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 i:Vibes recently visited one of today's fastest rising producers duo's for an extensive talk about all the aspects of producing, their upcoming tracks, thoughts about the scene and a whole lot of other interesting facts...
Moonrush consists of two people: Ron Creemers and Gaston Serpenti. Both born and raised in Holland, the two have been producing together for more than 4 years now. Their combined forces resulted in their first release called 'Risky Business' back in 2004 on Woody van Eyden's Fenology label, as well as multiple remixes for the likes of Terry Bones and Alex M.O.R.P.H. & Woody van Eyden to name just a few. A new sideproject called Minddrive was launched late 2005 on Misja Helsloot's Gesture Music label, bringing the crowd a wicked dancefloor track called 'Around You'. As you can see, they're starting to make their way into the higher regions of the trancescene now, so here's their story!
Ron: "Before I met Gaston, I was already doing lots of stuff when it comes to music, it's always been in my blood! I've done some local drive-in shows, but the real fun started when I made my first track in Screamtracker, which was a program to make tunes with back in the DOS-era. When we finished the tune, we had the nerve to go to one of the bigger local clubs and just hand over the tune to the DJ. We didn't think he'd play it, but at all of the sudden he played it in front of a packed club at 01:00 AM! It went down a storm, so he gave us some addresses of labels to contact for us to release the tune somewhere. I was about 17 years old back then, but unfortunately it didn't really work out. I honestly think that it wasn't too good a tune either, being made on a simple computer without a studio, compression etc. After this, I started concentrating on other things and didn't do anything with music for about 6 years. But at this certain day, I started getting the feel for it again. I got myself a simple computer and a very early edition of FruityLoops, but this didn't really work out. Meanwhile, I met Gaston who introduced me to Reason."
Gaston: "I was already busy doing my thing with some live synths and Cubase, all plugged into just one channel. I don't really know how I managed to do it, but that doesn't matter anymore because Ron is the one who takes care of the technical side of things now. When I met him, I gave him a copy of Reason to work with. I came by his place one night to tell him how things worked, but he already kind of figured it out so we immediately made our very first record. It was called 'Realms', and we both agreed producing together worked out quite neatly. I had already sent some stuff to Black Hole in all my youthful enthusiasm, but of course they didn't reply because it just wasn't good enough. By the way, if Ron and I produce music, we álways mail it out to labels, we don't make music for fun, do we?" (laughing).
i:Vibes: As we all know, electronic dance music consists of a wide variety of styles, ranging from drum 'n bass to house to trance. Ron and Gaston try to keep the essence of their tracks in the trance genre, but do feel the need to bring in variety by intermingling multiple styles in their productions.
Gaston: "Just because we like 4/4 patterns doesn't mean we never include breakbeat loops in our tracks. Ron is not too fond of them most of the time, but I sometimes like to include them just for the sake of variety. When we fell in love with trance, the overall sound of it was very warm and almost poppy, with it's highly elevating melodies and such. The technical aspect also became one of the most important things in trance, every record just had to have a phat, melodic sound, something we really liked." Ron: "I'm 30 years old now [while Gaston is 23], so we grew up in different times with different tastes etc. This is also noticeable in our music: it contains a bit of everything, ranging from slightly deep structures influenced by my new age interests back in the days, to the more melodic stuff that Gaston got into."
i:Vibes: When talking about their general musical tastes and their views on today's trance scene, Ron and Gaston make clear that their interests capture dance music in its broadest sense.
Ron: "It's not that we listen to some sort of sophisticated classical music in our free time. Instead, we love to explore the whole genre. I think I can say that dance music, in whatever form, is what I listen to most. A few artists we have the utmost respect for are Matthew Dekay, Gabriel & Dresden and Alex M.O.R.P.H."
Gaston: "Music has to have a soul, it has to be made with love. We also enjoy good pop or electro tracks every now and then, the thing is just that producer(s) should create their work with a lot of love and care. While we produce trance ourselves mostly, it doesn't mean we go and grab all available trance compilations from the shops; in stead, we'd be more likely to buy a more deep album by Matthew Dekay or similar."
i:Vibes: 'Risky Business' had quite the impact on 2004's scene, mostly because of it's massive Arc In The Sky Remix, done by Henry Nix, Matthias Gierth and Alex M.O.R.P.H. The original on the B-side got overlooked by the majority of people, but it does have quite the interesting story behind it.
