Bad-Boy Thomas Trouble speaks to i:Vibes about hedonism, sex, music, drugs, MY future job prospects in view which may shock, but shows that the industry still has its bout of down to earth guys.

i:Vibes Hi Thomas, could you give us a brief intro as to what you're about?

Thomas: Hedonism, for the most part, though I rarely get the time to be a bad boy as much as I would like to these days. The days of sex, drugs and rock n roll aren't as plentiful as they used to be and I often find myself stepping backand saying to myself "Thomas, you should be getting fucked up a little bit more, remember life is short." I worry about work becoming more important than fun and I strive to not let this happen.

I also like to go against the grain and will usually side with the underdog whether he is right or wrong.

i:Vibes Where did your name happen to originate from?

Thomas: Come and hang out with me for a few days and you'll find out.....but don't forget to put some bail money aside.

i:Vibes Since starting the Trance and Jungle Factory back in 1997, you were signed to Blutonium Records, Germany; How did this come to be?

Thomas: I was trying to licence a track for a CD compilation around 97 and I contacted the label. After meeting Blutonium label boss Dirk Adamiak (AKA Session One / Blutonium Boy) we partied a bit and played together here in the USA and in Europe. We had a love/hate relationship which was always love in the end. He could be a real asshole at times, just like me, so we had something in common - intercontinental assholeness!

One thing that always struck me about Dirk though was his amazing capacity for hard work, I admired him for this at the same time thinking "fuck, I never want to be like that". He has got to be the hardest working label boss in the industry and I knew he would take the label places. We both got on a mission and here we are with business up 80% on last year - and last year was a good year!

i:Vibes How has your production style changed since you began several years ago on your own imprint?

Thomas: There is no set formula here except to stay one step ahead of the game. In general though it has remained trance, hard with a unique edge and no "no cheese please Denise" It is a team effort with Dirk, Le Brisc, Michael Fusseder, DJ Neal etc and these guys are really making waves today. I am also producing house with Paul Grogan from Los Angeles. This is a style I love also and I play it a lot in the clubs but hard trance is mainly what I do and while the style of each track is different it is still hard trance.

i:Vibes What should we be expecting from you from a production end after your recent collaboration with Blutonium Boy and the quality "Go Burn a Fatty Ass"

Thomas: So far that track has been the second most successful after “Echoes" so you will see a lot more collaborations between me and Blutonium Boy in the future. Dirk is perhaps more open-minded than me, his style is across the board but he is also getting into the hardstyle in a big way. America's biggest distributor of trance, Majestic Distribution, recently wrote "Thomas Trouble and Blutonium Boy are responsible for drastically changing the face of trance as we know it while keeping it dance friendly and without cheese" . This was the greatest compliment I have ever had apart from this (obviously inexperienced) chick who once told me I was hung like a horse - I denied nothing.

i:Vibes Are there plans for you to develop your DJing towards Europe as you are more focused within USA for the time being?

Thomas: As far as my DJing goes I constantly observe what is going on out there and try to keep a sense of individuality. I was playing hard house here 5 or 6 years ago but when the big wave hit I immediately moved to a new style - trance with a good hard-house crossover. As luck would have it things are going THAT way now so maybe it's time to look forward again. At Blutonium we are inundated with labels and producers asking for remixes trying to get our sound and it is a compliment to hear that sound being referred to as "the Blutonium sound". I recently played my last local San Francisco gig due to the trance scene here being stuck in the past.

One DJ here went to Germany some years back and came back with a conjured-up claim of bringing back a new trance sub-genre (that could never be identified in terms of style or differentiation). This "genre" turns out to be nothing more than a wide ranging, across the board mish-mash of the cheesiest commercial horse-shit out there - the kind that got trance a bad name. And it’s sad to see that the young kids out here actually think this is where the rest of the world is at. I hate to see that since I believe we have the most trusting and positive kids in the world here. Now I prefer to take only my international and out-of- state gigs and hope that San Francisco comes up with some new role-models for the good of the kids.

i:Vibes Where do you see yourself in terms of production style for 2003 and what do you see as the general progression of things as it stands?

Thomas: I don't think it is a good idea to plan too far ahead with styles and genres coming and going so fast as they do these days (remember speed garage?). I
prefer to watch what's going on and stay in touch with the vibe then try to create an off-shoot of that, but in general it will still be trance and still be hard.

It's interesting to note, that your question is exactly what we will be discussing with Dirk when I go to Germany in a few weeks, you are very perceptive or what's that other word, clairvoyant. You should apply for a job on the Psychic Television Network, you know the ads they have on TV here in the states where they tell your fortune over the phone and max out your credit card for you. When they call up to have their fortune read you can say "Mahatmakevin here, within hours I can see you will have no money left on your credit card"

i:Vibes Haha, well you said it all. So how about any words of wisdom to the rest of the crowd out there?

Thomas: Get laid often, do the drugs you enjoy, laugh a lot, laugh when you should cry, be lazy when you feel like it. When people say "that's wrong" tell them to fuck off. Revel in your success but don't kill yourself trying to succeed. If you should accidentally screw up a mix give the people closest to the turn-tables a dirty look and motion for them to step back and stop bumping the tables - but don't forget to smile afterwards if you don't want them to think you are a total cunt...and don't swear, it's not nice!

i:Vibes Good talking to you Thomas!

Thomas: No problem......would you like a drag on this before you go?