​I was watching a film called The Equalizer and soon after, I started to listen to the soundtrack. I had appreciated the music while I was watching the film, but it was only upon listening to the soundtrack that I felt truly touched by it. 
 
I began thinking about what it would be like to interview the composer of the film, Harry Gregson-Williams. This wasn’t the first time his music had had an impact on me, though; I had been following his work for quite some time prior to this, but it was only after listening to the soundtrack of The Equalizer that I became interested in interviewing him.
 
I was eventually able to get in touch with Gregson-Williams, the man who scored films such as Shrek, Kingdom Of Heaven (Ridley Scott), X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Spy Game (Tony Scott).
 
Biography
 
Harry Gregson-Williams is an award-winning film composer from Great Britain who began making his mark on the Hollywood film industry around the turn of the century. Born on December 13, 1961, in England, he began his career as a music teacher. He began working as a film composer in the early '90s, his big break came when he was taken under the wings of Oscar-winning film composer Hans Zimmer during the mid-'90s. He worked on the soundtracks of Zimmer-scored films including Crimson Tide (1995), Two Deaths (1995), Broken Arrow (1996), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), The Rock (1996), The Fan (1996), The Peacemaker (1997), The Borrowers (1997), and As Good as It Gets (1997). He proceeded to collaborate also with Trevor Rabin (Enemy of the State, 1998; Armageddon, 1998) and John Powell (Antz, 1998; Chicken Run, 2000; Shrek, 2001). Meanwhile, Gregson-Williams began taking the lead on the soundtracks of children's films including The Tigger Movie (2000), Spy Kids (2001), and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) as well as action-adventure films including Phone Booth (2002), Spy Game (2002), and The Rundown (2003). By mid-decade, he was working on A-list films including Team America: World Police (2004), Shrek 2 (2004), Man on Fire (2004), Bridget Jones 2 (2004), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Gone Baby Gone (2007), and Shrek the Third (2007). In addition, he composed music for the video game series Metal Gear Solid (in collaboration with Hideo Kojima) and Call of Duty. Gregson-Williams has won ASCAP, Annie, BMI, Hollywood Film Festival, and Satellite awards and has been nominated for a range of others including BAFTA, Golden Globe and Grammy awards.
 
Interview
 
Q: How did your life begin?
 
A: It began in the sixties, but it changed pretty rapidly at the beginning of the seventies when my father sent me for an audition for the St. John’s Choir School in Cambridge. From that moment my life took a different turn. I was sent away to a boarding school that had been set up hundreds of years before. It accommodated a small amount of boys, a select few of whom were there to study music and to sing - to sing for their supper, basically. Most of us could read music better than we could read English, and it was a complete left-hand turn for me aged six or seven. I’ve never really looked back when it comes to music. The two things that I really enjoyed while I was there were music and sports, and those are two things I love to this very day.
 
Q: What kind of sports were you involved in?
 
A: Just cricket, football and rugby.
 
Q: What motivated you to become a composer?
 
A: That’s a little bit more difficult to explain. As I told you, I had been a music scholar since I was very young. There were various standards that I had to maintain. I went to music college and then went straight into teaching after that. I became quite vocational about that; I really loved to teach music and sports. Those were the two things I taught. It was actually a chance meeting with a composer called Hans Zimmer here in London, in about 1994, that led me to composing. I bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles on his suggestion that I learn the craft of film composing.
 
Q: How do you prepare for an upcoming score?
 
A: The first step of scoring any movie is to really get to know what the film is all about and to try and get under the skin of the characters. Sometimes I will go along to the set as well. In the making of a movie there are three essential stages - pre-production, production and post-production, and it’s really post-production that I’m involved in. All the actors have been paid and gone home, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the film is done; various versions of the film could happen at that point, and the director is just shuffling the pack as it were, trying to find his movie.
 
He’s maybe got three and a half hours of footage that needs to be cut down to ninety minutes or so. There are various scenes that perhaps he loves, that he’s trying to hang onto, but that ultimately won’t appear in the final film. There are some scenes that he will change around from the original way he shot it and he’s just trying to find out exactly what his film is. It’s at that point the composer comes in and works in tandem with the director’s process, and that, together with a flurry of visual effects and sound design is very much what happens during post-production.
 
It’s really the last three, possibly four months of the whole filmmaking process that the composer is involved in. The composer comes in during the editing process and starts writing music to individual scenes that have been preordained by the director. It’s a very collaborative process. I don’t think it’s like composers of old, who would sit in their candlelit window and when the muse struck, they would write a note. This is music to order, and it’s quite often an ‘I would like it by Monday morning please, or you’re out’ kind of situation.
 
This is music that is not just inspired by something a composer sees or thinks. Its whole purpose, the whole reason it’s created, is to support and to bring something to a particular film. Being a film composer is probably very different to being a concert composer, for example.
 
I have just finished a week’s recording at Abbey Road, and like with any studio recording, we take liberties. There are no rewards for grabbing a piece with one take, so we do multiple takes in different styles to see what works best. We can drop in here and there to cover a mistake, perhaps to split a note in the horn section, or an out of tune violin. So we get the best performance we possibly can.
 
Q: So is it easier in that sense?
 
A: I don’t think easier is the right word, but it is different. The purpose of a film composer is to help the director achieve his vision of the film. Music can add as much to a scene as another character can. It can alter the way that the audience perceives certain emotions, so it has to be used carefully and as I said, it’s a very collaborative process. 
 
The film I’m composing for at the moment is The Martian. Once I’ve written the music for a scene, Ridley Scott will come into my studio and listen to what I’ve worked on, and he might say ‘I need a little bit more tension in the music here’, or ‘‘I really like what you have done here ‘or ‘could you make it a little more romantic’, or a little bit more this, and little less that. He often talks in colours too, and will say that the tone of something is right, but that he’d like to feel a little bit more darkness. He is an artist first and foremost and was at art college himself. So he talks in colours, and it’s as if he’s painting a canvas. To be honest, he kind of is. If you look at his movies, they’re all really beautiful to look at. So he doesn’t necessarily have to talk to me in musical language to get his point across. I have worked with some directors who have a good knowledge of music, and some of them have played music themselves. Ridley doesn’t get as deep into the nitty gritty as some do, but he will certainly listen to a cue for a certain scene and react to it. That reaction can range from ‘I really don’t like this’ to ‘that’s fantastic, that’s beautiful. Let’s use that somewhere else’.
 
I think in order to be a successful film composer you really do have to leave your ego at the door and allow the director into your world, which maybe isn’t a world he necessarily understands very well. But he will understand his film well enough, so he knows what he’s trying to get from you. A good director will show you the direction he wants you to go in. Quite often you can go down a certain path with the intention of bringing some tension to the scene, for example, but could end up going the other way with the music. Instead, we might discover that actually, it works better to juxtapose the music with what’s going on on-screen. So we might make it more ethereal instead, and see what happens then, see how that affects the performance of the actors. It can be great fun.
 
Q: Do directors choose a composer based on their style of music?
 
A: Yes, I think style is why directors gravitate towards certain composers. And that’s where relationships are made, enduring relationships. I have been lucky enough to do a few movies with Ridley Scott and a number of movies with his brother, Tony Scott, as well. I have done a few movies with Ben Affleck and several movies with Joel Schumacher. After a while, when I’m working with the same director, a certain language gets developed in terms of the director being able to get what he wants from me. Hollywood is very much based on that; it is based on relationships and particularly fruitful relationships that are cultivated over a number of years and a number of films.
 
Q: How do you feel once you have finished scoring a film?
 
A: Relieved, extremely relieved. I don’t find it gets any easier, that’s for sure. But I didn’t get into it for ease of operation! The journey one has to travel to get to the finishing post is very stimulating. I would say I’m two thirds of the way through the score for The Martian. I’ve written all the music I have to write and I’ve had Ridley approve all the music minute by minute. There is quite a lot of minutes of music in this score, perhaps seventy-five or eighty minutes of music, so that’s a lot of music for him to listen to and to make comments about, and for me to make changes to, for him to then ultimately approve. Having done all that, I’ll then move to the orchestral situation, which is what we have just finished doing this week. All the music has been played and now we’re about to enter the stage in which I mix the music, so I’ll have the oboe at a certain level, or the French horn at a certain level, and I’ll have to make a final decision on how it will be heard in the film. From there, I’ll be delivering the music to the dub stage, which is where the director will be. That will be about ten days from now, so that’s my deadline for complete delivery. At that stage, the dubbing mix will sit on a big mixing desk in something resembling a cinema, and Ridley will bring together the final music elements, the final dialogue elements, the final sound effects, and it’ll all be glued together and that’s what you will see in the cinema. So we are kind of in the back straight, as it were. 
 
Q: You worked with Hans Zimmer on the film Crimson Tide in 1995. What kind of impact did that have on your life?
 
A: Being introduced to Hans Zimmer was a fabulous opportunity for me, simply because he was in need of someone to do a job that I was able to do. I hadn’t had any experience as a film composer at the time, and he had decided that he wanted to use a lot of vocals in his score for Crimson Tide. It’s about a Russian Sub, and he wanted to use male Russian voices. He had contacted a mutual friend of ours, and asked him to help find someone to help him with the choral aspects. Being an ex-chorister, it wasn’t that much of a stretch and our friendship was made there, and it was from that experience that he asked if I wanted to come out and apprentice with him in Los Angeles. I didn’t hesitate. People often ask “is it just luck & being in the right place at the right time?” and I think there is an element of that, but at the time my opportunity arrived unexpectedly I had already spent four or five years learning my trade as a studio musician. I was just starting off as a composer and I was ready for any chance that might come along. I was ready to grab it and run with it. 
 
Q: It’s like they say - luck is where preparation meets opportunity. The first film you scored was White Angel. Tell us about that experience?
 
A: That was a while back, and it was a film that was directed by my girlfriend’s cousin. I didn’t really have any competition getting that gig - not quite like today, when I’m up against hundreds of other experienced composers. 
 
The director didn’t have any idea what she was going to do with music, or even how she was going to afford to do it. I told her that she didn’t have to pay me, that I’d do it for her. And that was it. It was a great one to start with for me because there wasn’t very much pressure and I was able to experiment.
 
Q: Who were the most supportive people in your life at the beginning of your career?
 
A: Before I met Hans Zimmer, I was apprenticing with a very good English composer called Richard Harvey. He was a very busy composer. He had a cricket team that was very good and a recording studio in Chelsea that was also very good. We became friends very quickly. 
 
I began to see the possibilities that were open to me if I could pursue this and learn the trade well. He was a really good example to me and early on I was just trying to emulate him. He played cricket on Sundays, hit the pub, and was basically living the life that I thought would be a lot of fun, so I wanted to emulate that. 
 
Q: What has kept you going when you have experienced setbacks?
 
A: A desire to be successful and not to fail at something I became passionate about! I think as a child I was taught quite a lot of discipline. I don’t mean that someone was standing over me making me do anything, but a lot was expected of me, and it was expected that I do things really well and try really hard at them. I think that that grounding, which was basically the ethos at St. John’s College Cambridge back in the day, was instilled into us. We knew that nothing was going to come without any effort. Later in life that has translated into ‘no pain, no gain’, quite simply. 
 
Q: Where does your drive and passion come from?
 
A: Probably my father. He had a similar attitude towards life. 
 
Q: Do you believe in a higher power?
 
A: No.
 
Q: Where does your inspiration come from?
 
A:  A number of different places really. I’m inspired by my children on a daily basis. I have five children, three quiet small children, so that’s a lot of children, and that motivates me to stay healthy and to try and be around for them when they’re older. It motivates me to not be too selfish with my choices, and to think of what they might need from me. But what inspires me? My wife, and my life in general. I know that I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunities that have come my way, so I’m not just going to waste them all, or behave in an ungrateful way. I’m quite keen to do as much as I can to put stuff back into the system, and that works quite well as a composer, because if you asked me how to start out as a composer in this day and age - well, you probably start out with a couple of cheap synthesizers in your bedroom, which is what I did, and if you’re lucky you might meet a brilliant and inspiring film composer who needs some assistance and that’s how it happened for me.
 
