When Andy Force was first interviewed on HarderFaster in 2009, he was still riding the crest of the wave after winning the Best Up-and-coming DJ Award in the 2008 HarderFaster Awards and about to headline the HarderFaster & Magnetix Boat Party. In such situations you either go one way or the other... but fortunately for Andy the only way was up.
Next week he's about to play his very first festival at Cosmo Festival 2012, followed by a peak time set on the Liquid Stage in the Psychedelic Village at Glade Festival, then he's off to Portsmouth to show the south coast how to party at Tribalistic & Psy co on Saturday 23 June. He's also involved in the launch of new night Astral Circus and has just been booked to play his first international festival at SunDance in Turkey. Somewhere in between his main hobby is trying to save the world... read on for an insight into one of psy trance's true converts.
It’s been well almost three years since your last HF interview. What’s been happening in the world of Andy Force since then?
My sound has evolved. My appreciation of the entire spectrum of psychedelic music has grown massively, as the two Cosmo Festivals I’ve been to have been etched on to my psyche. I remember melting into the Lunar Stage at the festival last year, it was like being immersed in a bubbling caldron of consciousness, the vibe was quite literally mind blowing.
Musically I feel like I’ve always being grasping at something that escapes through my fingers as soon as I try to cling to it, I think that’s because the most important thing within this for me is exploration and discovery, it’s what keeps me moving forward. At the moment the most exciting things for me are psychedelic progressive (psygressive) and the Goa influenced sound that is emerging, for me they represent the peak of human creativity at this moment in time. I won’t bang on about artists too much but here’s a couple of examples…
Psygressive:
Psy/Goa:
I still play a very broad spectrum of styles within progressive and psy trance as I have always said: every piece of music has a time and place.
How would you describe your music these days and who would you say your current biggest musical influences are?
My biggest musical influence over the past two years has probably been a combination of psychedelics, Cosmo Festival, and the internet; upon which I have spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find a type of music that I can’t quite describe or put my finger on.
Since starting out you’ve played at some of the capital’s top events, including Planet Angel, Halcyon, Shattered Barriers and Elixir of Life. What have been the highlights of your time DJing and promoting so far?
There are some memorable milestones, but the highlight is always the now, the challenge of learning something new and the feeling of expressing something that is nothing but a fleeting moment in the universe. A lot of art now is kind of disposable, insofar as it gets covered up or washed away, like a Banksy or a sand sculpture on a beach. There’s something beautiful about that because of its exclusivity or uniqueness, it brings a lot of perspective to everything around you. I think this is even more true with psychedelic music because the rate it evolves is so incredible.
If you listen to the top 10 on Beatport, it’s staggering how so little has changed within other more commercial scenes. Trance is still trance, house is still house, all just with the latest tweak in production quality. You can’t keep psychedelic music in a box because it will break the fuck out and report you to the authorities. I know everyone thinks there’s something special about their scene and their music, but this an accurate observation, it explains why a lot of people don’t ‘get’ psychedelic trance – because there’s no way of being nostalgic about something that will have changed by next week. Branding and marketing the here-and-now is not the most profitable venture! But it is the most rewarding one.
What up-and-coming DJs and producers have caught your eyes and ears recently?
Rena Psibindi has been making a big impression and I can’t wait to hear more from her. Nick and Junior (Mechanimal) seem like they’re onto a winning thing and I’m a regular purveryor of their music.
Steve and Jess (Cathar) from Free-Spirit are doing an amazing job of putting a bit of Goa back into psy trance and Savage Circuit gets me straight to the dancefloor when I know he’s playing. Not sure if you can call all these people ‘up-and-comings’ as they’ve all been doing it years, but I’m sure they are still destined for much more success if they keep going. The same for my good friend and label manager Matt (Mif/Contineum).
The festival season is almost upon us and you’re about to play at Cosmo Festival. Are you starting to get butterflies? Please tell us a bit about Cosmo and the music you’ll play there…
Cosmo is beautiful. And for my first gig at a festival I’m sure it’ll be even more special. The music is strictly psychedelic and it has a very special, friendly communal vibe.
I’m hoping to play a 3-deck psygressive set manipulating some interesting samples over deep, funky and flowing psychedelic progressive trance. That’s all I’m giving away.
You’ve been to every single Cosmo Festival so far, what do you think sets it out from other English festivals? What are you looking forward to the most at Cosmo 2012 — other than your set of course!
It’s just unique, with the strict music policy it attracts a very special crowd. The atmosphere is serene and electric both at the same time.
You’re also playing on the Liquid Stage at the Psychedelic Village at Glade Festival a couple of weeks after Cosmo, where you’re DJing alongside some of the biggest names in the psy scene. How will your set at Glade differ? Who else will you be checking out at Glade?
