Undoubtedly one of Holland’s finest electronic producers — one of electronic music’s finest full stop in fact — Marcel Woods’ larger-than-life tracks have cut a swathe through the trance scene over the last few years. His unmistakable trademark sounds combines driving, shuffling techy beats with huge, electro-tinged riffs that are full of character and really seem to dig deep into your subconscious, forcing your skeleton to shake and pop like a wild thing. The phat, stadium-sized sounds of tracks like ‘Advanced’ and ‘Silver State’ have found favour with DJs as diverse as Andy Whitby and Yoji Biomehanika, with the aforementioned probably the biggest track in both the hard dance and tech-trance/trance scenes last year. You’d be hard pressed to find any advocates of said genres who have a bad word to say about him.
He’s headlined both the massive Mysteryland and Dance Valley festivals in the same year, had Pete Tong make his track ‘Monotone’ an Essential New Tune, garnered another accolade in the form of the MP3 store DJDownload.com’s ‘Best Selling Tracks of All Time’ chart, and general blown away the competition in terms of production. It’s his hi-tech, invigorating, big-arena sound that combines the emotion of trance with the groove of techno and the filthy feelings of electro that sees him head up the massive bill for Fire It Up! London on Bank Holiday Sunday May 6th at Koko with Eddie Halliwell, Fred Baker, Greg Downey, Adam Sheridan and Giuseppe Ottoviani live. It’s going to be very large…
Just whatever you do, don’t call his music trance. Or tech-trance. Or electro-trance. In fact, you’re better of just calling it ‘Marcel Woods music’.
Hi Marcel. Would you be so kind as to tell us about how you first got into dance music?
When I was a little kid I was always busy with music, so at one point it suddenly was my profession!
When did you first ‘pick up’ a turntable? What did you play in those early days?
It was in the time of Fast Eddie — ‘Yo Yo get Funky’! We called it hip-house back then.
Do you remember the first full track you produced? Was it any good?
It was called ‘Crazy Driver’ and it was a small hit here in Holland and Belgium, so it seemed easy, but later I noticed it was not that easy... ha ha!
So many fantastic producers come from Holland. Does everyone’s influence rub off on one another? Did you feel very influenced by your countryfolk or do you think you have always worked more in your own world?
I definitely worked (and still do) in my own world. I was never a big fan of the ‘famous’ trance music from Holland.
How do you feel about the club/dance scene in Holland right now? Is there anything about it you would change?
Like I called my last single ‘Don’t Tar Me With The Same Brush’ means a little bit what I try to do, it means don’t put me in a particular corner, or don’t label or tag me. I hate it that people try to put everybody in a box from ‘this’ sound. I try to break the rules with that, I do what I want and play what I want… so to answer your next question…
Your recent EP was called ‘Don’t Tar Me With The Same Brush/Get The Kleenex’. Would you care to explain those titles??
See above!
Your sound often takes in a hefty dose of filthy electro trickery. Do you listen to lots of stuff from the electro scene? Which producers really do it for you if so?
I’m so not into the whole electro hype, I don’t label stuff myself. If you listen to, for instance, ‘Time’s Running Out’ from 2003, it has the same sound and style like I sometimes still use for some productions, but now people suddenly call my production electro! So like I said I do what I like, and maybe I get some influences from other music, but I don’t follow hypes or trends.
On May 6th you will be playing for Fire It Up! at Koko in London — Eddie Halliwell’s event. When did you first come across Eddie?
Ha ha… Eddie remembers this very well I guess. I wanted to kick his ass when he was on before me on Dance Valley 2005! He played one of my productions just before I had to go on stage, so my reaction was a little bit like: “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” But later that week he called me and explained he was in the middle of a hectic weekend and did not realise I was on just after him (it’s an unwritten rule that you don’t play productions from the DJ who plays after you) Since then we’ve got on great — Eddie’s asked me before to play at Fire It Up! events and he’s been over to Holland to play at my Musical Madness nights.
Have you played much in London before? What are your favourite places to go in the city if you have time?
I’ve played there a few times, but like always I never see much, just the hotel and maybe a restaurant and the club of course. But when my girlfriend is travelling with me she plans my trip (like all women do I guess… ha ha!).
How’s your travel schedule generally? Are your flying off around the world every weekend or is it a bit more relaxed than that?
At the moment I try to play a bit more in Holland, but I’m still on a plane every weekend. I played in the UK a lot last year — it’s still the most important country to do. But sometimes it ends up being more then 20 flights a month!
So what can we expect to hear in your Fire It Up! set? How do you usually start, progress and finish your sets?
Normally I don’t care that much what the DJ is doing before me, so I often start off with one of my own productions, and then lift off in my own sound and look around to see in which flow the people want to go, a bit ‘harder’ or ‘trancy-er’.
Do you think the whole tech-trance movement breathed new life into the trance scene? Who were the pioneers of the sound in your opinion?
Oliver Lieb was the one who started it in my opinion, Marco [V] made it big, and I think I put the name tech-trance on the map. I never saw a record called ‘Tech-Trance’, so I just used it for one of my mixes.
Who was the last DJ you saw who blew you away?
It’s a totally unknown DJ and his name is DJ Halogen, and he is one of the most gifted DJs around, but for him it’s just a hobby and he doesn’t play that much. So there is only a slight chance you will hear him play...
Tell us something that not very many people know about you.
Err… I’m almost an open book!
And finally — please teach us a bit of cool Dutch slang!
Sodemieter toch op!
What does that mean?... Marcel? Marcel? Marcel?!!
Photos courtesy of Michel Mees. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Teaming up for the first time since their sold-out event at Brixton Academy on New Year’s Eve, Turnmills’ legendary promotion The Gallery teams up with trance masters HeatUK for an exhilarating night of high-octane dance music at the mindblowing Koko. These two London institutions are proud to present Fire It Up! – the country’s most exciting new promotion, spearheaded by the immense talent that is Eddie Halliwell. This is his only confirmed gig of 2007 in London.
Since his early days stunning the crowds at Sundissential and Goodgreef, and with his still talked-about BOSH! covermount CD for Mixmag, Halliwell has always stood out as a different breed of DJ. Not content with simply mixing records together in succession, he pushes the art of turntablism to its limits – embracing all available technology to its fullest, and filling his sets with all manner of scratches, FX, loops and live re-edits. Beatmixing records is a science. What Eddie does is an art.
Joining Eddie are some of the leading lights of the tech-trance movement that has swept the world in recent years. Marcel Woods makes a rare London appearance, bringing the intense electro-fused sounds of tracks like ‘Advanced’ and ‘Silver State’ to the Main Arena, while Holland’s super-producer Fred Baker and Goodgreef’s Adam Sheridan bring their tough, percussive vibes to the proceedings. Greg Downey has been on blistering form over the last 2 years, and his phat trance sound is sure to have the venue brought to its knees. Finally, a spellbinding live set from Italian mastermind completes the superb international line-up.
HeatUK’s legacy at Koko, and formerly Camden Palace, is simply massive. Their parties always sell-out, and are well-known for having some of the most amazing atmospheres around. Don’t miss their first party of the year – with a rare chance to hear some of the greatest trance producers in the world in this amazing venue.
Flyer:
Region:
London
Music:
Trance. Hard Trance. Tech Trance. House. Bouncy House. Funky House.
Two of London’s best-loved trance parties join forces for our pumping Room 2 session – featuring one of the most acclaimed producers in hard trance right now – the anthem machine that is Trevor McLachlan.
![[HarderFaster] - Work Hard, Play Harder!](/images/mainbanner_top1.gif)
cheers dude!
