QuadraSonic – on a quest to deliver 4 dimensional psytrance
The Collective known as QuadraSonic features four highly talented psytrance producers, on a quest to take the genre to new dimensions as they present their sound in a 360 degree format for festivalgoers to rave out to.
We delve inside their collective mind to see how it came to be and the future of the project of manipulating the sonics of four (Quadra.)
For now we are playing our own music in the Quadraphonic format, but we are also working on an extra show that incorporates elements and input from each of us.”
The 4 of you have been collaborating in different forms throughout the years. From Mindfold (Brainiac and Materia) to The Power Triangle EP (Materia, Sinerider and Waio) you have brought us some of the most banging beats. What made you decide to plunge into the beautiful marriage of QuadraSonic? Whose idea was it?
QuadraSonic: As you already mentioned we were connected before Quadrasonic, through the label, through making music with each other and not least through friendship, so we knew that a collaboration between four individuals could work as we are all on the same page professionally and personally.
The name “Quadrasonic” came through brainstorming really. We tried to find something that expresses what we do in one word, and it does that perfectly. We are manipulating the sonics of four (Quadra) directions.
The idea itself was a collective decision as well. We are quite good in coming up with crazy stuff and most of the time it stays a crazy idea, but playing Psytrance in Surround was something that didn’t let us go for a while. We started experimenting and since it’s nothing new to play music in Surround we soon found out that in theory it was really easy, but in practice it is a totally different story. This is where the challenge for us began.
How do you feel that collaborating together has pushed yourselves production-wise in terms of inspiration and the actual production?
Quadrasonic: Collaborations always push you because you are forced to see things from another perspective if you want or not, and since our musical styles complement each other amazingly we mostly come up with stuff that is one step ahead of what we would have done by ourselves. It’s magical when that happens.
Also you tend to not give up so easily when you are collaborating with somebody in the studio. It’s a constant back and forth between ideas, decisions, options, deleting stuff, doing it again… all that sort of things. If the chemistry is right between the people you also end up being more productive and with a better result as opposed to working alone.
You all have thriving solo projects as well, how do you maintain balance in your lives? What do you do to kick back and relax?
QuadraSonic: We are all doing different things in our spare time, but kicking back and relaxing is a very important part if you are doing this professionally. Constant touring and sleepless nights pay its toll on your mental and physical health.
Going outdoors is for all of us a big thing as we are spending a lot of time in front of the computer when we are not sitting on a plane or standing on a stage. Kite surfing, skateboarding, climbing or just walks on the beach are some of the things we are doing to balance out our minds and find our ying and yang.
It’s important to force yourself to take a rest sometimes as we all love to be busy but in the end you are way more focused and productive when your batteries are fully charged.
Antaris was an absolute success, we all felt the same. It was really funny because all four of us were extremely nervous before the gig.”
Will all you melodic magicians work on each track together or will it be like The Power Triangle EP where you do versus? What is the QuadraSonic writing process in terms of studio, etc.?
QuadraSonic: Quadrasonic is a collective of individual artists who present an artistic concept in the first place, so we remain four separate acts. We just share the same acoustical space if that makes sense.
For now we are playing our own music in the Quadraphonic format, but we are also working on an extra show that incorporates elements and input from each of us. We already have a Quadrasonic prototype track we all worked on together that functions as an intro to a show as well as a standalone track and can be used in many different ways.
We have many ideas for extra goodies which will enrich the experience and be a substantial part of the Quadrasonic show.
You are fresh from debuting QuadraSonic at this year’s Antaris Project. How did it go? Are there things you feel you’d like to change now that the first gig is done and dusted?
QuadraSonic: Antaris was an absolute success, we all felt the same. It was really funny because all four of us were extremely nervous before the gig. We felt like it was our first time all over again. The excitement was huge but also the worry how people will react to this new format.
In the end everything was perfect and we had great reactions from the people. Seeing people chasing the sounds on the dance floor was really amusing but also a very rewarding feeling. To be fair we had a sound check the day before which was absolutely necessary because of the technical preparations that have to be made and to communicate every detail with the sound crew who were mega professional and we couldn’t have wished for a better. Thanks again we’d like to make a big shout out to you guys, you rocked.
We didn’t go unprepared into this gig though. There was plenty of time invested on tests and experiments beforehand but this was the first time we played Surround on a sound system of such epic proportions. Because we knew what we were doing everything went down as expected but we did not think that it would be THAT good, actually better than we imagined.
To see the possibilities and potential of such a system blew our minds but we also took away a lot of new insights, are definitely wiser than before and ready to take on new adventures.
What is your vision for the future of QuadraSonic? In terms of pushing Psytrance to new levels…
QuadraSonic: We have many ideas. This is just the beginning. We are already working on incorporating new elements into the show. We don’t want to give away too much just as yet. 😉 As everybody can imagine there are many ways to expand such a show and make it more exciting for the crowd. We will announce some news really soon.
For QuadraSonic to perform, you’d need to have a quadraphonic sound rig right? Do you foresee a trend to move away from standard stereo PA’s at outdoor festivals and clubs or are we still light years away from this becoming the standard?
QuadraSonic: It depends on two things really; The space where you want to do it and the vision of the club owner or the promoter of the party. If the promoter/owner is willing to put some extra effort into making it happen that’s already half the success.
In some situations you won’t get around having a stereo system as it’s still present in many clubs. In outdoor spaces and “uncomplicated” rooms the things are looking differently.
At many festivals a 4 point system is already there, so it’s just about using it in the right way. Right now we are also working on an easy but good way how to transform a stereo environment into a quadraphonic one. Not easy but also not impossible.
How do you see QuadraSonic translating into the recorded music arena? i.e. buying your music – would this need to be for surround sound system users only?
QuadraSonic: For now we want to focus on our shows because we think the right way to listen to this is on a party/festival with other people. We want to make it a special happening where you can dive into the sound as never before and share this experience with the people next to you. This is where the magic lies we think.
Like this nobody has to get a new sound system and we can all have a great time together.
Bonus Question: Do you believe in alien life? I’ve always believed that if they were to make contact with us it would happen on a psytrance floor.
QuadraSonic: The contact is happening every time. A lot of strange aliens on those dance floors 😉
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