After finding his feet in the world of electronic dance music Stephen has been pushing himself to the limit and has started to reap the rewards.
The singles he has released have propelled his name into the CD wallets of giants like Sander Van Doorn, Ferry Corsten, Lange, Andy Moor, Dash Berlin, Mike Koglin, Mark Sherry, Sean Tyas, Gareth Emery, Mike Koglin and Judge Jules to name a few.
His club nights of the same name are also going from strength to strength and he has been able to attract some of the best international artists to his hometown as well. He has also been chosen to play with Eddie Halliwell, Tiesto, Mauro Picotto, Sander Van Doorn, Jordan Suckley Marcel Woods and countless other superstars as well as securing coveted slots on some of the biggest and best tours and festivals around including Coloursfest and Eddie’s Fire It Up Tour. Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Stephen Kirkwood.
SUM: Hello Stephen , thanks for taking the time to talk with us, How’s been 2013 so far for your career?
SK: Hi Guys! Thanks for having me. 2013… 2013 has been amazing, Its been my most successful year in the industry to date. I have released more tracks in 2013 than in any other year, I hosted my own weekly FM dance radio show in Scotland for 6 months, Began working closely with one of my idols DJ Lange on his world leading tech trance label Lange Recordings. Its been hard work to establish myself in different areas but I am slowly but surely getting there. Big things take time and there is so much more coming in 2014.
SUM: Tell us how “Stephen Kirkwood” came to be? How would you define your style and who/what are your musical influences?
SK: Well. Stephen Kirkwood is my real name actually. It stuck with me after doing my first few main gigs, and it made sense to build on the name in both Djing and now production!
Musically, throughout high school I was always toying with programs like Acid Pro and Mixcraft. Grabbing Acapellas online, eg ‘Hip Hop Dont Stop Come On Make The Beat Drop’ I would take these, cut them up and lay them all over old Hardcore, Hard Dance and Hip Hop instrumental tracks, add (DJ Woody Remix) and BOOM I had tracks that I would then take into school to show off and battle other ‘DJs’ with. I know now that they would of sounded garbage, out of time, out of key etc etc. But it was the fun that counts and I guess the experience of basic production skills like layering etc! Back then I listened to a load of DJ Scott Brown, he is a Scottish Hardcore DJ. His tracks blew me away when going through school. I was totally obsessed with how catchy his melodies were and he really opened my ears to dance music. After not too long though I found trance and strayed away from the 180 BPM hardcore!! Other earlier influences for me, Mauro Picotto, Lange, Sander Van Doorn (early days) David Forbes, Elbodrop, Scot Project, Sean Tyas, Alan Fitzpatrick and Mark Sherry to name a few.
Naturally while playing with the computer programs turntables followed. Numark direct drive bad boys and a simple mixer. Bought as much vinyl I could afford from the (now closed) 23rd Precinct Record store in Glasgow (Now my publishers strangely enough) After serious practice for a couple of years I started making my way onto the Scottish DJ circuit. DJing at small pubs firstly, then to the local clubs, then onto Glasgow clubs and today bigger Scottish festivals like Coloursfest and EH1!
I would say my production style is some crazy place between techno and trance. I really love my techno, I actually have a techno alias called Stephan Woods! Sometimes there is nothing better than just losing yourself in some seriously throbbing techno. There is a total time and place for techno for me. I love the percussion and drive and I guess a load of that comes out in my own style. Obviously my roots are trance and I love chord progression and melody so I try find a way to completely merge the 2 sounds, I am slowly but surely getting there, I think…
SUM: Currently you have your track “Mars One” which is a massive progressive Trance tune, in the top 20 of Beatport’s Trance chart, and it has been there for a couple of weeks already. Please describe shortly the creative process of that track , what inspires you and what tools you use Software/Hardware that helped you to do this original production a reality?
SK: Firstly thanks for the compliment! Mars One is a track I am extremely proud of. I am delighted with how well it has done in the chart. It took me a few months before I was finally happy with with it, I sent the final version to Stuart (Lange) and it was an instant yes. Which is always a good sign. The track was also featured on Ministry of Sound – Trance Nation 2013 which for me was a milestone accomplishment. I used to buy every single MOS album from my local ASDA (Walmart) growing up, and now to have a copy of the new album with one of my own tracks on it is very humbling.
How it came to be, I originally started with a simple kick and some simple bits of percussion, I remember Orjan Nilsens track ‘Endymion’ playing in my head at the time and I was really interested in creating something with as much drive and shuffle as that on the percussion side of things. I got some claps, stabs and FX, layered them up and created a nice little groove that I knew I had to use throughout. The bass line came after. Sylenth1, Massive, and a load of other plug ins to really give the sound that proper strong bottom end punch. The breakdown came to me over a couple of days, I had both melody sections nailed, Just had to decide on the right sound and arrangement. After much tweaking I eventually nailed it dead!!
