SoundTourism: Thought Behind The Project

Recently I dropped 'SoundTourism' as I restarted podcasting again. It's sort of an umbrella-title I'd like to adopt for future projects and mixes, comparable in idea with, for example, Group Therapy used by Above & Beyond, or the A State Of Trance concept Armin Van Buuren started in 2001. Back then Armin was only hosting a radioshow under that name, but he expanded the project in the years after to mix-compilations, a festival and a record(sub)label.

Translated Feelings

SoundTourism is intended for the same sort of purpose. Which seems odd, as my status as a DJ or producer is nowhere near as big as Armin's or Above & Beyond's. But that's not the aim either. Sure, it would be cool if somewhere in the future 50.000 people are gathering for a SoundTourism-festival somewhere in the world, but realistically speaking, that would be a difficult target to reach. It's more that I like the idea of a concept that contains several things. That delivers on an expectation or feeling. Above & Beyond released an album titled Group Therapy, changed up the name of their Trance Around The World radioshow to Group Therapy and play gigs sometimes under that name now as well. Group Therapy is a feeling they try to get across, and the feeling of the album translates to their radioshow and their livesets. SoundTourism should be the translation of the feeling you get from listening to my work as an artist.

A State Of Trouse

When trying to come up with something that should last for a couple of years, it's hard to step away from conventional stereotypes and buzzwords. As I am mainly a Trance producer and DJ, at first I was thinking along the lines of adding 'Trance' somewhere in the concept. But that would pin me down to one specific genre as well. I even think that is one of the reasons Above & Beyond eventually chose to change their radioshow from Trance Around The World to Group Therapy. Their own sound had evolved over the years as well, and contains more elements from Techno, House and Progressive as in their early years.

While Armin still uses his A State Of Trance name, not everyone was happy he started to invite house DJ's like Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano to his A State Of Trance Ibiza nights, or to create tracks with them, which he then played in his ASOT radioshow. And it's not the artistic freedom people probably complain about. It's the feeling A State Of Trance described, the expectation it gives with such a name, that changed too much for people to accept it anymore. Another downside to it is that it could really blur the lines of what is trancemusic. Are Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano trance DJ's? Not by far in my book, and that's okay, but it confuses people. One of the reasons some of them call everything just EDM, in an attempt to at least don't give it the wrong tag. (Calling Trance EDM is still very wrong if you ask me, but that's not relevant to explain for now...)

Deeper Thought

So, the question remained, did I want to pin myself to the Trance-genre only? My heart would say yes, as I couldn't imagine ever leaving the genre. But my mind told me otherwise. In recent years I started listening and appreciating more Progressive and Deep Techno for example. Which could be quite a shock to hear in a Trance-radioshow. But I love the deep sounds and feels and dark or sad vibe in those tracks. And I probably will either, integrate it in my own productions, or play it out as a DJ. So, despite being trance through-and-through, and not a doubt in my mind that I stay true to the genre, I still would like to have the opportunity to have some creative space to move. Which made me eventually decide to go for something else entirely.

Credit

As I was thinking about a title for a future album release I wanted to create especially for debut release on the Choon-platform that could also work as a name for a radioshow, an older track popped in my head. Sound Tourist - Time Travel. A sidestep-project of legendary German producer Rolf Maier Bode, who had a few big hits across Europe in the 90's as RMB, with tracks like Spring, Reality, Redemption and Love Is An Ocean. Despite not fully explaining the alias, the video posted above opens with a sentence that never left my mind since the first time I saw it. And revisiting it in the thought process about this concept made me realise I absolutely loved what could be described as a Sound Tourist. So, credit where credit is due, and besides that SoundTourism perfectly describes my musical journeys, it also is a bit of a tribute to one of my favourite producers until this very day, Rolf Maier Bode.

As a sidenote: Rolf Maier Bode nowadays is an independent self-releasing artist, and all the albums listed on his Discogs-page are very much worth a listen or purchase, especially if you like hardware influenced electronic music, with a hint of rave nostalgia.

Visiting Sounds

Now, you probably wonder what I think is SoundTourism? Well, in my mind, it describes us all. As a DJ and producer I like to create journeys through sound. Places you have never been before, and places that feel familiair. But also exploring new sounds and influences. And you, as listener to my music and gigs and radioshows are the Tourists travelling along. Discovering new places. Creating new memories. My career in music would be pretty much complete if I could provide that experience to a few people. That's why I always like to hear from you, and why I am incredibly grateful people actually listen and care about and return to my music. I hope you do too when somehwere this year my first full artist album 'SoundTourism' will be released, or when I run the podcast.

As I can only create the journey, but you are the ones who decide how to experience it, you are the ones who create the memories.