GMS (also known as the Growling Mad Scientists) is a Dutch psychedelic trance duo which has attained significant popularity from the early 1990s to the present time (2010). Formed by Shajahan Matkin (also known as Riktam) and Joseph Quinteros (also known as Bansi) in the city of Amsterdam, located in the west of The Netherlands, the duo has attracted a large international fanbase. GMS founded Spun Records in 1999, the first psychedelic trance label in the United States and Ibiza, Spain
In 2008, GMS left Spun Records to further concentrate on their own careers and had created in 2009 a new label to release all of their music from their own various bands called Starbox Music.
They have sold over 350.000 copies worldwide.
GMS won the Psy-Trance award twice (in 2001 and 2009) at the DJ Awards in Ibiza, Spain.
Riktam
Shajahan Matkin (Riktam) was born in 1976 in Amsterdam Holland. He met his co-member Bansi in a coffee shop when he was 14 years old. When he was 15 he left school and went to India where he travelled to Goa to experience his first trance parties. After returning to Amsterdam in 1995 from another trip to India, he started making music with his friend Bansi. They created a group called the Growling Mad Scientists or GMS as it became known. Now he lives in Ibiza, Spain and DJs and produces live shows around the world at various functions.
Bansi
Joseph Quinteros (Bansi) who was born in Barcelona in 1976. He played the drums for 6 years, starting at the age of 11. He also played bass and guitar, since his father was a musician. At 14 he met Riktam and after going to Goa together they founded GMS. He also now lives in Ibiza and tours the world on a constant basis.
1200 Micrograms (also known as 1200 Mics, or 1300 Mics) is a psychedelic trance act from Ibiza. The members are Riktam and Bansi from GMS, Raja Ram and Chicago. Raja Ram is Australian, but has lived in London for over 30 years. Bansi and Riktam are Dutch, Chicago is American, and the 3 live on Ibiza Island, Spain. The name 1200 Micrograms comes from Raja Ram taking 1200 micrograms of LSD while working on the groups first album. Raja Ram told his friend Paul Taylor, "God Paul I took 1200 micrograms!"[citation needed] Their 1st album is its use of themes related to mind/consciousness-expansion.
The idea for starting the project allegedly came to Raja Ram while he was hallucinating in his hammock in Brazil. Thus, their first, self-titled album featured 9 tracks about Ayahuasca, DMT, Mescaline, LSD, Marijuana, Hashish, Ecstasy, Magic Mushrooms and Salvia Divinorum. The tracks featured many quotes from Terence McKenna and samples from movies such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
The second album, Heroes of the Imagination, was dedicated to famous inventors and scientists who dramatically contributed to, or changed, our lives, including Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Michael Faraday, Albert Einstein, Charles Babbage, Albert Hofmann, Francis Crick, James D. Watson, and Tim Berners-Lee. This album also contains the 2003 party hit, Acid for Nothing; a trance remix of Dire Straits' Money for Nothing which samples lines from the movie Waking Life(the track also replaced the phrase "I want my MTV" with "I want my LSD").
The 3rd album was called The Time Machine. Its songs were influenced by famous places and times in the past -- The Creation of the Universe, Stonehenge, Ancient India and Egypt and Greece.
Eskimo (DJ Junya) is an English Psychedelic Trance DJ and producer, son of John Ford (also known as John Phantasm and owner of Phantasm Records).
Inspired by his father John Phantasm (and consequently the music he heard playing at home when he was young), Eskimo started producing his own music in the studio from the age of 9 but did not begin DJing worldwide until he was 13. Wrapped up in the life of DJing, Eskimo did not return to the studio until he was 15, which was when he 'wanted to get back into the producing part of it since the music was getting more technical'. Not until then did he start producing under the name of Eskimo. The name was chosen because it bears no connection 'to the product'. At aged 17 he released his first debut album “Can You Pick Me Up".
Eskimo’s tunes begin to show up in the sets of psy trance DJs across the globe. By the time he performed his first live set, his repertoire had trebled. His many remixes from this time - some still unreleased due to copyright wrangles - included Infected Mushroom and Skazi, but it was his unofficial remix of The Prodigy "Voodoo People" that was most popular.
In summer 2004, Eskimo released his second artist album "Take A Look Out There" which included the well known "Party Pooper" a track sampling the police shutting down a free party. November 2005 saw the release of Balloonatic Part One. Balloonatic Part Two followed in September 2006.
