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Interview with Dave & Andy of Chi A.D.

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Interviews

Author: Denis B

Publishing date: 20.10.2001 20:23

Chi A.D. history

DENIS:
For new fans / people who have never heard of Chi A.D., please fill people
in with a brief who / what / where / why ...

ANDY & DAVE:
After a diverse musical apprenticeship which had included stints playing
keyboards with Death Metal pioneers Venom under the pseudonym VSX, Dave
Young's musical vision was to blend the harder more percussive elements of
Acid Techno with the (then) uplifting melodic sounds of Goa Trance.

This followed earlier releases as EXP Project, with the acclaimed
'Brainchaser' EP on Acid-Trance label Smitten Records* and as Guidance with
'Destination'/'The Earth' on Inspiral Records, which set many trance-floors
alight with it's accessible acidic grooves, featuring in a number of
Psychedelic DJ Top Ten's.

November 1997 saw the UK release of his new project, CHI-A.D. with friend,
label-partner and fellow musician Andy C. The album "Virtual Spirit" was
released on Ganesha/Nova Tekk Gmbh, and received strong world-wide reaction
by trancers, DJ's and the Dance Music press. In particular, the track
'Astral Warrior' became a firm favorite in many trance DJ sets with it's
melodic soaring eastern riffs and complex rhythmic structure.

This potential was further enhanced by CHI-A.D.'s first 12" release on
Transient Records, "Exit Eternity"/"Beyond the Singularity" (March '98)
receiving glowing reviews in the more mainstream dance oriented UK music
press (Muzik, Ministry Of Sound Magazine). The Mighty Morning epic "Exit
Eternity" has featured on a number of compilations (Psychedelic Vibes Vol.
5, Tantrance 7, Another Taste of Transient & Mushroom Trance 2) and is
still finding new fans to this day.

Further 12" releases and compilations followed with CHI-A.D. tracks
featuring strongly on various compilations (in particular the swirling
morning classic track "Eye Am the I" - which many DJ's and fans alike
believe is the definitive CHI-A.D. track - on Transient Records "Dream
Creation - Sound of Freedom" compilation & 'Destination Goa' Vol 6).

By this time the vibe and buzz around CHI-A.D.'s music began to grow with
each release with the music being described as ".....Beautiful Morning Goa
trance........to leave you feeling good", "Trippy, Spaced-Out
Trance.....full of depth and originality"

However, the combination of the trend towards darker less accessible
psychedelic sounds, particularly in the UK, CHI-A.D.'s lack of UK label
support and the scene's subsequent move to a more progressive style of
trance saw CHI-A.D. have to adapt their sound somewhat to continue being
able to release tracks. Towards the end of '98 compilation tracks included
'C.12(' on "Sonic Massage" (Starchild Records USA), 'Machine Brain' on
"Goodfellas" (Medium Records) and 'The Flame' on "Psychedelic Demons II"
(Zoomshot).

March '99 saw the release of 'Celestial' / 'Biocandy' on Blue Moon
Productions UK (formerly Interstella Records), delving into slightly harder
tranced-out electronic realms while retaining the unmistakable uplifting
sound of CHI-A.D. While both tracks received generally good reviews and
consolidated CHI-A.D.'s position in the Global Psy Trance Market however
delays in releasing the EP and the label's subsequent demise had an adverse
effect on both distribution and sales.

CHI-A.D. also played a number of parties in the UK and across Europe
throughout the summer and latter part of 1998. Originally consisting of
Dave Young and Andy C. they were one of the first psy trance groups to play
a completely LIVE P.A. without DAT. These shows brought their powerful and
uplifting live sound to a wider audience and enhanced their reputation as
one of the most original acts on the trance/electronic music scene. They
have continued to play select parties throughout the World although, they
have in recent times played a DAT based Live PA.

The Second Chi A.D. album "Anno Domini"

July '99 saw the release of a new 12", Myopic Utopia/01:07:99 on MASH records, which precluded the 2nd CHI-A.D. album "Anno Domini". This album saw CHI-A.D. move away from their trademark uplifting sound to explore darker musical territories within a densely produced percussive framework.

