Reported by Wesley Bolger
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Submitted 14-09-10 19:00
HarderFaster catches up with Scott to talk about his brand new album, touring, vices, remixing chart topping artists & becoming the first DJ to have tracks feature on the ‘Rockband’ game network as well as getting the lowdown on the ‘Hard Electrik’ sound he pioneered!
There is also a competition to win tickets to an event where Scott is playing, t-shirts as well as the album, get stuck in...
Hi Scott, so let’s go back a bit. Where did you go to school, what was it like for you growing up?
I went to school at St Edmunds in Portsmouth, I was always good at art, painting, writing, and drawing, anything creative I was interested in, the rest of the time I just wanted to be with friends and used to hang out, and getting into trouble I guess. I never knew what I wanted to be exactly, only that I wanted to create & be involved in something. I was into music since as long as I can remember so when the whole dance thing exploded I was there & I was hooked.
What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
I have so many influences, old school greats like Vince Clarke, Kraftwerk, Joy Division & so many other bands going right back to the 60’s, also artists now such as Carl Cox, Empire of the sun, Mark Ronson, The Prodigy, Ting Tings & Pendulum, there are so many people I couldn’t list them all here. I do have a very open mind when it comes to music and can take ideas from genres right across the board and try to fuse them into my music, it doesn’t always work but its always worth a go, I always think you should do what you believe in & feel passionate about, the way I see music is ‘if it sounds good then its right’. So as far as my own work goes I would say its Trance but with a harder edge, people are calling it ‘Hard Electrik’ because of the electro sounds I use too so its all good, I don’t mind as long as people like what I’m doing.
Who coined the phrase ‘Hard Electrik’? How does it feel to be credited with pioneering/creating the sound?
I did a remix early this year for Nukleuz, it was of ‘Everlasting’, I called the remix the ‘Hard Electrik remix’, after that I did an interview & the guys said I had created this new sound called ‘Hard Electrik’, I haven’t thought too much about it to be honest, it sounds cool and I love tough dance music, incorporating techno, electro, hard dance & Trance into what I make & play, at times there are even minimal & hardstyle influences in there.
Noize is your third artist album in as many years, what can we expect this time around? This album is all about Big Room tunes, sounds & breakdowns, I wanted to make everything sound as Epic as I could but still keeping the edge. I would say the previous one ‘Mega’ was deeper than this one but ‘Noize’ is unashamedly huge anthemic Dance tracks made to put a smile on your face.
I had the best time writing it & initially I didn’t plan on doing another artist album so soon? It was only after looking at all the tracks I had & they all had this particular style / sound to them so that was when I looked at the rest of the material I had & thought, ‘actually there is some good stuff representing what I’m doing at the moment & it will make more sense if I can put it all together to present a new album’. I also wanted the art & look of the album to be totally different to anything I had done before and it actually took over 6 months of looking & working with my art designer to get the front cover exactly how I wanted it.
Some of your songs contain Lyrics, do you write them all?
Yes, I always write all my lyrics, I was good at writing in school & always liked poetry; I used to have a notepad I’d carry in my bag and write random things in, then get home and add more to what I had written.
Could you briefly describe the music making process
its different most times depending on what mood I’m in, with a vocal track like ‘Girls Love Techno’, I wrote the vocal part in the car stuck in Traffic while I was on my way to the studio, I had the singer booked so needed something & I just had the melody in my head and wanted to do an instructional content track. So the vocal was written, I put it over to the singer & we just had fun with it from there. For most tracks it’s a case of establishing the groove & rhythm of the beats then that will dictate the vibe & sounds that are put in from there.
How long did it take exactly to put the ‘Noize’ album together?
Well one track ‘Thumper’ was over two years in the making, just because I was never happy with the older mix & sound choice; I left that track & forgot about it for about a year, then tweaked it & added new sounds so it was fine. The rest was worked on for around 14 months, I was working on the tracks right from the time I finished the ‘Mega’ album just without realising at the time that I was going to do another album project, when I did decide I then looked to artwork, I knew what I wanted in my head image wise, I always pictured the collage type thing, a lot of images thrown together & wanted the lips idea on there, So I worked with my designer on it for some months, it was a really interesting process.
You remixed chart topper Sydney Samson earlier this year, achieving Radio 1 daytime airplay, how did that come about?
I got the call out of the Blue from CR 2 records, I had known some of the guys there from when they worked at EMI and they liked what I did & the sound so I was just asked to do the mix, it was a pleasure and a very strong record to remix.
You are the first DJ to have your music featured on the ‘Rockband’ computer game network, that’s a pretty big deal, tell us about that?
The rockband network was another thing that came from no where, I was not expecting that! I got a call from the guys in New York that put the tracks & videos together for the game; at first I thought it was a wind up. Chris from the company said he had been into my stuff for years and thought it would be interesting so I sent the music stems over. A few months went by and I didn’t hear anything then all of a sudden I got the demo of my track being played by the characters and the entire crowd etc, it was amazing, I couldn’t believe it.