The Megaband
Eskimo is currently working on a project called 'The Megaband' which involves a collaboration with Israeli psy-trance duo Void (Oren Emanuel & Tamir Regev). After realising that they viewed music in the same light, John, Oren and Tamir worked together in the studio under a new name and co-produced their first track 'MTV' (Hello Moto), which was subsequently released in Void's Music With More Muscle compilation album. MTV received a very positive reception and was regularly played on some of the world's most renowned dancefloors throughout 2008. Thanks to its popularity in both clubs and YouTube, The Megaband firmly placed their name on the map.
Drawing influences from the likes of The Prodigy, Justice, The Sex Pistols and Led Zeppelin, The Megaband's style combines a multitude of genres, ranging from electronic rock and electro to punk rock. Some fans have been critical of The Megaband's new style; it is understood that these fans expected to hear sounds similar to the psy-trance that Eskimo and Void are well-known for, whereas The Megaband never intended to sound like this.
The Megaband's debut album, Propaganda, is yet to be released and has been long-promised. However, an official release date has now been set for April 2010. The 'music' page on their website includes short playable demos and gives an indication of the tracks that could be seen on the album.
Balloonatic Part 3
Eskimo is also working in the studio to complete Balloonatic Part 3, the final part of his Balloonatic series. He has informed fans that 'Part 3 will be Eskimo vs. all the best acts that Israel has to offer' and it will bear 'absolutely no connection to the 1st or second part'. The release date of this is currently unknown.
Discography
Can you pick me up? (Phantasm Records 2003)
Take a look out there (Phantasm Records, Arcadia Music 2004)
Balloonatic Part One (Phantasm Records 2005)
Balloonatic Part Two (Phantasm Records 2006)
Collaborations
Dynamo - Acid Daze (Eskimo vs Dynamic, Phantasm Records 2005)
Void - Music With More Muscle (Chemical Crew 2007)
Gil grew up in the middle of the San Francisco music scene of the 60s,
and then left San Francisco to journey to India in September 1969.
Having been a musician all his life,
and then doing intense Yogic practices with Gurus in the Himalayas,
he tried to unite the two, Music and Yoga, into One Spirit befitting this Age.
The result was the Music House, the Goa Full Moon parties,
and his concept of "Redefining the Ancient Tribal Ritual for the 21st Century".
His focus is in using the party situation as a medium to uplift the consciousness
of the participants through the Trance Dance Experience.
He says: "Since the beginning of time mankind has used music and dance
to commune with the Spirit of Nature and the Spirit of the Universe...
We are using Trance Music and the Trance Dance Experience
to set off a chain reaction in Consciousness..."
"Through the Trance Dance Experience
hopefully people will become more sensitive and aware
of themselves, their surroundings,
the crossroads of humanity, and the needs of the planet...
with this Awareness comes Understanding and Compassion...
THAT is the need of the hour, and the true Goa state of mind !!!"
He met Ariane in Goa in 1985.
They have been together constantly ever since.
Ariane's keen interest in african djembe drumming
and west African traditional dance & music
has also had a big influence on the development
and direction of Gil's musical tastes and concepts.
Gil & Ariane's current musical project is "The Nommos",
Ariane's solo ethnoambientchill project is "Nimba",
and the goal of both projects is to combine futuristic psychedelia
with the ancient rhythms, music, and Spirit of traditional cultures.
Gil & Ariane continue to travel all over the planet
to bring to people the true goa feeling and spirit
in the form of their marathon trance dance events.
AND THE BEAT GOES ON....
Martin Freeland, also known as Man With No Name or M.W.N.N., is a British Goa trance DJ. Originally a techno record producer, Freeland changed style at the beginning of the 1990s.
Freeland initially produced techno tracks in the late 1980s. Working with various other producers he contributed to tracks by Charm, Perfectly Ordinary People and Pisces, before releasing "Way Out West" under the name of Man With No Name in 1990. The track sampled lines from the western film, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.
Freeland released several further tracks under his Man With No Name title, before becoming influenced by the sound of Goa trance. With Raja Ram and Graham Wood he contributed to The Infinity Project, before releasing a double A-side on Dragonfly Records entitled "Teleport" / "Sly-Ed". The former track appeared on Dragonfly's first Classix compilation album in 1998.
Following a second Dragonfly release, "Lunar Cycle", Freeland was signed onto Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto Records label, appearing as part of the Perfecto Fluoro series. The singles "Floor-Essence", "Paint A Picture" and a re-release of "Teleport" all reached the UK Singles Chart, the highest position going to "Paint A Picture", which peaked at #42 in January 1996 The track featured vocals from Hannah Bradley.
Later singles included "The First Day (Horizon)", "Vavoom!" and a remix of "Teleport".
