Scott Bateman Interview - Obsession
Author: Liz Charles
Monday, January 9, 2006
Moving to Sydney at the end of 1999, Scott's attention was turned to an exploding trance scene which was producing some amazing parties and brilliant music. With techno difficult to find in record stores at that time, and luxuries like online record shopping non-existent, he soon found himself playing less techno and started his move to trance.
In 2000 Scott started running his own warehouse parties with a friend. These parties were a great success although after 9/11 the sky rocketing cost of public liability insurance meant they had to come to an end.
Scott relocated to Melbourne in 2002 and found success with the 5AM Crew in mid-2004 when they agreed to book him for their trance parties. Since then, Scott's popularity has risen throughout the Melbourne trance community making him one of the most talented and respected up-and-coming DJs being booked for some of Melbourne's biggest parties such as God's Kitchen and Summadayze.
With the support of Room 680, Scott has been given the opportunity to run Obssession, a club night with first-class production showcasing Melbourne's most talented DJs across a number of genres, with a main room focus on trance.
Scott was more than happy to get together and discuss what he has been up to, the music he loves and his faith in its survival.
How would you describe the style of trance you play-
Chunky, melodic and driving music that makes you dance! I don't like too many big synthy breakdowns or vocals too often; I think they lose their impact and become cheesy when it's just one after the other for a couple of hours so I like to build into them with more minimal tracks with a lot of percussion.
If you were required to use an alias to DJ what name would you use-
Hahaha! Oh god I don't know! I have never understood the reasoning behind some of the names you see out there; maybe if I'll start getting paid more if I make my name sound more Dutch like "Scotten Buutenman" What do you think-
At a time when the music scene is dominated by house and electro making trance gigs a little slim what is it that keeps you loyal to the genre-
Some of the electro out at the moment is pretty cool but I think it is a bit of a phase. House has always been and always will be a really strong genre because it's so accessible to the broader market. I don't DJ for a living though; I do it because I love it and love the feeling of making somebody's night when you play well. I'd rather play fewer gigs and really love what I'm doing then play every week with music I don't like.
You recently played the Summadayze Festival and trance after party. What did it mean to you to crack Melbourne's biggest party-
It was absolutely awesome! When you have been playing for a few years you often wonder if or when you will ever get a shot at something like that so it's a really rewarding feeling to finally be able to. Future Entertainment has been really good to me from the start though. I sent Mark James a promo CD in 2004 and he put me on for Gods Kitchen that year without having met me which totally blew me away because I really didn't even expect a response at all given a lot of the rubbish people in the scene talk at times.
What's your biggest prediction for 2006-
Producers: MIDOR and Sander Van Doorn all the way!
Trance worldwide: I think it will get back on its feet towards the end of 2006.
Locally: The "Trance Tribe" crew in Sydney are doing an amazing job both with their events and their label, and hopefully what we are doing with "Obsession" in Melbourne will take off to!
Name three DJ's in any genre that you believe have the right idea about music and how it should be played Tags