 |
Features
|
|
|
| Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna | | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022! | | TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022! | | A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London! |
|
|
|
|
|
Interview with trance rising stars... Smith & Pledger
Reported by josie
/
Submitted 29-11-04 17:22
Smith & Pledger, aka Oliver Smith and Mark Pledger, are so young and freshfaced they're barely out of short trousers. However, that hasn't stopped them being promoted to the premier league in double quick time. They're signed to possibly the trance label of 2004 - Anjunabeats, and were included on their critically acclaimed album Anjunabeats Volume II.
As a duo, they've released 'Believe' and 'Forever', and have also collaborated extremely successfully with trance DJ and producer Matt Hardwick on massive tracks 'Connected' and 'Day One'. They've remixed for all sorts of big names, among them Gavyn Mytchel - resident at The Gallery, Darren Tate - trance DJ and producer extraordinaire, and John 00 Fleming - the Daddy of progressive, and are getting DJing gigs at such prestigious promotions as Godskitchen, alongside resident Armin van Buuren. Their Mums must be very proud.
What do you really hate being asked in interviews?
MP How we met Matt Hardwick! We always get that, and it’s a very boring answer. It’s just… our manager introduced us and he liked some of our tracks…
OS And we liked some of his mix cd’s.
MP That’s the one… pretty much every interview!
So Smith & Pledger have been going since about 2000.
MP Yeah about 2000. When we were at university, we started messing around in the studio. We’ve been going full time about two years now.
What’s it like being with Anjunabeats?
OS It’s like a big family isn’t it?
MP Jono was in my year at university and we studied together and lived in the same student halls. I had quite a close relationship with him, and I guess that’s why we’re quite happy with Anjunabeats.
OS I met Jono at a house party so we’re all friends from quite a long way back.
So did you two used to be mental clubbers… are you still mental clubbers?
MP I used to quite frequently do the three and a quarter hour drive up to Sheffield for Gatecrasher when I was about 18. I lived in Bedfordshire in a little village called Flitton and me and my mates used to pile into a convoy of cars, drive all the way up, club all night and then drive (ahem) all the way home. Back in the good old days. That was around the time when Gatecrasher was doing the black and red album.
OS I come from Norwich originally so not that much of a scene round there. I never really got a chance to go up north.
MP Back then you were into drum and bass. When I met Ollie he was all breakbeat… drum and bass.
OS I also did some sort of progressive-y trance.
MP And I was very very hard dance myself and we got together and had this sort of ‘soft’ median which is now what kind of defines our sound.
How would you describe your style?
MP Our style eh? Bloody hell… um…I’d say we take things from three types of trance – that progressive sound, going into melodic trance and then quite a lot of techno / house influence.
OS It’s a fusion of all those things.
Ok. I know everyone asks you this…
MP How did you meet Matt Hardwick…
No! Top 3 tracks of all time, and you can’t name any of your own.
MP We definitely wouldn’t name our own!
OS On the Judge Jules show one of our tunes of the year was that Ronski Speed mix, the Aly & Fila – ‘Eye of Horus’.
MP That’s what inspired us to write ‘Day One’, our first collaboration with Matt.
OS Going way way back I really like ‘Energy 52 - Café del Mar’. It’s ancient but it’s one of the ones that set the sound of the nineties.
MP I know it’s a really really stereotypical track in a way, but for me System F - 'Out of the Blue'. It’s a bit of a ‘young trance’ kind of tune but it’s what made me a bit more interested in the softer side. Before that I was doing stuff that was verging into hard house and I thought actually this is something that’s cool. Melodic without a load of cheese. So that’s where the turning point for me was.
What big names do you really admire?
OS I admire a lot of the smaller guys more than some of the bigger ones. Just recently people like Probspot, Leama & Moore. Recently we’ve had a about 5 or 6 tracks through from them and they’re amazing, really good remixes, really good original tracks, really good production… everything.
What about DJs, or people known more for DJing?
MP I think Remy’s brilliant, we saw him at Godskitchen. He plays music that’s very subtle and then he’ll have this big swell of noise and then it’s back into a relentless pounding beat, he’s good for building up to Armin.
Have you ever written anything and thought it was rubbish?
MP Are you going to name it?!
OS It’s a love-hate relationship.
MP The one track we’re always asked to play is the one track…! Our tune Forever we did with vocals by Carrie Skipper – it was a good track at the time but it took a while for it to come out. I mean Armin was playing it, and it wasn’t released until two years later, so to us it sounds very old but people loved it. It was actually one of our better-selling records… or the best-selling even.
What do you look for in a trance vocal, and in a vocalist?
OS Not too much of it!
MP The thing with trance vocals is there’s a real fine line between it becoming too commercial, and just cheesy, and if it’s too underground, no one’s going to lock onto it as a record, there's no lyric for you to get into it. Motorcycle [As The Rush Comes] is a tune that got it right in the middle – it had commercial potential but it still got played in the underground club scene.
OS If you look at the lyrics of that even, it would seem cheesy but as a whole package, it all makes sense.
What about Oceanlab – Satellite?
MP It was a very successful record, but I would say that fell slightly on the cheesy side of what we would play.
OS You can see the sense of doing it for commercial reasons.
MP Thing is, if you walk into somewhere like Burger King (cough) and you hear your record played there you know you’ve made it!
Have you heard Satellite played at Burger King?
MP Yeah sadly, I’ve heard… not that I go in Burger King!
You just went in to use the loo right?
MP Yeah when we go into Café Rouge I mean!
OS There was one stage when we used to get followed around by Anjunabeats records, everywhere I went I would hear one.
MP We’d turn on the radio, and it would be ‘oh god, not this again!’
Where do you like to play?
