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Thundering psychedelia
DEEPER IN ZEN (James Skylar) has been creating mind storming full power psytrance electronica since 2001. A thundering style of psychedelia that blends the elements of dark and light, a live set by Deeper in Zen is sure to take you to the edge and with four full length CD's and an ambient CD, his unique style is tearing up dance floors across the world. As a music producer and visual artist, Deeper in Zen seeks out novel ways to engage the psychedelic experience. With his recent and fourth release 'Silence' from Soular Records, he takes his latest unique sound across the globe. As can be expected from Deeper in Zen, Silence is a psychedelic masterpiece; rich in pounding rhythms, overflowing with spacious layers of delicate harmonics, and fresh with thundering bass lines. Experience the two hour LIVE Deeper in Zen set that has skyrocketed dance floors the world over. Dimension at Space Bar, 16th August. Five words to describe your music? Intense, Psychedelic, Groovy, Storm, Powerful Why did you start making music? What is your vision? I started making music as a way to give back. Music transformed and changed my life, opened me up to the possibilities that are innate in all of us are true core. I felt that if I could be a channel for that intelligent infinity then maybe someone else may also have the chance for a transformative experience as I did. Can you tell us about your first performance? My first performance was in NYC back in 1999. In a small warehouse party thrown by Alphatrance. I was playing with two other producers at the time. We had about five tracks and tried to play everything triggered live by midi, so we basically brought the whole studio out. What is the most difficult thing about writing music? Finding a way to still be unique with the track. Psy-trance has its structures, but how to find the novelty within those limits. Tell us your secret (trick) to making floor burning trax! Bass, Bass, BASS!!! I really work hard on getting a strong groove these days with the bass, kick and percussion before I even think about writing any leads. I try to create some loops of those main essentials that are tight and strong and you feel like you could listen to them looped forever. With a strong foundation like that, it really creates the main thrust of the track and is what makes the dance floor move more than the lead lines do. Who are your favourite artists.. and how have they influenced your music? I really was influenced by the rock band TOOL. They are what inspired me to really want to make music. I have had such amazing experiences every time I have seen them live. In the world of trance I would say probably X-Dream the first three albums, Hallucinogen, and a lot of the stuff that came out on 3-D Vision label. When making a track, what is the most important thing for you and why? That the track is well mixed and that the bass is in proper order. I am a bit anal about the bass lines. I spend hours and hours tweaking the bass lines to make sure it has that solid punch and is full and strong in the mix. If a track is all kick and there is no subsonics in the bass line, I’ve noticed on the dance floor I tend to stop dancing as hard. So I have made special effort to make sure that the subsonics are always there. What can we expect from your project in the future? What are you working on? Deeper in Zen will be releasing a track on a new compilation with Sonic Motion records in September or October. Also I hope to release a full length CD in January 2009. Please tell us about the best party you ever played... I think the Soulclipse party in Turkey two years ago had to be one of the best. It was an amazing event, the vibes were high, the sound system was amazing and so many friends from around the world had all come together to share the eclipse experience. How do you feel about the music and scene now? What things are good and bad? I am not sure how I feel about it. It seems like the scene has split in two in some ways, with the Full on vs. the Dark trance. Some parties are trying to give both types of music a chance. I probably fall somewhere between, so that is a bit odd. I tend to like smaller parties as the vibes tend to be stronger in some ways, and you can get a quality experience with people as well. What equipment / software do you use? Please tell us about your studio. I use a PC to make music. Cubase, tons of plugins, Virus T1 polar, SE Omega 8 and a Supernova. I play live with a MAC. What do you get most out of being a trance producer? Getting lost in the music making experience, and then sharing that with other people. Coffee or Tea? Tea And finally, what's your favourite cartoon character? Underdog Read more about Deeper in Zen here: [please make these links live and target = new] www.deeperinzen.com www.myspace.com/deeperinzen www.soular.com 
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