Freeland released the album, Moment of Truth in 1996 on Concept in Dance, a subsidiary label of XL Recordings. The instrumental album featured the singles "Floor-Essence" and "Sugar Rush". A second album, Earth Moving The Sun, was released in 1998 on Perfecto, featuring a variety of instrumental, vocal and ambient tracks.
A remix album entitled Teleportation was released by Dragonfly in 2000, before a third album entitled Interstate Highway followed in 2003.
In addition to producing singles and albums, Freeland became a remixer for trance artists. Perfecto labelmates Grace, BT and Perfecto Allstarz received his remix treatment, as well as other artists such as Dreadzone, Disco Volante, Storm, Section X and Elevate.
Taken from Discogs: M.W.N.N. was one of the defining artists in the goa scene since its beginning. He started producing techno in 1990 but as trance came along he switched to this style. From his very first (trance) production he soon became popular for his melodic style of trance, with his immediately recognisable sound suiting the hardcore psy heads and the more laid back general trance listener. He also did tons of remix work; perhaps the most famous being the remix of Moonraker originally from Disco Volante. M.W.N.N. will always remain a legend for those old enough to remember him since the early days of goa.
Cosmosis is an electronic music project, specifically goa trance. Personnel originally consisted of Bill Halsey and Jeremy van Kampen for the first album: Cosmology, widely regarded as a classic in the goa trance genre. Subsequent albums from and including "Synergy" lean towards the less melodic but more complex Psy-Trance sound, and were produced by Bill Halsey only (aka Bilbo Bagginz).
After I started working with Jez “Laughing Buddha”VanKampen (with whom I co-wrote the first Cosmosis album) we both became completely enamoured by the sound of the 12” vinyls being released by this little record label called Dragonfly Records based in south London i.e the early Goa Trance records. Back then it was quite difficult to find this weird new underground music with just a small selection 12” vinyls available only at the hippest underground record stores in the backstreets of London. TIP Records, Dragonfly and relative newcomer Flying Rhino were the only labels that we could find releasing this weird and exciting new music. Consequently we knew every single release that came out. Jez had a few contacts in that early scene and scored us a couple of tickets to an early TIP underground party in Kings Cross. Pretty mindblowing to say the least. I hadn't seen or heard anything like it before. There was no looking back after that for me.
But listening to and creating music as well as making it my career had already long been the focus of my life even before the advent of MIDI sequencers and affordable studio equipment made it feasible to create one's own records.
And yes creating music is enough for me, the form is not that important. It seems to become less so as I get older. I tend to agree with Duke Ellington in that music falls into just two categories: good and bad. In any genre there's excellence and mediocrity.
I have a pretty eclectic taste in music and listen to everything from Folk to Classical, Rock and Pop through Jazz to some of the more brutal electronic styles like Dubstep and Drum n Bass. It just so happens that I'm currently still infatuated with the sonic possibilities of Trance and electronic beats. That may change, we'll see.
Discography
Cosmology (Transient Records 1996)
Synergy (Transient Records 1998)
Intergalactic (Transient Records 2000)
Contact (Transient Records 2002)
Trancendance (Holophonic Records 2005)
Psychedelica Melodica (Holophonic Records 2007)
Fumbling For The Funky Frequency (Holophonic Records 2009)
Then followed Astral Files, the first CD to be only under Astral Projection name. The CD contained new Astral Projection tracks (one, a collaboration with Dado (Transwave, Deedrah)) and remixes of 4 big hits. Astral Files was released also by the well-appreciated British label- Transient Records (which since then has been releasing all their albums). Again the album received great reviews and most tracks became huge party hits.
Following that, Avex Records (Japan) released a CD called "The Mix", containing a mix by Avi to their best tracks. A lot of singles were included on countless compilations and under many labels in Europe. The US, Japan, Taiwan and others around the world. Astral Projection appeared on countless live shows in a lot of events and festivals all over the globe. In the end 1997 Astral Projection released Dancing Galaxy. As Yaniv changed his direction in music and life he left the band and it was Avi and Lior by themselves again.
The album took nine months of work in the audio (Just like a new child, as Avi says). Along with the CD an animated video clip was released for the first track Dancing Galaxy. The album was also released on different labels around the world: Transient, Avex in (Japan- where it was sold with a bonus CD), Blue Moon Production (Taiwan) and others. With the great success of Dancing Galaxy which is probably the most selling artist's trance CD ever, came a lot of shows around the world. Among the special ones were: A performance at the opening night of "The Israeli Season in France", with the participation of the French Culture Minister and VIP's from France and Israel; Performance as guests of the Israeli ambassador to Yugoslavia; Ibiza; Russia; Croatia; USA; and all over Europe.
