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The Thrillseekers: Trance Is Not Going Away

Author: Jonty Adderley
Sunday, September 8, 2002
Leeds based producer Steve Helstrip (aka The Thrillseekers) had his first big hit in 1999 when his Ibiza anthem Synaesthesia crossed over to Britain's pop charts on the back of the explosion in trance. 3 years on, he remains at the forefront of a genre that's resolutely failed to disappear despite the best efforts of numerous magazines.

"The media mean nothing to me, I don't care what they say about trance, because what matters is the punters," Steve told Skrufff's Jonty Adderley this week.

I also DJ and I know when I play trance people really like it, even when it was a dirty word for a while in the media. It's all nonsense. Trance, ultimately means electronic music with a melody and it's never going to go away. People need a tune to sing along to and that's what I provide."

Steve's latest single Dreaming Of You (featuring vocals from Alexis) does exactly that, and is out now on Ministry offshoot Data Records.

Skrufff: Ibiza looms large on the press release for Dreaming Of You, did you make it with Ibiza in mind-

Thrillseekers: "I suppose it's quite important to have a track available out there over the summer. People are there on holiday and hopefully when they come back, they'll buy a copy, I guess that's how it works these days. I've been out there once this year and tend to go every year. Research in my job means going out clubbing so I go to Ibiza, try to soak up some of the atmosphere and recreate that when I'm home in the studio."

Skrufff: I understand you're based in York (Northern England, near Leeds), have you ever been tempted to move to London-

Thrillseekers: "I spent four years in London and four years living in Oxford, where there are a lot of producers, particularly trance producers. I'm from York originally and it was the girlfriend who brought me back here (chuckling). I always planned to come back; the plan was that when I reached thirty, I'd come back home and settle down."

Skrufff: Have you settled down-

Thrillseekers: "Well, I'm getting married at the end of September so yeah, I guess we have."

Skrufff: Is your fiancee also in the music business-

Thrillseekers: "No, she hates music. We're chalk and cheese but she keeps me 'on the rails' (disciplined/ focused). She doesn't come clubbing with me either, we've been clubbing together just twice and she hated it both times."

Skrufff: Does she like your music-

Thrillseekers: "Err, to be honest, she doesn't like music at all. Music isn't part of her life and that's good for me because I can work with music all day long then when it's time to switch off I've got something totally different to do and talk about."

Skrufff: You release lots of tracks on lots of labels, how aware are you of which ones are more commercial than others-

Thrillseekers: "Thrillseekers started off as a club project and because we had success with Synaesthesia getting into the charts, I decided to keep my more commercial productions for that. Dreaming Of Me is intended to be a commercial trance record, that's also hopefully credible at the same time. We've also got the dub mixes."

Skrufff: You're happy to still label your music as trance, despite all the media abuse the term got in recent years, how do you feel about the term-

Thrillseekers: "At the end of the day, the media mean nothing to me, I don't care what they say about trance, because what matters is the punters. I also DJ and I know when I play trance that people really like it, even if it was a dirty word for a while in the media. It's all nonsense. Trance, ultimately means electronic music with a melody and it's never going to go away. People need a tune to sing along to and that's what I do."

Skrufff: Are you still making drum & bass and techno-

Thrillseekers: "No! (laughing out loud). I think I was trying to find my style a few years ago so tried a bit of everything. Trance was the one thing I could make money out of."

Skrufff: Why did trance attract so much media h
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