16/12/2022
Here comes the second part, directly from the Harlequin Chameleon.
STORY OF THE ALBUM PART 2
When I first got into psytrance in the late 2000’s there were some big names getting to the bush parties in Perth. Electrypnose, Talpa, Terrafractyl and Space Tribe all headlined.
These names are producers I considered to have an unmistakeably distinct flavour of their own, (hence why they are massive influences on me). However, the overall sound getting around was mostly funky, quirky, colourful and a bit carnival with a healthy dose of melody (though not as much as the old goa trance). This is the sound that first got me hooked on psytrance and wanting to produce it myself.
I’m not one to try and fit music neatly within border’s but my understanding was that the main flavours getting around where Israeli, UK and European producers with a bit of hectic South-African night action. The geographical thing is important because it was right around this time that a uniquely Australian sound started to cast a long shadow.
I’m talking of course about Zenon records. The Melbourne based label that brought darker, techier, more atmospheric and broken rhythms under the psychedelic banner. It wasn’t for everyone and it didn’t pretend to be. Some would even call it a reaction to the formerly described sound. (Label boss Sensient’s classic 2013 release ‘Antifluoro’ being the clearly stated example).
Over the years it’s fair to say that over the years the lines blending older/newer, techy/organic and darker/ colourful styles became a bit less distinct.
What was abundantly clear was that Zenon had a massive influence on the way Psytrance was being made worldwide. Zenon records tended to be constructed from many small pieces of meticulously compiled audio. Sometimes you wouldn’t even hear the same sound twice.
Producers everywhere started to feel a bit sheepish for letting that one acid lead synth run for half the track…
It was this influence that I wanted to bring into my own production. Though I missed the old days of funky, silly fun trance. I really loved the exquisite detail and atmosphere of the Zenon releases. This is part of the reason my own debut album has taken such a ridiculously long time to make.
I wanted to put together melodic and fun lines like those classic psy tracks, but wanted them to be made up of lots of individually touched up pieces of audio.
The other reason is I’m way too much of a perfectionist and really only feel like something’s done when there’s nothing further to add or change. I reckon everyone should do something like this at least once in their life, where there’s absolutely no compromise to for you to create something purely the way you want to.
Over the 10 years it took me finish an album’s worth of psytrance I set up my studio in more locations then I can remember.
One common thread was that I’d always go looking for the nearest patch of forest to go walking in whenever my eyes and ears needed a break from too much computer. This nature element has very much woven it’s way through the kinds of sounds I shaped. I’d even say this collection of tracks is a tribute to nature of sorts.
There are many stories of my life in this music. I went through a lot of life changes in that 10 years. But I’d rather leave those stories untold. For me the best art always has room for interpretation. (I’m proud to say that there are ZERO vocal samples talking about profound stuff, drugs or anything else on my album ).
Psytrance for me has always been about creating pictures in the mind and taking you away to magical imaginary lands. I hope my music does the job for you.
https://soundcloud.com/harlequinchameleon/biodiversity-preview?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
ALBUM LAUNCH, DECEMBER 18th: https://events.humanitix.com/biodiversity-harlequin-chameleon-album-launch