As far as inspiration goes. I hate to sound like a generic trance DJ here, but I am truly inspired by Space. I am a big science geek and i love pondering the universe. Listening to guys like Neil De Grasse Tyson talk is one of the most inspirational things I can think of. I actually sampled one of his famous speeches for a up coming track of mine you should look out for! Its called ‘We Are All Connected’ and should be coming out at some point over the next couple of months! Aside Space I am inspired by the beautiful Scottish scenery. I live just an hour from some of the most breathtaking views in the world and you can help be inspired with that on your doorstep! I also seek inspiration in other music of course, classical, hip hop, blues, disco and of course other trance and techno tracks.
SUM: How many hours a day do you see yourself doing your magic in your studio?
SK: A usual studio day for me consists of me waking up around 9/10, grabbing breakfast, a big mug of tea and working till around 5pm. Some days I am tied up with other reality jobs but most days I try and spend at least 5 hours working on something.
SUM: What feels more rewarding for you, music production or Djing?
SK: Well currently production is more rewarding. Seeing music I have created being supported by DJ’s I have looked up to since school time has been one of the most rewarding feelings in my life. Another thing, I now have a working relationship with DJ’s like Mark Sherry and Lange, I speak to both daily as friends and colleagues. Personally I never thought I’d see the day! Its a bit surreal at times, but it is very important to keep the professionalism to a high level when dealing with business, if I were star struck every time I spoke to these guys I highly doubt That I would have the relationship I have with them today. Although, I did start out as a DJ, and playing some of the big arena gigs was pretty special, but I fell away a little with the Scottish mainstream DJ circuit as it became completely saturated with newcomer DJ’s all selling tickets to play gigs. I guess that’s just a reflection of the current financial climate, but It just wasn’t for me. Recently though with the success of some of my tracks I have some really cool Scottish gigs coming up all over the country. My main aim now though is to travel outside the UK and play as many international shows as possible!
SUM: What is the best or the craziest memory you have from a live event?
SK: The craziest memory, I was touring with Eddie Halliwell. I was just 18 at the time and it was one of my first big shows. I had the place all grooving with some techno and progressive trance, honestly the place was packed, I was Djing away when suddenly something solid hit me on my chest, I gathered that someone in the crowd had thrown something at me. I looked to the ground and it was a mobile phone with a text saying ” Fancy a Sh*g!!!! clearly someone a bit worse for wear and feeling very loving just couldn’t help themselves! I took that as a compliment, I must have been doing something right!
SUM: So far what you think has been the highlight of your career?
SK: So far there has been many, but off the top of my head it has to be seeing my track Mars One on the Ministry of Sound compilation Trance Nation 2013. I still can’t believe it sometimes. I look at the names on that CD, Cosmic Gate, Ferry Corsten, Lange, Orjan Nilsen, Rank 1 and then ME!! I think I will be going on about that one for another while yet.
SUM: Recently you were appointed A&R Manager of Lange Recordings, sub-label of Enhanced Music and owned by one of the legends of Trance music, Lange. How did the opportunity presented and how do you plan to take Lange Recordings to the next level music wise?
SK: Good question, an area I haven’t really spoke about with anyone! It all started in 2012. I had a track ‘Forever After’ finished and I had recently sent it to Reset (Spinnin’) but they were unsure about it and didn’t want to sign it. I am sure they were wanting to take Reset down the more ‘housey’ route judging by some of their releases, something that Spinnin’ as a whole seemed to do at that time. So not feeling to disheartened (which is very important) I went on the search for a new label that I could release some of my future music on. I had always known about Lange Recs, but I had never sent any material, I sent ‘Forever After’ over for some feedback and I got a personal reply from Stuart saying he loved it and was wanting to sign straight away. That filled me with confidence and that was the start of my journey with Lange Recs. Over the following months I continued to engage with Stuart and we ended up gigging together in Glasgow. It was nice putting a face to all of the emails! I then signed ‘Mind The Gap’ and ‘Quasar’ in the following months.
The A&R opportunity came about when Stuart and myself were discussing the industry and where it was going, I guess we struck a chord in the way we thought about music and one morning I woke up to an email from Stuart asking if I wanted to be involved. Naturally I jumped at the chance and the rest is history. Now that I am involved I want to push the label as much as I can. It already is established as one of the leading trance labels in the scene but I personally see so much more potential. I feel right now that trance is in a weird place, not necessarily a bad place, but just now there are 2 different types of trance. You have the ‘140’ resurgence that is happening just now, which is pretty crazy as exactly the same thing happened in 2006 – 2009. It has certainly came back with a bang, and its a great thing for trance as a whole, as it means more people are getting into it and more artists are pushing amazing music out there. labels like ‘KEARNAGE’ ‘Monster’ and ‘Subculture’ are all leading the charge when it comes to the uplifting stuff.
