Sunday 25th, June 2006
Mr. Sam Interview
To celebrate the success of his second album Lyteo (read the review [link=http://trance.nu/v3/review_show.php?id=1433]here[/link]), trance.nu caught up with experienced DJ/producer Mr.Sam for a chat about the album, the artists he worked with, the history of trance and his plans for the future.
T.nu: Firstly, congratulations on the release of your album. How have reactions been to it so far?
Mr Sam: Hello and thank you! Making this album was a big challenge for me and I wanted to achieve it in the best way. Reactions so far have been really great. Without hiding anything, I never thought it would be so great... I made this album without thinking about making crossovers tunes and so on, just the way I wanted it to be, that’s all. Reactions have been so great that it has been exclusively licensed to more than 10 countries/labels around the world, which was a big surprise for Black Hole Recordings as well as for me. The fast craze for the album was a good sign for us at the very begining. Even in my wildest dreams, I never thought it would be like this, especially in nowadays music market. I’m glad of everything happening.
t.nu: You managed to get an impressively diverse range of artists on there, which were your favourites to work with?
Mr Sam: Well yes you’re right. “Lyteo” covers a large panel of singers and music style and that was my main goal. I’ve no preferences on any of them because they are all so different from each other as you can hear. They all have their own quality and musical identity. I did make some of my dreams come true as I worked with Kirsty Hawkshaw for who have the biggest respect and now we’re big friends. Crash Course In Science were one of my favourites bands in the late 80’s as well. I had already collaborated with Rani (from Delerium) for the track called ‘Surrender”. I’m also glad I had the chance to collaborate with 13OR, an amazing African singer who has a true sensibility. Simply listen to “Kimia Eya Na Mokili” and you’ll know what I mean.
t.nu: If there was one other vocalist you could have worked with, alive or dead, who would it be?
Mr Sam: Dreaming is free you know so if only I could, it will certainly be Lisa Gerrard from Dead can Dance without a shadow of a doubt but like I said... Dreaming remains free!
I’ve loved her voice and charisma for so many years that I would die to collaborate with her. Also Enya. Both are so mystical and this is what I prefer the most... mystical.
t.nu: Do you have any favourite tracks on the album?
Mr Sam: Difficult to say because each track reminds me of a story and a certain period of my life as well. Each song is important in my eyes but some a bit more, so I think I would say “Split” together with Kirsty Hawshaw, “Lyteo” for personal reasons, “Kimia Eya Na Mokili” for its sensibily and timeless feeling, Alegrya for its soul purity and of course “Insight” together with Kirsty Hawkshaw... and so on!
t.nu: Some of the tracks have a very ‘live’ feel to the instruments – is it all electronic or were there any real instruments used?
Mr Sam: Yes, you’re right. Some songs sound a bit accoustic in a way. Nowadays with technology it’s becoming more and more difficult to know if it is real accoustic or not.
I personally think that it doesn’t matter at all. Only the result counts but to answer your question most of all instruments are not accoustic, which means it has been well done then? It’s also true that I wanted to have this special sound on some of the album’s songs. You need this to create a special atmosphere, feeling and this is sometimes where the limits of the synth sounds are, despite the fact that I love synth sounds of course but not always in this special case.
t.nu: I’ve got to ask this for the tech-heads. Do you use mainly software or hardware and what sort of studio set up do you have?
Mr Sam: Once again, it doesn’t matter how you produce your music. It can be all hardware or software, it’s still about the man behind the machine who is important. I do know producers who only use a computer who are extremely creative and talented. I also know people who have a massive studio and who are not productive and creative at all, blinded by the technical side of music. You need to see the technology as a creative tool and not as a solution. Nowadays you can produce a record with only a computer and good speakers and I’m fine with that.
It’s for me a big step in the Music Democracy. I mean, before people need to get an expensive studio to create or record some music and it was only reserved to a few people but now with creativy and talent you can do it by yourself. We can be happy of this because many new talents have emerged the latest years because of this technologic revolution and some of them are now on the top of the list as producers and DJs as well.
Due to this I’ve been in contact with lots of new talented and upcoming producers and I’m helping some of them. I’m playing their “unsigned records” in my radio and DJ Sets. So if you’re interested, send me your new tracks! (sam@mrsam.tv). I'll get back to you all with feedback. For me It’s important to push the new producers.
By my side, in the studio we’ve both software and hardware. Most are plugins of course but I do still buy the new synths I love, like the Access Virus TI for example. As it does not exist as a plugin, I’ve no problem to buy it in the shops, the quality of Access is so high that it’s worth buying it...I’m sure many will agree with me on this point.
t.nu: Who were your early musical influences?