I’m a busy film composer now, and I have 2 assistants, so what goes around comes around. There is a kind of path through, that you can probably see. Hans Zimmer has had many people come through his ‘stable’, if you like, and some have gone on to be very successful. I take that quite seriously. As I said, I have had a few assistants myself who’ve come in not knowing too much about film scoring specifically and have gone away, hopefully, with a really good grounding in composing for film. They were able to go away from the experience and make a living. It’s a cyclical thing and it’s quite noticeable, and that’s a known, proven way of going about it. I’m sure in the olden days you would apprentice - perhaps a carpenter would learn his trade with someone who knew the ropes and then branch out and get his own business, his own shop, but first hang been given the tools to do it. I think that’s basically what we all aim for in this industry.
 
Q: What are the most important elements of achieving success?
 
A: Not taking yourself too seriously, working hard, keeping a clear head on your shoulders, and not being carried away with early success. I think that’s really important, but that’s not to say early success is not important as we all need encouragement - we need to know that we are gaining on it, as it were. So I think that I’m mindful of that as I progress in my career, particularly with the young people who come and work for me. It’s good to hand out compliments occasionally, it’s good to make people feel that success is not out of their grasp and that they are, perhaps, beginning to be successful.
 
I don’t know what it would have been like to move over to Los Angeles, as I did in 1995, and then win an Oscar in my first year there. I’m sure that has happened to the odd person, I’m sure that’s what happened to Hans. His first movie was Rain Man, and he got an Oscar nomination for it. But he’s got a good strong German head on his shoulders; I think a lot of people would have probably lost their way at that point. Hopefully, for most people, there is a path for them to follow, along which they might get a little encouragement and a little taste of success, and that’s what helps you go on and on and to keep trying.
 
Q: What are your future plans?
 
A:  All of the above; try to stay healthy, keep it real. I live in Los Angeles and my wife and five children are all American, and the way I try to keep them all in touch with my reality is to bring them back to London occasionally. About three years ago I decided not to score any movies for a year, and I came back to England and taught music and sports in school again, as I had done as a very young man. I wanted to show them that I wasn’t necessarily just a Hollywood film composer who worked on movies all day and night, that I hadn’t always been that person, and that I could lead a simpler life. We all had a really terrific time. I came back with my batteries recharged. We got back a couple of years ago, so not too long ago. I think this is my fifth score since I got back from the sabbatical. I did The Equalizer, and I did the Call of Duty game. I did a beautiful documentary for Disney Nature called Monkey Kingdom, and now this, The Martian. Oh and I worked for many months for Michael Mann on his film Blackhat, but that didn’t pan out as I’d hoped, actually. 
 
Q: So that’s what keeps you grounded? Going back to your roots?
 
A: Yes, I think so. As I told you, I thought perhaps my vocation was going to be teaching when I first came out of music school. I really loved it and that hasn’t really altered, although my focus has altered somewhat I suppose.
 
Q: I suppose there are certain aspects of teaching that are still useful in composing, but they’re just expressed in different ways. 
 
A: Yeah, that’s true actually. That’s how I feel about it. 

Contact Details
 
Harry Gregson-Williams
 
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Harry-Gregson-Williams-13725844020/?ref=hl
 
IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004581/
 
Oliver J R Cooper
 
Website – www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk
 
Email – Info@oliverjrcooper.co.uk

After having interviewed a number of DJ’s and producers, I thought that it would be a good idea to interview someone from another profession. So after hearing about a stuntman from someone I know, I thought that it would be great to interview him.

Through typing his name into Google, I was surprised by the amount of films that he had been in. were not small films, they were Hollywood blockbusters and included many of the films that I have enjoyed watching. Which include: Captain America, Thor, Skyfall and The Clash Of The Titans.


Biography

Ben retired from top level gymnastics at 21 and moved into the Entertainment industry, embarking on training as a stuntman and building on his unique acrobatic talents. For over 12 years he has taken various roles, from Top Hollywood Movies to a world renowned Male Revue show.
 
Ben has always been fascinated by the ancient ways of martial arts and he has furthered his education in the modern science of human anatomy and sports rehabilitation. With reference to new and old, his knowledge of the dynamics of the body's needs to function at optimal performance is second to none. He has used his background as a professional athlete and the discipline and dedication it instilled in him to coach and inspire others.

Interview
 
Q: How Did Your Life Begin?

A: Well, how far back do you want me to go? My mum and my dad started the local gym club, so, I guess that was the first step into what I do now.

Q: What Motivated You To Become A Stuntman?
 
A: A few things really, I liked school but not sitting in a classroom. I couldn’t imagine doing a job where you have to sit down. Early in my years at school I wanted to do something different I wanted to be able to enjoy everyday I went to work, I see too many people live unhappy work lives.

At the age of 7 Jeff Davies a very accomplished British gymnastic champion taught me how to back flip he always talked about becoming a Stuntman which he did and an awesome one at that. Later in my life about 13 I started Kung Fu and one of the occasional members was the Stuntman David Foreman who played one of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. I think between the two of these guys was my motivation for being a Stuntman.
 
Q: Tell Us About How You Feel The Moment Before You Perform A Stunt?

A: That depends on the stunt. There is normally a little bit of fear in there, but controlled fear. You go over everything that was rehearsed. So sometimes, some of the biggest stunts have been weeks or even months in rehearsals. So we have drilled it, inside and out. On the day there will be variables; conditions, weather, where they put the cameras, what else they put into the shot. In the rehearsal room, it is the stunt in its rawest form and then when they take everything to the movie set, we have to put everything else into place.

It’s a good feeling, it’s a really good feeling. When the cameras start to roll for me there becomes a euphoric calmness, like the calm before a storm.  You want to do a really good job and you want all the hard work that everyone has put into the rehearsals to make the stunt happen to come together. It is now that you have to pull it all together to draw on the time spent training and rehearsing but most importantly from experience.

Then add a little bit of fear to keep you on your toes, because you know that it’s dangerous, you know that it could go wrong, but you also know that if you do everything right that you have rehearsed, you going to be fine.

Q: How Do You Do Deal With The Fear?

A: Gymnastics taught me that, you really break it down. There is fear there but it’s definitely controlled. In the fact that, on one hand I know what I’m doing and what could go wrong but on the other, I know that I have the belief in my capabilities and the work that we’ve done to overcome that outcome.

Q: How Do You Prepare For An Upcoming Stunt?

A: The immediate preparation for a stunt is me taking myself off just before and going through the rehearsals we have done, checking the system we are using and talking to the others involved. The slightly longer term preparation for an upcoming Stunt is training and rehearsals. If the action has changed on the day because the director wants something different then its drawing from my experience running through the action in my head and getting on with it. All good Stuntmen train hard, practice and rehearse, it is from that pool of  hard work that we can achieve what is asked of us.

Q: Your breakthrough Came in 2002 When You Were The Stunt Performer In The Film ‘Dog Soldiers’, How Did It Feel To Land Your First Role As Stuntman?

A:  That is definitely the greatest memory.  Funny enough, it was just after the New Year that I had the audition and I was really hung over, wasn’t feeling my best. Went into the audition, didn’t feel great and then just was like ‘fuck it’, gave it my all. I left the room thinking there is no way I have the job, there was much better (I Thought) creature performers there.

 And I obviously did something right, because about two days later, I got the call saying that I got it. It was an amazing feeling because it was something I had wanted to do for such a long time. I had no idea about the journey I was about to embark on. I couldn’t even comprehend, what to expect. So I was going in really blind, but it was a good, an amazing experience. There was a great Stunt team out there that took me under their wing. I worked a lot with them in Luxemburg, I owe a lot to those guys

Q: At The Beginning Of Your Career, Who Were The Most Supportive People Around You At The Time?

A: I guess because of the age I was, my mum and dad. They were always great supporters, because I wanted to do something that wasn’t the run of the mill. The school career advisers were like ‘what are you doing? Get yourself a proper job’. And that’s one thing that would be a good change, for schools to support people that want to go into slightly different careers, whether it’s: acting, stuntman, writing, artist. Those sort of creative positions are not pushed. 

Through out my life I have had lots of help from very talented people, my gymnastics coach, my numerous martial arts instructors but above all now it has to be my wife. She supports me in everything I do the long days at work and the long hours I spend training out of work she really is the rock in my life, she is also the one that kicks me up the butt and tells me to man up !!
 
Q: What Has Kept You Going When You Have Experienced Setbacks?

A: I don’t think any stunt man wants to fail, we are normally are own worst critics. I think that’s what separates our industry from a lot of others. Get up, literally dust yourself off; mend a few broken bones if there are any and just keep going, trying harder. I have made mistakes but I have learnt from those mistakes, I am confident to say I don’t make the same mistakes twice.

Q: Where Does Your Drive And Passion Come From?

A: I guess my drive comes from the fact that I just want to be a better person and a better performer than I was yesterday. I surround myself with passionate and driven people it rubs off on me by association.

 Q: Do You Believe In A Higher Power?

 A: I do believe in a higher power; I don’t know what it is. But I am a great believer in that we all vibrate at a frequency and that everything at a molecular level vibrates. We are communicating all of the time even if we are not saying anything.

Q: Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

A: I am lucky enough that since joining the British stunt register, I get to work with some of the most talented performers and individuals in the world; we have numerous world champions in different martial arts, gymnastics and rally drivers. I am working with a group of people that are so uber talented, that, you have to raise the bar. From what I did in gymnastics in my teens, to what they do now, the difference is phenomenal. The younger performers starting in the industry have amazing skill sets!

That is inspirational because I have to keep training to try to improve myself, otherwise you get left behind. Definitely some of the great stuntmen that have been before me and more for me the ones that are around now. I don’t think its one individual, its lots of them.

Q: What Do You Think Are The Most Important Elements To Being Successful?

A: Not giving up. If you can pick any one, not giving up. Don’t listen to people that tell you that you can’t do it. I honestly believe that what you believe you can do, you can achieve. It’s from a great book by Napoleon Hill. Dedication, I think that successful people just go that little bit further. I think that at the end of the day, when they come home from work that their drive doesn’t stop there.

For us when we do a job, we will be on set all day, but I still have to keep my training up, depending on what it is. I still have to go to the gym, do gymnastics. I still have to practice on a motor bike, in a car. Whatever the skills are that you need; obviously you have to prioritise depending on the job that you do. And I’m lucky that I get to do things that I love.

Q: What Are Your Future Plans?

 A:  I’m definitely not done in the stunt industry; I still want to carry on performing.  I would love to move on to coordinate. As for any further in the industry from coordination, I don’t have any plans yet, maybe 2nd Unit director.

When I joined the register I didn’t want to be a coordinator, but the longer I have been in the industry now and seen what I have seen, I do want to coordinate.I guess that sees me for the next ten years. And I’m sure that as I get closer to achieving that, I will reassess my goals and implement some more goals.

The secret I believe is to be continuously moving forward, ever growing increasing your knowledge and skill set. Who knows 2nd Unit director in the grand scheme of things doesn’t seem that far away. 

Interview by Oliver J R Cooper
 
From how Ben had responded to my emails, I knew that this was someone who was down to earth and friendly, and when I met him, my outlook was soon confirmed. It was clear that Ben has not allowed his success to go to his head.

Because of how Ben was, it was easy to interview him and everything just flowed. After a while, I felt as if I had known him for a long time. Based on his outlook and what he was like as a person, I’m sure that he will achieve his goals.

Views from Ben Wright

Being interviewed is not a favourite skill of mine and it is something I need to do more of to take myself out of my comfort zone. Oliver made the whole interview process enjoyable and asked some real thought provoking questions. It’s always great to take a look at yourself and make sure what you are doing is in line with your real values. Thank you Oliver for an enjoyable afternoon and all the best with your future work.

Contact Details
 
Ben Wright

Website - http://www.ben-wright.com/about-ben-wright.html

IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2950829/

Oliver J R Cooper

Website – www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk

Email – Info@oliverjrcooper.co.uk

The first song I listened to from Emma was her collaboration with Chris Lake ‘Carry Me Away’, and this was then followed by ‘Not Enough Time’ with Cosmic Gate and ‘Live Forever’ with Lange. And while I have listened to a lot of trance music, these are two songs that stand out.