Stand out tracks on the album include the elastic percussive workout Redivider, the ominously powerful MoonArt, and killer new versions of The Flame (of Eternal Life) and Myopic Utopia. CHI-A.D. also a willing ness to embrace and experiment with sounds and influences outside the psytrance framework with tracks like Shadow Spirit and Pathfinder. Although well received by press and fans alike, it was felt that a return to the classic CHI-A.D. "morning" sound was necessary if the music was to progress to the next level.

More compilation releases have since followed including the impressive "Monsters" on Medium Records and 12" releases, such as the "Creeping
Gravity" EP on MASH Records as well as more progressive workouts "Waverider" and "God Module" on Medium Records.

At present, CHI-A.D. are in the process of finalising and finishing tracks for the new 12" on MASH Records and, new album "EARTH CROSSING" which will feature 8 new tracks and be released on Velvet Inc (Nova Tekk) in August/Sept. 2001. Also scheduled is an anthology album releasae with Out of Orion Records called INFINITISM which will feature a collection of rare and unreleased tracks, digitally re-mastered.

Chill A.D. ?

DENIS:
There are rumours about of a complete Chi A.D. chill out side project, can you tell us something about this ? Any planned releases ?

DAVE & ANDY
The rumours are very much true. We originally intended to release the more
ambient/low beat material as a side project under the guise of "Visionary" (here's a good one to see if anyone can discover where we have already actually released under this name). The album was written at the same time Anno Domini came out and was sheduled to be released on Nova Tekk but for various reasons - the main one being that we weren't happy with the finished mixes - was never released. At the moment we have plans to release an ambient album in the new year as CHI-A.D. and are in negotiation with a couple of labels with a view to doing this. The album will consist of 9 tracks and maybe feature a couple of re-mixes (cos we have been unhappy
with finished mixes of tracks like Dream Mirror on Zoomshot's Psychedelic
Chill Out compilation).

DENIS:
Sounds great.. Besides listening a lot to trance, chill out (ambient, electronica of various forms) is my favourite kind of music, I definitely look forward to these releases.
- For how long have you been doing chill stuff ?
- Any inspirations (bands / records) in this genre ?

ANDY
The Chill stuff has been part of the project since the beginning, I think
if you listen to Virtual Spirit there is a lot more variation in the tempo of the album than most goa/psy albums of that time. The album was intended to use low tempo sounds such as "Organic Forms", "The Ocean Also Dreams" in
conjunction with the more bangigng tracks like "Astral Warrior". In fact,
the track "Creator" was written immediately after the Virtual Spirit album
to see whether we could secure a long play project with this style but suffered from the same problem we always had in that no labels were interested in licensing it. We also wrote a live set to play at parties consisting of 120-125 BPM tracks which is actually a really cool set but again, it hasn't seen the light of day.

Personally I think the most amazing album I have ever heard in this genre
is Global Communication's 76:14 and I would strongly advise anyone who
hasn't heard it to hunt one down. They actually also did a complete ambient
remix of the Chapterhouse album "Blood Music" in 1993 which is also
absolutely mind blowing and also their remix of WARP 69's 'Natural High' -
absolutely sublime. I also like Astralasia - "Whatever Happened to Utopia"
and the Infinity Project's "Mystical Experiences" and I think Oforia has
got a good handle on the chill/low beat sound. I should also mention that
Infinium Records are putting out high quality ambient comps at the moment.
Other than that, there is a lot of rubbish out at the moment which gets
lost in the melting pot.

Live and play live ?

DENIS:
There are so many different ways of handling a "liveset". Some do a
straight DAT "live", some people add elements live to a DAT / CD backing, some do most things live with a sequencer backing etc. etc..
- What are your thoughts about doing a liveact ?

- How do you prepare a liveset ?

- When / where can people experience Chi A.D. live ?

- What are your best and worst party experiences to date ?

Chi A.D. live gig. (picture from Medium Records)

DAVE & ANDY
To answer each bit in turn, Firstly we were actually one of the first psychedelic trance Acts to ever play LIVE. By that I mean we actually played at parties with a stripped down studio setup using the Roland MC 505 as the main sequencer controlling the various synths and samplers. (There is actually a live recording, Digital Quality which exists of this set from Astral Phoenix - Tyssen St UK in 1998). What we found however, was that this proved to be quite a stressful experience cos
a) the sound is very lo-fi compared to studio quality recordings which puts you at a disadvantage for getting the right sound across b) most psytrance venues are not equiped for full "live" acts and you end up being hidden away on a couple of raised boxes which is no good if you want to put on a show and c)
you couldn't take the think to any other countries cos the costs were too great. Also half the time people didn't even realise you were actually playing live and would come up and ask you stupid questions in the middle of a set - unbelievable.