The other side of trance is dark, progressive, massively techno influenced, sometimes electro influenced, slower and personally speaking I think has more depth/sounds more modern. Don’t get me wrong though, some of the newer uplifting trance tracks still get the hairs on the back of my neck standing up but from a personal perspective there is more scope to be creative with the latter.
I want to continue on the path we are heading with Lange Recs, give the talented artists on the label the best possible platform to get there music heard and of course keep a close ear on any new comers that happen to be making waves. Over the rest of the year and into 2014 I really want to push the dark tech trance sound again, after all we are heading for winter in the UK and I think winter music should always dark and twisted…. :)
SUM: What is your take on this digital world we are living in? and what is your take on music piracy?
SK: For me I don’t know anything different. I caught the tail end of the vinyl days, so I know what it was like to save up £10 and buy a single vinyl. It was expensive, and tracks held their own for so much longer, these days a track is classed as old after only a few weeks, which I still find crazy! Especially when some tracks take months and months of time and effort to create. But that is the age we live in and with technology the process of creating a track has become a lot easier, hence why we are seeing so much music being made, and tracks becoming ‘old’ within a matter of weeks. That said it is very important to me to keep my music sounding as fresh and as different to the norm as possible. I know first hand how much music is being created being A&R at Lange Recs, I get sent at least 20 tracks daily from 4 corners of the world so I need to make sure my productions are of high quality so they stand out.
Music piracy is something I have been dealing with since I started out. With the birth of the internet it was always going to happen and continue to grow. The average music listener these days will hear a track, type the name into google, download a torrent or rip it off YouTube. This process has completely stripped the industry of value, meaning artists get paid literally pennies for physical sales for their music. Its really bad actually. But these days we have sites like Spotify which were set up to try and combat piracy from a new angle. I think its definitely helping and people who care about music should really be using spotify and similar official sites, or even better people should BUY their fav artists tracks from Beatport, Itunes etc, that way your doing your bit to support them. Or even better still go to their shows and see them play live!!
SUM: If you had the opportunity to collaborate with one artist of EDM, who would it be and why? (Please exclude Lange).
SK: Hard one, there are so many artists out there I respect musically. But I’d have to go with Orjan Nilsen. Some of his darker trance is mind blowing good. He is also one of the most consistent producers around aside Lange of course :)
SUM: What would be a piece of advice that has helped you in your career?
SK: My good friend Mark Sherry has always given me straight down the middle advice, which is SO important in this industry. One thing I remember him telling me a few years ago is “You only get out what you put in” Nothing is more true than that simple saying. Far too many people in this game want a fast track to success, but the truth is you need to get up and do it yourself. Put the hours/days/months/years into it, if the passion is there, it will drive you through.
5 Random Questions
SUM: Miley Cirus, thoughts?
SK: Illuminati princess slut? or is that Rhianna? only joking. Another child actress on a path to self destruction by the looks of things! The thing is us the people that are giving her all of the attention! I try not to give my time to anything superficial. I hate reality TV shows with a passion, Jersey Shore and Goerdie Shore (UK) are the poison in our society!
SUM: Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
SK: Everything on Earth has a function, Including Scottish ‘Midgies’ (Worse than mosquitoes) plus Noah had nothing to do with it, as it was all evolution so maybe we should ask a volcano or something?
SUM: When was the last time you tried something new?
SK: Musically I have just tried Ableton 9’s new ‘Glue Compressor’ which I am using on everything now. Its amazing. In other news last month I jumped off a 40 foot cliff in the north of Scotland into a small rocky but VERY deep pool of water. Never jumped anything that high before never mind dangerous!! Well worth the buzz though.
SUM: You only live once! other than music, If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
SK: I would love to teach people about space and science, I really thrive when I am locked in discussions about whats out there and the vastness of space. My knowledge isn’t a patch on some of the great scientists out there but I would certainly give it a shot.
SUM: If you could ask one person, alive or dead, only one question, who would you ask and what would you ask?
SK: I would ask Nikola Tesla to explain how he harnessed energy from thin air, then maybe perhaps that would lead me to finding out how they really built the Pyramids… Maybe???
SUM: Thank you Stephen for giving us some of your time and share with the fans a little bit more of what defines “Stepehen Kirkwood”.
Don’t forget to his bootleg freebee here! Clicky Clicky