But even though I have enjoyed her vocals and song writing abilities for many years now, I have only just taken a closer look into who she is. And after seeing that she was going to be performing in London, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to find out more about her.

And as I have been looking for an empowered woman to interview, Emma seemed like the ideal candidate.

Biography

Few voices are as instantly recognizable as that of Australian born songstress, Emma Hewitt.

Hewitt’s haunting melodies, yearning lyrics and distinctive style have earned her a legion of passionate fans around the world as she continues to write and release music with some of the world’s most respected names in electronic dance music.

The journey began back in the Australian town of Geelong, Victoria where Emma would perform acoustically around the region through her teenage years. “Music was a form of escape for me and not something I ever consciously set out to follow as a career path. I was always inspired to ask questions; of myself as well as others and I guess over time those questions just sort of grew wings and turned into songs”. 

Those songs led to an early record deal with Sony Music for her project ‘Missing Hours’. The relationship was brief, but provided Emma with an invaluable insight into the music industry setting the stage for things to come. “I was never very comfortable that first time around – I felt as though I was trying to figure out what I wanted to say and who I wanted to be with a lot of different people watching on through a microscope. The over analyzing didn’t make sense to me as I just wanted to write songs that might mean something to people – and all of a sudden these things I’d never really considered like marketing strategies and budgets became more important to the people around me. I was out walking with my brother one day and I had this epiphany and just said, ‘screw it’ – I want to burn this all down and dream it back to life the way I had imagined it. I wanted to give the songs the respect I felt they deserved”.

And dream it back to life she did. Emma’s very first EDM collaboration with UK heavyweight Chris Lake yielded the worldwide smash ‘Carry Me Away’ knocking Britney Spears out of the #1 position on the U.S Billboard Chart (Hot Dance Airplay) going on to spend over 50 weeks in the Top 100.

From there, Emma teamed up with German icons Cosmic Gate for the classic anthem ‘Not Enough Time’ and Dutch superstar DJ Dash Berlin for the mega hit, ‘Waiting’. ‘Waiting’ firmly cemented Emma Hewitt’s reputation as a serious international talent earning Hewitt many accolades including a #1 on the Global Trance Charts, #2 on the illustrious A State Of Trance Annual Countdown and an International Dance Music Award (Best Euro/HiNRG Track) at the 2010 Winter Music Conference in Miami.

A string of #1 Beatport releases followed throughout a particularly fertile period in 2010 and with a wealth on new material, a new record label in Armada Music and a desire to push the creative envelope, Hewitt undertook the extraordinary measure of producing her debut artist release as a double album project. “My only real goal with the album was to be faithful to the songs regardless of style or genre – I guess with the double sided concept, I just wanted to give as much music as I could back to whoever wanted or needed to hear it. I also wanted this album to show some of the different sides to my personality”.

Produced by Lee Groves (Goldfrapp, Marilyn Manson, Depeche Mode), ‘Burn The Sky Down’ was an instant favorite with fans around the world debuting in the Top 10 on the ITunes dance charts in seven different countries fusing electronic beats with ambient soundscapes, and live instrumentation with Hewitt’s inimitable vocal style at the fore.

The remix album features some of the world’s most respected remix artists including Armin van Buuren, Grammy nominated Morgan Page and Cosmic Gate amongst many others.

An extensive touring schedule throughout 2012 has included sold out solo performances right across the globe in over 25 countries as well as appearances on the major EDM festival circuit around the world where Hewitt is often known to leave the stage, microphone in hand, to join the revelers in the arena below.

“The energy and generosity of spirit of the people I meet everywhere I perform is what inspires me to make music and through the music, we share a bond even if we may never have met. As long as there is a single person who may find something they are looking for or a feeling they need in my music, I will continue to write for that person”.

A world away from the humble beginnings of her coastal hometown in Australia, Hewitt’s enthusiasm and relationship with her audience is something to behold and as she takes the stage, one line echoes out perfect summing up the Emma Hewitt journey so far;

“The beauty of the ride…”toria where Emma would perform acoustically around the region through her teenage years. “Music was a form of escape for me and not something I ever consciously set out to follow as a career path. I was always inspired to ask questions; of myself as well as others and I guess over time those questions just sort of grew wings and turned into songs”.

Interview

Q: How Did Your Life Begin?

A:I spent my first years in a remote and extremely beautiful area of Victoria, on a property by the banks of the Murray River.   It was a really great place to be a young kid.  We were always running around outside, climbing trees, fishing and playing in the mud.   When I was in school my parents moved to a city called Geelong, still a country town by most standards. 

My childhood was a little tougher there, I had undergone many eye operations when I was very young and I had quite severe scarring and looked a little strange.  Most of the kids thought I had a glass eye and wouldn’t speak to me.  It took a few years to push past that and make friends.  I am grateful now to have had that experience at a young age.  I think it is really character building to face those kinds of challenges early on in life.

Q: What Motivated You To Become A Singer?

A: As far as I can remember I wanted to be a singer.  It was the music in my Dad’s record collection that mostly inspired me early on.  The 70’s bands like Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Pink Floyd etc.  Also my Dad had a lovely voice, and listening to him strum the guitar and sing always made me want to join in.  I was painfully shy back then though so it took my a while to step up and sing in front of anyone.

Q: Tell Us About How You Feel The Moment Before You Sing?

A:I usually feel excited and just super pumped to get out there!!  I don’t often get nervous really, unless there has been an unusual sound issue or something at soundcheck.   Before I go onstage it’s vocal warm ups for 20 mins, a quick sip of whiskey and then I am ready to go!! 

Q: How Would You Describe The Experience Of Singing In Front Of Thousands Of People?

A:  It is an absolute rush!!  The energy you get from such a huge crowd is incredible, and It kind of becomes an energy exchange where you are buzzing from them and you give that back to them.  It’s not really like anything else I have ever experienced.  In dance music the crowds are all there to have a good time with their friends, and to dance and get into the music.  So you can really feel that positive vibe coming from everyone.  

It is quite amazing when people are singing the words to a song you wrote in your bedroom.

Q: How Did You Get Into Writing Music?

A:It scared me at first.  I didn’t know where to start or how to make a song happen.  I just started trying, my brother and I tried to write separately and together.  We wrote some doosies.  And we wrote some songs that had a little glimpse of something there in places, even if they were a bit rudimentary.  It came with practice and just writing as much as we could until it started to gel.

Then we got our first publishing deal when we were about 19 after the label heard a bunch of demos we had done.  They put us working together with a lot of pop writers.  This was a real learning ground for us, where we really learnt to hone the songs and how to trim the fat and get to the chorus.

Q: When You Write A Song, What Is Your First Step?

A: My brother and I will usually start with a guitar or piano and start banging out a few cords or notes until we find a progression that has a spark of feeling in it, or that inspires some melodies.  Usually the better progressions will start throwing melodies to you.  We prefer to work this way as if the chords don’t work we keep changing them until they do. 

Sometimes I am sent tracks that sound great, but the vocal melodies don’t quite fit and then I often become boxed in by the chords. Although if the chord progressions work, then I do find writing to an already produced track gives me different inspiration.

I always sing all the melodies first and get them sounding right before we start on the lyrics.

Q: In 2007 You Released Your Debut Single With Chris Lake Titled ‘Carry Me Away’ And This Reached Number One On The Billboard Hot Dance Airplay charts, How Did This Feel?

A:  That was quite surreal.  I didn’t expect the track to even really be released when we wrote it.  I knew I loved it, but wasn’t sure what would come of the recording.  

I was still in rock band world in Australia at the time, so I wasn’t really aware that this was kind of a big deal.  It’s quite nice when something happens so organically and you haven’t even been consciously pushing for it. 

Q: At The Beginning Of Your Career, Who Were The Most Supportive People Around You At The Time?

A: My parents have always been extremely supportive.  I am lucky to be working with my brother, so we have always been in this together whether it was rock music, pop music or dance.  So I have never had to feel like I am out there alone in all this. 

Q: What Has Kept You Going When You Have Experienced Set Backs?

A:  An unexplainable driving force within me that always pushed me and told me this is the only option, I can’t ever quit this, I have to just find another way. 

Q: Where Does Your Drive And Passion Come From?

A:I am not sure really.  I think anyone who has true desire to pursue a creative endeavour possibly has this same feeling, that even though you have no idea why, you just have to do this creative thing that feels like it gives reason to your life.  And you can’t seem to be content or happy unless you are.

Q: Do You Believe In A Higher Power?

A: Most definitely. I believe we all hold a higher power in ourselves as well as there being many higher powers that exist beyond our dimension.  I believe in manifestation, that we control our destiny, and that everything in the Universe will lead you to your path if you are serious about finding it. 

Q: Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

A: Usually from life experience, from observations, nostalgia, friends, times that I never knew but wish I did, people who were once in my life who are now strangers, the possibilities that seemed endless as a teenager and also I am inspired by the idea of people waking up and becoming more.

Q: What Do You Think Are The Most Important Elements To Being Successful?

A: Dedication, practice, hard work, goal setting, inspiration, chance and talent.

Q: What Are Your Future Plans?

A:  I am currently in writing mode at the moment.  I am really focused on getting some new music out there, and I am going through a really inspired patch. I always find songs come in groups, and at the moment I am in the middle of quite a large group of songs that are being finished and made ready for release.  This may be an album or a bunch of collaborations and perhaps an EP. I will still be touring a lot this year, visiting some new places and revisiting some I have been to before. 

I hope to branch out and reach a wider audience with music this year, and challenge myself creatively :D

Interview by Oliver J R Cooper

Although this interview wasn’t conducted in person, I did have the chance to meet Emma when she was performing at the Ministry Of Sound in London, and this enabled me to form an impression. And what I soon picked up was that she was approachable, down to earth and easy to talk to.

I got the sense that she has remained very much in touch with her roots and has not allowed herself to get carried away with her success. And not only does this endear her to the people that she meets in person, it also allows the crowd to connect with her when she performs.

Views from Emma Hewitt




Contact Details

Emma Hewitt

Website – http://www.emmahewittofficial.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/emmahewittofficial

Oliver J R Cooper

Website – www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk

Email – Info@oliverjrcooper.co.uk

One of the first songs I heard from Daniel Kandi was ‘’Make Me Believe’’, and at the time of its release, I was blown away. Although this song is now over five years old, it is still one of my favourite songs. Since then, I have heard many other productions and remixes from Daniel.

What stands out about him is not that he has been producing for many years, but rather the fact that his productions have remained consistently high in quality. In the beginning of the year Daniel released his first-ever vocal track entitled ‘’Change the World’’. Not only did this track have his trademark production style, but it also had great vocals. This was not the only first for Daniel of the year, however. He also produced a song with Jack Rowan titled “Arigatou’’, which was very different to his other productions.

I initially contacted Daniel in December about doing an interview, but due to him being based in Denmark and DJing throughout the world, it has taken a while to get hold of him.

Biography

In recent years, very few Danish musicians have had the same impact on the world of electronic dance music as that of Daniel Kandi.

Now established as a leading name in the global trance scene, Daniel has been at the top of his game for many years having been responsible for some of the most memorable releases in recent memory, such as ‘Breathe,’ ‘Change The World’ ‘Symphonica’ and ‘#Trancefamily,’ and he has lit up the globe with his stadium rocking performances.

One of only a select few artists to have been personally selected by Armin van Buuren to play at the A State of Trance 400, 450, 500 and 550 parties, Daniel has also performed at the biggest events in the world such as events such as Trance Energy, Global Gathering and Tomorrowland. Hailing from Denmark, Daniel has been around the world and back again, playing the largest club shows from Pacha, Buenos Aires to Ministry Of Sound London, and at leading cities such as Sydney, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Moscow, Singapore, Rio De Janeiro and everywhere in between, earning himself consecutive appearances in DJ Magazine's coveted 'Top 100 DJ's' poll.

Daniel is more than just a DJ; a leading artist on world renowned labels such as Anjunabeats, Armada and Enhanced, and his own Enhanced sub-label, Always Alive, he is heavily featured on renowned shows like A State Of Trance and Group Therapy, and considered an absolute fan favourite of the listeners of those shows with an endless list of Future Favourite / Record of the Week accolades to his name. Not to mention he is also the star of his own radio show, Always Alive, a showcase of the most recently discovered talent. It's not only on the airwaves that Daniel's productions have dominated, for you will be hard pressed to ever see the top download charts be absent of his breathtaking productions.

