May 05, 2003 - Text: Sequential-X

Greek psy-scene super stars Wizy Noise return with a new album "Elektro Theater" released though Candyflip Records. Chaishop caught up with them and the result is this quite big interview that covers many aspects of the duo's life. Read on!

1. What is your relation with Candyflip Records? I am asking this because despite being a big name band you keep releasing your albums through a "young" label?

Our relation with Candyflip records is a most excellent one. It is a label run by friends who support friends and this is the most important thing for us. There is friendship involved and no bullshit agreements. If you are for so long out in the Trance world then the value of friendship and respect is priceless. It is the solid foundation along with trust that this business demands. We have no problems whatsoever releasing with "young" labels. Of course the distribution and availability of your record is also very important but if we all do our part then the whole thing will go forward for sure. It is inevitable.

2. What was you main motive behind the new album "Elecktro Theater"? Do you believe it is more dancefloor oriented than the previous?

All our music in all these years that we release music is strictly dancefloor oriented. The track style depends on the mindframe we have before sitting in the studio and making something. Certainly it is more psychedelic or more "morning" as many people would say but we don't think that it is "more" or "less" dancefloor oriented than any of our previous album releases or compilation stuff. Generally, despite the variation in style or ideas involved, we aim to make good quality music to the best of our ability and ideas. It is also certain that many groups put out different names for different styles of music but we chose not to make this step. The reasons are various and complex and I will not elaborate on that but the only thing sure is that we try to change our sound in order to surprise people. "What is this? Wizzy Noise! Are you kidding me?". That is the best part from conversations I have snooped around the world and we want to keep it that way.

3. Are you satisfied with the album? Do you believe you have accomplished your goals?

We are quite satisfied with the album. Generally it is a nice evolving music trip taking you from somewhere and leading you elsewhere this is more what we like in trance music, not to be stagnant. There must be evolution not only full on or "technoid" tracks, we feel like we have to do a little bit of everything passed through our lens. Accomplishing your goals as an artist is not done with one or two albums. The albums are important timelines of your work and certainly the highlights of your music, but still we feel that there is a lot of work to be done. Generally speaking we are NEVER satisfied about what we do, complacency is the death of nice music. We feel that it is this endless "quest" for perfection that drives you forward as an artist and as a person. There is still much left to do. The future is really promising and we are young yet :-) Well hmm ok not beginners but still aspiring artists :-)

4. What is your favorite "virtual" and non "virtual" equipment?

We like (like everyone I guess) good quality stuff. Our favourite gear is Mackie and Allen & Heath mixers, MOTU soundcards, Nordlead, Jp-8080 (you can get some really expressing trance sounds out of this one) and Roland basses and percussions. Add to that our Dynaudio monitors. Also there is alot of hardware FX that we would LOVE to get our hands on, like the Eventide Eclipse FX processor and Harmonizer, it makes the sound so lovely that it is a scandal eheh :-) But unfortunately we are on a budget as most of the people on this earth. Also we like very much the Waves plugins and most stuff out from major plugin manufacturers but generally speaking the FX quality is nothing compared to dedicated studio FX like the Eclipse or even TC M2000 for example. Still you can work and make music with soft also. We also do not wish for people to pay 20 euros or dollars for a record and that has come out from a Soundblaster card.

5. Favorite host sequencer and why?

It is the Cubase VST for simplicity and ease of use. We use a Mac and sometimes even on the Mac it creates some problems but we know it and we can use it very easily that is why we use it.

6. Looking back at the first days of music composition what do you see, do you laugh at some of those first attempts when listening to them with all the knowledge gathered all these years?

Well in fact you have to begin somehow. What we like most is that we see very early tracks of Wizzy Noise and the level we have achieved now and it is quite satisfactory after four years running on the scene. It is nice but definitely there is room for improvement and the limit is sky high. Our goal is to get better as time goes by.

7. What will the future hold for you guys? What are your major future plans?

No one knows exactly what the future holds for him and this is very true. We will try to improve what we do as the time goes by... that is the first goal! The second is to work on a dub / ambient project and more deep and really progressive music style. Do not confuse also the term "progressive" with the term "minimal". We want to make more melodic and deep trippy music but it must be really quality stuff and that is the difficult part. I really hope that the people who read this interview to wish for us good luck and music enlightenment. Bom!