Mr Sam: When I was a teenager, I grew up in the 80’s so I couldn’t escape listening to bands like Yello, Depeche Mode, The Cure and so on... but Depeche Mode stay my main inspiration.
I was a DM freak and will always be. The quality of the composition and production was so great for the time. It has inspired me a lot for my tracks as well. In a more commercial way, I’m addicted to Cock Robin, I know it will sounds a bit strange for many but I love these nice pop records from the late 80’s, the composer is a genius. I only listen to music I like even when there’s no hype at all… who cares?
t.nu: You have been a DJ since you were sixteen in the early nineties – how did you start out and what sort of music did you play?
Mr Sam: Yes that’s true, I started with DJing like most of producers nowadays. DJing for me was nothing else than a crucial need, I coudn’t escape it. I first started buying lots of records I was listening to in the clubs where I was going during the weekend, it was in 1992 (can you imagine?!). Step by step I started to work in a record shops and have been in contact with all the biggest DJs in the country and quickly been invited to play, at the begining from time to time in some clubs or parties all over the country. After a short time, I got my first residency in some big clubs over here. The story was just starting.
At this time, I was playing alternative and upfront records as I wasn’t resident so no need to play the big hits. I remember it as a great time of my life... I was fascinated but the American music and was a die-hard fan of the US imports in the shop where I was working at.
With time, my tastes have evolved and I started playing many different styles of music, more and more melodic, always! Then came my love for atmosphere music, so called Trance. Artists like Cosmic Baby, Paul van Dyk, Jam & Spoon have influenced me a lot for sure. Respect to the pioneers.
t.nu: Your musical career began pretty much at the birth of trance and has followed it ever since through it’s commercial peak and to the present. What do you think of the current state of trance music?
Mr Sam: Well like I just said, I have been building up my sound at the birth of “Trance Music” and I must say that I’m pleased with that. At this time EDM was not as popular as it is now... no Internet, no radio broacasting EDM (or only a few indepedent radios) no big DJs like now or a only a few as well so it was still an alternative style of music we were all juming into. I think there is not a big difference between before and now to be honest. In both times, good and bad records have been released. Many people are complaining now about the music quality and I do agree with them. I’m sometimes having problems to find a great piece of music but it was the same before in a different way. The main problem nowadays is that we’re all swamped by a huge amount of releases every week and of course quantity doesn’t mean quality. In the other hand, there are great producers and upcoming talents as well that I’m following and still keeping an eye on.
Trance Music has become with time a bit repetitive and cliché, especially lately. I’m receiving far too much average and ‘all sounding the same’ records, with all the same kick, percussions, melody (even the same sound preset), arrangements and so on but I think it’s the same not only in Trance but in Electro, Techno or even in House as well. It’s part of the Music style rules! It’s true that I’m most well know for making melodic records but I’m not only playing Trance when I’m DJing around the world. I do like a large panel of music styles. Together with Dimitri Andreas, I’m behind Mojado on Tiësto’s Magik Muzik label. It’s a more techno minded. It’s my dark side! I’m my DJ sets I can play from Trance to Techno, depends of the crowd I have in front of me!
Back to Trance music, I don’t think that Trance music is dead to be honest. It only needs to evolve and merged into a new dimension. Prodcucers like Andy Moor or even Gabriel & Dresden have done great melodic records close to Trance but have been played by all DJs from different styles. So this is where an effort needs to be done. A good meltingpot of music styles is the solution I think.
t.nu: Considering your success as a producer, why did you get into it quite late in your career, your first release being in 1999?
Mr Sam: Building up a career takes time. I wanted to take time before releasing my first solo Artist album. During all this time I’ve been releasing many successful records with different aliases as well as making many remixes (more than 60) for well known artists as Age of Love, Sinead O’Connor, Timo Maas, D Note, Delerium, Todd Terry… I also released the first Non-Tiesto artist album on Magik Muzik as Mojado with Dimitri Andreas besides more than eight releases on Tiesto’s own label Magik Muzik. I prefer building up rather than going too fast which isn’t the best solution. Now I achieved releasing my artist album “Lyteo” (my second one with Mojado “Arena”) and things are evolving in a very good way lately. So little time and so many things to do...!
t.nu: Have you got any festival gigs or Mojado live performances planned for the summer?
