Interview with Andy Bury about Deep Blue Records and their latest chill out compilation: Blueprints -The Chilled Edition.

To celebrate 10 years of Deepblue Records and to coincide with the success of the recent commended album mixed by Filo & Peri, Deepblue proudly presents 'Blueprints - The Chilled Edition' … A stunningly crafted album featuring 22 timeless and moving tracks, including exclusive unreleased ambient reworks as well as highlighting brand new music from some of most cutting edge ambient artists in the scene today.

Showcasing a vast array of rising talents in the scene, the ever present aptitude of London based producer Corderoy supplies not one but four pieces of flair and finesse. Also featured is Russia's 'Update Project' whose productions make a significant contribution to the albums character.

Carefully blending between darker soundtrack-esque pieces and laid back downtempo grooves. Well known names also fall seamlessly within the soundscape, together with gorgeous remixes of anthemic moments including Solarstone and JES 'Like A Waterfall' from Big Chill stalwarts 'Flipside'

So relax and enjoy this perfect accompaniment for the 'chillout' fan, seamlessly blended heavenly-sounding expeditions through classically inspired atmospheric music.

While enjoying this great chill out compilations its great opportunity to catch up with Andy Bury who mixed it to talk about the compilation and many more from the past, present and future of the very reliable label Deep Blue Records.

Dimitri: It will be great to start with the basics. Would you like to tell us your birth place, how old you are and if you believe that you are lucky that you were born in UK! Its one of the most important countries, as far as pop and dance music are concerned.
 
Andy: I was born in 1974 in a small town called Kingswinford... about 15 miles from Birmingham(UK). I feel fortunate enough to live in a place which has such a great amount of talent to offer and we've definitely spawned a few pioneers especially within the dance scene. We've got a good pop scene too but I think the US and certain areas of Europe still have the edge for pop music.
 
Dimitri: Are you from a family background where your parents, or any of your relatives were involved with music or other arts? What was  the opinion of your family when you decided to get into the music business?
 
Andy: My Mum was artistic, my Dad more technical minded which is probably why I've developed abilities in both areas and ended up in electronic based music. They've always been reasonably supportive having paid for my music lessons when I was younger and leant me the money for my first bits of studio gear. To start with when I dropped out of Uni to focus on doing music full time they were a bit concerned, as any parent would be when their offspring decides to 'pursue a dream'... But once the money started coming in it put their mind at ease and they've always been proud.
 
Dimitri: When you took the decision to start producing EDM music? and who were the 3 most imortant composers, producers and DJ's that you consider were a major influence on you?
 
Andy: At the time I'd definitely have to say Sasha and BT - their stuff in the mid 90's just blew me away and I could play their tracks on repeat for hours. They were the two people who got me back into dance music after I went to the rock side for a while. On a more 'veteran' level it would have to be Kraftwerk - 'Man Machine' was one of the first albums I bought and finally seeing them at Tribal Gathering in '97 was one of the best gigs I've ever seen.
 
 Dimitri: When did you meet Rich, and why did you decide to bring your creative forces together and become one of the most respected Trance projects, 'Solarstone'?
 
Andy: I met Rich at a grungey rock club in around '94 after seeing him in a band he used play keyboards in- they were a kind of Shamen meets Sisters of Mercy affair, but he was clearly more interested in moving into house music. I'd been dabbling with making 'rave' and house music at the time and had just got my first record deal and he suggested getting together for a jam at some point. We seemed to have uncannily similar record collections at the time (with the exception of the Pet Shop Boys) and just gelled really well with ideas almost straight away. Over the next few months we did a few tracks and then eventually got together with Sam Tierney who had a proper studio setup and formed 'The Space Kittens', doing kind of 'nu-energy'/acid house stuff- This gave us our first proper taste of success in the industry. After the Space Kittens sound fizzled out we started getting more into Breaks and progressive house which spawned the debut Solar Stone release 'The Calling'. The rest is history
 
Dimitri:  Would you like to remind us of your best memories from your Solarstone days?

Andy: Maybe some live gigs or things that happen while you were producing some tracks?
It's hard to say as much of it was a red wine and smoke fueled blur during the peak of the studio days although much fun was had. Gig wise I'd have to say when we did our first ever DJ set... straight in at the top for Gatecrasher- that was pretty special. A few years later I remember doing a gig in somewhere in the Med and we had to have security guards to escort us to stop fans trying touching to us as we seemed to have reached 'famous' status in some countries... that was pretty surreal and kind of overwhelming. There's a few memories from our seemingly jinxed Australian tours but it's debatable whether you could call them 'best memories' - being stranded in the outback after a kangaroo trashed our car and losing all our records and clothes was something I wont forget. We had to laugh about it though.
 