I have no idea what I will be playing at Glade, it will depend closely on who’s before me and after me. I can guarantee that it will be quintessential Andy Force music – energised, dancey, melodic, and possibly a bit funky and groovy. Vague enough for you?
As for who I’ll check out: let’s just say you’ll probably have to wheel me out of the Psychedelic Village by the end of the weekend!
After Glade you’re heading down to Portsmouth to play at Tribalistic & Psy co, run by Matt Loraine and Matt Barn. Will you be going psyco on the south coast?
I can be quite certain that at this one I will be thrashing out some gut wrenching basslines and beautiful nu-goa melodies on the top. I’m very excited about my full-on style right now. Matt Loraine is a total legend, he’s been DJing almost as long as I’ve been alive and we have similar tastes.
You’re putting on a party called Astral Circus at Jamm on Friday 20 July. How did this come about and what’s the ethos behind it?
Astral Circus is a close collaboration between a few friends with some serious skills and experience on board: Nikki S (of Endorphin, Release and Innovate fame), Murray (of Cognitive Dissidents décor) and of course the indefatigable Tara.
We wanted to do a club party that doesn’t skimp on any aspect of production. We have four live acts, two décor crews and two VJs. It was hard whittling down the line-ups given each of our refined tastes but we got there in the end. You can expect to come and not be disappointed, it will be a fully immersive atmosphere with some of our favourite artists delivered by party-goers, for party-goers.
Early bird tickets for just a FIVER (+1 pound booking fee) are now available at Access All Areas! Please buy here and support our new endeavour: http://www.accessallareas.org/main.html
Please talk us through the line-up for the first Astral Circus. Why should readers new to psy trance come and party at Jamm on Friday 20 July?
Well, Nick Sentience doesn’t really need an introduction… he’s gonna be showcasing some of his side-project Neuron Pilots (with Nikki S), awesome full-on morning psytrance! I’ve heard a few of the tracks and they are FUN.
Savage Circuit has a phenomenal live set and his first EP will be coming out on Alchemy Records soon. His deep and dancey music shakes the soul as well as the dancefloor, I can’t wait to see him pull this off in a club.
Mechanimal – everybody knows them by now (or should!), Nick’s live set gets even better every time I see it! Full-on morning and groovy as hell, a very talented guy.
Cathar deserve a great deal of recognition. Alici and Jess have almost 30 years between them both as producers and it’s evident: their music is both original and of such a high level production quality.
Nolan Shmolan headlines Room 2 as we wanted to introduce a bit of the relatively unheard psygressive/Zenon sound. I really think this is where the future of progressive is.
You’ve also been quite active politically over the last year as part of the original team that initiated Occupy London, where this must have been a very exciting time for you. Where do you see the Occupy movement going at the moment and where would you like to see if go?
I was part of a big team that got the ball rolling for OccupyLSX, although I can’t claim any credit for something that emerged so spontaneously, and grew so organically. I happened to be in the right ‘space’ at the right time, it was a humungous learning curve as I’d been on the fringes of the activism movement for a little while.
I think Occupy is amazing, it represents an upsurge in human consciousness and offers an inroad to people who want to do something good who aren’t sure where to find it – that’s certainly what it did for me. The willingness of people to cooperate, many who had never met each other, or been involved in any sort of activism in their lives was astounding, the inventiveness and determination to learn was inspiring.
I now think the primary tactics of Occupy are limited, as the strength of it is the ability to raise awareness through media attention. But its levers on power are very few, and the structure of such an open organisation leaves it stilted when all these people converge and THEN try to create a specific agenda.
My belief is that to take this further we need to recognise that the root of almost all inequality and damage to the planet is the result of Capitalism, and there is no shame in identifying that. The answer is an extension of democracy to all areas of public life: school, workplaces, financial institutions – so the whole population’s voice can be truly heard.
For a long while I was very restrained politically, I didn’t want to offend anymore, but not any more. The world is in a big mess and needs radical ideas to sort it out. That starts with open and honest debate. That’s enough politics for one music interview!
Finally, what piece of advice do you wish you’d been given when you first started out in the music scene over 10 years ago?
I don’t know, but if I was to give anyone that’s starting out a piece of advice it’s that creativity always starts from the bottom up, not the top down. The underground scene s a hub of creativity, and we should always continue to cultivate this, it’s what keeps us moving forward as a scene, as well as a species.
Images courtesy of Andy Force. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Gates open 12 noon Friday 1 June, music starts 2pm
Cost:
Phase II tickets £60 until end of March; Phase III tickets £76 until the end of May; £85 on the gate.