Such are his producer achievements; Daniel is one of the most in demand remixers for the trance genre, handpicked by the biggest names for remix treatment, such as Above & Beyond and Gareth Emery.

One of the most colourful artists in the scene, Daniel Kandi will continue to be one of its leading lights for many years to come.

Interview

Q: How Did Your Life Begin?

A: Well, let’s go back to even before I was born. My mum was actually pregnant with me and she was on a small Cessna with my dad and a friend of hers in really bad weather. My dad’s friend was the pilot, and he apparently didn’t have a certificate or a permit to actually fly in bad weather, especially with a small Cessna. They were lucky enough to get hold of the agency control on the ground during this storm, and they were the ones who guided the pilot down safely. At one point, however, the pilot did actually say ‘May Day’ and stuff like that, as the engine went out during the landing. When my mum told me that – I think the first time was when I was about 12 or 13 – it made me realise how lucky I am because I wasn’t really supposed to be around, obviously, if things had gone differently. That was a fun start to everything.

Growing up, I was very different. My mum kind of knew that already from, I think, when I was about age three or four… or something like that. It could be attributed to the fact that I was born not alive, if you can say so. See, my heart was out for about four minutes or something like that before they got it started again. Three or four minutes. That could have lead to me becoming not really retarded, but a bit special in ways. That’s what we’re actually trying to look into now: if I have got Asperger’s Syndrome and stuff like that. I have always been a little bit special. Everybody who knows me, has seen me on video and sees me around the decks knows that I am a bit different to so many other people.

I did have a troubled start and got bullied a lot in school because I was that different. Besides that, I didn’t have my real dad around from when I was about one year old until I was about nine. I had a step-dad instead. I always wondered who my real dad was, where does he live and stuff like that. I started talking to my real dad when I was about nine, and he ended up being a part of my life for about a year or so. The contact started slowly, but we got to talking again. He eventually flew me from the north part of Denmark over to him in Copenhagen, and I got to know him again. So I had a bit of a troublesome start, but I have learnt to live with how things were. Obviously you can’t control that kind of stuff.

Q: What Motivated You To Become A DJ?

A: At first I really just wanted to make music. I started DJing at the age of thirteen when I entered a youth club that had a pool table, which is ironically one of my other passions. That’s where I got to know pool and the music side of it, because of the disco tech they had there, where you could earn a license and stand there and play music for whoever would be there and stuff. That’s essentially how I got into DJing. Right around that time, my aunt had a boyfriend who was a DJ himself in some of the local clubs in my town. He showed me a program called Cool Edit Pro, and that was really when I started sampling stuff and making my own tunes, even at the age of about thirteen. Back then, you didn’t have any proper sequencer, the equipment was scarce and the computers were not really that good. You know how it was before we entered the ‘Pentium Age’, and it was really, really hard to run these programs.

Sometimes you would have the ‘out of memory’ problem because it was such an old PC, but it was fun actually to start out that way: the DJing, doing the sampling and trying to create dance music… that way, about thirteen, yeah.

Q: Tell Us About How You Feel The Moment Before You DJ?

A:  Really it depends on the size of the gig and if it’s the first time in a new territory. Of course when I go to play in London at Ministry [of Sound], it’s always special because it’s a great nightclub, and it’s got a great reputation. It’s been running for so, so many years. It’s a picky crowd. They do like their trance, and they do like their house, but you have to keep within certain boundaries, I think, and just try to keep it really hard because that’s what the crowd loves there. We are here in London now, and I’m going to play there tonight. I’m actually playing after John O’Callaghan, which is going to be tough because he plays really hard. I’m digging deep in my record box today to actually see what I should play because I don’t want to play too soft. People might leave if I do that. So actually tonight I’m a little bit nervous, because even though I have been here before, this is going to be the hardest one to follow up on because I have always had someone play either softer or slower before me.

Last time I was here with Gareth Emery, it was quite easy because he just played really banging and progressive stuff. He actually left me a lot of room to build on his 34 BPM. That was a good gig, and that was streamed as well online at WWW.BE-AT.TV. The reactions were also really good. Tonight I am a bit more nervous, but in general when you get to those big festivals, when you get to 5 or 6 thousand people at a mini outdoor festival or something like that, that’s when I can start to get really nervous. I think if you get nervous though it’s a good thing because it means you really want it as well, and you’re not bored of it. Right before I DJ, I will try and compose myself. I will have a bottle of water and make sure all my stuff is in place. Then, I’ll go on stage and try and feel the crowd in some sense and just take it from there.

Q: How Would You Describe The Experience Of DJing In Front Of Thousands Of People?

A: Well continuing on the last question, it’s an amazing feeling. It’s not as intimate, and you don’t really get to talk to as many people in the crowd as, let’s say, a crowd of about five or six hundred people, which is, like, the optimum. Anything between five hundred and a thousand people is where you get the ultimate contact because you can look at everybody and kind of try and point people out, especially when people have certain items and memorabilia with them. If they have a sign or tattoo or shirt with your logo on or something like that, it’s easy to point out when you have those small crowds. When you get to the really huge crowds, however, if you play the right tune, there is nothing better than seeing five or six thousand people jumping up and down for just one track. That’s an amazing feeling.

Q: How Did You Get Into Producing Dance Music?

A: I always wanted to make EDM in some sort of sense. When I started out, I was listening to a lot of crappy Euro-dance, if you can call it that. We have all been there, if you’re about my age, 29. We all started making really, really dance-y music, like Euro-dance stuff, but wanted to make it more trance as well. In 1999 or 98, I think the first track I heard like this was Paul Van Dyk’s – “For An Angel”. That was one of them, because that got into the club charts in Denmark. It was amazing because nothing of trance had ever really got into the charts. Then Cosmic Gate’s “Exploration Of Space” hit the radio waves, and that was really huge as well. That was before, as you obviously know. Cosmic Gate are now much more deep and progressive.

It was a good start. Then you had Mythos 'N DJ Cosmo, Above & Beyond and Cygnus X Superstring and stuff like that… those kinds of tracks. I got them on the Dream Dance compilations from Germany, and I kind of built from there. That’s when I knew what I wanted to do. Oh yeah, obviously I can’t forget ATB’s “9pm till I come” – massive tune. So that’s kind of where it started for me.

Q: When You Produce A Song, What Is Your First Step?

A: Actually, because I make the melodies that I do, a lot of people think I would start out with the melody at first. If I do that though, it actually makes it harder to mix on top of a beat. So I always start with making the beat first, and once I am satisfied with the beat and the baseline, I can kind of work the melody on top of that. It makes it easy to mix and it makes it sound better, in my point of view anyway. That’s how I go about it, usually with the beat and baseline.

Q: How Did You Go About Getting Your First Song Signed?

A: Let’s go back to Euro-dance stuff around 2002, or actually 2001. I was supposed to do a remix for Barcode Bothers’ “SMS”, which was a really cheesy song. I sent them the remix as it was instrumentally, and I said to them, “I want the vocals so I can do the remix”. It was a cross over between trance and Euro dance at the same time. They said they really liked it, but the single was already out and they weren’t releasing any remixes from it. What they offered instead was for me to remix Catch’s “Walk On Water,” which was a pop song as well. I ended up actually realising that as my first real track, a remix of “Walk On Water”, a track which Above & Beyond apparently also remixed. I just felt really happy to be on that vinyl, being on the B-side, with Above & Beyond being the A-side remix. That was quite an amazing feeling to be honest.

Q:  Your Radio Show And Record Label Are Both Called ‘’Always Alive’’, Where Did This Come From?

A: I think I just wanted something that really just looked good on print. It wasn’t that I was trying to overly think about what I could do that would relate to the actual sound of the label. I knew that I wanted to make some sort of name for the radio show that would stand out. I didn’t just want to call it “One Hour Trance Session by Daniel Kandi”, because everybody has got “Trance Session” or “Trance-port” – really generic titles for radio shows. Not that there is anything wrong with it, I just didn’t want it happening to my radio show. As happy as its sounds with “Always Alive”, the whole thing came from a chill-out track that I started back in the day called “Almost Alive”. I thought, “I can’t call it ‘Almost Alive’. It’s got to be A and A, because that on paper looks really good”. So “Always Alive” just became the name for the radio show at first, and then obviously it was a natural thing to call the label “Always Alive Recordings”. It sounds good, so that’s why I wanted to name it that.


Q: In 2010 You Were Ranked At Number 77 In The DJ Mag 100, What Did This Mean To You?
 
A: That was a major accomplishment for the team behind me and everyone that worked really hard for it. It was just a way of saying, ‘you’re doing alright at the moment’. That was back when trance was still doing alright, compared to now, here, where a lot of the house-y styles are blending with trance. If you look at the Beatport top hundred, a lot of it is really not trance, but rather it’s the whole new “Trance 2.0” thing going on. Back then a trance DJ could make it in the top hundred, and nowadays we see so many different styles, like dubstep and super duper electric music, really doing well on the DJ Mag.

It’s more difficult now if you’re a trance DJ, which is also why I’m trying to branch out a little bit – not because I’m worried about the DJ Mag ranking, but because I also want to play at the big festivals. Let’s be fair. The DJ Mag rankings have an effect on what promoters go and do. Sadly, they do look at a rank, but they should look at what a DJ is capable of and what he brings to the table. I do believe that even if I don’t get in this year again – because I have been out of it for two years now, just outside the top hundred. I think I was 124 this year or last year – I still think that it’s a good thing that I can get booked out for really good parties. I just need to get hold of some more festivals now. Granted, if we get to the DJ Mag votings at the end of September/October and I’m not in again, it’s not going to be a major problem. I’m just proud to have been there for two years in a row.

Q: When You Were A Child, Did You Imagine That You Would Be Doing What You Are Doing Now?

A: I always had a dream about it. I would be singing to myself constantly, to the point where my mum would actually be really annoyed sometimes. I started watching a lot of talent shows on TV when I was a kid when they started out, way before X Factor and Idol and stuff like that. If it was about singing or making music or something like that, I watched it. I always had this feeling that I wanted to do something with music. I didn’t know what it was, but I think that when I started at the youth club at about twelve or thirteen, I kind of knew that was the road I wanted to go down, no matter what it would take. I even thought to myself, if it comes down to me doing music full time and ending up living like a bum (which I actually ended up doing for a while because I didn’t want to continue after the tenth grade of school), then that was the way I had to do it. I just really wanted to bet on it one hundred percent. I couldn’t let other people come and do the stuff I wanted to do. I felt like, “I have got to do it now before it’s too late”, which is silly because I was maybe about eighteen or nineteen when all this started. I felt like, “I need to hurry up because there is going to be some other people that can do this stuff as well”. So, yeah, I always really wanted to get ahead of the game and do it before taking an education.  I kind of regret it a little bit now, as I know it would be a good thing to have something to fall back on, if, let’s say, I should become deaf or develop some other disability for making music. But you know, you just try and do the best you can, and that’s what I have tried to do.

Q:  At The Beginning Of Your Career, Who Were The Most Supportive People Around You At The Time?

A: Actually, there weren’t that many. My mum and dad were like, “you have got to have an education, and you have got to do this, and you have got to do that.” I didn’t really care for it, and honestly, I was not in too good spirits with my mum and dad sometimes, as they always said you have got to have money to pay rent and stuff like that. I couldn’t see past the music. I was just betting everything on it that I could, which was in some ways obviously stupid, but I just really, really wanted it. As for the supportive people: we have got to talk about an old manger of mine whom I’m not really on good terms with now, but who really saw something in me and the talent that I had. Starting out doing remixes, even though it was shitty pop music, I still had a good gift for making good melodies and stuff. He kind of knew that and wanted to build that potential, so he was one of the most supportive people when I started out with the music. Besides that really, it was an uphill battle for the most part until I started getting recognised, getting signings and DJ jobs.

Q:  What Has Kept You Going When You Have Experienced Setbacks?