During 1998 they also released SFX- The Unreleased tracks 89-94 that contains all their early hits from those good old times. In the beginning of 1999 they released few tracks on A new Trust in Trance compilation- The Next Millenium, among them some new tracks and some remixes to old ones.
In February 1999 Another World was released. It took more then ten months in the studio and contains a new remix to one of their first singles- Another World, after which it is called. It also contains a mix to the classic Trilithon's Trance Dance. They remixed Faithless's God is a DJ and also on a remixes single to Faithless.
In May 2000 they released a double mixed CD- In the Mix- with seven remixes to old tracks, by themselves and others, four new tracks, and the rest is all classic, basically "the best of"- almost 160 minutes of a mixed musical jurney with the guys. Transient also released the unreleased tracks unmixed on vinyl. To their new live act they were joined by one of the best Israeli drummers Dani Makov (Siam, Nikmat Hatractor and more).
Astrix (pseudonym of Avi Shmailov; in Hebrew: אבי שמיילוב) is a Psychedelic trance DJ and producer specialising in the sub-genre of Full On Psychedelic Trance.
He was born in USSR in Caucasus on 05/12/1981 and grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel 1992 as a Mountain Jew. He began recording music under the name Astrix in 1997, sometimes misconceived to be taken from the "Asterix" comic books. An interview on UK clubbing website Harderfaster.net revealed the name was chosen for simply sounding good, and not directly influenced by anything in particular.
In 2006 Astrix reached #41 (+34 raise) in DJMag's "Top 100 DJs" yearly rank along with raise of several other Israeli musicians (the highest being Infected Mushroom ranked #9) marking significant worldwide popularisation of Israeli electronic music scene. In 2007 Astrix reached #18 on the list.
Early career
Astrixstarted as a DJ in 1995 playing alternative and 1980s music. It was during this time that he learned about electronic music. In 1997 he began his first in-house studio recordings using a personal computer. He discovered trance in 1997 after being invited to a Trance party. "At first it was a very new and strange experience for me and I couldn't find myself, but I was impressed by the energy and the impact that the music had made on the people at the party. At the beginning of his career in the late 1990s he produced tracks in the "nitzhonot" style of trance, an uplifting, anthemic off-shoot of Goa trance. His first tracks were "In Peace" and "Eakhis World," which both appeared on the well-known nitzhonot compilation "Ptzatzot 3." In a 2003 interviewAstrixsaid that in fact he worked on 3 albums by Alien Project, but its maintainer Ari Linker did not give him credit.
Musical Style
Astrix's music is known for his solid, driving basslines and ascending melodies. It is very uplifting and, as far as psychedelic trance goes, fairly "hard" and is also usually played during sunrise and the morning at outdoor trance parties. Many would consider his style to be a crossover between "full-on" and the "clubbier" end of Trance, exemplfied by his Psychedelic Academy Mix.
Influences
Astrix is musically influenced by Infected Mushroom. "I look up to them for inspiration and for some kind of spiritual fuel as it were." Other influences include Linkin Park and Tiësto. "I also have a love for mainstream bands like Linkin Park, and for ‘club personality’ I like Tiësto, he inspires me very much to see how well you can mix business with music and how big you can become from something that was so small in the beginning.
Astrix has worked with Infected Mushroom, Alien Project, Astral Projection, Atomic Pulse, and G.M.S., among other musicians.
Discography
Eye To Eye (CD) - (HOM-Mega Productions) (2002)
Coolio (CD) - (HOM-Mega Productions) (2004)
Coolio (12) - (HOM-Mega Productions) (2004)
Artcore (CD) - (HOM-Mega Productions) (2004)
Future Music (CD) - (Spiraltrax Label Group) (2007)
Red Means Distortion (CD) - (HOM-Mega Productions) (2010)
Infected Mushroom is a psychedelic trance and electronic music group. Originally formed as a duo by Erez Eisen (also known as I.Zen) and Amit Duvdevani (also known as Duvdev) in the city of Haifa in northern Israel, the group has garnered a large international fanbase. Infected Mushroom is known for their consistent sonic evolution exemplified by the subsequent albums The Gathering (1999), Classical Mushroom (2000), B.P. Empire (2001), Converting Vegetarians (2003), IM the Supervisor (2004), Vicious Delicious (2007) and Legend of the Black Shawarma (2009). The group currently resides in Los Angeles. Members
Erez Eisen
Originally from Qiryat Yam in Israel, Erez was born on September 8, 1980. He had early musical training, learning to play the organ at age 4 and studying piano in the Haifa Conservatory from the age of 8. At age 11 he started toying with computerized music, first using Impulse Tracker and later moving to more advanced musical composition software. By the age of 18, Erez had collaborated with DJ Jörg and other notable psy-trance artists, and had released three albums and a multitude of tracks under different psy-trance acts (including Shidapu and Shiva Shidapu).
