Gorkiz [Interview] Celebrating a landmark achievement of reaching 100 releases, Transensations presents label Boss GORKIZ debut Album - The Time, The Space, The Life. Composed by originals and collabs with great and rising Brazilian talents; starting with his label partner Pedräda, followed by Sensitive (IT), Kaito Aman and Ed Lopes, the perfect choice to proclaim this Centenarian landmark, where to not only survive as an independent label, but also to flourish and constantly evolve, bringing forward new and exciting talents, is something that must be celebrated. Is time to thank all the artists and industry partners that believed on the label work and supported to reach this milestone, that is only the beginning of our progressive life. Progressive Astronaut caught up with Gorkiz to learn more about the release of ‘The Time.The Space.The Life’, his background, studio process, inspirations, future plans, and more. Enjoy. Hi Gorkiz, thanks for joining us. What is your current mood and what was Read More
Feature: SKALA, Theologos & ‘Amaeo’ [Interview] SKALA's mission is for people to emotionally open up, so they leave feeling emotionally escalated, or what she likes to call it “eSKALAtion”. The passionate producer from Berlin has been making music since she was a child and combines her background in piano music with her current Melodic Techno productions. Her tracks sound like a perfect symbiosis of heavy bass lines and airy melodies. In 2023 she also started her own label ‚Amaeo’ together with her partner Theologos. Theologos, based in Berlin, started his DJ career at the early age of 17 inspired by the House classics of the early 2000s. Over the years his sound developed towards Indie Dance and Melodic Techno and his Greek influenced grooves won’t let anyone stand still on the dance floor. Hi Guys, thanks for sitting with us today! What is your current mood and what was the last piece of music you listened to? Theologos: While I’m sitting in the studio writing the answers, I'm listening to a playlist on S Read More
Francesco Pico [Interview] Based in the Hague, Dutch artist Francesco Pico has been at the cutting edge of electronic music for the better part of three decades. Emerging from the Netherlands' avant-garde dance scene on the strength of releases via Dave Seaman's Audiotherapy, Eelke Kleijn's Outside The Box and Global Underground, Francesco Pico has found a way to create a personal universe by exploring electronic sounds, and ultimately finding his own place in the trend-driven state of underground dance music. Enjoying a career renaissance since returning from a hiatus in 2018, Francesco has found new life through releases via Deepwibe Underground, Manual Music and his own Magnitude Recordings imprint, the latter of which serves as his primary home. Fully formed within the creative confines of his The Hague studio, Francesco's fourth artist album 'Perpetual E-Motion' has followed a less conventional path to its release. Whereas most modern-day albums get dropped with little fanfare, or perhaps an industry stand Read More
Ido Morali [Interview] Ido Morali is an Indie Dance and Electronica music DJ and producer based in Tel Aviv. Morali, one of Tel Aviv’s most esteemed DJs began his career ten years ago as the resident of one of Tel Aviv's leading underground clubs, the Bootleg. At the age of 22, he continued to hone his craft at Beit Maariv, sharing the booth with some of the world's finest DJs. Since then, he continues to play important clubs and big stages in Israel and beyond, alongside artists such as Dixon, Âme, Guy Gerber, Whitesquare, Moscoman, Jennifer Cardini and more. Ido is the founder and content manager for Tel Aviv's well-respected Mondo 2000 club and is part of the pioneer "Gavoa" collective. He is also an integral part of the "Rabbits in the Sand" Israel Burn camp, known for it's music. He constantly strives to improve upon his already impeccable technique; This together with his broad musical style ranging from pure House, Acid and Groove, results in memorable gigs at colorful clubs and festivals ar Read More
Feature: Ivory [Interview] Based in Milan, Italian artist Daniel Tagliaferri aka Ivory has been at the cutting edge of electronic music for the better part of a decade. Comparable to the path of his contemporaries, Daniel has found a way to create a personal universe by exploring electronic sounds, and ultimately finding his own place in the trend-driven state of underground dance music. Fully formed within the creative confines of his Milan studio, Ivory's third microCastle project 'Persona', follows on from 2021's 'Light Through Water', a seven-track affair which continued Daniel's mission to create bold synthesizer symphonies from the tools of the club. As an evolution in his sound, the release was significantly more stripped-down and dancefloor-friendly than his label debut 'No Scale Can Resize You' yet continued to demonstrate and build on the Italian's penchant for sophisticated sound design and memorable musical themes. Moving forward, 2022 proved to be a monumental year for Ivory, with the release of hi Read More