Weekend Passes: Saturday to Monday: Adv: £50 +bf; At the gate: £60; Sunday to Monday - Adv: £22.50 + B.F; At the Gate: £30
Cosmo Festival is the UK’s only purely psychedelic electronic music festival. This gathering of the tribes began in 2009 with a vision to create self-awareness and joy through dance. We are celebrating our third anniversary from 1–4 June 2012 with a cornucopia of world famous musicians, fire performers, workshops, healing therapists, market stalls, restaurants, licensed bars and lots more going on to keep you thrilled and entertained – over three nights of camping in a beautiful southern country location surrounded by panoramic views.
At Cosmo, the Main Stage is designed for you to visualise and enjoy the intelligent depths of psychedelic trance: twilight, forest, full-on, groovy full-on, Goa and progressive. We’ve handpicked a fine selection of live artists from all over the globe, including Kox Box (DK), Flooting Grooves (SA), Electrypnose (CH), Grouch (NZ), Arjuna(IT), Sensient (AU), Hoodwink (UK), Tantrix (UK/IT), Ianuaria (AT), Digitalian (JP), Annoyingninjas (DK), Deviant Species (UK) – and many more.
Hosted by Planet Bob’s+Chai Emporium, the Lunar Stage presents you with a unique feast of eclectic international talent from the realms of progressive, house, minimal techno, chillout, ambient and acoustic. Australian label Zenon Records will be showcasing the likes of One Tasty Morsel, Reactant and Pspiralife – all making their UK debuts – and there’s rare live sets from Aes Dana (FR), ISHQ (UK), Radioactive Cake (DE), Sattyananda (IN), Hypogeo (IT)[b] and [b]De Fuego (HU/ESP) as well as local legends like Lemon Tree, Kained & Able, Sprocket, Liquid Ross, Spindrift, Mr Mush, Lorraine, Andy Force and many more.
This year for our third anniversary we’re extremely happy to announce the introduction of a third stage in association with our good friends at Jacks House. Featuring the perfect summer soundtrack to chill to in the sun with your friends, Jacks-house Stage will cover underground house, electro, minimal, tech-house and all things in between to give another dimension to this celebration of electronic music.
But Cosmo is not just all about the music. The beginning of a world consciousness is dawning and a new realisation of our cultural roots as human beings has begun. With our extended capacity brings more décor, visionary art, workshops, documentary films, fire performances and a healing area for the body and soul.
Cosmo 2012 is also very excited to see a momentous change in our festival's age group profile. Children under 12 will be allowed at the festival for free when accompanied by adult parent/guardian. Children between the ages of 12-18 are not allowed to attend Cosmo Kids Zone will feature games, performances, crafts workshops, circus performances and many more fun family activities. Detailed info for children's entry procedures and helpful tips for parents will be up on our website very soon...
With the economic downturn affecting everyone, we’re keeping our ticket sales as low as we can in 2012. Our Phase II saver tickets are just £60 until the end of March and Phase III are £76 until the end of May!
❖ CLASSICAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE
❖ LECTURES & WORKSHOPS
❖ VISIONARY ART EXHIBITION & WORKSHOPS
❖ ART INSTALLATIONS
❖ HEALING AREA
❖ FOOD MARKET
❖ MARKET STALLS
❖ INDEPENDENT MOVIE CINEMA SPACE
❖ FIRE SHOWS BY PROFESSIONAL FIRE TROOPS
❖ FACE PAINTING
❖ DRUMMING CIRCLE
❖ MULTIMEDIA AREA Featuring VJ shows & documentaries
► COSMO KIDS AREA ►
❖ KIDS ARTS & CRAFTS WORKSHOPS
❖ KIDS DESIGNED PERFORMANCES
❖ CIRCUS STAND UP"S
❖ KIDS ZONE
❖ INTERACTIVE GAMES#
Astral Circus is a manifestation of collective endeavour, combining the talents of audio and visual artists, to create a multi-dimensional event that provides a perfect environment to immerse the senses and stimulate the mind. Astral Circus will submerge the mind into the prismatic colours and symbols of the unconscious, transporting its travellers beyond the confines of 3-dimensional reality to a place of unhindered creativity, excitement and exploration.
Accompanying you on your journey is a range of exceptionally talented live Acts, DJs and visual artists, including UV Decor by Cognitive Dissidents, Ink Junkie, Floating Bush Collective & more and visuals by VJ Baby K & Nikki S. Funktion One Sound System.
From: Jessica Alicion 26th May 2012 09:11.49 Wow - what a cool interview & very interesting read! Props to both Andy & Tara! Also - thanks Andy for the positive words xx
From: Cosmo Festivalon 30th May 2012 13:24.06 We're looking forward to your set Andy!
From: Nikki Son 4th Jun 2012 11:48.03 Fantastic interview guys! Andy you are smashing it!! Looking forward to Astral Circus xx
From: AstralCircuson 23rd Jun 2012 15:42.47 Looking forward to your set at Astral Circus !!
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