[/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]
Liquid Soul will be back in South Africa this December for Love & Light on 21 December for another one of their now infamous day/night parties. This year’s event sees them extend their hours until 2 AM as opposed to the 10 PM shutdown, giving revelers and extra 4 hours of quality party time. Three top internationals will perform this year; the aforementioned Liquid Soul who releases his new album in December, Yotopia – one of the grooviest acts around and Nok, who wowed the dancefloor at Earthdance in 2012.
We chatted to Liquid Soul about his last visit, his new album, out soon on Iboga Trance, and what a Monday to Friday is like for this headlining DJ/producer…
You played here in March for Love & Light. I heard you weren’t feeling so well that day. How was the set for you though?
LIQUID SOUL: Yes indeed, my body wasn’t in the best shape, probably because there were a lot of parties and flights in a row before I got to Cape Town. But when I arrived at the party everything became fine again and I really enjoyed the gig. I got confronted with a lot of beautiful smiles and great energy from the dancefloor!
Some of us were quite surprised how much more banging your set was. It was a cracker. Did you find the South African crowd needed it less melodic and more aggressive?
LIQUID SOUL: My live set is a bit more banging nowadays, that’s true. And after my live set I like to play a little bit more harder psychedelic DJ set.
This summer we are seeing more prog artists than ever being booked to play at our events. It really has blown up. Is it like this everywhere or is South Africa just a little slower in catching on?
LIQUID SOUL: The progressive scene became really huge all over the world this past year and some countries are a little bit slower [in catching on] as you mentioned.
You have a new album scheduled for release in December. I believe one of the tracks took almost 2 years to complete. Please tell us more…
LIQUID SOUL: Yes that’s right! The whole album took me quite a while to finish. And some of the tracks took me ages and gave me a lot of headaches. I am known to put a lot of effort into my productions and to work more than
just 8 hours on a track as some artists do. But I think the fans appreciate that and they realise that there is a deeper meaning to my songs than of some of the regular dancefloor ‘hits’.
Weʼve also heard that you have been working with a singer from Belgrade named Solar Kid. Cynics may think that a vocalist in progressive psytrance makes the music more ʻclubbyʼ and more like Euro trance. But I am sure you have done it tastefully. Care to divulge more?
LIQUID SOUL: Yes sure. We are talking about the track ‘Anjuna’ which I started together with Zyce at his studio. 2 days later I met Solar Kid at a party in Belgrade were I had a gig. I was very impressed by her voice and we decided to include her vocal chanting in our production. After many recording sessions and countless hours in the studio we managed to make a very beautiful and emotional song and I am very proud of the result! It’s all about the feeling what the vocals create so you can decide yourself if it’s too ‘clubby’ or not!
“My live set is a bit more banging nowadays, that’s true. And after my live set I like to play a little bit more of a harder and psychedelic DJ set.”
As with ALL music, there is a LOT of the same stuff going around right now with the same tricks being used. Liquid Soul has its own original sound and style, but did you still find you wanted to break some new boundaries with your signature sound?
LIQUID SOUL: Well, it’s always a challenge! I have my sound and I wanna keep it as original as I can since there is a lot of copying going on in the scene and everything seems to sound the same lately. I tried to make the album to sound like classic Liquid Soul even though there are a lot of new influences in it!
The new album is called Revolution with the evol letters turned around. Whatʼs the message you are putting out with this?
LIQUID SOUL: I feel we all need a love revolution in the world today!
EPs vs. a full album. Do you find that a full album is more a personal representation of your music than simply putting a few tracks out on Beatport (E.P)?
LIQUID SOUL: For sure! That’s why I kept it [the new album] in a classic way for the fans who have followed me for the last 12 years as Liquid Soul! With EPs I can be more experimental. A good example is the upcoming EP ‘Have you ever /Nirvana’ on Perfecto Records which is definitely much more of a new style and groundbreaking ! Let’s see how it’s going to work out…. [laughs.]
Whatʼs a typical Monday to Friday for Nicola Capobianco?
LIQUID SOUL: Monday is like a Sunday for me. I usually do nothing at all. Just chill and try to recover from the weekend. Tuesday to Thursday is mostly studio time and Friday its starts again with gigging.
If you weren’t doing music for a career what do you think you would be doing right now?
LIQUID SOUL: I don’t really know as I realized already at 14 years of age that I was in love with electronic music and was focused on DJing and producing since then…. so I really have no clue!
Liquid Soul & Love & Light Details
Liquid Soul Facebook | Liquid Soul MySpace | Liquid Soul Soundcloud
Leave a Reply