Dimitri: Which track or remix that you have produced as Solarstone, do you favour, and why?

Andy: Trackwise I'd have to shortlist down to 'U Write The Rules', 'Solarcoaster', '3rd Earth'... also the lesser known ones like 'Release', 'Greenlight', 'Black Finished Chrome' which really reflect a lot of my own musical roots- the latter essentially a kind of ode to Kraftwerk. These were all part of the years when we just used to have a lot of fun jamming out ideas. Bizarrely, we didn't actively listen to other trance music at this time either. It's just what came in our heads.
Remixes I'd go for Whirlpool 'Under The Sun', Chris Bangs 'Warm Weather' and Moonman 'Galaxia' - a lot of genuine feeling went into these
 
Dimitri: We were very surprised to learn that you had decided to separate and for you to keep your very successful label Deep Blue Records, and Rich to carry on by establishing new labels. Is it possible to tell us, in your opinion, what exactly happened? and if you are still good friends with Rich?
 
Andy: People grow apart and when you've been working together with someone for longer than most marriages the cracks can appear... particularly when the money starts to run out and situations change. We occasionally email, but that's about it nowadays. I don't think there's any animosity but it's just one of those things. Sometimes you just have to move on and leave the past in the past. Towards the end we agreed on very little and sadly it became increasingly difficult to work together anymore in any capacity, which left me musically uninspired for a while. Rich had been developing his own projects and labels for some time before leaving Deepblue, and after the Solarstone split I guess it was only a matter of time.
 
Dimitri: Let us know move on to what is going on nowadays. You keep on working with your label Deep Blue records with new partner, Dale Russel known as 'Corderoy'. Why did you decide to work together and has  Dale's presence meant a move forwards in a new direction for the label?
 
Andy: Dale is someone I've known for a while who shares similar ideas and interests. Because of his work with Mondo and Darren Tate he seemed like the ideal person to bring onboard with the label after Rich's departure. I'm a firm believer that dance music is a young mans game to a certain degree, and it was good to get some fresh ideas and input from someone younger than myself who was more active in the scene. I'm not sure if the label has particularly changed direction but for a while I found a lot of music seemed to be too focused on production rather than musical substance, and I wanted to go back to basics with more memorable stand out tunes.
 
 
Dimitri: Deep Blue records backcatalogue includes some fantastic tracks. Can you please choose your Top 5 from them, and give us a small comment for each?
 
Andy: - Z2 'I Want You' - For kicking off the label in fine style. This was really the one where Rich and myself really clicked back into place after a 'bleak period' when Sam left. It was also the first track to be championed by Sasha... which was an immense honour at the time.
- Elizabeth Fields 'Speak In Sympathy' - An emotional fusion of sweet vocals together with quality prog trance.
- Double V 'Moscow Morning' - For the infectiously catchy melody
- FKN 'Why?' - One of the biggest selling tracks on the label
- FKN 'Unreal To Me' - I liked this song so much I wanted to remix it. The Jona Prado mix is a stunning bit of tech prog house too.
 
Dimitri: Do you have a motto or a special mission statement that you follow at Deep Blue records?
 
Andy: Don't release a track just for the sake of it. Really believe in what you do. Keep the quality up over the quantity every time. It's better to release one good track every few months than a bunch of average tracks every few weeks.
 
 
Dimitri: How many digital demos do you receive each week, and are there many good tracks? What are the elements that will enable a track to be released on your label? Can you offer advice to any new producers, who are thinking of approaching you to release their music?
 
Andy: Probably receive around 100 a week... of those I'd say maybe 5 could have potential. The objectives for us is usually something that either creates a genuine level of emotion or has a memorable hook line... Hopefully both those things. Obviously production is important but it's a lot easier to dress up something average with production than create a really good tune... even if it's a bit rough round the edges. One thing I will say to new producers is don't just copy the current big tunes - the amount of Above and Beyond and Deadmau5 ripoffs we get is unbelievable, and for years we were inundated with 'Seven Cities' clones and remixes- very few were actually any good. Most people who have got anywhere in the game have their own style going on which makes them stand out.
 
 
Dimitri: Do you have an example of an artist from your label that you predict will be very big in 2010 and you are very happy that you supported  them  to get their break into the scene?
 
