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Features
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| Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - 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! |
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Guyver Interview - Peach Goes Hard Preview
Reported by benz
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Submitted 16-01-05 17:43
Guy Mearns, better known to you and me as Guyver (or one half of Barely Legal and one half of Euphony), spearheaded an influx of highly talented young producers into the hard scene several years ago, having been signed to the mighty Tidy Trax at the ridiculously young age of 17. His induction to the label saw a new chapter in their history begin, with the inception of the hard trance-orientated Tidy Two, and he continued to go from strength to strength with track after track of impressively produced euphoric music cementing his reputation further and further as a talent to be reckoned with.
His debut release on Tidy Two was the powerful hard trancer "Serious Sounds" - a massive slice of hard-hitting euphoric music that has gone on to sell immensely well and retained popularity to this day. His combination of hard house beats with uplifting and distinctive trance melodies emerged as a variant of the popular UK Hard Trance sound exemplified by DJs such as Phil Reynolds, but it seemed to pack some kind of extra punch that made people sit up and take notice. For want of a better expression, the trakcs were very 'in your face' compared to a lot of material at the time. A string of acclaimed releases under his Guyver and Riot Brothers aliases lead to him being comissioned to remix many a hard dance track in his inimitable style, including reworkings of classic tracks such as Planet Perfecto's "Bullet In The Gun", JX's "Restless" and Lab 4's "Candyman".
Although he is typically associated with the UK hard trance sound that he shot to fame with, he has always displayed a flair for trying out new ideas and refusing to just produce by numbers. Productions from the last 12 or so months such as his and Lee Haslam's remix of Lisa Lashes' "What Can U Do 4 Me?" and his recent "Possibly" display impressive production techniques and a progression from his earlier releases. With a forthcoming EP on Tidy Trax displaying several of his sounds, it will be interesting to see how he will work his magic next.
I caught up with him in the run up to one of his rare London appearences, at Peach Goes Hard presents History on February 5th.
Who have been your main musical influences over the years? Who inspired you to get involved in dance music?
Mainly DJ Scot Project, Shokk, Lab 4, Weirdo. The really energetic hard trance producers, their music has helped me shape my sound into how I want it. Recently Nick Sentience has been a big influence too, more to do with the groove of the track and how the sounds blend together and complement each other.
You broke into the hard dance scene as one of the youngest ever producers to do so. How long after you started producing did this happen? Was the initial success overwhelming?
I think I had been producing for about 2 years roughly at the time I was signed, and I suppose it was quite overwhelming but I’m a down to earth person so I sort of played it down all the time when talking about it as I didn’t want to start thinking differently.
How did Tidy Trax find out about you? Which of your productions did they hear? How did they approach you?
Well it was me that approached them, I basically sent them a 5 track demo, of which they signed 4 of the tracks. Amadeus rang me up about a week later and arranged to have a chat at tidy towers, everything fell into place from there. I think it was Ripped Out which was the first track that Amadeus responded too, which was a riot brothers track but still, all the production was done by me.
One for the techies - what programmes and equipment do you used to make your productions?
As most people know nowadays, I use fruityloops (fl studio 5) and I love it, regardless of the amount of stick it gets. It’s the only sequencing program that I can use and not get a headache, mainly because I’ve been using it for about 5 years now but still, its easy to use and is very powerful - you just need to know how to use it!
Equipment wise, its all software, running on a pc with a soundblaster audigy soundcard, Mackie hr824 monitors. Favourite soft synths include, v station, atmosphere and vaz.
What’s the most exciting bit of kit you have recently required? And if there was one piece of equipment you could have now that you don’t already have, what would it be? How would it help your production?
Probably Spectrasonics Atmosphere, it’s a beast of a synth (although not technically a synth) and can knock out some massive sounds and a wide range of them too. I would like an Access Virus but I'm not a fan of hardware synths just because of the block in work flow that ive experienced. I have an MS2000 and Alpha Juno 2 which I'm going to sell on eBay because I never use them
You have been fairly prolific since entering the world of hard dance production. Do you ever find yourself at a loss for ideas or motivation?
Sometimes, but then I'll either just have a break or work on some other genres of music, you just need to distance yourself from things to regain a good perspective on them, its too easy to get lost in your own world and think something is brilliant when in reality it’s a bit sh*t, so regular breaks and variety is the key!
What has been your proudest production moment so far? And which has been the biggest selling?
Serious Sound is the biggest selling at 9500 copies, and definitely my proudest moment, as I can still play it out now and get a massive reaction, which is hard to do so that makes me happy!
You do the occasional bit of DJing as well - do you play in a similar style to your productions or does mixing allow you to branch out a bit more? Did you DJ before you started producing or vice versa?
I started DJing before I was producing, when I was 15, started producing when I was about 16. I DJ pretty much the same style or not far from it - I like to play to the crowd so if they are begging for a hard track, I'll give them a hard track that I would play, and the same if they want uplifting stuff then I'll give them that. Uplifting stuff is generally what I play though; warm energetic music.
February 5th sees you playing for Peach Goes Hard presents History at The Scala in London. Did you ever go to Peach back in the Camden Palace days? If not, what have you heard about this promotion?