Mr Sam: As DJ I’m still touring for the Lyteo World Tour, I’ll playing this Saturday at City Parade Belgium together with David Guetta, Dave Clarke and Pole Folder. After that I will be off to Poland for four days for a few gigs out there (Poland is one of my favourite places in the world). I’ll also be back in Rome later in July for another fantastic gig. I’ll be playing at the FFWD Parade in Rotterdam in collaboration with Black Hole Recordings. I”ll have the honour to head a truck on the Techno Parade in Paris, begining September, it will be massive playing in the streets of Paris! I’ll go to Germany as well to share the decks with John Askew and Chris Bauland for a party called Synthesia. Beside that, many new dates are in process for September and October in many different countries, mostly in the countries where the album has been signed. Have a look on www.myspace.com/mrsam_tv for more info and see you in a club near you!
t.nu: With your success as Mojado with Dimitri Andreas and well received productions with Fred Baker, do you have any other collaborations or projects lined up?
Mr Sam: Yes! Good news for the numerous Mojado fans, we’re already working on a new album for Magik Muzik. Be sure to have some nice surprises for this new album. We’re working hard on it to deliver only the very best for our fans. The only thing I can say is that this time we’ll do some collaborations.... a bit more patience and you’ll know all.
t.nu: With such a broad range of styles in your productions, what sort of music do you listen to relax to?
Mr Sam: I’m glad you asked me this. I try to explain in all my interviews that I don’t really have a specific music style. In the ‘Lyteo” album you can definetly understand it. I mean I don’t feel good with only making the same kind of music all time. It can be the “Lyteo” or “Arena’ album, both contains differents styles of music and not always the same, I also think that some Mojado tracks could have been on my album and the opposite as well. It simply means that I’ve no boundaries at all while producing music. For me, there are two styles of music, the good and the bad. I prefer a good deep house record rather than a bad techno or trance one. So for relaxing, it’s also really large. It can go to ambient like Pete Namlook's Music to a French pop singer called Pascal Obispo. I do like the last CD from James Holden when I’m in the office. It can also be classical music like Craig Armstrong, Rob Dougan and sometimes Jazz.
t.nu: Many thanks for your time and we wish you best of luck with the album and your future career.
Mr Sam: You’re welcome. I’d like to thanks trance.nu for their support over the years and thanks to all trance.nu members who sent me many messages and kinds words lately about the album and my radio show. Take care all of you and lots of love!
t.nu: Aww… we send our love back to you Mr. Sam!
Related links:
Contact: sam@mrsam.tv
Myspace page: www.myspace.com/mrsam_tv
Made In Trance Radio Show: www.contactmusic.fr/Radio/Mr-Sam.php5
Written by:
frombeyond
To celebrate the success of his second album Lyteo (read the review [link=http://trance.nu/v3/review_show.php?id=1433]here[/link]), trance.nu caught up with experienced DJ/producer Mr.Sam for a chat about the album, the artists he worked with, the history of trance and his plans for the future.
T.nu: Firstly, congratulations on the release of your album. How have reactions been to it so far?
Mr Sam: Hello and thank you! Making this album was a big challenge for me and I wanted to achieve it in the best way. Reactions so far have been really great. Without hiding anything, I never thought it would be so great... I made this album without thinking about making crossovers tunes and so on, just the way I wanted it to be, that’s all. Reactions have been so great that it has been exclusively licensed to more than 10 countries/labels around the world, which was a big surprise for Black Hole Recordings as well as for me. The fast craze for the album was a good sign for us at the very begining. Even in my wildest dreams, I never thought it would be like this, especially in nowadays music market. I’m glad of everything happening.
t.nu: You managed to get an impressively diverse range of artists on there, which were your favourites to work with?
Mr Sam: Well yes you’re right. “Lyteo” covers a large panel of singers and music style and that was my main goal. I’ve no preferences on any of them because they are all so different from each other as you can hear. They all have their own quality and musical identity. I did make some of my dreams come true as I worked with Kirsty Hawkshaw for who have the biggest respect and now we’re big friends. Crash Course In Science were one of my favourites bands in the late 80’s as well. I had already collaborated with Rani (from Delerium) for the track called ‘Surrender”. I’m also glad I had the chance to collaborate with 13OR, an amazing African singer who has a true sensibility. Simply listen to “Kimia Eya Na Mokili” and you’ll know what I mean.
t.nu: If there was one other vocalist you could have worked with, alive or dead, who would it be?
Mr Sam: Dreaming is free you know so if only I could, it will certainly be Lisa Gerrard from Dead can Dance without a shadow of a doubt but like I said... Dreaming remains free!
I’ve loved her voice and charisma for so many years that I would die to collaborate with her. Also Enya. Both are so mystical and this is what I prefer the most... mystical.
t.nu: Do you have any favourite tracks on the album?