OS Gods is good fun.
MP Gods is good for the big stadium sort of thing but for personality I quite like The Gallery.
What do you think of the online revolution, have you had a lot of music stolen?
MP Yes. If you go online you find all of our tracks somewhere for free.
Even stuff that hasn’t been released yet?
MP Sometimes, that has happened.
Does it p*ss you off?
MP It sort of p*sses me off but at the end of the day what are you going to do about it?
OS There's nothing you can do about it. It’s just one of those things that’s happening, and it’s something you’ve got to work with rather than against.
How do you share the DJing role?
MP It depends on how long the set is but mostly it’s quite casual. We’ll just do a few records on and off.
OS Sometimes it’s nice to build it as one person and you can go through a little kind of section building it how you want to and then hand it over to the other person.
MP It’s whatever we feel like really. If I need to go to the bar or something and pick up a couple of beers then I'll be gone for five records queuing up!
What about when you need to go to the loo?
MP Nah you can normally make that in one record.
How does Armin play an 8-hour set?
MP Probably a p*ss-sack I reckon, maybe don’t print that!
Any thoughts on the DJ Mag Top 100?
OS A lot of it’s topsy turvy.
MP Looking at the top 200 there are some people there that I think haven’t quite got the right ranking. I find it quite ridiculous some of the names that weren’t in the top 100.
Such as?
MP Well Roni Size for one.
OS Yeah Roni Size down at the 200 area, loads of people even outside the 150… like Timo Maas. Also there’s a lot of American influence, there’s these American DJs that from a British perspective aren’t big names and they shoot right up to the top. It is good to see lots of trance in there though.
So out of the top three then… who’s the daddy?
MP When I was going clubbing I’d of said Tiësto, but for what they’re playing at the moment, the actual records they’re playing right now I would say Armin.
OS Yeah, but then Paul Van Dyk’s got his merits. I’d say they’re all at the top of their own game, they’ve all got their own sound. They are deserving, they’re hardworking.
What’s out there begging out for a remix?
OS Normally you find something and then find someone else has done it a couple of months before you and already got the record out.
MP The Lost in Translation soundtrack… that Alone in Kyoto thing, that’s quite good. I haven’t got round to it though, so it can’t be that good!
In your formative years what were you listening to?
OS I came through a lot of drum and bass, the old techno thing, lots of Orbital, Leftfield, Underworld, big artists like that. A lot of chill out and breakbeat as well.
MP I started off mainly with rock groups when I was very very young, stuff like Jimi Hendrix, even with a bit of Metallica thrown in there! Then the indie thing, all sorts of Radiohead style acts – I started liking that sort of thing. After that I went through quite a rapid change when I went to university. I was still writing rock music in a signed band with London records although we never actually did anything. When I went to university I got myself a sampler and as I got more equipment the live element got less and less.
OS Your poor sad guitar sat in the corner.
MP I’ve got a 4 thousand pound guitar that does nothing!
Do you ever get nervous DJing?
MP Because I’ve been in a lot of bands I used to suffer from quite a lot of stagefright when I was doing gigs. You know, stuff goes wrong and you just sit there clenching up and it means you can’t actually enjoy it. Then I remember the first DJing gig we ever did, I thought I just can’t be arsed to feel like that, I’m just going to enjoy it.
OS I’ve never been worried about performing a gig.
MP I’ve had quite nasty accidents, like dropping your guitar picking it up and it’s totally out of tune, and your ‘oh my god!’
Have you got any DJing disaster stories?
OS We don’t make mistakes!
MP I think the worst thing I ever did was not bring the mids up on the track but that’s really boring to read.
OS We’re quite professional behind the decks, we don’t go up there p*ssed or anything!
Tell me something about you that no one knows, not about dance music.
MP I’m related to Buffalo Bill!
OS I have two cats called Cleo and Bramble!
OS We should get a plug in for our new remixes. We’ve just done Activa featuring Aled Mann and the track is called ‘In Essence’. That’s on Somatic Sense. Then there’s Madeira – ‘Solaris’ which is a Mike Shiver project. We’re also in the studio at the moment working on our new single.
I’ll be seeing you again in a couple of weeks time at Trance Generation where Lange’s playing too, are you fans?
OS We’ve never actually seen him play, although were on the same DJ agency. I really like some of the production he’s been doing recently… the Vercetti project – Skimmer, and the Firewall project, that’s all good stuff. It’ll be interesting.
Have you played The Soundshaft before?
OS No this is going to be our first time. I’ve been there once just to check it out.
There's nothing to stop people just walking into the DJ box so expect to be visited by lunatics all night.
MP We’re used to that.
You guys are young, successful. Do you get a lot of female attention?
MP Mainly male at the moment! I keep turning round and seeing the same guy that’s blagged his way in going through our records. ‘You again?!’
OS Our records are normally still there when he’s gone though, luckily.
MP Yeah he doesn’t steal them he just admires them!
Last question. Are you going to stagedive at Trance Generation?
OS No because that balcony is very high!
MP And if we play badly they might not catch us!
Photos courtesy of Smith & Pledger
Share this ::  :  :  : 
Follow HarderFaster :: 
Other Features By josie:
It's the Generation game featuring Agnelli & Nelson, The Thrillseekers and Lange
Peach at Heaven: Reviewed
The Gallery at Turnmills: Reviewed
The International Indoor Festival at SeOne: reviewed
The double ender: interview with trance legends Darren Tate and Mike Koglin
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
|
|
|
Comments:
|
From: Tranced_up on 6th Dec 2004 13:32.58
Fantastic interview. Love it
|
|
|
![[HarderFaster] - Work Hard, Play Harder!](/images/mainbanner_top1.gif)
