[i:Vibes] Your Questions Answered From Above & Beyond

» Tune of the week: Gary Maguire - Are You Real
» Classic of the week: Blank & Jones - Beyond Time
» Album of the month: Solarstone - Innermost

ç¥´ personal
Username:	Password:	Autologin
Not a registered user? Click >here< to register now. It's free, you get access to all features and can win great prizes!

Search:

Main Menu

Interactive

Info

Essential audio

The official i:Vibes Spotify Trance playlist

Your Questions Answered From Above & Beyond

22:32 - March 1, 2020

by davehart

The monthly newsletter from Above & Beyond, or should I say one of the guys from Above & Beyond is a very refreshing read. Each month one of the trio takes control and offers their own thoughts on the music they love, the places they have been and the places they are going to. It is a real eye opener into the minds of three musical masterminds.

For the latest edition things are a little different with Tony McGiunness asking you for your questions. If you were eagle eyed on the social media pages you will have spotted Tony’s Twitter post asking for you to send them in. I have a feeling his mailbox would have got pretty full incredibly quickly and no doubt the slightly late edition of the February newsletter is because the time it’s taken to pick out some of the best.

JONO AGOSTA
Just a question about one of my Common Ground favourites, "Bittersweet & Blue". You’ve previously mentioned this track is about your father, I’ve been wondering why there is somewhat of a sombre tone in the lyrics? And the background to your relationship that inspired you to write this track?

Lots of love from Australia!

TONY: Hello Jono! It is somewhat sombre, I guess the clue’s in the title! The song is really about dreams and what happens when they come true. My Dad looked forward to his retirement for so long but when it came it was way more challenging for him than he’d hoped. And as he said to me at the time, that’s life. We all dream of things - a new job, marriage, retirement, being a musician full time, whatever. When your idealistic, rose tinted dream cloud hits the gritty tarmac of reality it stops being a dream and becomes real life; complicated and fraught with it’s own problems.

MARK CAMPBELL
It’s no secret that your wardrobe is home to the finest cheque trouser collection in the Milky Way, so I’d like to know: are there any shops that you keep returning to to buy them, and/or what is your favourite brand of cheque trousers?

TONY: I’ve actually only got three pairs, but if that qualifies me I’ll take the compliment! I like dressing up, clothes can be fun if you let them. I had a pair of red Stewart Tartan pants back in the 90s during my flamboyant clubbing days and loved them, so when I saw a pair in a shop in Adelaide I jumped at the chance to relive those days. The other two were from a limited edition G Star range by Pharrell Williams. Weirdly I don’t wear check trousers when I play golf. What’s that about?!

MATIAS SANTALLA
Is it true that you find inspiration in Buenos Aires?

TONY: I do, indeed, find Buenos Aires inspiring. Faded grandeur is the palette, writ large. It feels like a European capital city in a parallel universe 50 years ago. Even the trees speak to me. It is a city rich in musical and literary history and because of the slightly old fashioned look of the place I imagine people I see sitting in the cafes or in the open windows of apartment buildings still living in the poetic past of Jorge Luis Borges. Of course it’s fantasy, but that’s where stories come from.

NANCY MARQUES
Hello Tony! Can you remember that ‘ah ha’ moment when you knew Above & Beyond was much more then the 3 of you making music together. Did you ever imagine your fan base would be the worldwide Anjunafamily that it is today?

TONY: There have been lots of aha moments, some small and some big, but not one moment when we felt we’d “made it” - we’re still on the same journey, still learning, still growing professionally and personally. Hopefully.

We never dreamed we would last this long or become this popular, but we always tried to be ready for the next opportunity and, in most cases, have thankfully managed to rise to the occasion. The thing that’s so awesome about the Anjunafamily is it’s ability to grow and manage itself - it’s like an organism that we maybe helped create but now it has a life all it’s own and that’s beautiful. The way you guys interact with each other, help and advise each other is incredible and we thank you for being who you are.