Mr Sam: Difficult to say because each track reminds me of a story and a certain period of my life as well. Each song is important in my eyes but some a bit more, so I think I would say “Split” together with Kirsty Hawshaw, “Lyteo” for personal reasons, “Kimia Eya Na Mokili” for its sensibily and timeless feeling, Alegrya for its soul purity and of course “Insight” together with Kirsty Hawkshaw... and so on!
t.nu: Some of the tracks have a very ‘live’ feel to the instruments – is it all electronic or were there any real instruments used?
Mr Sam: Yes, you’re right. Some songs sound a bit accoustic in a way. Nowadays with technology it’s becoming more and more difficult to know if it is real accoustic or not.
I personally think that it doesn’t matter at all. Only the result counts but to answer your question most of all instruments are not accoustic, which means it has been well done then? It’s also true that I wanted to have this special sound on some of the album’s songs. You need this to create a special atmosphere, feeling and this is sometimes where the limits of the synth sounds are, despite the fact that I love synth sounds of course but not always in this special case.
t.nu: I’ve got to ask this for the tech-heads. Do you use mainly software or hardware and what sort of studio set up do you have?
Mr Sam: Once again, it doesn’t matter how you produce your music. It can be all hardware or software, it’s still about the man behind the machine who is important. I do know producers who only use a computer who are extremely creative and talented. I also know people who have a massive studio and who are not productive and creative at all, blinded by the technical side of music. You need to see the technology as a creative tool and not as a solution. Nowadays you can produce a record with only a computer and good speakers and I’m fine with that.
It’s for me a big step in the Music Democracy. I mean, before people need to get an expensive studio to create or record some music and it was only reserved to a few people but now with creativy and talent you can do it by yourself. We can be happy of this because many new talents have emerged the latest years because of this technologic revolution and some of them are now on the top of the list as producers and DJs as well.
Due to this I’ve been in contact with lots of new talented and upcoming producers and I’m helping some of them. I’m playing their “unsigned records” in my radio and DJ Sets. So if you’re interested, send me your new tracks! (sam@mrsam.tv). I'll get back to you all with feedback. For me It’s important to push the new producers.
By my side, in the studio we’ve both software and hardware. Most are plugins of course but I do still buy the new synths I love, like the Access Virus TI for example. As it does not exist as a plugin, I’ve no problem to buy it in the shops, the quality of Access is so high that it’s worth buying it...I’m sure many will agree with me on this point.
t.nu: Who were your early musical influences?
Mr Sam: When I was a teenager, I grew up in the 80’s so I couldn’t escape listening to bands like Yello, Depeche Mode, The Cure and so on... but Depeche Mode stay my main inspiration.
I was a DM freak and will always be. The quality of the composition and production was so great for the time. It has inspired me a lot for my tracks as well. In a more commercial way, I’m addicted to Cock Robin, I know it will sounds a bit strange for many but I love these nice pop records from the late 80’s, the composer is a genius. I only listen to music I like even when there’s no hype at all… who cares?
t.nu: You have been a DJ since you were sixteen in the early nineties – how did you start out and what sort of music did you play?
Mr Sam: Yes that’s true, I started with DJing like most of producers nowadays. DJing for me was nothing else than a crucial need, I coudn’t escape it. I first started buying lots of records I was listening to in the clubs where I was going during the weekend, it was in 1992 (can you imagine?!). Step by step I started to work in a record shops and have been in contact with all the biggest DJs in the country and quickly been invited to play, at the begining from time to time in some clubs or parties all over the country. After a short time, I got my first residency in some big clubs over here. The story was just starting.
At this time, I was playing alternative and upfront records as I wasn’t resident so no need to play the big hits. I remember it as a great time of my life... I was fascinated but the American music and was a die-hard fan of the US imports in the shop where I was working at.
With time, my tastes have evolved and I started playing many different styles of music, more and more melodic, always! Then came my love for atmosphere music, so called Trance. Artists like Cosmic Baby, Paul van Dyk, Jam & Spoon have influenced me a lot for sure. Respect to the pioneers.
t.nu: Your musical career began pretty much at the birth of trance and has followed it ever since through it’s commercial peak and to the present. What do you think of the current state of trance music?
Mr Sam: Well like I just said, I have been building up my sound at the birth of “Trance Music” and I must say that I’m pleased with that. At this time EDM was not as popular as it is now... no Internet, no radio broacasting EDM (or only a few indepedent radios) no big DJs like now or a only a few as well so it was still an alternative style of music we were all juming into. I think there is not a big difference between before and now to be honest. In both times, good and bad records have been released. Many people are complaining now about the music quality and I do agree with them. I’m sometimes having problems to find a great piece of music but it was the same before in a different way. The main problem nowadays is that we’re all swamped by a huge amount of releases every week and of course quantity doesn’t mean quality. In the other hand, there are great producers and upcoming talents as well that I’m following and still keeping an eye on.