A: There have been a few setbacks. I think the fact that I just said to myself, “you know what, I can’t fail, this is what I want”, kept me going. I just kept believing that at some point, I would make one or two tracks that would kind of open the door. Eventually “Breathe” was the track that opened that door, because that was the first tune that I got signed to Anjunabeats.

Just before that, a good mate of mine in Denmark named Michael and I released a track called “Sorrow”. That one got signed to a now defunct label. We ended up not seeing a dime of that, as it didn’t sell. That was kind of like the first setback where I felt, “ok this is never going to happen for me” or whatever.

 Following this, I sent a demo of “Breathe” to Anjunabeats, and I didn’t hear anything from them until like two or three weeks into the process. I thought, “ok, if they don’t reply within two or three days or something, they must hate it or they don’t like it or what not”. So I went on a massive bender and got really, really angry with myself and actually thought I was never going to get signed, I was never going to do anything with trance and stuff like that. Then, suddenly, I went to like a rock concert in Copenhagen, and while I was on the dance floor with a couple of friends of mine, my phone went crazy. I had something like, twenty text messages and people saying, “Dude you’re on the fucking radio show with Above & Beyond!  You’re on their Ministry Of Sound radio with their Trance Around The World radio show, and they were playing it!” That was back when they were still mixing live on CDJs and stuff from Ministry Of Sound radio. That was the first goose bumpy feeling I got about it, and despite the setbacks, it was worth the wait. It got signed in 2006, early 2006. When I went home from that – I’m not kidding you. I left the rock concert before it stopped – I immediately turned on my pc, literally shaking, wanting to hear the radio rip of the Trance Around The World. I think it was 85 or 86 episodes, but when I heard them mention my name, it was one of the best feelings ever because I kind of knew that this was my door opened. I felt that from there, it was all going to be alright.

Q:  Where Does Your Drive And Passion Come From?

A: It probably comes from the fact that I got bullied a lot. Everybody said, “you’re a fucking failure and you are a no good person”. I was made fun of because I was obviously different and probably also because of my sexuality, being mostly into guys, that made me seem so different. I think kids can smell it. They do smell a different sexuality, and I just didn’t play ball with the guys outside, I didn’t get muddy or run around and act like usual guys or boys would do at that age. I was just really bullied in that sense, and they always told me, “you know what, you are never going to amount to anything”. For some reason they would even pick on my mum, and they had never really met my mum. That really angered me, and I was just like “ok, I’m going to make it”. So part of my success I owe to the bullies, which you can see is a similar case with so many entrepreneurs around the world that used to be geeks. They can probably also thank their bullies, in a sense, because the bullies motivated them to go on and become something greater than what these guys were. I know for a fact that some of the bullies have amounted to absolutely nothing, working a regular job in a shop or something.  I have one friend who has said to me, “sorry for being like I was when I was a kid, and I wish that I could take that back”. At the same time, that person said “you are really living the dream. I spent such a long time trying to find out what I want to do and not really going for what my passion is because the passion might be unsafe or something like that, in terms of job opportunities”. He said he really envies the fact that I am travelling the world about 30 out of 35 weekends a year and see so many different cultures. I can really respect that when it comes from a former bully, in that sense, saying sorry about that. The bullies have been the motivators, mostly.

Q: Do You Believe In A Higher Power?

A:  I do, but I do not believe in a god per se.

Q: Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

A:  My inspiration comes from life, like before: failures, love relationships and good friendships. Nowadays, let’s say when I’m doing a tune that’s just about good party music – a good example would be the new “Arigatou” – it’s not too much about inspiration from life or anything like that; it’s just me and my friend wanting to make a really good melody and, at the same time, have a really good driving baseline. It doesn’t always have to be about inspiration from life. Sometimes it’s just, “let’s make a good party tune, have a couple of drinks and kind of see how it goes from there”. “Arigatou” was the latest result where it was more about having fun and seeing how we could go about it in the studio.

Q: What Do You Think Are The Most Important Elements To Being Successful?

A:  I think the most important thing is that you stay true to yourself no matter what style you make: hard style, dubstep, trance, house or whatever. Just try and do what you feel is right, and if the music is good enough, it will speak for itself. People will like you because the music will be the most true to you, compared to when you try and follow trends and then people start to follow you only that way. It’s just about really staying true to yourself I think. Right now, I’m at the cross-roads where I want a bigger audience, but it’s hard not to sell out when you talk to uplifting trance fans, because they always feel that you’re selling out when you do stuff like “Arigatou” or other house-y stuff that’s a 130 BPM. It’s the fact that everything has to be 138 or 135 BPM and above and has to be with a rolling baseline and be trance. I have got to stop looking at that and make music that I like to do. I think that’s the most important thing. If I do what I like, the real people who want to follow me for what I do will still be there I think.

Q: What Are Your Future Plans?

A: My future plans would be moving to the Cayman Islands or Hawaii. No, it would be just to continue doing this for about fifteen or twenty years and try and save up money for a quiet life or something like that. Just, in general, to keep on travelling and to try and actually travel well – be as much in business class as possible, so I can save my health, and not being in economy class all the time. Just having a good time, flying around, doing these gigs and hopefully getting to bigger and bigger crowds.

Interview by Oliver J R Cooper

Going into the hotel where the interview was to be conducted, I knew very little about Daniel other than what his music sounded like and a few other bits of information. As a result, I was open and somewhat free from expectations. When I first met him, I could instantly tell that Daniel is someone who is down to earth and far from caught up in his status as a high-profile DJ and producer.

The interview flowed, and Daniel talked about some very touching areas of his life. He was happy to be vulnerable, and this made it easy to connect with him. This is one of the reasons why I like to conduct these interviews, as they show that no matter how successful someone is or the status they have, they are still human and have experienced the ups and downs like everyone else on this planet. I believe that this interview has the potential to inspire people to follow their dreams, no matter what their current situation is.

When the interview concluded, I was asked if I wanted go to the Ministry of Sound. Although I did sense this might occur, I was still surprised. This made the whole occasion very special and a night I don’t think I will ever forget.

So I would like to say a big thank you to Daniel for his kindness and generosity and to Will Holland and Richard at Assured Artists for their assistance in making this interview a reality. And also to Brad Kaz for his welcoming and friendly approach throughout the interview.

Views from Daniel Kandi

It was said that Daniel was too busy to leave any feedback for this interview. And this is a shame, as I always like to hear about how the interviewee found the experience.

Contact Details

Daniel Kandi

Website - http://www.danielkandionline.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DanielKandiMusic

Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheDanielKandi

Oliver J R Cooper

Website – www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OliverJRCooper

Twitter - https://twitter.com/oliverjrcooper

Additional Editing By Emily Pace Hunt

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/emily.hunt.5076

Twitter - https://twitter.com/French_Fried

After having the opportunity to interview Darren Tate as part of Interviews With Successful People, I later got back in touch with his colleague Dale Corderoy. And as Darren was due to release his new album Horizons 3; I thought it would be the perfect time to do another interview.  Horizons 2 came out in 2009 and this was an album that I enjoyed immensely.

This album consisted of twelve tracks, and these ranged from numerous songs that were ideal for the clubbing environment, to a song that had been remixed form a score that Darren had produced and even a classical song that had been created with The Czech Symphony Orchestra.

Horizons 03 features 14 different tracks, with a running time of eighty minutes; From cutting edge progressive house, to hands in the air club classics. The vocal performances are from Nicolai Prowse, David Patrick Carter, Fregoli’s Daughter, Ally Hammond and Pippa Fulton.

So with over four years having passed since the last album came out, let’s find out about the new album and what else Darren has been working on.

Horizons 03

Q: When Did You First Start Working On Horizons 03?

A: Several years ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Q: How Did You Go About Finding Right The Vocalists?

A: Usually it's a case of either developing a relationship with an existing artist whose voice you know will suit a given track or finding a new vocalist. Obviously over the years I've built up a history with many so I have an advantage in that respect.

Q: It Has Been A Number Of Years Since The Last Album, Is The Style Of The Album Different To Horizons 02?

A: The main difference is this album journeys more through progressive house and trance to more up-tempo trance whereas the others were a bit more "foot to the floor" from start to end. I've been recording house under different names for many years so some of that influence is clearly more present here than in previous albums.

Q: Now That Horizon’s 03 Has Been Completed, How Do You Feel?

A: I wanted to do this album really for the fans; I've been very busy with film scoring which means that I've not had the time to produce as many records as I would like. I'm really pleased I was able to get this album made and out there.

Film scores

Q - In The Last Interview We Spoke About Your Recent Venture Into Film Scores, What Films Are You Currently Working On?

A: I'm currently working on two short films and four feature films with several others in the pipeline (I work alongside Kenneth Lampl as Brainstorm Music). Current feature films include one called "Snapshot", one called "Awakened", one called "Scavenger Killers" and a very interesting film called "Frontera" directed by Michael Berry which stars Ed Harris, Eva Longoria and Michael Pena. It's great to be back recording with various ensemble groups/ / live musicians / orchestras and so on.

Aliases

Q: Your Latest Alias Is 8Ball And This Covers House Music, How Did This Alias Come About?

A: I needed a new name for house. Bottom line; my name was too synonymous with trance to be taken seriously by certain house DJ's. It's ridiculous but it's the business we work in. I've been doing 8 Ball singles for over five years so it's been a long burner.

Q: What Songs Have You Released Under The 8Ball House Alias?

A: Singles include "Let Us Be", "Sweet 16", "Electric City", "Dark Matters" / "Utopia" / "Shunt" (Pink Ball EP), "Tribalesque", "The Searching" and a cover of Jam and Spoons classic "Odyssey To Anyoona". With Marc Vedo releases include "Saxy Thang" on P P Records, "Body Rock" on New State and "Sunshine" on Zulu Records (both of which are due out later this summer), plus "My Cruel Heart" on Substream is also due out shortly. Plus there's other releases due out on Mondolicious later this year and some great remixes including George Michaels "Every Other Lover".

Q: Funkysober Is A New Collaboration With Boy George, What Was The Catalyst Behind This?

A: Actually this came about a few yeas ago; Marc who managed George played me a track with the Sunshine vocals in and I thought we can make this into a big record. I've very recently done a new deep house version and we're going to release it under all our names on Zulu Records (which My Digital Enemy owns and also features a mix by them).

House Label

Q: Mondolicious, The Mondo Records House Music Sub Label, Has A Number Of Planned 8Ball Releases Scheduled, What Will These Be?

A: We'll we're releasing "The Wave" and "Sympathy" right now as its part of the Horizons album. "Kiss My Trombone" is the next release which is a great fun funky summer record.

Collaborations

Q: Do You Have Any Collaboration’s Planned For The Future?

A: If only I had the time… I did start working on a new single with Jono Grant but I don't think either of us will ever find the time to get round to finishing it..! Also I've been producing some track ideas for a few producers who I've worked with in the past such as Mike Koglin. Other than that all the collaborations really relate to film recording.

Krav Maga was something I had only heard about recently, when a friend of mine mentioned that he knew someone who taught it. My friend put me in touch with this guy, Raphael Yadgaroff, and we soon arranged a time to conduct an interview.

One of the primary things that interests me about martial artists is the winning mentality that they often possess. Whether or not one is interested in martial arts, these positive outlooks can be applied to any area of life.

Biography

Raphael is a Krav Maga Instructor based in the Kent area. Periodically he holds classes and seminars in Canterbury and Whitstable, and he has also been able to travel to other areas in Kent.

Raphael began his martial arts training at the age of eight by taking up Shotokan Karate for three years. When he started Krav Maga at the age of 16, he decided to back up the knowledge he had acquired with other martial arts. Currently, he has trained in Jui Jitsu, Nin Jitsu, Muay Thai and Chinese Freestyle Kickboxing, Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Brazillian Jui Jitsu (BJJ), Shoalin Kung Fu and S.P.E.A.R. (Spontaneous, Protection, Enabling, Accelerated, Response) System.

Raphael made the decision to train in Krav Maga since it offered a more evolved and practical approach to dealing with realistic confrontations, including situations involving weapons and multiple attackers. 

