Related Posts
Here’s a great interview with one of the legends of the scene Anthony Sillfors a.k.a S>Range
A Portrait from S>Range : Paint your soul!
What influenced you to get into your field?
Me and my friends went regulary to Underground Rave parties around the World during the 90’s, after spending a lot of time in Goa, India I thot I might give it a try, sending out my own frequencies and share my feelings with Mankind.
As an artist, what role do you think you play in society?
To think outside the box, encourage people to be creative and follow their passion.
Creating on a regular basis can be a bloody tough job, so what motivates you to press yourself into the workstation every single day?
To avoid burning out and get writers block I rest on Yellow days and sit inside the studio those days I feel inspired.
Do you get nervous before a performance?
Still happens after all these years on the road, it takes a few tracks before the knot goes away in the stomach, it makes you put your best foot forward.
Growing up in the north of Sweden were there’s Aurora borealis in the winter and midnightsun in the summer I wanted to give homage to my hometown. So the name was a tribute to our local Rocket launch and SpaceStaion called Esrange .
What other genres of music do you listen to? Name your influences.
I’m listening to all kinds of genres from Hardrock to classical piano music.
Rush, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Jean Michel Jarre, Depeche Mode and Ludovico Einaudi to name a few.
Has the process of making music transformed you? In what way?
In the beginning I didn’t give much thoughts on what I did, just playing some random beats, notes and arranged it into music, nowadays after counless hours of studying musical theory and understanding dance music one knows that each and every tone has its own function to set the mood of the listeners.
What is your muse? What inspires you? Tell us about your favourite piece of music, and the source that inspired it.
One of my biggest source of inspiration is watching movies, in particular Sci-Fi movies.
Since that genre has no limits it will provoke even the most opened minded to think differently, make people dream away and take them out of daily life situations.
The piece of music that inspired me the most is “Oxygen” from Jean Michel Jarre, it was the Soundtrack for the Swedish movie called “Barnens Ö” (The Childrens island) by P.C Jersild.
What’s your biggest temptation or vice, what can you not resist?
I can’t help it, I have to save people from idiocracy”
Face-off: Let’s get the grits on the table
What quality do you admire the most in others? What quality do you like about yourself the most?
I admire all the ignorent ones not capable to see all the negativ aspects of the World, they just continue everyday life as the clock tik tok. I treat everybody with the same respect.
Life is a progressbar, phasing out difficulties is part of growing up and still be able to nuture ones innerchild within.
Any embarrassing/funny moments? Yes, you’d hate to disclose your secrets but we’d love to hear.
Just recently I got picked up at the airport by a festival driver, we didn’t say much due to language barriers, only made sure I was Swedish and was going to play at a Festival since he had no sign with my name or festival. When we arrived to the festival site 2h later, another person recognized me and said, S>Range you’re not playing here, you are supposed to play at the other festival 1h away. Felt like I was inside a Holographic universe and Lost in translation.
Luckily another English speaking person showed up and took me to the right festival and later picked up the other Swedish Artist, who had to wait some extra hours at the airport.
My original driver was late and had a beautiful sign according to the other artists at the airport.
When have you been most satisfied in your life? Care to share one of your happiest memories?
Every time i can make a difference and give to the less fortunate.
Everyone starts somewhere, what was your first job before you got into music?
My first “job” was riding skateboards for H-Street and Team Streetstyle in USA.
Flash-forward in time. You are now really old. What would you tell your children/loved ones?
It’s your life, do whatever you want and listen to your innerself!
Into the time machine again. What do you miss about being a kid?
I’m still that kid, what did I miss? : )
Excessive chopping dulls the axe. Time-outs are a must. What do you do when you take time off from creating? Got any hobbies? (Books? Movies? TV shows?)
Most of the time I go for a skateboard session, for longer periods to recharge my batteries I usually go for a vacation off the grid, no internet, tv or contact with outside World. If I get relaxed enough I might even read a book.
Ideology: Beliefs that bake your brain
How do you connect to the spiritual side of yourself?
Every morning and night I do 30min of meditation, visualizing my day and stretching my body.
Do you have any belief/beliefs that you cannot do without?
I believe in being a good person and share wisdom with like minded.
On the Scene:
Where do you think psytrance is headed? Future trends?
PsyTrance is on the brink to become commercial and corporate business, we’ll see some artists selling out and some others keeping the spirit pure. Today trends doesn’t last more than a few months, maximum exposure and the audience always craving for something new will ultimately change this music scene for the worse.
What do you think of the scene at the present moment? What would you like changed or what would like to see remain at status quo?
I would like to see more artists doing their own style, music is an art form, nobody likes to see copycats recycling other peoples ideas and chasing peanuts just to brag about them being on stage with their heroes.
Piracy, works out negatively for the artist, but it allows listeners’ to access music that would otherwise be hard to source. Art should be shared…in this light what are your thoughts on piracy vs. a price tag?
Piracy doesn’t lead to more exposure, instead it increases the price tag on products and service, which would be lower and reach more people if everybody pays.
Stealing others work like by downloading for free destroys the current form of compensation of the artists work, the only few who’ll gain from it would be the corporate artists, the sell outs whom have shark lawyers grabbing all pennies, which leaves almost nothing to the independent Artists.
It’s really sad that beginners and even some older established artists/labels doesn’t respect the rules of the music industry and take short cuts to break trough, which leads to lower fee’s and lower status. You don’t go into a shop and take a package of milk for free juts because its right in front of you when nobody’s watching!
Pearls: Words of Wisdom for reader and fans
At the end of the ride, everyone’s looking for some form of success (tangible or not), what does success mean to you?Success means I can continue to do what I like the most.
We are almost done. Give us a nutshell of the life philosophy/motto/mantra that you clutch close to your heart.
Be your own master of reality and do not fall for the illusion projected by the media.
What’s the best advice you have ever received?
“Don’t try, just do it”
One word to describe yourself, and one word to describe music.
Electric, Emotions
S>Range on beatport
https://soundcloud.com/s-range