Trance Music has become with time a bit repetitive and cliché, especially lately. I’m receiving far too much average and ‘all sounding the same’ records, with all the same kick, percussions, melody (even the same sound preset), arrangements and so on but I think it’s the same not only in Trance but in Electro, Techno or even in House as well. It’s part of the Music style rules! It’s true that I’m most well know for making melodic records but I’m not only playing Trance when I’m DJing around the world. I do like a large panel of music styles. Together with Dimitri Andreas, I’m behind Mojado on Tiësto’s Magik Muzik label. It’s a more techno minded. It’s my dark side! I’m my DJ sets I can play from Trance to Techno, depends of the crowd I have in front of me!
Back to Trance music, I don’t think that Trance music is dead to be honest. It only needs to evolve and merged into a new dimension. Prodcucers like Andy Moor or even Gabriel & Dresden have done great melodic records close to Trance but have been played by all DJs from different styles. So this is where an effort needs to be done. A good meltingpot of music styles is the solution I think.
t.nu: Considering your success as a producer, why did you get into it quite late in your career, your first release being in 1999?
Mr Sam: Building up a career takes time. I wanted to take time before releasing my first solo Artist album. During all this time I’ve been releasing many successful records with different aliases as well as making many remixes (more than 60) for well known artists as Age of Love, Sinead O’Connor, Timo Maas, D Note, Delerium, Todd Terry… I also released the first Non-Tiesto artist album on Magik Muzik as Mojado with Dimitri Andreas besides more than eight releases on Tiesto’s own label Magik Muzik. I prefer building up rather than going too fast which isn’t the best solution. Now I achieved releasing my artist album “Lyteo” (my second one with Mojado “Arena”) and things are evolving in a very good way lately. So little time and so many things to do...!
t.nu: Have you got any festival gigs or Mojado live performances planned for the summer?
Mr Sam: As DJ I’m still touring for the Lyteo World Tour, I’ll playing this Saturday at City Parade Belgium together with David Guetta, Dave Clarke and Pole Folder. After that I will be off to Poland for four days for a few gigs out there (Poland is one of my favourite places in the world). I’ll also be back in Rome later in July for another fantastic gig. I’ll be playing at the FFWD Parade in Rotterdam in collaboration with Black Hole Recordings. I”ll have the honour to head a truck on the Techno Parade in Paris, begining September, it will be massive playing in the streets of Paris! I’ll go to Germany as well to share the decks with John Askew and Chris Bauland for a party called Synthesia. Beside that, many new dates are in process for September and October in many different countries, mostly in the countries where the album has been signed. Have a look on www.myspace.com/mrsam_tv for more info and see you in a club near you!
t.nu: With your success as Mojado with Dimitri Andreas and well received productions with Fred Baker, do you have any other collaborations or projects lined up?
Mr Sam: Yes! Good news for the numerous Mojado fans, we’re already working on a new album for Magik Muzik. Be sure to have some nice surprises for this new album. We’re working hard on it to deliver only the very best for our fans. The only thing I can say is that this time we’ll do some collaborations.... a bit more patience and you’ll know all.
t.nu: With such a broad range of styles in your productions, what sort of music do you listen to relax to?
Mr Sam: I’m glad you asked me this. I try to explain in all my interviews that I don’t really have a specific music style. In the ‘Lyteo” album you can definetly understand it. I mean I don’t feel good with only making the same kind of music all time. It can be the “Lyteo” or “Arena’ album, both contains differents styles of music and not always the same, I also think that some Mojado tracks could have been on my album and the opposite as well. It simply means that I’ve no boundaries at all while producing music. For me, there are two styles of music, the good and the bad. I prefer a good deep house record rather than a bad techno or trance one. So for relaxing, it’s also really large. It can go to ambient like Pete Namlook's Music to a French pop singer called Pascal Obispo. I do like the last CD from James Holden when I’m in the office. It can also be classical music like Craig Armstrong, Rob Dougan and sometimes Jazz.
t.nu: Many thanks for your time and we wish you best of luck with the album and your future career.
Mr Sam: You’re welcome. I’d like to thanks trance.nu for their support over the years and thanks to all trance.nu members who sent me many messages and kinds words lately about the album and my radio show. Take care all of you and lots of love!
t.nu: Aww… we send our love back to you Mr. Sam!
Related links:
Contact: sam@mrsam.tv
Myspace page: www.myspace.com/mrsam_tv
Made In Trance Radio Show: www.contactmusic.fr/Radio/Mr-Sam.php5
Written by:
frombeyond
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