How has your music evolved since you first began playing?
Well it has changed dramatically, when I started out I was into rave, hardcore & drum n bass so I played that style, then I found hard house & Trance so worked really hard for years trying to establish myself, now I play this tech, electro trance fusion so its been quite a journey, I wouldn’t change anything though, there have been so many amazing memories already!
Describe briefly a typical week in the life of ‘Scott Attrill’
Haha, my life actually has little structure, I do try to inject some kind of stable routine but it rarely happens. Usually 2 days in a week I will be in the studio, the rest is spent listening to tracks, running the Riot! & Traffic labels and then before you know it the weekend arrives so its time to hit the party’s again.
What has been your biggest challenge, and what do you see as your ultimate direction? Wow that’s deep! Err my biggest challenge was to see how much Southern Comfort I could drink in the space of an hour, the ultimate direction was the next party having been totally intoxicated with said substance!
On a serious note I always challenge myself in everything, each track, each live performance, I still get nervous because I want to please everyone and people say that’s not possible but I’m on a mission…haha. As for direction I’m happy with everything know that I’m doing, I want to make great music & put new ideas out there so I’ll just see how that works out.
List your 3 most favourite things? Art
Music
People
What advice would your offer to young artists looking to succeed in this industry? Always believe in yourself, never give up, if you have the passion you will succeed, get out & meet as many people as you can and have an open mind.
How can Fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with music samples and other info? Yes the web page is www.scottattrill.com & that has all the info on there for my network sites and music etc, there are clips of tracks there too.
On October 2nd 2010, Insomniacz & the prime hand picked stars of the dance scene join forces once again at the spectacular Magna Science & Adventure Centre in Rotherham.
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Our mission is to create the ultimate clubbing experience. We return to the venue for Phase II with our dear old friends 'BT2', 'OTR', 'Vicious Circle' & 'Hi-Oktane'.
Not only will these established names be hosting arenas once again, but you will also witness the birth of 2 brand new events 'Universal Nation' & 'Bounce Stimulation' that are set to explode onto the scene.
On April 3rd 2010 thousands descended upon Magna for Phase I, many for the first time many for a repeat performance. It is safe to say that everyone came back with an experience never felt before. This has been felt across the UK clubbing scene & given it a resurgence it most certainly needed.
For Phase II we want to push the boundaries further by adding more headline acts & a wider variety of music. Not only will we be bringing you the best in UK Hard House but we have added some great Hardstyle & Trance acts to give everyone the chance of experiencing the sheer enormity of Magna.
Our events team will transform the building’s unique 4,500 capacity space into an aesthetically amazing night to remember.
DJ Performances & impressive live shows will be on offer to a 4,500 capacity crowd, held together with unrivalled production to compliment this mesmerising show.
To start proceedings, the Insomniacz team are proud to announce the return of LAB 4 Live at Magna. Adam and Les - Lab4 have played every major festival known to man. Demand for Lab4 has never waned, which is why we are proud to have the boys back where they belong, performing on a massive scale! Lab4 return with an exclusive & no doubt explosive mix of classic & brand new material to prove they are the best live act we have ever known in Hard Dance.
October 2nd is also a special time for Insomniacz & all its devoted followers. As you know we have brought some amazing events to thousands of clubbers across the length & breadth of the UK. Our key advantage has always been the underground atmosphere at Insomniacz created by the clubbing masses. Insomniacz celebrates 11 years of being at the forefront of dance music at Magna. We’ve helped bring you memorable sets from world wide renowned DJ’s. We brought you the Tidy Boys in 2000, Mauro Picotto’s first ever gig in the UK in 1999, Fergie, Lisa Lashes & some serious big hitters on a weekly basis.
As part of our birthday celebrations & as a special thank you to everyone involved- you the clubbers - we have conjured up a set that will never be repeated. Insomniacz is proud to announce a **World Exclusive** set for 3 hours at Magna of a scale fit ONLY for this venue. This set will involve 3 DJs playing back to back to back. There will be 6 Pioneer CDJ’s, 3 Pioneer Mixers & 3 DJ Booths. This has never been created before & will never be repeated again. It really is a **World Exclusive**.
We give you Andy Farley, Paul Glazby & Karim Back to Back to Back for 3 Exclusive Hours.
This is your chance to be part of the most talked about event of 2010!
Combine our 11th Birthday, the return of LAB4, this **World Exclusive** 3 way set & the sheer size & uniqueness of Magna - giving you a destination night out definitely not to be missed.
Magna Magna Magna (“,).
Flyer:
-
Region:
N England
Music:
Trance. Hard Trance. HardStyle. Bouncy House. Hard House.
+ Andy Whitby ★★ Special Guest – Insomniacz return ★★
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★ Off The Rails V Trancemitta ★
Matt Hardwick Jon O’Bir
Activa
Jordan Suckley
Hiddenagenda
Davey Asprey b2b PhaseFOUR (Sam Mitcham)
Mike Beaumont b2b Edele Andaya
John Dopping b2b AJ Hutch
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