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Tracking down the sound of CERN
Reported by Frani Heyns
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Submitted 12-12-07 17:33
They’re a little bit secretive, but with good reason; a shy lot renowned for the quality of their music. Have you been touched by an Angel? In the first of a series of exclusive HarderFaster articles, we sent Frani Heyns to catch up with seminal producers CERN ahead of their headlining slot this New Year’s Eve at the amazing Planet Angel.
The first time I came face to face with the distinct CERN sound, was in 2004. I was swaying to trance on a dance floor far from here when the track suddenly dropped. The surge of emotion and energy hit the crowd like a massive wave. Hands automatically shot up in the air. CERN had spoken. It was The Message.
After my CERN awakening, I kept an eye out for their work and noticed that Dom Graveson and Jim Credland were responsible for some of the biggest trance anthems since 2002. Many of their productions snapped up by Armada, Mondo and Nukleuz Records.
They mainly stick to working in their studio, but I was lucky enough to catch them live at Planet Angel in September this year. They played a blistering set and kept the crowd spellbound with a brilliant mix of classic and new tracks. Their live act was faultless, their energy infectious.
CERN will be back at Planet Angel on New Year’s Eve. If you haven’t yet heard about them, then nobody you know has been! This very successful club night has been running solidly for the past eight years and is without doubt one of London’s best underground parties. It is not just a party, but an experience promoted through word-of-mouth only. The creative expression of everything people love. It is, not surprisingly, the perfect backdrop for CERN.
In the final weeks leading up to the party, I tracked down the talented duo for a brief glimpse into the life of CERN and inevitably got a taste of their strikingly dry humour.
First things first, what does CERN stand for? Any relation to the Swiss Science Institute in the Dan Brown novels?
Jim *laughs* That's a real science institute and they do cool things with atoms. It’s got nothing to do with our name though. CERN stands for the Cheap Emotional Response Network – a silly name from years ago, but we stuck to it.
Dom Back then we wanted to have a laugh at pretentious names of some of the other trance acts around. It’s simply music to make you feel good and our name reflects that. I guess it’s ironic.
Where did you guys meet and how did it all start?
Jim That’s a very long time ago now. We spent ages writing all kinds of experimental, badly produced electronica before finally releasing some records. And then it turned out that people actually wanted to buy them, so here we are!
Dom It all started in a rented house off Goldhawk Road. We took a long time to improve, although we should really revisit some of the tunes we wrote back then.
Scrolling through the (hilarious) pictures on your website, I spotted events and venues like The Big Chill 2003, Australia, Turnmills and Judgement Sundays. What do you prefer – studio work or live acts?
Jim I suppose we're more of a studio act. The live work only started after we got our heads around Ableton Live. We found a way of integrating all the different tracks into something that was approximately live.
I used to really want to DJ, but the competition for DJ slots is huge and I'd rather not be that pushy. Fair play to those who make it. I'm good mates with a few of them and they are very driven people. I also had the bad habit of taking to the decks just as the noise police from the council arrive, so don’t ask me to bring any records to a party!
Dom The success with our trance tracks all came as a bit of a surprise really. We’re not the self-publicising types - although I do love being on stage. Performing wasn’t what we originally set out to do. We wanted to write some great music and that’s where it started. Both of us have been on the scene for a long time though. I was DJing and promoting back in 1989 in Hertfordshire - in the days of Spiral Tribe and Telepathy!
You have produced numerous trance anthems throughout the years. How do you make it work time after time?
Jim The trick is to leave a whooping huge gap between releases - that way everyone's about ready for that recycled uplifting chord sequence. You got to love it!
Dom He's right you know, but that was supposed to be a secret!
What is a typical day in the life of CERN?
We work. Proper serious day jobs too. Tragic I know! And a bit disappointing if you're hoping we spend all day locked in a studio with equipment and dancing girls.
For a while I only worked three days a week in my day job and spent a lot of time on music. The trouble with music is that as soon as you're doing it commercially, you're heavily compromised. Suddenly you have this pressure to release records that make money, which completely spoils the fun. The once lovely pastime becomes a drag because you have to finish things you aren't totally happy with. In the end I decided I'd rather spend less time doing music and enjoy it more.
Still it was a good experience - we even wrote pop music at once point. We did some work with Kelly Lorrenna from N-Trance and the lovely Nat Powers of Eurovision fame.
The Message caused a massive stir on dance floors worldwide. What was the inspiration behind this fantastic track?
Jim Excess hedonism? It's full on. I really liked the idea of hitting the big melody and being able to hold it there for ages. I think it hammers at that riff for about three minutes barely repeating itself.
Dom The track came from nowhere really, but we knew it was special right from the start. It just wrote itself. Sometimes you struggle for days with other tunes.
Who would you say is the biggest influence on your music?
Jim Probably BT. I love the detail and the way he stretches every last bit of use out of the tools he has and then still comes up with something musical. That and the trance music I loved when I was going through my heavy clubbing phase when I was 18 to 20 years old. Definitely those Nukleuz and Stay Up Forever classics. But that was when I could easily do three clubs in a weekend without sleeping. Actually, I think the record was seven clubs and two house parties. These days it's a little more mellow. Pass the sparkling mineral water please!
