type dance track, whereas Hemstock & Jennings are a cooler melodic sound whilst keep the driving, and H2J is aimed to be a full on trance number. Fusion with Matt Hardwick is our cooler progressive style and so on.

This not only serves as a style "tag" but also has legal issues related to it. When you are signed to a label as a particular artist, you can only produce for that label as that artist. So, if you are (A) for BMG, then you have to be (B) for Sony and (C) for Warner, etc. All gets a bit political!

Yourself and Chris have recently finished a production with John Fleming, which made it onto Gatecrasher's latest CD compilation, what can you tell us about that? How was it like to produce the tune, and what kind of track do you describe it as?

Les: The project with John Fleming is a slight route away from the usual production in that there are slight outside influences in John's case. The Nazarean is a cooler goa trance workout whereas our new tune, Arizona is slightly more pumping, incorporating a huge riff so it's basically an experiment of sounds and ideas that we wanted to play with and seems to have paid off. Nazarean now features on Godskitchen, Gatecrasher and Euphoria CDs, and Arizona is on the next Crasher CD coming out next week

This year alone has seen a few releases from your end already, what can we expect from you as well as from Chris this upcoming year? Any other planned collaborations in the pipe?

Les: We have the follow up to mirage coming out on promo in about 1 month's time and it's called "Crimson Soil". We've just signed H2J to Xtravaganza Records, which means it will get a full remix package and release later this year. We have a new tune for the next Phaze (our own label) release called "Arctic", and finally, we've just remixed Ian van Dahl's "Reason". The upcoming remix is the new Digital Blonde, then we have something really nice from 5AM records to mix as well, and so many new projects to record throughout this year, including another John Fleming tinged production with are working on with Nebula Records. Oh! And another proggy workout with Matt Hardwick, though apart from these, there will be no other Artist / DJ collaborations as this can only but serve to dilute out work in the long term.

Where do you think the trance / dance music industry is headed in 2002? Do you see see the global scene pushing the uplifting / epic scene back up to the state is was in 1999-2000? Or do you see things moving more progressive / harder tipped in general.

Les: Bit of both really. The trance thing has and will always be there. It's just that now and again a certain genre gets a few tunes that get really popular and drags the scene into the commercial spotlight and then it slides back again. Trance is just such a genre that incorporates the chords and melody of popular music and therefore the whole commercialism is an unavoidable chasm. I do feel that the sound of trance, particularly the underground style, will become harder, more tech hinged and this also is where we will be heading out styles into the forthcoming months.

Who do you see as being the 'big' djs and producers at the moment? And do you see yourself and/or Chris moving towards more DJing, as neither of you seem to have pushed towards the DJing front yet.

Les:Well, it's certainly time for change. The boys at "The Top" have been very greedy and screwed up the scene for all its worth for ages now (then we would all do the same?) So certain "Big Name" DJs are already seeing thei bookings drying up as club land begins to say no to their silly fees and demands. So I Do believe there will be a new breed of super jocks. Personally I believe people like Matt Hardwick, AJ Gibson, Lange, etc could be the headliners of tomorrow. Of course I am hopefully working toward that status also. Chris has no desire to DJ, particularly with all the politics involved, though, DJing has been my career for the last 15 years here and abroad, and i certainly intend to getting out there in the clubs more this year.

Finally, what else would you like to add to this? anything in general? news? info?

Les: Not really, just thank you for your interest as it's people like you and the readers that can, and will make the different to this scene by doing what you are.! Best Wishes

Les Hemstock

Les Hemstock's Website