Raphael is a recognised instructor with the British Combat Association and is presently teaching his main class at the Fighting Lions Centre of Excellence in Whitstable. He has taught members of the British Army and Police Force, as well as Door Security Staff. He has also taught a seminar for girls at Spires Academy in Sturry. In addition, he has taught the control and restraint portion of the Task International Close Protection Course. 

Questions

Q: What Motivated You To Study Martial Arts?

A: I started Krav when I was about 15 or 16. Basically I just decided that I would get some training in and learn to fight. I got into a fight in Primrose Hill in London, and I realised I had no clue what I was doing. I found out that my biology teacher was an instructor, so I spoke to him and started a class. It went pretty well from there. I found I had a natural talent for it.

Q: Why Krav Maga?

A: Well, it was a system that he taught, and I also looked into it after that. It looked like a very good system to work with, a reality based fighting system. I didn’t want to do a martial art. I had done karate when I was eight, and I couldn’t connect reality to it. I was in a karate lesson, and it didn’t go out of the lesson. When I was doing Krav, it was all about when you’re in the street and when someone comes up to you. It seemed more practical, so I chose Krav.

Q: You Have Competed In Cage Fights And Grappling Competitions, How Did This Come About?

A: When I started Krav Maga, I didn’t want to be one of those instructors who just loves his system; instead, I wanted to look out for what else was out there, what else was effective. The chances are that if you name a martial art, I have done it. I have studied Karate, Brazillian Jui Jitsu (BJJ), Nin Jitsu, Krav Maga, Muay Tai, a different style of Krav Maga, Shoalin Kung Fu, Boxing, Kick Boxing, S.P.E.A.R system and other reality based systems, I think there are a couple more in there, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head.

I have always found that MMA, linked with Krav Maga, works very, very well, especially because, at the end of the day, MMA is still very all around. It’s stand up grappling and groundwork. With Krav Maga and its movements and ideas, they together make a very effective system. That’s why I keep doing it, the cage fights, the grappling competitions and the training.

Q: Tell Us About How You Feel Before A Competition?

A:  Good, I feel very…my heart races up! Weak, but strong at the same time… After all the Krav Maga I have done, I have trained myself to get into a very different mindset to what I have normally when I walk about my life. If I become threatened, it’s like a switch that goes off: I go into, like, a kill mode. That’s what I try and teach my students, how I feel when I get into a cage fight. I don’t think, “I am going to have a competition here”. I think, “I need to neutralise the guy in front of me. I need to finish him”.

Q: How Do You Feel After A Competition?

A: It depends if I win or lose. I haven’t lost yet, so I don’t know about that. I usually feel pretty good afterwards, pretty happy. Then again, sometimes I want to get back in and finish him because he is still walking. This, in my eyes, as a result of Krav Maga mentality, doesn’t seem right. He shouldn’t be able to get up.

Q: What Kept You Going During The Setbacks?

A:  With Krav Maga especially, the idea we try to teach our students has kept me going: the idea that you could have your arm broken, and if you need to keep fighting, with a broken arm, then that’s the position you’re in, and you don’t have a choice about it. I have had knee operations. I have torn rotator cuffs. I have had bones taken out of my hip and put back into my knee. At the end of the day I think, “If I get attacked today, and I have got to protect someone I love, then I am going to have to fight like I am now”. There is no point trying to take it too easy, but obviously training is still training, so you do have to be safe.

Q: At The Beginning Of Your Career, Who Were The Most Supportive People Around You At The Time?

A: My two best friends, Ben and Alex, were the most supportive. I started Krav Maga with them, so naturally having two of your best mates do it, they were people I spent all my time with going to the classes. We kind of made each other go. I was also very good friends with the biology teacher, and seeing him in lessons, as well, made me want to go more to Krav Maga. He would say, “Come on! Come
down!”

Q: Where Does YourDrive And Passion Come From?

A: My drive is the idea that it is something that I am good at and also that any day and at any moment, I could be fighting for my life. I don’t want to be caught off guard. I am not ready to die. I love my life.

Q: Do You Believe In A Higher Power?

A: No, not really. That is a very different question. I don’t believe in a god, but the idea that something could be out there…yeah, fine, but I am not religious.

Q: Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

A: It’s just from myself. I have always wanted to do it for me. I never wanted to do anything in my life related to my martial arts just to prove something to someone else or for someone else; I will only do it if I want to. Because I am a driven and motivated person, I have always achieved my goals. I said I would have a cage fight, and I have had one. Now I am training for another one. I will do it because I want to. People don’t force me to do things that I don’t want to because it is not a good mentality through which to live your life.

Q: What Do You Think Are The Most Important Elements To Being Successful?

A: Drive. As long as you’re driven to do it, and you put your mind towards it. Go for it. Give it a go. There is nothing stopping you. If you want something to stop you, you’ll come up with the excuse. If you want to do it, you’ll come up with a way to do it.

Q: What Are Your Future Plans?

A: : At the moment, I plan to pass my driving test and try to teach Krav for as long as possible, even try and get it to be a bit bigger in the area. Since I seem to have a very good business going on at the moment, I am going to try and improve on that.

Interview By Oliver J R Cooper

I had seen Raphael in a few pictures, but this didn’t fill my mind with too many impressions. As I had met three martial artists already, I was curious as to what this Krav Maga instructor would be like. 

When I met Raphael, I could see that he was younger than the rest of the martial artists I had interviewed. During the interview, however, I saw someone who was direct, confident, passionate and self-motivated. I sensed that he likes to be occupied and that to do nothing would simply frustrate him. There was also a‘rawness’ to his nature and a great desire to move forward in his life.

I would say that the success he already has in his life, coupled with the mentality that he has, will lead to greater and bigger successes for Raphael.

Views From Raphael Yadgaroff

Firstly, I would like to thank Oliver for taking the time to interview me. Oliver is a very good at conducting interviews. His laid back approach and calm attitude puts you at ease and allows you to just answer the questions without worrying about how you sound. I wish him great success in the future.

One of the first dance songs I ever heard was ‘It’s My Turn’ by Angelic. The artist, however, was a pseudonym for two people: Amanda O'Riordan (Judge Jules’s wife) and someone I came to know as Darren Tate. Over the following years, I continued to hear many of Darren’s songs, and these were often through various pseudonyms.

Two of such aliases were Jurgen Vries and DT8. I remember listening to the radio when the Song ‘The Theme’ came on, and I was shocked upon hearing that it was actually produced by Darren Tate. Judging by the name of the song, it sounded like a German or Dutch production, and its style was nothing like his other songs.

I have greatly appreciated listening to Darren’s songs over the years, and his musical diversity means that his songs can just as easily be found in a club as they can on a chill-out CD, all without being remixed. With his recent foray into film scores, his productions can now even be found on films.

Throughout the time Darren has been producing music, he has managed to consistently create high quality songs, as well as to remain flexible with his own sound. Furthermore, I would say that this ability to adapt and flow with the musical times is one of the reasons why Darren has remained one of the top producers in the world.

After decades of not only hearing Darren’s music, but also enjoying it, Darren was certainly one of the first people to come to mind for Interviews With Successful People. In 2006, I was fortunate enough to connect with Darren via the Internet and ask for his advice on producing music, an encounter which led me to believe he would be open to me conducting an interview.

Biography

Darren Tate is a classically trained composer and record producer born in London, England. From an early age, Darren studied piano and clarinet to an advanced level and later in life trained in orchestration and composition under leading British composer Phillip Venables.

Darren's first major success came with the dance project entitled “Angelic” back in 2000 with BBC Radio 1's Judge Jules. Since then, he has written and produced over a dozen top 40 singles in the UK alone and worked with many leading international writers and artists across the globe, including the likes of Charlotte Church, Boy George, Gavin Rossdale, Mory Kante, Roxanne Wilde, Amanda O'Riordan, My Digital Enemy, Estelle, Lisa Scott Lee, Shena McSwee, Kate Ryan, Above & Beyond, Lee John, Pippa Fulton, Ayumi Hamasaki, Andrew Britton, Mike Koglin, Victoria Horn, Rob Davis and many others. Darren's music has also appeared in numerous films, in video games and on television worldwide, such as the film Brothers (2002), the Darren Star production The Street, and in major advertising campaigns and on major networks across the world (MTV Europe, FTL, ITV and the BBC). His music has also appeared in leading video games like in Electronic Arts’ FIFA 2006 and for Sony's Playstation Eye. He has been personally featured numerous times in leading journals pertaining to music production including Sound on Sound, Future Music, Computer Music and Keyboard, thanks to his cutting-edge production techniques. On the stage Darren has worked in the West End and across the UK. Production credits include Shame, The Musical at Saddlers Wells in 1995 (Musical Director, Orchestration & Arrangements), and the Scottish Premier of Chess, The Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe (Musical Director). Darren also gained a distinguished musician award by the IBLA foundation for his work “Dark Skies” with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.

Additionally, Darren has an ever-growing reputation as one of the world’s premiere DJs, and he has performed alongside globally recognised actsl like Tiesto, Amin Van Buuren, Paul Van Dyk, Pete Tong, Ferry Corsten and many more. As well as headlining major international events and touring across the globe, he also finds time to host the monthly ‘Mondo Sessions' which is internationally syndicated across radio station networks from Ministry of Sound Radio, DI.FM, ETN, AH.FM, Slink FM, Rise FM to Fresh FM. On top of all these accomplishments, he has received rave reviews for his mix duties on the albums Beyond Euphoria (MOS), Trance Republic (with John Askew and Agnelli & Nelson) and the hugely popular Mondo Sessions series (co-mixed by Mike Koglin and Dale Corderoy).

Interview

Q: How Did Your Life Begin?

A: Well, I was born and raised in London. My mother separated from my dad. He left when I was quite young. I started doing music because of my great grandfather. Because I used to mess around with his piano, he probably thought, ‘god let’s get him some lessons because I can’t bear to listen to him hit just the thing’. Then I went off to boarding school for ten years, and then I went off to university. So that’s pretty much my background, and through all that time I was studying music.

Q: Your Background Is In Classical Music, What Attracted You To Classical Music In Your Younger Years?

A: Classical music was kind of the foundation to my learning about music, because I learnt through playing instruments. Taking the classical approach is the traditional approach to learning those instruments. So piano, clarinet and guitar are three instruments I learned classically in the first instance. Classical music is fundamentally the root of all music, and you see that through the development of various established classical names: how music progressed through Mozart, sonata allegro form, and then Beethoven, Bach. You can see the development of music, and it’s the building blocks. Knowing about those building blocks is quit an important part—understanding how that works—because it gives you a wider understanding of the tools that went into making music. That helps you then express yourself later on when it comes to your own ideas.

Q: What Motivated You To Become A DJ?

A: DJing was really a side line to what I did and respect to the fact that I was first, and foremost, a composer and record producer. It was a thing wasn’t it? A lot of producers would try their hands at DJing because it was part of the branding exercise. I did it, and I enjoyed it a lot, and then I started professionally doing it every weekend for years and years and years. I developed my skills over the time, and it became another thing: another entity of expressing myself musically.

Q: Tell Us About How You Feel The Moment Before You DJ?

A: When I started I used to be nervous, but that was a long time ago. Now I just like to get on there and do it basically. It’s one of those things. I don’t like hanging around clubs before. I don’t mind hanging around them afterwards, but beforehand I like to get up there and do the job.

Q: How Would You Describe The Experience Of DJing In Front Of Thousands Of People?

A: Well, when I first did it, it was a little daunting, but it’s like anything. You just get used to it. I have played in front of huge amounts of people. I do remember one of my earliest gigs, back in the days when we were all playing vinyl, and looking at the little needle. Watching, like, a hundred thousand people in front of me and thinking, ‘If this stupid thing goes wrong, there’s going to be a lot of people there, not knowing what to do with themselves’. But it’s just something you get used to. It’s good, but it’s not always the best thing when you play in front of a huge audience. Sometimes it’s intimate crowds that provide the more satisfying response.

Q: How Did You Get Into Producing Dance Music?