Oliver & Tom [Interview] "Music transcends us all," that's what Oliver & Tom, composed by Andrés Martynowicz and Mauricio Infiesta, is all about. This duo’s symbiosis originated in their childhood. Growing up together, they shared diverse musical experiences in rock and pop bands, where Andrés excelled in the electric guitar and Mauricio in the acoustic drums. A few years later, both continued their studies now choosing the piano and synthesizer as their main instruments of production and giving rise to the creation of the electronic music group "Oliver & Tom." The name honors two characters of an anime called “Captain Tsubasa”, who were known for their strong bond both on and off the football field. These two Argentinian producers found their way to Progressive House in 2017 when they signed their first tracks with the famous and very prestigious label "The Soundgarden," founded by a current legend of the genre, Nick Warren. The musical style of “O&T” is defined by incorporating gr Read More
Plasmatique [Interview] Plasmatique is the melodic techno project of slovakian producer Zuzana Retkesova, known for her progressive melodic techno productions. As Zuzana Retkesova has worked as an engineer and producer for the last 7 years in her own music production company, Zuzana eventually decided to start a project of her own. What defines your music? Zuzana states: “ Hypnotising, driving and I love arpeggiated baselines which is a key element of my sound.” I love Stephan Bodzin, Innellea, Adriatique and for sure Thomas Helmich there are a lot of influences from these artists. Following up on the success of Posthuman, PLASMATIQUE continues her innovative and progressive melodic path with Archetype and contributing to the 2023 HARTHOUSE release Dance With The Robots with the title Circularity. Hi Zuzana, thanks for joining us. What is your current mood and what was the last piece of music you listened to? Hi, thank you for having me. I’m in “work mood” and the last track I listened to was Read More
Roger Martinez [Interview] With a career now spanning well over a decade, Roger Martinez's transcendent style has long been a favourite of the world's top DJs. Cid Inc, Eelke Kleijn, John Digweed, Guy J, Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren and Sasha have all been steadfast supporters over the years, and remain as progressive music continues to grow and evolve. Sitting prominently on Roger's resume as one of his most well-received tracks has been 'De Machtige Trip'. Released in 2013 via GEM Records, the production was beloved for its timeless musicality and pristine techno framework, ultimately finding a place in a wide assortment of DJ sets. Now, looking to breathe new life into the track for 2023's summer season, Higher States invites Alex O'Rion and Roger himself to re-imagine the production in their own essence. Progressive Astronaut caught up with Roger to learn more about the release of ‘De Machtige Trip’, his musical background, studio process, inspirations, future plans, and more. Enjoy. Hi Roger, tha Read More
Desiree Nemcik [Interview] On a trip, alone to the other side of the world, Desirée embarks on a race against the current towards the professionalization of music production with the certainty that the chosen path is the correct one. Crossed by the need to delve into the vast universe of electronic music creation and with a background inherited mainly from rock, inspired by bands like Sodastereo, Charly García, Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd, The Cure, The Cranberries among others, she began to take their first steps reconnecting with their roots: writing, composition, piano and guitar. Flooded by a greater commitment to her own understanding, she began a long path towards professionalization, training with expert colleagues in mixing, mastering, composition, singing and piano. Working self-taught in her home studio and motivated by the need to express her creativity, she composed her first melodies, moved by the awareness of the path towards expression and sharing that was beginning to open up. At the age of Read More
Madloch [Interview] The seventh installment of our label manager interview series welcomes Madloch who runs Sound Avenue, 3rd Avenue, Future Avenue and more, with Sound Avenue now laying claim to a twelve year history with some of progressive and organic's biggest artists. We had a chance to catch up with Dominique for an exclusive chat about his vision for the labels, day to day operations, advices, pet peeves and much more. Enjoy. Hi Dominique, thanks for sitting with us today! What is your current mood, and what was the last piece of music you listened to? Hi guys, thanks for the invite to this interview! I usually start the day by listening to an ambient mix! Today it was a great mix by Bålsam for Deep Electronics on Soundcloud. How has your start to the year been, and what are your plans for the week? 2023 is the busiest year of my life so far! Apart from running my own labels & creating "South America Avenue," I started a new label project with my good friend Patrick (Bynomic) from Read More