UK-born Dan SINERIDER has become a prominent name in the world of psytrance ever since he released his successful debut Pure Tones back in 2014 through Twenty4seven Records. SINERIDER was first inspired by psytrance in 2000 and later went on to create his own melodic compositions – infused with his cheeky and grooving signature sound. Since then, SINERIDER has continued to travel the globe – delivering his hard-hitting beats to eager audiences at some of the most anticipated outdoor festivals. We chatted to the man himself ahead of his performance at Vortex Parallel Universe in South Africa.
PSYKED:
Hi Dan! Let’s start at the beginning. Have you always been musically inclined?
SINERIDER:
I have always been into music although I didn’t know that I would do anything with it. When I was young, maybe eight years old or so, I did some keyboard lessons as an after-school activity. Later, I became interested in drumming and so my parents had to put up with that for a while – only as a hobby in my early teens. I also taught myself some guitar. I used to hang out with friends and practice a bit but I never formed an actual band with original songs. After school, I became more interested in art and graphics so I went to college to study that. It was only when I turned eighteen and started going to parties in London that I became interested in electronic music and DJing. I enjoyed DJing but I was young with no contacts in the scene so I turned to production. During which time, I met a friend who had some studio equipment. I have been writing music since then (2011).
PSYKED:
What made you choose psytrance?
SINERIDER:
Psytrance was the genre that I heard at the parties I preferred so, naturally, that became my chosen path.
PSYKED:
A lot has changed – technologically speaking – since you started producing in 2001. Have these innovations helped to shape your music, or do you still rely on more “old-school” (or less digitally intensive) production techniques to fine-tune your sound?
SINERIDER:
Interesting question. I would say that I am somewhat set in my ways. I don’t like to put too many gimmicks and effects into my music; so in that sense, many new plugins and techniques are not that interesting to me as an addition to my studio. I am however very pleased with how much better computers are at handling the projects and occasionally, there is a new feature or synth that makes life a bit easier when trying to get a great sound. The main thing for me that improves things is experience; now that I have built a proper studio, the mixes are just getting better and better without so much guess work.
PSYKED:
Sinerider is not your only brainchild; you also perform under the aliases of Antispin and Divination. How do these acts/sounds differ and what are the benefits of working on more than one project at a time?
SINERIDER:
Working on more than one project can be hard because of the amount of time required to try and keep three projects active in the scene – from releases to promotion, this can be a very big job. However, it’s nice to have more than one project as it allows space for new ideas and creativity which may improve the way you look at a certain track from another project next time you open it to work on. In terms of differences between the projects, I like to try and keep each sound quite defined.
Sinerider has always been a tribute and evolution of the music that I enjoyed most back in the London/UK scene growing up. I see it as uplifting trance music but with a powerful backing track centred around the 140 to 145 BPM range. This year, Sinerider is going a little heavier and more full power to make room for my latest project, Divination.
Divination will begin releasing later this year. I am very excited about it. Music wise, it is the culmination of all the sounds that I have loved, utilising all the production skills I have picked up over the last 13 years researching trance production. I guess some people call this sort of music full-prog or psygressive. It lives around 136 to 139 BPM. It is not dissimilar to artists such as Zen Mechanics, Ace Ventura, Symbolic and Vertical Mode who are all my personal favourites in this sub genre. But as you will hear, it has my touch and ideas on a variation of this increasingly popular sound.
Antispin, as you may know, is a collaboration project between myself and Hugo Rendell (Octognoma). It’s a blasting but minimal night-time project which is influenced by artists such as Scorb and Absolum, but also draws from genres like drum and bass and bass music from the UK. I often felt there were far too many sounds in other night-time music to suit my taste. I believe that great power can be drawn from a slicker, more minimalistic style approach. This project centres around the 145 to 148 BPM range.
PSYKED:
Having lived in the UK and Vienna, and toured extensively across the globe – what’s the one thing that you think remains the same in every psytrance scene around the world?
SINERIDER:
The thing [that matters] for me is the people. The core of any good psychedelic event is the great, friendly and inspired minds that frequent the party scene across the globe. For many of us, the music is an important part of the scene but there’s always been more to it than just a “rave”. There is a lot more to the “Goa” scene. It’s a lifestyle and it’s own travel-based culture; it attracts open minds year in and year out to create a special experience, together.
PSYKED:
You’ve performed at some of the most recognised international festivals from Ozora in Hungary to Universo Paralello Festival in Brazil to Noisily Festival in the UK. Tell us about your most memorable performance so far.
SINERIDER:
What a question! It’s so hard to choose from so many great shows and vibes worldwide but I have to say one that sticks out a lot for me – and I’m sure Hugo (Antispin) will agree – was the Antispin Live set at Ozora 2014. This was an amazing experience for us for several reasons. There were such terrible storms days before that certain parts of the event had to be shut down for a few hours. We were among the fortunate DJs who got to play without rain. It was midnight on the third day if I recall correctly, and people were really ready to explode. The energy was amazing and we enjoyed one of the fullest and most alive dance-floors of the whole event. Not only that but our favourite night time act, Scorb, was playing straight after us so we ran straight to the floor and got crazy to celebrate, still vibing off the set – unforgettable for sure.
PSYKED:
Is there anything special you are working on at the moment? When can we expect your next release?
SINERIDER:
There are new releases in the works for all projects as usual. I have devoted quite a lot of time to Divination in the last months, so there will be a steady flow of releases coming from that project throughout the year on many of today’s most respected labels. There will also be remixes and collabs with some of my favourite artists such as Zen Mechanics, Symbolic and E-clip. Many new Sinerider tracks are on the way including the collab with Waio which is due for release soon, as well as a remix of the Desert Dwellers “Sacrament” track from their last album – set to release on Sourcecode. Transmissions alongside other remixes of the album will come later this year. There are some other nice surprises to watch out for, although I don’t want to give too much away; so keep checking my Soundcloud pages for more info as it emerges.
PSYKED:
Any last words before we wrap things up?
SINERIDER:
I would like to say thanks to all those who support my sound, no matter what project you like. Wishing everyone a great year and many fantastic mind-blowing trance adventures for 2016! See you on the dance floor at Vortex Parallel Universe.
PSYKED IN THE CITY 