Now we use a DAT and play synths and textures over the top along with mixing in various prepared loops and samples etc. Basically now we can keep the train on the rails whereas before it had a life of its own. We try to incorporate new bits every time so no two sets are the same.

Again to be honest, we don't get asked to play much which is a shame cos we
really put on a show as anyone who has seen us live will testify (after we have paid them of course). We are hoping to start playing some dates towards the end of 2001 when both new albums are up and running. Watch this space and if there are any promotors out there who are interested, get in touch.

Both Dave and I are originally from more conventional Rock backgrounds but take different things from playing live but I think if I were to say our best and worst gigs for different reasons: The best was probably our first ever gig at Deltawave in Portsmouth UK when we both realised that we could actually make this amazing sound totally LIVE and get the whole place really rocking - everything really came together that night after all the
pre-gig doubts cos a lot of people told us it couldn't be done. The Worst I think was a few months later where we were playing live in London and couldn't hear any of the beats to drop the various instruments into cos some guys were playing the bongoes really loud and totally out of time although there have been some bad experiences playing in different countries...............that's Rock n' Roll for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Upcoming releases..

DENIS
Tell us a bit about the new Chi A.D. album due later this autumn, what
kind of style can people expect ?

ANDY
The New CHI-A.D. album is called "Earth Crossing" and will be released on
Nova Tekk - Velvet Inc. There will also be a 12" coming out before it with
tracks that are not on the album. The album's style is actually gonna be
full on uplifting melodic dancefloor stormers. We've actually been asked
why CHI-A.D albums are not more dancefloor oriented and in some cases more
psychedelic. There is a small problem with having these as your main track
writing criteria although it seems a bit of a contradiction to say so cos
to include all the classic melodic elements which are shall we say
"Trademarks" of the CHI-A.D. sound in a track means that the tracks are
sometimes less psychedelic cos you want to give the track some space in the
mix and the tracks do have a lot going on in them musically. If you listen
to most conventional psytrance tracks they have usually only got 2 or 3
main sounds going at once with the kick but those sounds are very big and
leave little room in the mix for much else. Many CHI-A.D. tracks are have
got so many different sounds working off each other that they are basically
a wall of noise. We have tried to rectify this with the new album but I
suppose the real test will be how it is received by fans and the global
psychedelic community as a whole. For the record, one of my personal
favourte tracks from Anno Domini is actually Shadow Spirit but psytrancers
didn't really pick up on the more eclectic side of CHI-A.D. so this album
is the answer for fans who want the definitive CHI-A.D. album. Epic,
Melodic tracks.

EARTH CROSSING TRACKLIST:
- Hammerhead
- Black Light
- Book of Eden
- X-Isle
- Transparent Sea
- Zero Barrier
- Liquid Neon Sky
- Blue Effect

We also have another album to be released before this one called INFINITISM
on Out of Orion records, which is a sort of Oddysyy through CHI-A.D. tracks
to date featuring some rare 12" and compilation tracks re-mastered + a
couple of unreleased gems.

DENIS
The first time I listened to "Eye am the I" I was hooked, the melodic
hypnotic effect of it was profound, and it has been one of my all time
melodic favourites since.
What are the tracks people comment to you they like best ?

DAVE
Definitely "Eye am the I", and tracks like "Exit Eternity", "Astral
Warrior" although a lot of people picked up on "Monsters" too which is
great. One track I was surprised a lot more people didn't go for was
"Myopic Utopia" cos whan that track came out we thought it would be
colossal and the 12" just sank without trace.

Equipment and techstuff

Dave (picture from Infinium Records)

DENIS
On a more technical note. Please tell a bit about Chi A.D.'s favourite studio gear..

DAVE
Well the main studio synths are the Korg Triton, and the Novation Nova II
which are the main workhorses to underpin the sound although, the
synthesizing power of the Korg Z1 or Roland JD-800 do take some beating.
Also the Ensoniq ASR-10 for it's transwave capabilities. I did have a Korg
Wavestation but had to sell it a few years back but would love to get
another Wave synth like a Waldorf and the Access Virus I think is a must. I
could go on all day here............

