Interview with Mr Sam

Hi Sam, first off, thank you for this interview with Trance Hub. Please tell us about the gigs you are looking forward to.
You welcome, thanks for asking. I'm gonna play next week for the Black Hole night in Brussels with all the dream team, then I'm off to Scotland for a few days and playing in Petterhead with Andy Duguid, the day after I'm playing in Finland in Helsinki. Soon after it, I'll be going to Miami to play some gigs there, especially for Armani as I'm mixing their new compilation in collaboration with Black Hole, then I still have to play in Slovakia in club Dopler with Lange. I also have to play at a big festival in Scotland again, to be a very big Trance gig this year which is still a surprise but everyone will know asap about it... it will certainly be the most promoted and biggest Trance event of the year... Then I've still France, Israel & more on the map... so does an Australian tour in the making... so quite busy yeah...

How has been your over ten years of existence in the dance music industry?
Wow 10 years yes... So fast, means I did realize it and means I'm enjoying myself... Success is not achieving a big hit etc... Success is lasting in time... I'm happy to be here stronger & stronger 10 years after...

How did you get into producing Trance music? Have you taken any special lessons in music production?
It comes naturally, I wanted to produce records for a while. I had the chance and opportunity to be in studio with different producers and I started like that... Sometimes alone, sometimes not. Depends on the mood actually. The most important thing is to make a great and innovative record, does not matter if you made it with 10 people. Better a great record made by 10 people instead of a bad one who made alone.

"Cygnes" was a brilliant deliverance last year that topped the Trance charts. What would you like to tell us about this massive collaboration? What was the inspiration behind producing this tune?
Cygnes is a nice story. I was surfing on the net on myspace and ended up on claud9's page who had something like 235 hits or something. I heard an old tune on his player called Dlake who featured those great vocals. Music was way different than mine but I felt I could do something with it. I was hypnotized in a second. I got in touch with him and I did the track from A to Z again, in collaboration with Andy Duguid. I was in Scotland and had all vocal parts and a strong idea of how I'd like to make this track. We worked on it for only a few hours and it was done. After, the track became an instant classic for Armin and you know the story... unbelievable no??

We would also like to know what was done to make the vocals of "Cygnes" the way they are? We've never heard something like this before! Sheer magic.
Claud9 has the secret for it. Ask him. I first heard it and thought ... wow that's amazing... I don't think I'll do any follow up of Cygnes with the same vocals style, will be too similar and then for me its impossible to beat Cygnes. It needs to stay a one hit wonder in this style.

One of the vocalists you've worked with is Delirium's Rani. "Secret" was an amazing tune with a beautiful remix by Duderstadt brothers. Do you plan to work with Rani in future?
I forgot about this one... I love Rani's voice and the remix was great yeah... I've no plans to work again with her but who knows...

We have experienced that Mojado sounds are totally different from your other aliases. What can you tell us about the sound of Mojado?
Mojado is my techno alter ego with Dimitri Andreas (who is producing mainly minimal and alternative music as we speak, quality one!!). It's a merged of both our minds... We've no recipe. The magic works when we're together. Nothing else... Mojado is my Dark Side, even If I;m doing more & more banging tune in solo as well. I only want to go with the flow... I can do Cygnes and then Dominator or even a remix for Deadmau5. I don't set me any boundaries. That's the reason why I'm not listed as a techno or Trance DJ...

Your current MySpace says "Let me TANTRA you (*_-)" - what would it mean? What sort of response you've received on "Tantra" so far? Has it been played in any radio show yet?
Tantra... means Tantra... (*_-) do some google research and you'll understand. Tantra is my brand new single. A lot different from Cygnes. I don't like the concept of doing follow ups, copying yourself etc... My new singles are never follow ups... It can be a techno track and then a trance vocal one. My fans know it and they love the fact. Tantra fastly gained the support from DJs like Armin, Sander van Doorn, Marcel Woods, PvD, Marco V... in a few days... I can predict that Tantra will be a monster in the club. I didn't make any compromises in this track, its not composed, it's a dj tool... Its Dance music you know... for me the most important thing is that my music is being playing or aired,.. the rest is politics...

Being a Frenchman, which up and coming French Trance artists would you recommend, if any?
No idea at all. To be honest, I don't like to whats happening in France, they're mostly in electro and house. All I can say is that I'm the only Trance artist in France...

Now again, if we talk about 'As One', where you partnered with the talented Fred Baker, for the classic "Forever Waiting", do you have any trivia about this tune to share? Trust us; this tune could still outshine any contemporary Trancer, even though it dates back close to six years now!
Forever Waiting is still one of my favorite records I did. It's a classic and I remember how we did it in one day. Was fun and guided by god somewhere. It was the first track we signed on Tiesto's Magik Muzik label. A dream at the time. Things are different now but if I had time, I was remixing the track... but I think its better to leave it like that no?

Do we see an artist album coming in the near feature besides your cult compilation 'Opus Terito'?
Yes, this year, I'll be releasing a new Mr Sam solo Artist album, a new Armani compilation and finally a new OPUS Tertio mix album. Album will contains never less than 20 tracks. 4 have been released so far as singles. Dominator, Anasthasia, Cygnes and Tantra... there are still 16 to come... (*_-). A bit more patience and you'll have more info soon... We've already shot a music video for the first radio / tv single as well.

Your promo video of 'Opus Secundo' has a phrase saying "Some set images to music... I like to offer you music that helps you imagine them". This comes as a very inspirational line for Trance-loving people. Can you elaborate more on this?
Who never imagines images while he / she was listening to music? We're all doing this. This is why OPUS Secundo is called "A Movie for The Ears". I simply wanted to create a musical journey on which people can see in their minds what I tried to tell or explain. Its just an invitation for an inside voyage...
Want to know more? Buy theOPUS Secundo CD and read the text... (*_-)

What are you concentrating on currently, your Mr Sam alias or any other aliases too?
Mr Sam, me, myself & I. My solo album, my new Opus and Appia Music my label...

Time for some quick-fire questions we would like you to answer briefly:
What's your height (you're tall!)? I'm 1.95 which is 6.4 feet.
What was the last tune that you listened to? A demo from my album today...
Current favourite Trance producer?: Andy Duguid without a shadow of a doubt.
One thing you love about France: Musee du Louvre in Paris.
Describe in one word the true sound of Appia Music, your label: Voyage
Ever experienced an electric shock (considering plugging in those sockets for your DJ console)? Not yet and hope not...
What do people call you most as: Mr Sam or Samuel? My friends and family: Sam ... fans, Mr Sam but its strange for me... would prefer them to say Sam only. :-)
Current studio setup: Loud sound system at home (*_-)

Message for your fans.
I love you all and without you, I was nothing.

Trance Hub thanks you immensely for taking out time for this interview. We wish you all the luck and success in future.

For more info related to Mr Sam check out the following links:
www.mrsam.tv
www.myspace.com/mrsam_tv
www.twitter.com/mrsam
www.facebook.com/mrsamtv

Written by: Apoorv
Compiled by: Priyank

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