8. Do you think you could experiment with full vocal tracks?

We do not know really. DanceFloor music is not really compatible with POP music or traditional vocal music. You can put vocals on a track but only to enhance the track. Vocals are supportive to music in Trance not the other way around. If we feel like it, we actually might do it, although it is not on the forthcoming future.

9. Favorite place for performing live and why?

Our favorite places for live performance is Japan and South Africa along with Canada. Japan is a world on its own, it is a totally different culture and the people are very appreciative there. All in all there is a good feeling and good vibe on the air, also the Japanese people are very futuristic and very extreme in taste, this goes very well along with Trance Music. In South Africa also the Party and the crowd was wicked, we had lovely time there, it was amazing. Big thanks to Timecode Records for hosting this amazing party. Also in Montreal we had very good time there big thanks to Jeff Fluodelik the French guy.

10. Which bands have been your major influence all this time in other words who are your trance heroes?

Quite interesting question. Our musical influences date back at the good old times of the rocking French duo Transwave. Total Eclipse ("Waiting for a new life to come"), early Dragonfly stuff like Aliens (Total Eclipse), Sly Ed (Man With No Name), Joti (Psychaos), Prana (Tsyoshi+Nick Taylor). Also Sandman, we like very much the sense of sweet
brooding darkness in his music, it is exactly like the Sandman comic, X-Dream ("The Radio" album was a big slap towards darkness, it is a production masterpiece and fresh as new no matter how many years passed, truly quality stuff). Also some tracks from Tim Schuldt and all Etnica stuff until 1997.

11. How do you see the scene in Greece evolving? Do you thing it is a healthy one or there should be a regeneration?

This is a tricky question. The people into the music I was listening back into 1995 up to 1997 are not involved into any of the parties now. The crowd is fresh and very young and the music has changed a lot since then. I prefer the good old days of Trance in Greece, definitely. The modern scene looks really chaotic and commercial sometimes. It is not our business to pass judgment about parties and people but Trance in Greece is evolving commercially and on the wrong path, this also has an effect on people because wrong people are pushing the music around for wrong purposes. Also I would like to say that Greece is a modern country with no Nitshonot phenomenon circulating around anymore and this is a good thing :-) For the sake of all of us. Finally, I would like to add that the collective consciousness of the people living in one country can make it big or crap. It is a matter of choice for some things and it is up for people to decide if they want to have a regeneration or not.

12. Since my opinion is that your music is very "cinematic" (especially "Cyclotron") I would like to ask what is your relation with the art of cinematography?

Well generally we love movies and good movies are a priceless piece of art. We try to make our tracks as cinematic as possible because there is a very deep psychedelia effect involved in music soundtracks and atmospheres. We borrow some stuff from movies some raw material and we try to twist it around in order to serve a purpose and that is to increase the feeling of psychedelia in the track in order to be a story. We try not to make it in a blatant or ostentatious way, we want the FX to be subtle and atmospheric and to give to the whole atmosphere of the track instead of "in your face" approach.

13. How do you like to spend your spare time?

Micky does some graphics as he is the official graphics designer of the band. Dimitri enjoys reading. First and third person shooter games and some RPGs. Also we would like to have some more free time. It is very recreative.

14. Do you guys listen to stuff outside the trance scene?

Yes we do, mostly movie soundtracks and also some heavy metal, rock and progressive stuff. Generally the best ideas for Trance music come sadly outside the Trance scene.

15. Which artist caught your interest recently (it could be outside the trance scene too)?

Juno Reactor, Vagelis and Jean Michel Jarrre :-)

16. Which of you is the tech master and which is the story teller?

In Wizzy Noise we split tasks because we think that this is the best for group work. Uriel is the TechMaster and Micky is the Story Teller but each one of us has something to say about everything. Generally we both have our views about something and we do it in the middle way. I think this is the best and this is what makes Wizzy Noise well hmm Wizzy Noise. :-)

Links: Wizzy Noise official - Candyflip Records - "Elecktro Theater" Review

e m @ i l: contact@candyflip-records.com

Wizzy Noise - Electro Theater

1. Radical Payne
2. Screwheads (Remix)
3. Elecktro Theater
4. Paradise Lost
5. Mental Discipline
6. Demented Drum Part One
7. Timeline
8. Demented Drum Part Two
9. Dreamwave
10. Outmosphere

Candyflip Records 2003 © CFRCD05.