DENIS
- What do you use of Software / Computers ? (Sequencers etc..)
- Are you looking into Software Synths at all, if so which ones have caught
your interest ?
- Who generally masters your tracks ?

DAVE
At the moment, the studio revolves around a PIII 550 with 128 Mb RAM and
2 x 20 Gb Hard drives. This is looking a bit slow these days so we are in
the process of upgrading to a much higher spec of possible a PIV above 1Gb
and 512 Mb RAM + another 40 Gb or above Hard drive. As for sequencers, I
alternate between VST and Logic Audio Platinum depending on what I am
looking for from the particular track.

As far as Audio sequencing is concerned then ACID Pro is the master cos
it just takes the hassle out of time streching sounds to fit. Actually
quite a lot of recent CHI-A.D. tracks have been arranged and mixed in ACID
and the whole Anno Domini album was written using ACID. We are moving back
to MIDI sequencing now we've got the digital desk though.
Definitely REASON - Just an amazing pice of KIT. It really opens up some
amazing possiblities for playing with PC based sounds which up to now have
normally been as inspiring as general MIDI sounds.

Both albums have been mastered at DMS mastering in Germany but we have
been a bit disappointed in the final results for various reasons. The main
one being that many mastering studios are set up for a generic sound and
some tracks actually need differing levels of work done at the post
production stage to get the best out of them. All mastering is now being
done in House using various VST and Direct-X Plug-ins and the first result
of this is the work done on the INFINITISM album which features all
re-mastered tracks

Positivity and inspiration

DENIS
What inspires you the most ?

DAVE
Actually, this may sound strange to some people but the wonders of the
natural world around me. I seem to be able to draw great amounts of
positive energy form nature which usually balances out the crap the rest of
the world throws at you.

DENIS
This is one point I can agree with totally, it is amazing how much positive
things happen all the time, and especially when you suspect it the least!
;) Your comment is not surprising, as your sound definitely manages to get
across a lot of positivity and light ...
Any special incidents you care to mention, that inspired any track(s) you
made ?

DAVE
I think Virtual Spirit, as a process involving writing, recording and
producing was the most enjoyable time and seemed to crystalize where I
wanted to be musically at that time, also I was also drawing on a lot of
+++ve energy from my environment and those around me. To me, It actually
captured what CHI was all about and was less "by the numbers" if you know
what I mean. Anno Domini was a much spikier project in many ways and tested
both myself and Andy to a great degree.

DENIS
What kind of music do you guys listen to besides your own ?

ANDY
Trance wise, I'm not to keen on this progressive tip although I think acts
like ATMOS do it well. I like the big sounds like Sun Project, Astral
Projection, Definitely MFG and certain other Israeli Stuff (Xerox &
Freeman, Oforia, some Dark Soho), Tim Schuldt, X Dream/Delta for their
production sound, a lot of stuff coming out of France at the moment like 3D
Vision and Moon Spirits. A lot of Atomic Stuff. I think most of the early
labels like Flying Rhino, Transient, Dragonfly have lost their way a bit
concerning this music and don't really want to be involved in it anymore -
which is understandable as there is absolutely no money whatsoever in it.

Non trance wise Killing Joke, Tool, Stabbing Westward, Play Dead, Dr Phibes
and the House of Wax Equations, Steve Vai, RUSH, Foo Fighters Lots more
really

DAVE
Trance:-TOI DOI, Sun Project, Astral Projection, Lots of Chill stuff

Non Trance:- Jean Michel Jarre, Hawkwind not too much more

DENIS
Any favourite artists / records ?

ANDY
- Ultravox - Systems of Romance
- Play Dead - Company of Justice
- Killing Joke - Night Time
- Catherine Wheel - Chrome
- Prong - Cleansing
- Astral Projection - Dancing Galaxy - Trust In Trance (3rd Album)
- Anything By MFG

DAVE
- Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
- Sun Project - ZWORK
- Astral Projection - Another World
- Hawkwind - Levitation
- JM Jarre - Oxygen - Equinox - ZOOLOOK

Thanks to Andy & Dave for the nice answers!
Pay a visit to their homepage here : www.homestudio.freeserve.co.uk

- denis

Images from :
infinium-records.com
medium-records.com
chi-ad homepage

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