Interview: Above + Beyond

There’s a curious thing lurking behind the decks of the technological age; its name is the ‘Beatport DJ’ and unfortunately it’s a phenomena unbeknownst to most. Until now.

Tony McGuiness is one third of UK trance act Above + Beyond and as much as he recognises the Internet as tool for promotionand creation he also bemoans the mutants it breeds. Though Beatport may be a highly respected tool for DJs and producers the world over it’s also a catalyst for those looking for a quick answer.

A fine toothed comb of diligence is surely a must have accessory for the 21st century where one ear is firmly directed at the laptop speaker. Once you sift through the onslaught of sonic presence, not surprisingly, you will find that quality supersedes quantity; however, are the fates of such eager online artists at jeopardy? Above + Beyond’s McGuiness questions the present day where the Internet’s impact has been but a ripple compared to what it is capable of. Though McGuiness sighs a breathe of relief, reassuring himself that the heavy touring schedules of certain DJs and producers mean relevance and the ability to resonate; to be remembered.

Jasmine Phull joins Above + Beyond’s Tony McGuiness as he delves deep beneath the surface of the music industry; where the original vinyl artists continue to define ‘famous’, the Internet era artists are merely ephemeral text, a line, a line online that can be easily erased. Not until the original record releasing artists such as Paul McCartney and Motorhead retire can our understanding of ‘famous’ finally become clear.

Above + Beyond’s 2011 album Group Therapy, a follow up to debut Tristate, steers clear of limitations, looking beyond the genre so that you can figure out what it is about the music that you really like.

Above + Beyond’s second album Group Therapy is to be released in 2011. Was there a shift in work method compared to the debut?

It’s been cooking for a number of years but the most exciting thing is that we’re working with some of the same artists we worked with on the first album; Richard Bedford and Zoe Johnston. We’ve been concentrating on those two because they’ll work really well with the live shows. We’ve got 12-14 tracks which we’re trying to finish the mixes for. Some of them are a couple of years old now but obviously no one’s heard them. In terms of approach I think it’s quite similar to the debut.

What did the research process involve during the creation of the album?

Well we’re ‘researching’ all the time. One of the great things about being a DJ is that we’re playing music all the time. We’re lucky cause we can try it out and decide if it works when we’re DJing at clubs or what not. We’re listening to different music all the time; in terms of the songwriting it’s what happens to you in your life. It’s like mining in your life for ideas and inspiration. We keen to pull in inspiration from outside of ‘dance’ music. I think the basis of Above + Beyond is songwriting.

And do all three of you share that role?

Well the songs that Richard sings are usually written by me - words and melody - but it’s very much a group process. The words and the melody come together sometimes at the same time. Generally speaking we write the songs to what we call a Song Cradle which is a very simple backing track and then we take the vocal out of that and put it into its own music. So the original versions never get released - they’re just things we use for writing. Zoe tends to do things on her own. She’s really good at taking an idea and turning it into her own.

Describe the period after Madonna took notice of your remix for ‘What It Feels Like for a Girl’. Was there increase in publicity? A widening of your audience?

I think the seed was planted but I think it took people a while to realise that Above + Beyond had done that mix. It was being posted on Youtube as the Paul Oakenfold remix because at the time he was the most famous person in the remix package. People in the industry certainly took notice. The first thing that happened was a Japanese record company called Avex got in touch straight away and asked us to remix their biggest star Ayumi Hamasaki and that led to a couple of years where we were going backwards and forwards to Japan to do some remixes for Avex. That was the real sort of concrete sign that something was happening because of the Madonna thing. It was all just part of the process but clearly when you work with someone as famous as Madonna people start to take notice and respect you a little more. It helped us jump out of the pack and we started DJing shortly after that.

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Ok because you guys played your first DJ gig in Tokyo back in 2008?

Well yea. The Madonna thing made Avex think that we were worthy of remixing Ayumi Hamasaki. I mean she is absolutely huge in Japan; she’s sold like 2 million records over there while Madonna’s only sold half a million. That gives you a pretty good idea of how big she was. They were having a big party to celebrate the release of one of our songs that was the lead single on her album. So a girl from the record label rang me up and said: ‘Do you DJ’? and I of course said: ‘Yes’. Which was a complete lie at the time. So we ended up getting the gig at the launch; up until August we were just honing in on our DJing skills. None of us had done professional DJing before and then it turned out that this wasn’t just a little party, it was a big event with 8,000 people and DJs like Tiesto!

So quite a momentous occasion after all?

Absolutely. It’s still one of the biggest gigs we’ve ever done and it was our first gig and I was utterly terrified.

So you were able to gain a following over there because of that?

Yea Avex record label and Hamasaki are really big news over there so being the people that were remixing her new single meant there was an enormous boost in our Japanese listeners.

How is the dance and music scene in Japan. Is it tightly controlled?

It’s a very interesting market. They have a very regimented pop scene which I guess we were part of at that moment. But then whoever decides these kind of things; the sounds that are and aren’t happening, decided our sound was over so we stopped going back. Underneath it all the real dance music aficionados weren’t enough to support the sort of large gigs that we were doing. I guess it was our moment of ‘pop stardom’.

