'The Track That...' with Airbase

Written by Remco on 16 January 2019 in Interviews
'The Track That...' with Airbase
Episode 28 of our exclusive 'The Track That'-series is with Jezper Söderlund aka Airbase. An artist we know for many years already, also under aliasses like Ozone and Inner State to name a few and from tracks like Denial, We Might Fall, St. Emilion, Lucid, Magic Silence, Epoch, Vermillion and many others.

The track that I wish I’d produced is...
There are so many tracks I wish I had produced. It’s not a very productive way of thinking, but sometimes I can’t help it. It mostly comes down to technical brilliance, creativity or energy. I’ll break the format of this interview immediately by offering two; the very first track and the most recent track I wish I had produced. The first one was Sarah McLachlan – Fear (Hybrids Super Collider Remix). That track (and pretty much everything Hybrid has ever made) was technically so ahead of its time. The latest track I wish I had produced is Forty Screams by Sun Lux. I just can’t figure out how that guy does it.

The track that could make a grown man cry is...
I’m an avid listener of music in many genres (which will probably be apparent in this interview), and I’ll keep it simple and honest by picking a recent track that I, as a grown man, have actually cried to: London Grammar – Big Picture. It’s such a brilliant track, and if I’m in the right kind of mood, this track can repeatedly bring a tear to my eye.

The track that never fails to put a smile on my face is...
There is just something about Gouryella – Tenshi. It’s such an obvious track, it simply can’t sound any other way than it does. It came out at a time when I was just getting started, and it contained just about anything a trance track could hold: high energy, tight production, and produced by my two trance heroes Tiesto and Ferry, with the theme written by my all-time hero Vangelis.

The track that puts a big a lump in my throat is…
Since music is very emotional to me, there’s a lot of music that qualify for this. I’m a big fan of sad, melancholic music, so that lump is perhaps what I’m after. But if I had to pick one, it’ll have to be the wonderful M83 – Lower Your Eyelids to Die with The Sun. Those chords …

The track that I’m playing at every gig at the moment is...
Pessto – Digiboom is just about the grooviest thing I’ve heard all year. Holy damn!

The track that isn’t electronic dance music, but rocks all the same is...
There’s so much to choose from! But I’ll go with long time score idol Hans Zimmers Chevaliers De Sangreal from the Da Vinci soundtrack. I love how it build and builds. See also: Time, from Inception.

The track that should’ve been in a movie is...

As a mostly instrumental artist, it might not surprise anyone that I don’t pay much attention to lyrics. I’m all about what story the harmonies can tell. So to make it difficult for me, I’ll pick an instrumental track that should’ve been a movie: Nils Frahm – Says, from the 2013 album Spaces. I’m thinking a grand and twisted sci-fi movie.

The track that is so perfect in its original form it should never be touched by man nor remixer is...
I’m always keen to hear interpretations of things I like, it kind of extends the life of the original and make you appreciate it more. That said, there are of course some that shouldn’t be (or shouldn’t have been) remixed. I’ve already mentioned Gouryella – Tenshi in these terms, but since I get a second shot, I’ll stretch the question a bit: Ferry's remix of William Orbits remix of Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings. People really should let this track rest. Ferry did it right from the beginning, no version after that has been worthwhile.

The track that everyone else hates, but I love is… 
It’s usually the other way around. I hate everything everyone else loves. I’d love to list some of those tracks, but I don’t want to alienate the whole internet. So I’ll keep it kind of safe by admitting I enjoyed Ylvis – What Does the Fox Say a little more than I probably want to admit.

The track that made someone a hero to me is… 
Easy one; Vangelis – Conquest Of Paradise. One of my all-time favourite artists and tracks. I don’t know how, but I missed the hold Bladerunner soundtrack frenzy, but got my hand on the 1492 soundtrack, and it’s one of those rare games that no one talks about. It’s brilliant, with Conquest Of Paradise as the crown jewel (btw: don’t miss out on Light and Shadow, the original of Tenshi, on the same album).

The track that surprised me the most when I heard it is… 
Daft Funk – Get Lucky. What the hell happened there? That was not what I was expecting. I miss the old Daft Punk.

The track that changed my life is...
When I was 13 years old, at a school or boy scout trip or something, there was a DJ for the evening party. He played this crazy track with vocals from a song in the Swedish classic kids movie Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter. I had never heard anything like it, and the DJ said it was called “rave”, and gave me the name of the act and song: RMB – Matisse. This was the start of my interest in electronic dance music. The album that contains Matisse, called This World Is Yours, is still one of my favorite albums, matter the dated sound and ridiculously high BPM.

The track that got me into trance is…
I’m not 100 % sure, but I’m fairly certain that in my quest for new music (I spent most of my allowance as a kid on ordering unheard rave/trance/techno/hardcore CDs from Germany), I came across Gouryella – Gouryella on a compilation. That was completely new to me. Super long tracks, low BPM (at that time), and focus on harmonic qualities. And from there on, it opened the gates to a whole new scene, and in a very short time I was up to speed with trance at that time. This also reminds me of Marino Stephano, an early pioneer and brilliant trance producer who passed away. As a tribute, let me tip you off of his wonderful track Free Time.

The track that I’ve just put out there is...
It’s been a while now, but the latest release out the gates was Airbase – Vermillion on A State Of Trance in the summer of 2018. A cinematic and energetic trancer I wrote in collaboration with André Söderlund, my brother. I’m in the studio right now, so expect frequent releases for 2019.



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