Amit Duvdevani
Amit Duvdevani was born on 7 November 1974 and had a similar musical background. He played the piano for 9 years, starting at the age of 7, before taking a turn towards heavy metal and punk rock. Amit played keyboard and wrote most of the material for a local Haifa punk rock band Enzyme. Amit went to his first trance party in 1991, a week before being conscripted into the Israeli army (where he was first nicknamed Duvdev). He has more than once described this experience as life changing - from then onwards all he could think of was trance music. After he finished his national service, Amit spent a year in India (primarily in Goa), and finally decided to make music himself. He collaborated with a member of Shidapu on four tracks, though they were never released.
Biography
In 1998, Eisen and Duvdevani began playing together. At first they released a few tracks as Shidapu & Duvdev. These tracks were 'happier' and of the simpler side of trance. Later on, they formed the duo Infected Mushroom and started working on their first album.
1999's The Gathering was the breakthrough debut album for Infected Mushroom. The album featured a dark, rhythmic atmosphere exemplified in the song "Psycho", which gathered much acclaim and popularity. This album was one of the first albums to bring Israeli psytrance to more 'mainstream' audiences, and contributed to the gradually growing popularity of the genre worldwide. The following year (2000) the duo released one of their most well known albums, also being one of the most well known albums in the genre today, Classical Mushroom (2000). The album showcased a track often cited as their most popular track, 'Bust A Move'. This album is commonly referred to as the best example of the group's efforts.
Infected Mushroom's evolving style has also had its share of critics. 2001's BP Empire was well-received by many fans and critics alike. Especially renowned is the musical epic 'Dancing With Kadafi'; segueing numerous styles of music, most notably through the use of strong middle-eastern style melodies and a classical piece halfway through (which showcased Erez and Amit's piano skills). However, the album was not as popular with mainstream audiences when compared with earlier releases, primarily due to the less accessible melodies in most of the tracks. The album was also seen as a break away from the more traditional styles of psytrance by many psytrance purists, who felt that the new territories explored went beyond the bounds of psytrance but not necessarily in a progressive sense.
The group's next album, 'Converting Vegetarians' (2003) featured 2 discs. The first disc being the 'Trance Side', which contains trance-like dancefloor material, as well as being a logical progression of their earlier work. The second disc is entitled 'The Other Side', containing genre-bending experimental music - ranging from the title track (which was the first instance of Duvdev singing) to the more downtempo laid-back 'Elation Station', and the electro-pop tracks 'Blink' and 'Illuminaughty' (with vocals by Michele Adamson).
The release of IM The Supervisor in 2004 (often incorrectly referred to as I'm The Supervisor), further surprised listeners with yet another mix of psytrance with other musical genres. The album was criticized as being too "commercial" by many fans, but became Infected Mushroom's best selling album up to that time.
Guitarists Thomas Cunningham and Erez Netz joined in 2004 - Tom plays with Infected Mushroom in the United States, while Erez Netz plays the rest of their gigs. Netz is a famous Israeli guitarist and opens their live shows with some exhibition. In December of that year, Infected Mushroom have moved from their base in Haifa to a new studio in Los Angeles, California. Erez and Amit plan to produce their new album in this new studio, all the while maintaining their extensive world tour (one which is still running non-stop since 1999).
In 2007, Infected Mushroom brought in Brazilian percussionist Rogério Jardim to play drums and percussion during their shows. Also that year, Infected Mushroom rose to #9 in the influential DJmag Top 100 DJs poll where they were the highest placed psytrance DJs. This was the first time the category had been created, reflecting psytrance's rising popularity around the world and the pioneering role Infected Mushroom have played in this.
2007 was also the year of 'Vicious Delicious', their most diverse effort. The album begins with 'Becoming Insane', an intense Spanish-guitar-led number, followed by 'Artillery', a hip-hop influenced track. Other tracks on the album also feature guest vocalists, along with the guitars and more live-sounding drums.
The much-anticipated 'Legend of the Black Shawarma' dropped in 2009 and featured a remix of The Doors' classic 'Riders on the Storm', as well as the usual guest vocalists and ever-changing sound. According to Duvdev, the title of the album is taken from a joke shared with an Australian friend who was describing his interest in having an up-close-and-personal experience in a shark cage. Duvdev's reported response was that the friend would look to the shark like a 'black shawarma', an enticing Middle-Eastern delicacy.
Infected Mushroom currently use Cubase 5 on custom built PCs. Official website: www.infected-mushroom.com