I’ve never been to Camden palace but I started clubbing out at Peach when it was on at the Room in Hull, went there when I was 15 and loved it. In fact it was probably one of the many reasons why I started djing because of them early experiences.
The musical policy for the night is 100% classics - what can we expect from Guyver’s set? Have you ever played at a classics night before?
I have done a trance classics set before in Lincoln for ingo’s night “Digital” which went down really well, I'm planning a similar set for this time, big anthemic tracks which make your hairs stand on end.
Where are you based? Do you ever come down to London for club events normally, or do you tend to stay local?
I’m based in Beverley North Humberside, I rarely come down to London to be honest, I don’t think my sound is the most popular here. They like it a bit harder I think (I could be wrong). I like to stay local but if there is a big night on that’s worth attending then I'll make the effort
What have you got forthcoming production wise? The last track of yours I heard was “Possibly”, which to me reflected a more subtle, classic trance sound…
Well ultimately I want to make an album, but I haven’t a clue when that will happen, nothing is planned. Other than that just try and release more things then I did last year, and expand my sound a bit. I want to continue to make hard trance but also make some techno, hard house, psy trance influenced music, just broaden my horizons a bit. My EP which is out in February will showcase some different styles that people wont know me for, hopefully this will help me release some different music later in the year. There are a few collaborations coming as well, including Lee Haslam (Euphony), Rob Tissera, Steve Hill, Paul Maddox (Barely Legal), 2005 looks good!
What are your views on the gradual demise of vinyl? Are you bothered or not?
I think anyone would hate to see it go, just because of the history and the feel of playing records, you can't beat it, but CD's are far more practical, I play about 50 – 50 these days in sets.
Who would you like to see “going places” in 2005, DJ or production wise?
My friend Dan Doran, he is trying to break in the house scene and I'm engineering his music for him, so hopefully he will get somewhere this year.
And finally, what was the last tune that really took your breath away?
Most probably Nick Sentience – Essence. A brilliant energetic track.
With thanks to Tidy / Frantic for the images
PEACH Goes Hard: Classics
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On:
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Saturday 5th February 2005
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At:
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The Scala [map]
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From:
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22.00 - 06.00
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Cost:
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Early Bird Tickets £13 +BF Standard Tickets £15 + BF
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Ticket Info:
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Aloud.com:
0870 998 8888 or www.aloud.com
TicketWeb:
08700 600 100 or www.ticketweb.co.uk
Never Enough:
07813684399 or neverenoughmaria@hotmail.com
ClubTickets:
0870 246 1840 or www.clubtickets.co.uk
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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One of the capital's longest running dance music promotions is back once again, following a string of highly successful parties at The Scala and Studio 33 - but this time it's going HARD! The Peach Goes Hard parties at their long-time spiritual home Camden Palace took the hedonistic vibe of the weekly Peach events, and toughened up the regular musical policy of progressive house, euphoric trance, and breaks to create a night of scintillating hard house and hard trance. It was the next logical step for Peach, and their two events continue to run alongside each other to this day.
So for this very special party, we've got the best of both events! The venue is the magnificent Scala in King's Cross - one of London's most talked about venues - and the musical policy is 100% classics. The main room will rock to the sounds of classic hard house, with a set from Peach Goes Hard favourite Lisa Pin-Up as well as sets some of London's biggest hard dance legends including Ed Real, Billy Bunter, and an exclusive back to back from Phil Reynolds and Kevin Energy. Room 2 will cover the whole of the trance spectrum, with Peach resident Graham Gold demonstrating what made Peach so legendary in the first place, and another trance supremo Mike Koglin bringing the memories of the golden age flooding back. More recent successes from the world of trance will include Tidy star Guyver, who has seldom played in the capital, and the highly acclaimed Guffy. Room 3 completes the musical jigsaw, with classic house and breaks all night long, featuring some of the capital's finest funkateers.
This one is not to be missed - a fantastic, diverse line-up, an amazing venue with top-draw production, all the classic tunes you've loved over the years, and a truckload of vibrant, happy clubbers!
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Other Features By benz:
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Coburn bring their live show to UP^^
The return of The Colosseum
Modernism, Politburo and Sedition: Matthew Duffield’s manifesto
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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Comments:
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From: Stevi D on 17th Jan 2005 12:10.59
Top stuff Guyver, love your work son, saw you in Cape Town and you ripped the place apart!
From: SteveJames on 17th Jan 2005 13:58.59
Who's Guyver!?
;o)
From: l33r0y on 18th Jan 2005 09:39.52
Your mix of "Mad & Confused" - AWESOME!
From: Gustavo FRICKEN on 20th Jan 2005 17:40.10
RIPPED OUT RIPS!
From: K8-e on 21st Jan 2005 18:22.29
Serious Sound was one of the first tunes I bought. Don't play much Tidy these days but I still love the Guyvver - legend 
From: Letty Bird on 23rd Jan 2005 01:54.55
Love his stuff! Guyver, you must come back to SF!!! I saw ya at Popsicle--Halloween. xx You rocked it!
From: djviticus on 27th Jan 2005 22:01.34
ya bro you killed it in SF. i love your sound and sense that set i have reloaded my bag with the classics and they are going crazy out here.. big ups to the fruity loops possee 
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