A: When I was at university, I had a friend who was quite into dance music. He listened to Pete Tong and Radio One. He would bring ‘round cassettes with shows and stuff, and he kind of got me into the sound. The thing is, of course, trance happened, and I liked the fact that it kind of combined those simple principles of classical music.  It was a very uplifting form of music, and I enjoyed the challenges involved in writing that kind of music at the time. But I was doing everything! I wasn’t just doing trance; I was doing drum and bass, jungle and everything back in the day. I just became established through the trance acts that I had back in the late nineties/early two thousands.

Q: When You Produce A Song, What Is Your First Step?

A: I would say that there isn’t always an exact first step. Most of the time these days, I will have a concept in mind before I attack it.  So, I will have… Say, for example: I did one recently called ‘Kiss My Trombone’, which is under one of my house pseudonyms (8 Ball). By the title, you can derive at least what musical element will be in the song. I will tend to just conceptualize early on the style of the music—the ideas that I want to have going into it. Then I will start exploring musical ideas, in terms of the development of the actual tonality of the music. That’s what I will start doing on the keyboard, but I will have an idea to begin with.

Q: How Did You Go About Getting Your First Song Signed?

A: I was doing music for many years, and I was working full time as well. It was a struggle. It was very frustrating because I knew I had good music, but I was dealing with this one guy in the business who kept knocking me back, and I took that as the ‘be and end it’ response. Then one day I went and saw him again, and I played him this track, under the name of Angelic. Again, he knocked me back, but he left it there and played it to this guy called Kevin Parkinson, who was a relatively unknown manager. He [Parkinson] couldn’t wait to get out of there with it.  He phoned me up the next day and went, ‘We have got to put this record out’ and this and that… and I will give him credit because he saw the potential. It’s funny; had I met him earlier, things might have been different. The first major signing for me was, funnily enough, under the Angelic name. It was ‘It’s My Turn’, and that was with Serious. There is a whole story behind that I won’t go into, but that was the first major step for me.

Q: In 2009 You Were Given A Special Mention And A Distinguished Musician Award By The IBLA Foundation For Your Classical Work "Dark Skies". What Did This Mean To You?

A: It was good to be recognised for something significant which was purely classical, rather than the dance and the electronic productions stuff that I have been known for before. In 2007, when I went back to school, I started re-studying classical music with a very good teacher called Philip Venables (‘slash composer’, I should say). I spent years doing advanced orchestration, recording orchestras. The combination of that and winning the awards and all of that, kind of then lead onto the next stage: film composition, which is something I have been doing a lot of recently.

Q: In The Last Few Years You Have Started Scoring Films. How Did This Come About?

A: The main driving force behind me getting into the films was that I got contacted. I did a computer music magazine front cover DVD/CD kind of thing, where they interviewed me and saw me build a track.  Also, there was an American called Kenneth Lampl, who is a genius professional composer who studies at the Juilliard School in New York. He has done stuff with John Williams and has done 35 odd film scores. He contacted me and said, ‘Would you be interested in doing some work on something for a film I’m doing?’ because he was a fan on the back of seeing this magazine tutorial. I said, ‘How about I build this website and we start developing a bigger relationship than that, and I can bring in certain things that you might not be able to and vice versa?’ That was really how it started off and kicked off this thing Brainstorm Music (www.brainstormmusic.net). Since then, we have just been doing lots of scores. I mean, there’s stuff coming in all over the place. It’s been great.

Q: You Have Produced Many Different Styles Of Music, Including House, Trance and Classical. Where Does Your Creativity Come From?

A: I think that everyone is different. For me, I just have a love for writing music. I mean, It’s my passion. It always has been. I used to be the kid that didn’t practice piano like he should; he went to music rooms and just started playing whatever he wanted and making his own music. I also hijacked my own piano lessons, because my piano teacher was a writer/composer himself. Some people just have it. Some people are technical musicians and can play brilliantly, but not have a passion for that. My passion is to write. I get an emotional stimulus from writing music and listening to music. So that’s my driving force.

Q:  At The Beginning Of Your Career, Who Were The Most Supportive People Around You At The Time?

A: From a dance perspective, my family have always been supportive in regards to my development (as I said, Kevin Parkinson could recognise what I could do), which was great.  Friends were always very encouraging. Judge Jules saw the potential in that first record I did, and he helped establish the act when we signed it to Serious. So there’ve been different people along the way. Then I have had management over time. I would say there have been people there along the way who have helped.

Q:  What Has Kept You Going When You Have Experienced Setbacks?

A: It comes back down to the drive. I love writing music, but part of that is you have to accept that sometimes things don’t work out to plan: records don’t necessarily hit the spot you think they’re going to and albums can fall apart. Generally speaking, most of the music I have done has been positively received over my life, but you always get critics. Sometimes it can be for malicious reasons, sometimes people don’t like things. At the end of the day, that’s just part of the parcel. That’s the nature of the business, but I love doing what I do. That’s why I will keep doing it and not worry about them.

Q:  Where Does Your Drive And Passion Come From?

A: My drive and passion comes form the fact I love doing what I do. If you like writing music and you have a drive to do it, then you’re passionate about it. I’m passionate about being involved in the music business. Doing films right now is great for me, because I get to do so many different things. It’s all a challenge, and I love the new challenge. Experiencing that new challenge and taking it on and fulfilling it is great. Along the way, there are other things too. The first time I recorded with a symphony orchestra was an experience, and it was amazing. I went to a film premier last week, and the film I was involved with won best film at this prestigious London film festival. Stuff like that. There is always these wonderful, new highlights that happen, and so that helps. All of those things help as well.

Q: Do You Believe In A Higher Power?

A: I believe that… it’s such an incredibly hard question there. I like to think that there was a higher power and a greater purpose, or whatever we postulate as the start of the universe…the big bang. As humans, we need to try and validate that. I definitely think there is something to be said for good energy and good karma. I think that there is a ‘higher power’ quality to that aspect of humanity, but I wouldn’t say I’m specific to a deity. I’d like to believe that there is a higher power or something, definitely. I certainly hope so.

Q: Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

A: My inspiration comes from everywhere. Whenever I hear things I like, I’m inspired. There is not one specific artist that has inspired me; there are lots. I mean, let’s face it, if we’re doing a dance record, it’s not like it’s the first time it’s been done. So somewhere along the line, I must have been inspired to do this. I would say it’s an ‘across the board’ thing. Great, moving music, to me, is inspirational. Composers like Ravel and Debussy, the impressionists and then you have people like Richard Strauss… amazing composers. If ever, there is a greater source of inspiration in terms of what we can achieve musically.

You saw the development of music over that time period and how, for that time, people were trying to move it forward. That’s what they did when they had the technology. There was this period where the music that was being written was so amazing, and so, for me, that’s why I’m now enjoying doing the film stuff, because I’m be able to re-explore all of that, again. It’s not so easy to do with something like dance music. Because, of course, it’s relatively simple, not necessarily to produce—the production side can be quite complicated—but in terms of the sonic developments; It’s common times 4/4. The chordal motions are relatively simple. You’re talking mainly, most of the time, a four-chord progression.

Q: What Do You Think Are The Most Important Elements To Being Successful?

A: You have to believe in yourself. I think you have to be talented, and I think you have to have a degree of business acumen. You really need all of that, and that’s the key. And as you have said before in your previous question, you need to be driven. So: passionate, driven, business acumen, and talent. Those are the key things.

Q: What Are Your Future Plans?

A: Well I have got a lot of things in the pipeline now. I have got about four films I am currently scoring or about to score. I am continuing to develop that relationship, and I’m looking forward to taking on bigger and better projects all the time. I am still doing dance records and other styles, from house to even a trance album (Horizons 3). So I am still doing those records under different names, and I am continuing to put them out. We’re also developing the record label Mondo (www.mondorecords.com). We have a new sub-brand Mondolicious (www.mondolicious.com) on the house side. Primarily those things I would say right now.

Interview by Oliver J R Cooper

When it came to meeting Darren, I had no idea what to expect, and the only thing I had to go by was his music and what I had read about him. This did fill my mind with some ideas, of course, and I was open to meeting the man behind the music. Upon meeting him, I could soon see that he was down to earth, well spoken and clearly very intelligent.

In order to make it in any area of the music industry, one has to be able to handle setbacks, and Darren is an example of this. He has experienced the ups and downs. As he says, he is doing what he loves. This is one of the reasons I believe he has achieved the success he has, in addition to the fact that he is very good at what he does, because if he was doing what he did for anyone apart from himself, it is unlikely that he would have kept going through the challenging times.

The sense I got was that Darren’s heart lies in composing music for films, and this is where his focus will be for many years to come. Perhaps, his producing all the other types of music has created the opportunity for scoring films. I have been inspired by this interview, and I am grateful for having the opportunity to have met Darren.

Views from Darren Tate

It was a pleasure to meet Oliver and it made for a pleasant change not just being asked questions about what it was like to work with Charlotte Church! He seems like a great guy and wish him all the best in his future journalistic endeavours.

Last year I heard about a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter known as Jack Magee that lived in the area and was intrigued to hear more about this man and his sport. Starting the column Interviews with successful people provided the perfect outlet for me to be able to make contact with Mr Magee and find out more about both him and the sport which has recently become so successful.

Biography

Jack Magee is a 7-2-0-1, professional mixed martial artist. He is the Lightweight shock n awe British champion and he has a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu jitsu. Much of his success is attributed to a period of training he underwent in Brazil. He also trained in Muay Thai in Thailand. On the 15 of September jack will be competing at the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA) at Wembley

Q: How Did Your Life Begin?

A: I have lived local to New Romney my whole life apart from travelling; I grew up in new Romney with two brothers and one sister. When we were younger we always used to wrestle and grapple. I joined a few WWF clubs as it was the closest thing we could do,

I also used to do trampolining, gymnastics and ballet which kept me supple and fit, but as I got older theses classes became harder to find.

My older brother travelled and got me into Brazilian ju jitsu. He told me to stop wasting my life away and do something with it. He paid for my 1st month’s membership so I would train and after that I fell in love with the sport.

Q: What Motivated You To Study Martial Arts?

A: Pride, my older brother and younger brother got me into it as well. As I said before, we used to always wrestle each other but after they started BJJ it became more one sided and I thought I need to learn this. I tried karate as a child, bit i hated it as there was too much mystery. I tried this, but I wanted to see it work, so i was eager to get in the cage and see what works.

Q: Why Brazilian Jujitsu?

A: It is the smoothest art of all, it has no made up aura of killing a man with one punch or taking on 10 guys, it is what it is. You take your opponent down, you get in a dominant position and you force them to submit

Q: Why Muay Thai?

A: With the Muay Thai, it’s more of a fear thing I have to do it until I’m not scared anymore; Mau Thai is really brutal martial art. I remember watching people open up gashes and thinking I would never want to do that and 3 years later I was living in Thailand fighting locals

Q: How Did You Get Into Shock N Awe

A: Shock N Awe is a promotion and I started fighting in Brighton and one of the guys that went there was running the show. Since I have come back from Brazil lots of guys won’t fight me. This guy Brian Adams said he will get me on the show and give me a title shot. The good thing about that is that by being the champion, more people want to fight you.

Q: What Kept You Going During The Times Of Struggle And Loss?

A: I remember being in brazil and thinking ‘I want to go home, I have no money, nothing to eat and I am miles away from where I grew up’ . Then I thought ‘I have nothing too loose, nobody to judge me and a new start’, so I just knuckled down and trained my ass off. I ignored all distractions and surrounded myself with good positive people, in Brazil one of the most positive and motivational people I met was Dennis Asche. He kept me going in good times and bad and even now when things are tough I think about what he used to say.

Q: At The Beginning Of Your Career, Who Were The Most Supportive People Around You At The Time?

A: I would say my brothers, my mum and dad. There was also sol Gilbert, my first MMA coach; my Ju Jitsu coach didn’t want me in cage fights they wanted me to become very good at BJJ 1st then go over to MMA. But sol knew that’s what I wanted to do and trained me up and looked after me.

Q: Tell Us About How You Feel Before A Competition?

A: Usually I’m quiet full of energy, bit anxious. The nervous don’t hit me until I’m getting my hands wrapped. You have seen videos but you’re not sure how he will be. Bit of a gamble. The Same buzz a gambler would get when they’re putting their money on something. I’m putting everything I know in that cage to win

Q: How Do You Feel After A Competition?

