How was 2018 for trance legend John 00 Fleming? Why not find out from the man himself as he talks about the past 12 months in his new column celebrating another impressive year for him and his label…
The thoughts of John 00 Fleming a very much worth listening to as he always says things as they are and offers a great insight into his own mindset when it comes to music production. He does like to post his thoughts on his social media outlets and has recently published a little round up off last year with his latest post.
It was another stellar year for John and his label JOOF Recordings and you can bet your money that he is looking to push himself and the label even further forward this year. Who knows where 2019 will take him? You can read where 2018 took him below; it’s a fascinating insight into the past 12 months.
IN HIS OWN WORDS - JOHN 00 FLEMING
I’m a little late writing this years annual end of year blog due to being so busy touring, and this indicates what a fantastic year its been for me. You know its been a great year when I mention, BOOM Festival, Ozora festival, EDC festival, Noisily festival, Creamfields festival, ASOT festival in just one breathe. Of course there’s a whole load more festivals and clubs I’ve been fortunate to play at along with a massive amount of extended and Open To Close sets, including my annual homage to Australia, Argentina and Ministry of Sound.
I’m also proud and thankful to have been made ‘Artist of the week’ in Beatport along with my label JOOF Recordings being made ‘label of the month’ a lovely achievement being recognised considering I’m one of the specialist guys that steers way from attention. JOOF recordings also reached its milestone of celebrating 20 years in 2018, the label continues to go from strength to strength and you’ll soon be hearing what awesome music we have lined up in 2019.
Since the start of my career I’ve always managed to keep connected to my underground roots whilst finely balancing the line of playing the odd mainstream gigs to give that world a dusting of something new and fresh, something I enjoy doing. Trance means something very different to the next generation having a more main stage/big room vocal approach (I’ll cover this in-depth in next blog) and there’s many of us from the specialist underground world keeping the underground spirit alive under the cover of ‘Progressive’ or ‘Progressive Trance’ to help distinguish between the two cultures. Its seems 2018 was the year of the Progressive Trance movement, the rebirth of the original spirit of Trance with a new forward thinking flavour that is continuing to grow and evolve. History certainly does repeat itself as the Progressive Trance scene used to run parallel with Psy scene, I specifically got booked at both BOOM Festival (4 hour set) and Ozora Festival to perform Progressive sets to packed crowds. It was also a huge moment launching the Progressive stage with Armin at ASOT in 2018, it was such a success its returning next month, bigger and better with a massive line up, along with playing events for FSOE whom are also embracing and supporting this world, it just goes to show the growth of this scene in both worlds. For me 2018 was the year of Progressive/Progressive Trance.
JOOF Editions
The last few years has involved me navigating the way forward musically, something that takes time, patience and dedication. Upon this journey I decided to put our JOOF Editions events to one side until I felt the climate was right, something I’ve done from time to time over JOOF Editions 15 year history and I feel the time is right to be more active in 2019. I know many of you dearly miss our now legendary Brighton and London shows, I can promise you they will be back. We’re also planning multiple shows around the world, but as always the ethos remains the same, high quality sound systems, stripped back venues, guest DJ’s you never thought you’d get the chance to see play surrounded by likewise music lovers. Its this simple formula that made JOOF Editions so popular. We get guests from many other musical worlds and part of the deal we all put our heads together to program the best possible musical curve for you on the dance floor. There’s no egos, no fighting for set times, just passionate artists looking to give you the ultimate musical experience. A few stand out moments, when we had Dave Clarke, Dave Seaman and myself on the same line up in Brighton, we had Sister Bliss upon another occasion and have a habit of pulling people out of retirement for one off shows like with did with Human Blue. Importantly we listen to you and who you want to see, then go on a mission and make this happen. It becomes your event.
Promoters reading this, it's a perfect time for you to reach out to my team as we want to bring JOOF Editions to you, your city. Fans, let us know where you want to see JOOF Editions.
The slight lack of productions from myself is also due to this navigating as I wasn’t quite sure what to make, but you’ll be pleased to know I have a clear vision and plan for this year and have many new tracks cooking and super excited to finish. It was the same story for 00.db, as you saw publicly Ricky got a little disgruntled with the Trance scene, but after speaking to him I wanted him/us to invest into something fresh into this world and you’ll be pleased to hear we are already working on many new tracks…maybe an album?
I’ve never been so motivated or driven for such a long time as I start a fresh new year, I have a clear vision of what I want to achieve and you’ll soon see the rewards of this.
As always, thank you for the constant passionate support, without you all this couldn’t happen. I can’t wait to see you soon.
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