Interview with Dale Corderoy

Hi Dale, grand welcome on Trance Hub! How's the weather outside?
Hi, thanks for having me! Sadly the weather's a little bit on the dull side, unfortunately it's a pretty typical London skyline so I'm somewhat used to it. It's a daily prod in the side that I need a holiday to remind myself what the sun looks like!

Alright, you got to confess, how many times have you listened to "Kyrie" - your latest in-studio creation? What does "Kyrie" mean?
When creating a piece of music the amount of times you might listen to the song during this process can go well into double figures, sometimes triple figures or more. On some occasions it gets to the point when the record finally comes out your actually sick of hearing it! Funnily enough though that's not the case with "Kyrie", still find myself able to listen to it without any problems or without reaching for the stop button. The word "Kyrie" is Greek, it's part of the expression "Kyrie Eleison" which means "Lord, have mercy", so basically "Kyrie" means "Lord" as in "God".

Okay, before we proceed, can we have a glimpse of Corderoy's history? For e.g. going solo from being duo!
I've always written a lot of the music as Corderoy from the start, though as brothers we had written a number of songs together though these were very much removed from the trance genre. It wasn't until after "Sweetest Dreams" that we started as a duo. Unfortunately during this time we signed a couple of bad artist deals and on top of this the dance industry took a bit of a stumble finically, so quite a few companies and labels we were working with at the time went bust loosing us quite a lot of money and also set us back a few years. There were other issues involved too and we decided we had to put things on hold for the time being. We still plan to work together in the future so stay tuned as there'll be more from us together in the future.

4 Corderoy tracks have been featured on 'Blueprints - The Chilled Edition'. So tell us something about your intimacy with chill-out tunes.
Ambient music has always managed to stay close to me musically and I have a real soft spot for the genre, it's a style of music I love to listen to when I'm relaxing or driving the car as it's great to drift away to. For me it's also one of the most inspirational music to write, you really get engrossed in what you're going and you have the ability to create new worlds and emotions through music. When you look closely it's very similar to trance in a lot of ways just without the fast tempo and driving beats.

What would be the perfect recipe to make a hit trance tune 'today'? Please describe it from your own perspective.
I think the fundamental elements can vary quite a lot and a trance tune can still really grab you. For me I think the melody and originality are one of the most important factors in a record, the production is key also as without that it doesn't work so well on the dance floor. However given the choice I would go for melody over production every day of the week, there's too much copying of styles and sounding like other artists, this has always gone on but is very wide spread at the moment and a lot of tunes sound very very similar and it's often hard to tell one producer from another.

As a producer, your mind must be ringing with ideas, and if only they were visible, we could see musical notes orbiting around your head. Tell us something about your dreams, if at all they are connected with your music.
I normally work until I'm pretty much falling asleep at the work station most nights, it's a case of I normally pass out, rather than go to sleep sensibly! I don't have dreams very regularly to be honest, not sure if I'm simply too exhausted most nights but saying that when I do dream it's normally to do with music or work 90% of the time, the other 10% I won't mention ;)

We would love to have an insight on your 2004 vocal beauty, 'Corderoy - Deeper (Vocal Mix)'.
Thanks so much for describing it as a beauty, it's a track I've always loved too but sadly it never really got to the level it should of as a song due the label it was signed to going bust. There's a bit too much to mention here but that really effected how successful the release was. That didn't stop DJs playing it and people falling in love with it, the likes of ATB, Oakenfold and Scott Bond championing it immeasurably; Radio 1's Judge Jules played it for a record 15 weeks on Radio 1 which is a first for a vocal trance record. There's talk of a re-release next year too, you heard it here first!

How's a typical Dale Corderoy day?
Usually a bit crazy and manic, most days it's normally a constant battle to fit everything in before the days through. There's quite a lot of variation between producing, writing and administration work with the record labels I work at and run plus I also try to fit in a bit of social time going for drinks with friends and playing a bit of sport.

Do you have specific production timings or you just run towards your studio shouting "Eureka, Eureka!" when a new tune buzzes your mind?
It's funny you mention this as sometimes you can't plan when an idea hits you, there's been many a time where I've woken in the middle of the night with an idea in my head, knowing that I would probably forget if I wait until morning I've had to stumble to the piano and write as much as I can down whilst battling to stay awake. You wouldn't think it but these moments are sometimes when you come up with the best ideas you can't afford to miss them.

Tell us something about you're hooked to these days? Music, food... anything!
Haha there's a lot of things I'm hooked to, but luckily it's all legal. I used to be totally hooked on coffee and couldn't get through a day without it, I've managed to overcome the daily need for it now and drink it only on rare occasions, same goes for sweets and chocolates. I do like to stay active too, doing the job I do I spend most of my time sat down and so I'm sort of hooked on keeping fit if you like as I tend to go a little crazy if I can't release some energy.

And... recent gigs and the coming ones?
I recently came back from playing a gig in Brno in Czech Republic, I love playing out there so much as the people and the scene is really good, I was really well looked after too I just can't wait to go back. Before the end of '09 the next gigs will be at Ministry Of Sound in London, Home in Birmingham and Odyssey in London.

We won't miss this: Please throw light on your forthcoming releases!
I have a new release coming out on Insight Recordings called "Rock Guitar" in November, I also have remixes on Mondo Records due for release before the end of the year, one is for the 2009 release of Angelic "It's My Turn" the other will be of Nitrous Oxide. I could go on forever here listing everything, if you want to check http://www.facebook.com/pages/Corderoy/94062447234 you'll find all the latest info on releases.

Some random questions to know you better:
All-time trance favourite: "Sweetest Dreams" (or is that too bias? ;) haha
Probably still I would have to say "William Orbit - Barber's Adagio For Strings (Ferry Corsten Remix)"
Your favourite possession: My Piano / Or my laptop
Productions or Remixes? Bit of both but if I had to choose, original productions
Other favourite genre after Trance? I love many so hard to pick one, probably ambient / chillout
An EDM entity you look up to: Still have a high regard for Ferry Corsten

Message for your fans.
Thank you so much for all your support in 2009 and for continuing to believe and encourage me, 2010 looks to be the most exciting year yet as I have so much in store, to be honest I just can't wait for you to hear what I have planned. Please keep your messages coming and stay in contact as I love to hear from you.

For more info related to Dale Corderoy check out the following links:
www.corderoy.co.uk
www.myspace.com/corderoy
www.twitter.com/dalecorderoy
www.facebook.com/corderoy

Written by: Apoorv
Compiled by: Priyank

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