You launched Anjunabeats in 1999. What’s the genesis behind the name?

Anjuna Beach is a place in Goa in India. At the time time it was a place where a lot of producers and party-goers were escaping from the cold of Europe and spending time dancing around the beach. I mean Goa trance is a recognised form of psy trance. But there were a lot of German producers experimenting with more melodic dance music than techno and certainly dark and more melancholy than house music, which tends to be music with a smile on its face. I think trance music is a little bit more serious in a way; more emotional and more uplifting. Anjuna Beach in Goa and the surrounding places were one of the many places was the first trance records became popular.

Is the label something you still devote a lot of time to?

Absolutely. We are all very much involved in the day to day running of the label. We have a roster of artists and divide the A&R responsibilities between the three of us in Above + Beyond which keeps us busy during the week - that and producing music. There’s a lot of work involved in A&Ring people and encouraging people. One of the main characteristics of it is very strict quality control. It’s about putting out a record which is as good or as better than the last one.

What sort of criteria do you look at when selecting artists to release?

Well there’s a few things that we look for: Production excellence. There are very few Anjuna Beach mixes where the main mix isn’t the best. We don’t rely on remixes to turn dodgy records into good records. There’s been one or two where we’ve felt the need to do that because the idea’s been so great. But for the most part we look for producers who can produce really well. Who have a good ear for music; the guys that we work with tend to be very good with melody and chords or what have you. I think that splits the men from the boys in trance music. The other thing we are looking for is consistency. We try and work with people who have a full range of products that they offer, from remixing, producing, DJing and performing. So it’s about getting people who can work with us to build the label but also build their own careers as well. So it’s not just about getting records out, it’s about building artists. 

Does Beatport play an important part in your musical process?

It’s definitely good if you want a 12 inch whose artist isn’t big enough to be on iTunes but I think the thing that is missing from record buying, these days, is the advice you get from the store assistant. The problem with online retailing is that you tend to look for things you know. There’s a phenomena at the moment: the ‘Beatport DJ’; someone who buys the top 20 techno tracks and plays them for two hours and pretends to be a DJ. For that reason I certainly do become friends with people who have more time than I do and who may have a slightly broader taste in music than myself. Having our radio show means we have to listen to 160 techno tracks every week which means I lean on others including on of our signees producer Andrew Bayer for weird and wonderful eclectic types of music and then I have a friend in Columbia who is involved in programming music for restaurants and bars.

Is online presence an importance part of Above + Beyond?

We’ve always been very proactive in terms of the internet. We’ve got a forum and all the social media going. This time last year we wouldn’t have been talking about Twitter and Facebook but they’ve become our biggest portals. Being the biggest trending topic on Twitter was an amazing thing.

What’s something that’s missing in the music industry that was there 10-15 years ago?

The man behind the counter at the record shop. We we first started it was fantastic thing to go into Plastic Fantastic or Mad Records and the guys know how you are. They’ll recommend based on what you previously bought. You’d be using his brain which is constantly soaking in information day in day out. I miss that. It was a nice social thing that you could do for three of four hours. Obviously the physical product is slowly dying.

Now, I guess that would be compared to looking at an iPod collection or playlist.

I was looking through some live acts, they’re must have been about 60 different ones, and out of all those three quarters of them were people who became famous by selling records. They’re all still touring. There’s this resurgence in live music but I’m not really sure that we’ve gotten to that point where we can really see what the online medium is really capable of because so many of the ‘record-selling’ bands like Motorhead and Paul McCartney are still around and touring. The new bands coming through are getting their music out to the people, whether it be illegally or on iTunes, but is it gonna stick? Will Ellie Goulding be around in 10 years. I love her but I fear for the reality of bands these days. Above + Beyond are lucky because we are out touring every week; that’s not possible with bands.

So you think the Internet lacks that element of longevity that was around during the time of the tactile product?

All I will say is that it was easier to become famous before the Internet. No question. If there was going to be a Live Aid concert next week in London you’d be very surprised if Elton John, George Michael and Queen were not on the bill. These guys have been around for 25-30 years. It was much more easy, as a process, to become famous. Things were clearer. You could retire on your record royalties. These days a lot of things have changed and all we know is that things have become very different from what they were. And until the dust settles and guys like Paul McCartney retire it’ll be very interesting to see who becomes ‘famous’.

Do you think the ephemeral download holds as much importance as the CD or record?

If you can get things for nothing it doesn’t mean as much to you. These days it’s not about waiting for the vinyl to come in stock before putting it on your shelf. There’s not anticipation. Music is just text online.

So easily erased.

Easily erased. Easily forgotten. MTV used to play videos. Magazines with people’s faces would sit around on the table. The records would sit on the shelf. All of these things were reminders. These days where do we exist?

Online.

Online. Everybody’s got a website. Everybody has a line on iTunes or Beatport. Anybody can be famous. But I think today’s ‘famous’ is very very different to what we once understood ‘famous’ to be.

Interview by: Jasmine Phull

Above + Beyond news, events and info

Above + Beyond headline The Warehouse Project on Boxing Day with Gareth Emery. There are still limited tickets available through Skiddle - get yours below! 

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