Ron: "The second track we made in Reason eventually became our first release, 'Risky Business'. But the way it got so far is rather awkward, to say the least. First of all, we made another tune called 'Involved' and sent it out to a few labels. This was actually the first tune we made using hardware as well. Eventually, we got a call from Woody van Eyden [Fenology's Managing Director] who said he liked it. We went by his office and talked about some stuff, and also left him a CDR which included both 'Involved' and a version of 'Risky Business'. So Woody sent it to Henry, Matthias and Alex for them to remix 'Involved', but instead they made their version of 'Risky Business'! All we had of that one was an old Reason file, so we had to hurry and make a brand new version. Unfortunately, that one didn't have the catchy piano melody in it that was also used in the Arc In The Sky Remix, so that's why the original and the remix differ. It became sort of a completely new track! The only thing that matched was the chords scheme. We do however have the plans to do something with Risky Business' original melody in the future..."
i:Vibes: One of the productions that Ron and Gaston completed after the release of 'Risky Business' was a remix of a track by Terry Bones called 'When They Come'. Due to unforeseen circumstances with the label it was going to be released on, it never saw the light of day, but the duo still thinks it's one of their better productions to date...
Ron: "We were really, really satisfied with this remix. It was made for the dancefloor! It's not really something to listen to at home but it is filled with lots of energy. Terry's original is a lot trancier, but we tried to spice it up a bit with phatter percussion, basslines etc. We did leave the full main riff intact just because it works so well. There is a chance that this will still be released in the future, so keep your ears peeled..."
i:Vibes: The sounds and structures of both Moonrush and Minddrive are quite similar. Ron and Gaston find it quite hard to typify their contemporary sound, but do acknowledgde that there are certain elements which always return.
Gaston: While we did initiate Minddrive last year, Moonrush is and will always be our main project. We released 'Around You' on a different label and under a different name because of legal issues etcetera, but in essence the sound of our two projects can be compared. It's a bit of everything. What we think is most important in our productions are the basslines. We don't like thin stuff, we want everything to be phat and meaty! Compare it with a tank driving right through your house, blasting everything to pieces; that's kind of the effect we wish to achieve. Going hand in hand with that, from our viewpoint, is the use of smooth melodies to create that certain butterfly effect. People have to enjoy our music and think 'wow, what is this?' " Ron: "When we signed our first contract at Fenology, we got ourselves our own lawyer and all that. But as time went by, Woody [van Eyden] became a person we could build on and trust completely. He became our manager, and because of his massive experience with managing big artists like ATB and Talla 2XLC, he has the ability to arrange a lot for us. He got us into contact with Misja [Helsloot, Gesture Music] and thus we signed Minddrive there. Our homebase is Fenology, but over time we do want to expand and release tracks on other labels as well, just because we produce a lot in different styles, and don't want anything do just sit on our hard drives for months."
A picture of the Moonrush studio
i:Vibes: Next to producing together with Gaston, Ron has also initiated a few collaborations with Woody van Eyden, with their first release being a Van Eyden & Creemers Remix for Minddrive's 'Around You'. In the future, more of their productions will be released, including a remix for Ferrin & Low's 'Breeze', an upcoming release on Fenology.
Ron: "I always want to concentrate on music and studiowork 100%. Gaston also has to focus on his company and his study, so that gives me some space to work with other artists as well. I'll definitely be working together with Woody in the future, as well as with other producers like Terry Bones."
i:Vibes: When looking at the technical side of producing, Moonrush tell us that they do not use VST's (software synthesizers). Instead, they have a studio filled with hardware, ranging from a 1975 Juno 106 to the latest Access Virus synthesizers.
Gaston: "The Juno is definitely one of our favourite devices. While it got on the market decades ago, it still has a very phat sound, which we particularly use when making our basslines. We of course also have a Roland JP8000, though the sound it produces has become a bit too standard for today's trance. We do still use it for strings and background melodies, but when looking at leads it's just too overdone. "
Ron: "The Access Virus is one of the best devices ever created. We have both the B and the C, and they're diverse beyond words: I think I could even make classical music with them! When talking about softsynths, I do think that their sound can measure with hardware nowadays; it's just that we have lots of hardware already, so there's no need for us to start trying VST's, yet! We also like the physical element of hardware: we're always jamming around, turning knobs, which just isn't possible using just a computer, a mouse and software."
i:Vibes: Producing tracks encompasses a lot of different aspects. The hardest thing about it is judging when a track can be titled 'complete', according to the Moonrush guys.
Gaston: "Yeah, defining your sound is very, very hard. It's very interesting to see that some producers can include the weirdest sounds in their tracks, but still have a very nicely flowing sound. It's all about the complete picture!"
i:Vibes: A lot of trance purists see the '99 - '01 period as trance's best days. Nowadays, especially when looking at the rise of software in studio's, almost anyone can get behind their computer and create a track. Some say this results in a lot of below-average tunes getting released, which is being amplified by the rise of digital labels. While they do admit that some of it is true, both Gaston and Ron don't really see it as a problem.