Andy: Frode Kambo Nilsen (aka FKN) and Corderoy are both artists I believe could do well- Although Corderoy is currently more known for his trance productions, the Blueprints Chilled album will hopefully give you a taste of his soundtrack and ambient work. Both Frode and Corderoy are always consistently coming up with big ideas and both have great musical talent. We're currently planning an FKN artist album for next year. 
 
Dimitri: At the end of October, Deep Blue released a fantastic collection of chill-out tunes called 'Blue Prints -The Chilled Edition'. Is it possible to tell us what this compilation is all about, and if there are any exclusive, or unreleased tracks in it?
 
Andy: It's essentially about creating a kind of musical 'journey' showing a deeper alternative side to the label whilst exhibiting its multi-talented stable of artists. I guess it could be described as a 'perfect soundtrack for a lazy day' as one reviewer put it.
Exclusives and unreleased material include 4 tracks from Corderoy, an Andy Hagerty track 'Sweet Sweet Robot', and a new track from my good friend and ex-Solarstone/Space Kittens collague Sam Tierney under his 'Starion' guise.
 
 
Dimitri: Are we going to see in the near future, any solo productions from you or maybe with Corderoy? Is this something that you are planning to do?
 
Andy: Definitely. Although I took a break from producing what I was perhaps most well known for I've actually been involved with a couple of more commercial house projects over the last few years. It was refreshing to stand back from the scene for a while but as I've been quite prolific with ideas recently there's a few tracks lined up which could fit nicely into the Deepblue roster as the genre slowly seems to be opening up more into the house territory. Most will be collaborations as I like working with other people and bouncing ideas around - certainly a few with Dale Corderoy... it's often too easy to become musically self-indulgent when you work on your own.
 
Dimitri: The future is digital - and vinyl or even CDs are close to death! What is your opinion about the number of digital labels that release music every week. Is there space in the market for so many labels, or does the the quantity usually  mean that many are poor amateur productions?
 
Andy: For a while the market seemed to be saturated with a large quantity of average tracks which I think may have contributed towards music becoming de-valued in recent years. Fortunately I think we're reaching a point now where download stores are having a lot more quality control over the music they sell (as used to be the case with physical record stores) and due to the recession many of the labels responsible for churning out average stuff seem to have been and gone.
 
Dimitri: What releases are we going to see from Deep Blue records in the coming months, and should we wait with anticipation?
 
Andy: We're definitely gearing towards working with artists who have album potential rather than just one-off releases so hopefully more albums and EPs will be in the pipeline next year. As mentioned there will be a few of my own projects too. Maybe another compilation mixed by Corderoy and myself along with another guest 'name' too.
 
Dimitri: Your message to our web site visitors and Deep Blue records fans.

Andy: Keep feeling the tunes... but BUY the music if you like it... filesharing is bankrupting the scene!

Many thanks Andy and Dale for your support in my shows and thanks to Andy for replying to this interview.

Blueprints - The Chilled Edition

TRACKLISTING

01. Forerunners - Lifecycle (Forerunners Offshore Mix)
02. Manvel Ter-Pogosyan - Tears Of Armenia (Ambient Mix)
03. D-Air - Abrente (Ambient Mix)
04. Corderoy - Triango (Original Mix)
05. Adam Nickey - Perfect Destiny (Ambient Mix)
06. Soren S - Sand In Your Shoes (Rising Morning Chillout Mix)
07. Starion - Angelsong (Original Mix)
08. Update Project - After The Rain (Original Mix)
09. Skyscraper – Jabberwock (Solarstone's Afterhours Version)
10. Haris C - Morning Sun (Update Project Ambient Mix)
11. Alexey Selin - White Crystal (Update Project Ambient Mix)
12. Corderoy - Simple Emotion (Original Mix)
13. Double V - Moscow Morning (Andy Hagerty Ambient Mix)
14. Solarstone - Crashing (Original Mix)
15. Skyscraper - The Hymn (Update Project Mix)
16. Solarstone and Jes - Like A Waterfall (Flipside Remix)
17. Corderoy - Distance (Original Mix)
18. Adam Nickey feat. Tiff Lacey - Letting Go
(Michael Witness Ambient Mix)
19. Andy Hagerty - Sweet Sweet Robot (Original Mix)
20. Leo G - Supersonic (Ambient Mix)
21. Solarstone - Release (Adam Nickey Ambient Mix)
22. Corderoy - At The Edge (Endtro Version)