http://www.boomfestival.org/boom2014/webtvradio/boom-radio/mindstream/mindstream-05-the-boom-radio-podcast-by-dimitri-nakov/
For the last few years he has been regarded as one of the most talented DJs around, always incorporating other influences into his unique psy-trance approach.
The new Mindstream podcast is based on live recordings from Sinergia Summer Camp, held in July, where Dimitri made a DJ set based on the idea of fusing full-on psy-trance and other music genres. We had an interesting interview with him about the present state of psy-trance and how the whole scene can evolve into a higher standard of quality.
You’ve been a DJ that has been imposing his own style and charisma. Why did you feel the need to release the album “Ininterrupted” recently?
I should have done it 2 years ago already in fact, but I was too caught up flying all over the place and gigging. I had started the production and recording process nearly 2 years ago. But I do feel it’s a good time to release… there doesn’t seem to be that many releases in trance at the moment, especially not in the area of full on that stand out from the rest of the music available, so hopefully the timing is good.
In dance music there is always the need for DJs to produce and vice-versa so that both careers can reinforce each other. Is that record a way for you to underline your production skills or is it simply a record with tracks by someone that feels himself more a DJ than a producer?
I definitely identify myself more as a DJ than a producer but this is changing I guess. The trance scene is famous for respecting producers a whole lot more than DJs so in a way I did need to prove myself, to myself and especially to the scene.
There is a lot of scepticism around that dictates that a DJ is simply a DJ, but when you look back, or outside the scene, one can see that so much of the electronic music scene relies on DJ’s. And yet trance won’t recognize this so I created an album of my own music to express the fact that one relies on the other and neither are mutually exclusive.
As a producer did you want to show new directions for full on psy-trance?
Apart from wanting to do an album of tracks to play myself and for others to play, I was also consciously trying to add some different flavours, make the music a bit different within the style/formula that is full on these days.
As we all know full on is quite lost ideas-wise, we don’t get to hear much music that is surprising or different.
Many people have jumped to make techno, progressive and minimal which I think is great but once again we see it isn’t changing trance very much. And it’s a shame no one brings influences from outside the scene, always listening to full on to inspire full on, which never works in the long run. So I had been out and about trying to get as many musical ideas from other genres and trying to fuse that with trance techniques, which I did.
I broke quite a few rules and many people, well known names even, wouldn’t or couldn’t support my ideas saying that “its not trance if you do that”. Now that they have heard the tracks they like them, many not even realising that they refused to collaborate with me on (what has become) their favourite tracks. Ironic really!
What are your feelings about what people are into on the trance dance floors around the world?
We are at an interesting moment musically, lots of cross-pollination going on although it’s creeping into the trance scene more slowly than in other musical genres. I have never been a big dark fan. I definitely appreciate all forms of music and all forms of trance but my interests don’t lie in the darker, faster more aggressive nor commercial areas of trance.
I have always opted for a more funky and groove orientated music, whenever possible less full on but not necessarily less intense. This said I can still see quite a lot of what is going on globally and from what I have seen (and what I feel personally) slower music is having a bigger and better impact.
In the last year or 2 I have rarely gone faster than 143, basing most of my sets around the 138-140 BPM mark, and it seems that no one can tell the difference, at the least there have been lots of great fun sets for me and I see and hear the crowd enjoying it more and more. 5 years ago if I dropped the BPM many would complain, today, it’s the reverse.
Is full on still evolving musically?
Let’s be honest, fullon has not evolved for a while now. There are still those producers doing amazing stuff, some of them even slowly pushing the boundaries; but basically the younger crowd is still enjoying the same old thing as they haven’t got tired yet. On the other hand, the older more jaded ones have just moved to techno, leaving trance a bit abandoned and unhealthy musically.
As a DJ it’s my job, and my mission to provoke a reaction to this, and some sets have even been ranging from 128 – 140 BPM (given the time) and I feel the crowd reacts and enjoys more this as its less predictable than 2 hours of 145 BPM and the same bass-lines and layers and breaks and sequences.
Musically what is particularly working on the dance floors these days?
One thing in particular that is working is that by playing slower music the breaks are much less predictable. This simple element of surprise does much more than typical full on as there isn’t enough talented producers trying their hand at creating great full on. Those that are still hold on to their music as if and don’t let anyone hear, let alone play it which is partly responsible for the fall of good psy-trance.
Finally, a question about your daily life! You live in Ibiza, in a creative hub of psy-trance DJs/producers. Tell us something about your daily life on the island and how you interact with each other…
A typical day consists of bumping into Shanti at the supermarket, then later at a restaurant for dinner. Seeing the GMS boys in their studio and spending time in the studio myself. We all connect regularly to share ideas, play music to each other, have a drink or do a collaboration. We are a tight knit group here always interacting with each other. It’s a small island and we all live in the same area. Etnica have just built a 3 studio complex which will bring us all together even more. Definitely it is a privileged situation for us all.
www.dimitrinakov.com
