Hungary’s Levente Márton, or as he is better known on stage, Sunny Lax, will be performing at The Underground on April 28th. This artist has created some of the most euphoric melodies and sexiest basslines for Anjunabeats.
What better way to get excited for ABGT 250 than an underground event with the Seattle Trance fam?
The wave of trance artists coming to Seattle continues!
Anyone who has been to a trance show at The Underground can back me up when I say it is the best club setting in all of Seattle. For the event, there are also three incredible local DJ/producers who will be opening for the show.
RMR strongly believes in supporting the underground culture and took the time to interview and feature each of these three artists. Learn more about each performer below.
DJ GOTEK
Social Media: Soundcloud and Facebook
Seattle’s Mark McCarthy a.k.a. DJ Gotek is one of many bright and talented DJ’s to emerge out of the exploding Electronic Dance Music scene in the Pacific Northwest. DJ Gotek has held residencies at some of the best DJ clubs in the NW such as Foundation Nightclub and Whiskey Bar in Portland. He also has played at numerous clubs and venues along the west coast.
Specifically noted for his euphoric, uplifting, and melodic Progressive and Trance sets over the past decade, DJ Gotek has found himself being invited to open for some of the world’s most prolific and iconic Trance and Progressive DJ/Producers. He has performed alongside artists such as Paul van Dyk, Solarstone, Aly & Fila, ARTY, Ilan Bluestone, Super8 & Tab, Omnia, Jaytech, Cosmic Gate, Ronski Speed, Roger Shah, The Blizzard, Lange, Cresida, Daniel Kandi, Alex M.O.R.P.H., George Acosta, JES, Sandra Collins, Gareth Emery, Max Graham, Andy Moor, Richard Durand, Bobina, Stoneface & Terminal, Ben Gold, Aruna, Suspect 44, EDX, Tujamo, Adrian LUX, Project 46, Arnej, and the list grows ever longer.
DJ Gotek always strives to create a feeling of euphoria with his mixes which are consistently heavy on the dreamlike and spine-tingly electronic sounds. Regardless of which genre he’s playing in, Mark’s passion is to move people by bringing the very best in in Trance and Progressive to his audiences.
SUNRISER
Social Media: Soundcloud and Facebook
Starting out as a local DJ for hire in a small town in New Mexico, Trevor Tornquist had his first experience with DJing and with Electronic Music. What went from DJing school dances and social functions to house parties, quickly led him to eyeing the big stage after a few years. That time came when the local club was starting to show some interest in EDM, thats when the night came where Sunriser took to the stage working with the club to organize a couple locals shows. After a month, it was proven the interest wasn’t really there and so the desire to search for a new home came to be.
It wasn’t until he moved to Seattle that he saw a flourished scene. The desire to play here came to be his main goal. After a few years of being acquainted with others in the Seattle scene, the opportunity came to play at a new club in downtown Seattle, The Underground. It was here Sunriser found his true home! Already having opened for the likes of some big names to come through such as Sean Tyas, Alex Morph, and Alex di Stefano, his career in the Seattle club scene is only getting started!
https://soundcloud.com/sunrisermusic/sta-1-year-opening-set-the-underground-seattle-21017
THOMAS CROWN
Social Media: Soundcloud and Facebook
Learning to DJ at the young age of 15 in 2008, Isaac Totton always had an undeniable passion for music. What most intrigued him was how the electronic sounds heard throughout the 90s were created. Fast Forward to the present and that intrigue has turned into a full on obsession.
Constantly cooking up new sounds in the bedroom, Isaac developed the Thomas Crown stage persona for djing. A Thomas Crown live set is truly an affair with the dancefloor. Taking clubbers and revelers on a music journey, a night out Dancing to Thomas Crown is one you’ll remember.
The Thomas Crown sound explores the high octane genres of Psy, Tech ,and Uplifting Trance as well as more down-tempo genres like Progressive House and Detroit Techno.
This will be Thomas Crown’s first performance in Seattle!
https://soundcloud.com/thomascrowndj/live-elevate-128-presented-by-project-eva
Q: First of all, it must be asked… how dialed is this show going to be? On a scale of 1-10, how turnt is this dial gonna get?
GOTEK: For Sunny Lax? 11
SUNRISER: 15!!!
THOMAS CROWN: 11. Have you seen the movie Spinal Tap?
Q: How did you come up with your name?
GOTEK: When I first started playing around with DJ’ing, long before I actually owned gear or thought I would ever really DJ in front of people in the early 2000’s, I referred to myself as “DJ Marko”, but later on when I actually started getting some shows I discovered there already were two fairly established DJ Marko’s on DJ lists, so I set out to come up with a name that was unique to me as a DJ. My wife is Japanese and she was into anime, so I wanted something that sounded like it could be an anime title, and also was simple. Plus I have been in the tech industry for many years, so it just sort of made sense and “Gotek” came from that. Plus “Jaytech’ was already taken, and “Marktech”? Well… just no, haha.
SUNRISER: The name was mostly a rebrand from an old moniker I had called TMT. Sunriser came about because I started to fall in love with more deep and progressive sounds that I so happened to listen to a lot when I’d see sunrises, which is my favorite part of the day.