A: That Depends on how it went, but usually you have done the hard work, in the eight weeks or three months coming up to the fight, after the fight win or lose blow out. I like to relax and to spend some time with the family. I enjoy training after the fight, as I have so much more time to work and I can train happy. When it is closer to the competition it’s more serious and everyone is training harder. It’s nice after the competition because you feel a lot of weight is of your shoulders

Q: Where Does Your Drive And Passion Come From?

A: I have always had a goal to open a gym and to bring people into it, you have to show people that it’s working, and you have to keep competing. I lost my 1st fight and after that I have never wanted that feeling again, I used to fight to look tough and pull girls, now I fight to show people the fighting style at my gym.

Q: Do You Believe In A Higher Power?

A: I’m quite religious, My dad was catholic, mums Church of England, got married as Muslims in Kashmir. When I was out in Brazil travelling, I needed something to keep me going, you don’t have your mates to tell you to pull your shit together. So I turned to Jesus and remembered his stories and studied the bible and became catholic at 21.

I believe there is a lot of power in faith and people putting faith in you. That why the idea of the church interests me and having my team at mad hatters makes me want to fifth harder.

Q: Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

A: I have never looked up to any one and I have never had any idols either. I just wanted to better myself and push myself that little bit more. When I came back from Brazil a year ago, I had nothing, not even a penny, and now I have this place. I constantly want to get it better.

When we started there was nothing, now there is a lot going on in the amateur circuit. I don’t like settling want; I always want to do something else, to put me out of my comfort zone. They say a ship is safe in the harbour but that’s not what it was made for; I think too many people live life too close to the safety zone.

Q: What Do You Think Is The Most Important Elements To Being Successful?

A: I have always tried to stay small for as long as I can, not try to get ahead of myself and build a solid base. Not cheat myself or settle for second best. But I don’t think I’m successful until I have bought a child into the world and raised him, as I think this is the goal of the human race everything else is just fun.

Q: What Are Your Future Plans?

A: This year has been about the grappling, I broke my hand before my last fight and still fought as I believe in my grappling enough not to have to use boxing in MMA. I have been doing a lot of wrestling and grappling. This year I want to do more competitions. I plan to win the English open again this year, by the end of the year I plan to do some more MMA fights and keep my club busy and with a good vibe at www.kentbjj.com .

For many years, I have seen the dedication and the passion that Mark Simmons has towards taekwondo, I remember having a conversation with him many years ago and it became clear that this was someone who knew what he wanted to do and where he was going, there was a certainty about him.

When I began Interviews With Successful People I thought he would be an ideal candidate to interview.  I was intrigued by what was going on in his mind, where did his drive and passion come from? Who were the people he modelled and learned from?

Biography

Mark Simmons began training in Taekwondo from a young age and this started in Kent.  His home club is with Kent Taekwondo Schools in Sellindge and Folkestone. When he moved to Manchester to begin university, he joined ultimate taekwondo and trained with Master Pete Johnson under grandmaster T.W.Shin.

He started competing in national tournaments at the age of 18 and for the next 5 years dedicated himself to training and competing. During this time he won many medals, including; a Gold in the Scottish cup in 2004 and silver in the London open during the same year. Due to injury, Mark had to retire from competitive fighting and now coaches the university of Kent Taekwondo team.

Mark then began stand up comedy in 2008 and has since reached 6 national new act competition finals, and now works on the Professions stand up comedy circuit.

•What Motivated You To Study Martial Arts?

I started Taekwondo when I was 6 years old because my Father trained and he would take me to the junior class before his. He then went on to become an instructor so naturally encouraged me to train.

When I was about 12 other hobbies and distractions took over and I took a few year off of taekwondo. I think also because it wasn’t originally my choice to do taekwondo and wasn’t sure it was what I really wanted to do.

It was when I was 15 I decided to come back to Taekwondo and instantly enjoyed the training a lot more than before because I could get more involved in the physical fighting aspects as I was bigger and stronger and could be more effective. Fighting was instantly my main focus out of all the activities within Taekwondo.

•Why Taekwondo?

Obviously the reason I started Taekwondo was because it was the choice of my father. He chose Taekwondo because he was impressed with the effectiveness of the kicking techniques being more powerful than the other martial arts at the time. He also had a very good instructor; which is one of the most important things when learning an art such as this.

•What Kept You Going During The Times Of Struggle And Loss?

Knowing that I was learning from these situations kept me motivated. If I was being beat, I would work out why this was and then add these skills to my arsenal.

• At The Beginning Of Your Career, Who Were The Most Supportive People Around You At The Time?

My father has always been very supportive of my Taekwondo. We would have extra one to one sessions whenever I wanted it and would keep me motivated all the way through these sessions. My brother also trains and especially at the beginning of my competitive training, we would train together a lot and push each other to our limits so we would get the most out of each training session. I think sibling rivalry was also important, as we were always at the same level wanting to be better than the other.

• Tell Us About How You Feel Before A Competition?

I always felt very nervous, this feeling never changed no matter how experienced I was. I think this is a lot to do with the structure of tournament competition, in that, until the day, you don’t know who you’re going to be fighting and therefore can’t make any preparation. In these open national competitions you could be fighting anything from an average club fighter to a top international fighter.

  • How Do You Feel After A Competition?

After competition I would always beat myself up no matter what the result. I would always go over any mistakes I made and what I could do better over and over again in my mind. If I lost I would want to work out where I went wrong and if I won I would be thinking about how I could win more convincingly.

• Where Does Your Drive And Passion Come From?

It comes from wanting to be the best. This is the case in everything I do, I can’t help it. If I didn’t have this feeling burning inside I wouldn’t bother doing it. I can’t really do anything just for the sake of doing it. There always needs to be a goal I’m trying to reach.

• Do You Believe In A Higher Power?

Agnostic

• Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

My inspiration came from the people around me, the better fighters and wanting to be like and better than them.

• Why Did You Have To Stop Competing?

A repetitive foot injury became too much of a frustration. This is a bad injury for a Taekwondo player as this is the main weapon in Taekwondo competition fighting. I would train hard for three months before a competition and then catch an elbow with my foot early on in the first fight. And this would either weaken me or cause me to stop fighting. Even if I won I wouldn’t be able to progress because the foot would swell.

• How Did You Get Into Comedy?

I started stand up comedy around the same time as I stopped competing. I didn’t ever make the link between the two before, but I guess I needed a new goal and re-directed my focus and obsession to comedy. I show the same personality traits when doing comedy as I did in Taekwondo competition, especially the nerves before a gig and beating myself up and analysis afterwards.

• What Do You Think Is The Most Important Elements To Being Successful?

You need to be driven and you need to REALLY want it, enough so that you dedicate everything toward that goal. And you need to be willing to sacrifice other things in your life to reach it.

You must stay focused and set yourselves short term goals leading to the ultimate goal and it’s important to regularly re-evaluate these goals.

• What Are Your Future Plans?

I will continue teaching taekwondo and pass on my knowledge and hopefully encourage others to achieve further than I could myself. My main focus will be on stand up comedy, to keep progressing and become a top comedy circuit act.

Barry teaches in Dover, Canterbury and Ramsgate. From september he will be teaching adult education classes in Canterbury and Ashford.

Born in Windsor on August 9th 1970: Barry moved to Kent in 1980, he left school in 1987 and studied a City & Guilds in Engineering. He then worked as an Engineer until 1998.

Barry started his Martial arts training in 1993 studying Tai Chi, Kung Fu and Kickboxing and attended various National competitions, winning many. In 1999 he decided to concentrate on competitive Tai Chi; as he had a natural talent and ability and his passion for this lead to him leaving his job to become a self employed martial arts coach. 
 
In the next three years he won silver and bronze medals and also won the hand forms, push hands and sword categories at the B.C.C.M.A (British Council for Chinese martial Arts) national championships in 2003. Since then he has kept the title more or less every year he has entered. 

In 2010 he was asked by his teacher; former world medallist Simon Watson to be a member of the British Team. In 2011-2012 Barry won 5 silvers at the European open, 3 gold’s and a silver at the B.C.C.M.A British Championships, 2 gold’s and 3 silvers at the British Open championships, Gold and bronze medal at the European championships and finished the year winning best athlete and every gold at the Dutch open.

Barry has studied the four most popular family styles of Tai Chi - Yang, Chen, Wu, Sun and various weapons, push hands, Chi gong and Dao Yin; which is a series of Chi Gong exercises specifically for different parts of the body. There are sets for the heart, lungs, kidneys as well as routines for general well being.
 
• How Did Your Life Begin?

After moving around a lot as a child, we settled in Margate, from there I left school and trained to be an engineer.  I discovered martial arts in my early twenties. 

•What Motivated You To Study Martial Arts?

I sensed something was missing, but I didn’t know what it was. I was doing things in life, but didn’t have a path or a direction and I didn’t know where I was going, but I didn’t want to stand still and live a standard life. It wasn’t enough for me. I knew there was something more out there.

•Why Kung Fu?

It looked different and it had more to it than other martial arts around, more depth. It is more real: I was also attracted to the mysticism and spiritual side of kung fu.

• Why Tai Chi?  

Not knowing what tai chi was,  I joined in on a class. I Found that I could pick it up quite quickly and soon found
that I was overtaking people that had done it a lot longer. I was told that I had a natural ability with Tai chi.

•What Kept You Going During The Times Of Struggle And Loss?

Partly due to: enjoyment, gritty determination and belief in myself. When you look at things you can’t do; if you face them, they get closer. You just do it. A black belt is just a white belt that has never given up. Sometimes being told no is a big motivation, if someone says to you can’t do it, sometimes it motivates you to do it.
 
• At The Beginning Of Your Career, Who Were The Most Supportive People Around You At The Time?

Some people were supportive and some who I thought were friends were quite blunt and would put me down, you will never get a black belt or you will never get into the splits, etc. surprising really, but I was positive about things and ignored their comments.
 
• Tell Us About How You Feel Before A Competition?

Having doubt, but no doubt, as the feeling of doubt is present, but you’re not always too sure who else is there and if they have trained harder. When I get to the competition I have no doubt that I’m going to come away with a medal. Usually I train more hours and in the correct manner. And I have trained harder and in the best way; with the best teachers. 100 percent commitment.

• How Do You Feel After A Competition?

Feeling that I have reached to a standard, but I don’t feel that this is the end and that I have made it. Straight away I feel good, but nothing else. I am not saying it means nothing, to another it might mean a vast amount, but to me it’s just something I do.

• Where Does Your Drive And Passion Come From?

My mind is creative, but it is only recently that I have understood that it is, from doing certain things that are creative, carving, photography, music, salsa, dancing and of course martial arts.  My drive comes from my youth, as a child I didn’t value myself and maybe in some ways I have just recently been coming to terms’ with that as well. The older I get the more I understand myself and other people. By understanding yourself, you have more of an understanding of how other people are, understanding what motivates me, I understand what motivates other people.

• Do You Believe In A Higher Power?

Not really, I like to believe in myself. The morals and philosophies I read generally have a religious base. However, I just think that the morals and philosophies are more important than a god like figure. And I try to mould that into my way of thinking and my way of running my life. I think the higher power is within everybody; I think everyone can be a god.

• Where Does Your Inspiration Come From?

My inspiration comes from some of my teachers, Simon Watson my Tai Chi teacher as he has such a passion for the internal arts; Professor Li Deyin who seems to have more energy than most people half his age and is so open with his knowledge. Master Wang Yanji for his skill in push hands and the fighting side of Tai Chi and Xingyi. Ian Morrison who has been training all his life has got lots of experience from his time on the doors, in the army and also training different styles of martial arts, real mixed martial arts.

It also comes from people facing adversity and them rising above it, going against the odds, being that one in a million or standing out of the crowd against all other opinions and standing up for what you believe in even if it brings your downfall.

 • What Do You Think Is The Most Important Elements To Being Successful?

Determination and commitment: the determination to not give up and the commitment to practice. And also the discipline to know when not to practice. Eating and training in the correct ways and the correct amounts. Understanding that most of your practice you will do alone.

• What Are Your Future Plans?

None, I just live for the present but have to plan to achieve things. I would like to enter a world championship and then train my guys to do that also.