Ron: "First of all, I do agree that the early '99 days included massive arrays of quality tracks. Back then, productions were made in huge studio's with the most expensive equipment a lot of talented people couldn't afford. At a certain point, some people stopped making music out of their love for it, and instead went straight for the big money. This is where the great advantage of today's very open, software-based market comes in. Today, earning a living by just producing isn't really possible anymore. In essence, most of the people who have initiated a career in producing have done this solely because of their love for the music! It's beautiful to see the rise of talents, just because people with hidden potential can now also try and unveal their secret talents.
Gaston: "Because of the massive amount of new producers entering the scene these days, a lot of blends of styles appear, which is a great thing. For instance, Sander van Doorn has created his own unique sound filled with techno loops combined with trancy elements. It's good to see that creativity once again prevails, instead of the constant hunt for money. Concerning the digital labels, it is of course so that distribution costs have gone down greatly, which makes it easier for people to start their own labels. It might be so that this causes more below-average stuff to be released, but if the crowd thinks a track is crap they won't buy it anyway, will they?"
i:Vibes: Becoming settled in the scene as a new producer is getting more and more difficult because of the wave of upcoming talents that has been buzzing through the scene. Moonrush has been releasing music for about to years now, and they think that, if you want to be succesful, you have to be supported by people who have already gained their roots.
Ron: "We were very lucky to meet Woody van Eyden. He's a man with lots and lots of connections, and that's exactly what you need when you're starting out as a producer."
Gaston: "It might be difficult, but if you have your own distinct, original sound, you will certainly be picked up. There's always place for good music! If people don't pick you up, then your productions just aren't good enough yet. But if you just keep on making good stuff, everything will come together eventually. It's interesting to see that a DJ like Tiësto can torpede your record into the highest regions when he plays it, showing that it is very important to have good managers, connections etcetera."
i:Vibes: As a DJ, you need productions to get yourself a name in the scene and to eventually get bookings. The other way around, a lot of people that started with just producing are now also getting into the DJ-ing side of things. Ron and Gaston don't really have these aspirations.
Ron: "While spinning records is surely a lot of fun, we prefer just standing behind the DJ and looking how the crowd responds to our tracks."
Gaston: "In an interview, Michel de Hey recently exclamated that today, there are more DJ's than unemployed persons. Beatmixing isn't that hard, as long as you practice enough. The hardest thing about DJ'ing is picking the right records. Sasha recently said that Ableton isn't such a bad thing, and I fully agree. It's all about what you play! We've also thought about doing a liveact, but if you look at acts like Rank 1, there's just two opportunities a year to do it, which just isn't enough."
i:Vibes: The internet has become the medium to communicate about electronic dance music. Because of this, people from all over the world can (anonymously) log on to forums etcetera to give their, sometimes harsh, opinion about music or the scene in general.
Next to this, illegal downloading has stabbed the music industry in the heart by giving people the opportunity to get their music free of charge.
Gaston: "An opinion is an opinion. Of course sometimes its harsh, but that's just the way it is. The thing that's important here is the possibility for people to exclamate their thoughts about music in general. It's cool to see that people talk about and listen to Armin's A State Of Trance every week. The internet is also a great way to settle your name in other countries than the one you come from."
Ron: "About the downloading thing, of course it is so that the industry has lost a lot of revenues because of it. In a sense, labels have been sleeping for a long, long time. They have seen the rise of Kazaa and such, and didn't do much about it. Luckily, today almost every EDM label also offers their music in mp3 form, but I think they should have started with this way earlier."
i:Vibes: Talking about the thing that Ron and Gaston see as their biggest achievement to date, the two mention a number of things.
Ron: "As said, we were really happy with our remix for Terry Bones. If I had to choose, I'd go for our remixes for Alex M.O.R.P.H. & Woody van Eyden's 'Heavenly' and our upcoming remix for Talla 2XLC's 'Carry Me'. I'd certainly not choose for 'Risky Business', because that one didn't really work out the way we wanted it do."
Gaston: "Talking about our remix for 'Carry Me', just as with the 'Heavenly' remix all we got to remix were the original vocals, nothing more and nothing less. The original extended version was made after we finished our remix! We're really fond with the way all the melodies progress together with the vocals."
We would like to thank Ron and Gaston for their hospitality and their precious time.
New productions from their hands coming up soon are a new EP on Woody van Eyden's Fenology label, a massive remix for Talla 2XLC's 'Carry Me' and a blasting remix for another Fenology release by Ferrin & Low called 'Breeze'.
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