Dom There are some fantastic producers out there, and I’m with Jim on BT being amazing. But I’m influenced a lot by other genres too. I make a point of listening and appreciating as many different kinds of music as I can. I’m listening to Burial and Suzannah and the Magical Orchestra right now. And yes – that’s not even dance music!
Who is your favourite producer/DJ at the moment?
Jim Most definitely Astrix. I've been meaning to track him down for production techniques. The Goa stuff released by Astrix is so clean and sounds great on a rig. I've experimented a little with Simon Patterson with a cross-over sound combining elements of Goa/Psy trance with the fluffy harder stuff. It's gone down very well and we spent a joyful week at the top of the Dutch dance charts with F-16.
Dom Again it’s not dance music, but Helios is incredible. It’s kind of folk influenced by ambient electronica. For dance – Trentemoller and Picotto.
What is your greatest track at the moment?
Jim I'm actually learning a Des'ree tune on the piano, but I'll be over it soon. I think the new Picotto album is absolutely amazing - although it has a whole load of older tunes on it. The mix works brilliantly though.
Dom Give me a dark room, loud stereo, bottle of blueberry juice and anything that Chris Lake or Trentemoller has released...
Describe one moment in your career that stands out.
Jim Our stupidly short trip to Australia was hilarious - who in their right mind goes to Australia for the weekend? A few people didn't even believe I'd been there when I got back. The girl on the ticket desk at the airport laughed - she'd been to Memphis for a burger once! Still she thought that Australia for a day and a half was extreme.
Dom Either hearing our tunes played at Eden in Ibiza a few years ago or the Planet Angel gig. I loved that so much. Friendly atmosphere, lovely people, great fun.
That brings me to your recent gig at Planet Angel. You had the crowd bouncing. How would you define the night and the Planet Angel experience?
Jim Everyone loved it! I was running on adrenalin that night and so shattered afterwards. I nearly collapsed when I got off stage. We're playing a little earlier on NYE, so I'll have some fun afterwards this time!
It was great to make so many people happy though.
Bloody brilliant pictures too! Well done to the photographer. The fish-eye lens stuff looks absolutely wild.
Dom It was a really special night and reminded me of some of the best parties I’d ever been to. But this was even better because we were playing!
So your next big event is the Planet Angel New Year’s Eve party. What can people expect from your set on the night?
Jim Uplifting music, the old classics, a few things hardly anyone has ever heard, a little bit of cheeky bootlegging and some beats you can really get your teeth into!
Dom I might wear a teddy bear costume and play the banjo. I hope no one minds.
Do you have any exciting projects in the pipeline at the moment?
Jim We'll have to see what happens with the new sounds I've made recently. I'm also experimenting with something called csound - this crazy math-based synthesis engine. It's missing a user interface - you have to type commands and numbers and then run the software to see what it sounds like. It's got some of the most flexible and cutting-edge stuff in it though.
I’ve also been working on the Composer's Desktop Project, which is a similar set of tools. It's been written by the chap who, as far as I can tell, pioneered time stretch. It also does some crazy other things which have never become mainstream.
Dom Jim and I are working on stuff, but I’m also working with a producer who has been in the business for 30 years. So it will be interesting to see what comes from that.
What does the future hold for CERN?
Jim I'm hoping for a moment of inspiration to try out the new sonic tool kit that I've built ready! I've got a new experimental way of producing bass sounds - the cleanest pulsing bottom end out of this studio yet. Now I just need to try it out in the real world.
Dom We also write stuff that hasn’t been released yet. Or rather we haven’t pushed hard. There’s a chill-out album in us somewhere, it just needs finishing!
Is there anything you would change on dance floors today?
Jim The sound quality in so many places is abysmal. You get great venues with awful sound! I can't stand it. That’s the sound geek in me speaking. Outdoor parties are usually far better. They don't have the room acoustics to contend with. But some people still manage to bugger it up.
The big chill usually gets it right with a huge rig either side of the stage - sounds fabulous.
Dom Re-introduce smoking… I guess at the end of the day it’s all about the club, the people, the music. As long as that’s good, it all works!
Name one event or club where you would like to play in future?
Jim Somewhere outdoors in the sunshine! We're taking bookings!
Dom Sonar or one of the big European electronica festivals. And then there’s always Ibiza.
There you have it. And if you’re keen to spend a rocking New Year’s Eve with CERN at Planet Angel (who don’t usually publicly advertise their party details), check out their site at www.planetangel.net. Who knows – you might just see Dom in his teddy bear outfit, clutching a banjo.
Important information about NYE. Click here for more info
Photos courtesy of Planet Angel. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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Other Features By Frani Heyns:
Finding the passion with Ben Alonzi
Put your hands in the air for Glyn Waters
Shifting gears with Corderoy
Perfectly Adam White
Getting Crafty with Sly One: Part 2
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.
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