THOMAS CROWN: So there is this film called “The Thomas Crown Affair”, the remake came out in 1999 with Pierce Brosnan, and the original was in 1968 with Steve Mcqueen. This rich finance figure gets bored with Corporate raiding and steals the painting “Sunset in Venice” by Monet from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I just love Brosnan in this film. He evokes tons of charisma and professionalism especially in his suit. So I always DJ wearing a black button down and Jerry Garcia tie because of Psytrance. If I had a radio mix show I would probably call it An Audio Affair with Thomas Crown.
Q: When did you first get into trance?
GOTEK: I have always been more on the introspective/introverted side and music was my main method of escaping to a happy place since I was pretty young kid. From the beginning the clean sounds of synths, drum machine, and electronic music resonated with me, more so than with other types of music. I had heard the term “Trance” in the 90’s but didn’t really understand what it meant until one day in 1998 when I was at DisneyWorld in Orlando, FL, and heard Paul Oakenfold’s “Tranceport” playing, and it totally blew me away. So I immediately bought the CD, which led down the rabbit hole to Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Paul van Dyk, BT, ATB, Ferry Corsten, Ronski Speed, Solarstone, Cosmic Gate, Darren Tate, Mike Koglin, Sunny Lax, Daniel Kandi, eventually Above & Beyond, and all the others in-between. It was the start of it all for me, an eternal quest for the euphoric feeling only Trance can bring!
SUNRISER: I first got into trance back in middle school about 10 years ago, I was introduced to electronic music from a friend, and I started listen to all the different kinds of elm on di.fm and the wheel just stopped on Trance and thats where I’ve stayed since.
THOMAS CROWN: When I was 11 years old, I was looking up “Techno” on Limewire and found this track labeled incorrectly, “DJ Tiesto – Touch Me”. It was the Cass Fox vocal anthem that was released on the “In Search Of Sunrise” mix compilation so that’s why Tiesto’s name was on it. I fell in love with the melodies and the way the track sucked me into a deeper level with the beat and progression.
Q: What direction do you see trance taking now that it is back in the spotlight?
GOTEK: Well, in my opinion it’s all relative, and if Trance lost traction here in the US or the PNW it was still relevant somewhere else in the world and vice-versa. For those of us who are true Trance fans it never “left the spotlight” per se, but as with everything else there will be ebbs and flows. I am happy to see Trance on the upswing in the PNW and getting support from larger venues once again. It was always a glimmer of hope to me when everyone was saying “Trance is dead” that there were still so many producers pumping out great tracks during that entire time, so I always had faith that Trance would never disappear forever. As far as direction, there are so many sub-genres of Trance and in particular the Melodic Progressive sounds on the more Progressive Trance/Progressive House side seems to be picking up a lot of momentum over the past few years with so many great new producers, I’ve been like a kid in a candy store!
SUNRISER: I’m only hoping it can keep going up from here. I’m really glad to see Trance back in the spotlight, I’ve been seeing so much great new music lately as well! With shows such as Dreamstate and Bliss, it just warms my heart that there are more big trance shows around!
THOMAS CROWN: Right now Psy seems to be the trendy thing in the scene, but it’s really cool to have Psy under the Trance umbrella when the genre has been doing its own thing for the past few decades. Seems like people really like a good groove as well as a good melody. I think as Trance gets more mainstream again we are going to see new genres unfold like Magnus’ style that I like to call PsyLifting! Uplifting melodies mixed with psychedelic trance grooves.
Q: With Seattle being the bass capital, what challenges do we face bringing more people to trance shows, and how have you seen friends react once you bring them?
GOTEK: It’s always been a challenge in the PNW because the music scene in general is strong with a lot of choices and a finite amount of people, especially when you’re talking about real Trance fans as opposed to people who just want to go out clubbing, so the competition to fill up clubs and dance floors can be intense. From a purely Trance perspective, as with a lot of my friends in the PNW Trance scene, it’s always been a bit heart-breaking to see some of our favorite Trance producers play in Seattle or Portland and not sell-out or even draw a respectable sized crowd compared to some of other genres, not always the case but more often than I would care to admit. It’s obviously much more difficult to fill a large venue with some of the more esoteric names in Trance that some of the younger electronic music fans have not heard of. However, Trance fans in the NW have been so lucky to have had promoters like Marc Pospisil, Zoxy, Eric Weber, Eddie Pitzul, Bobby Lilly, USC, and clubs like Underground, Foundation, and Whiskey Bar in Portland, that have kept the Trance and Progressive scene alive in the NW. Lastly, smaller, more die-hard Trance fan FB groups like Seattle Trance Alliance have been very effective in keeping the Trance Family engaged, more aware of upcoming shows, and helping to target the Trance artists that people most want to see.
SUNRISER: Here I’ve noticed the bass fans think of trance as emotional music, which they generally don’t like because they like to go hard, they just don’t realize trance can go hard too! I’ve had friends at the last Bliss lose it because they didn’t know psytrance could go so hard! At Lucky I somehow convinced some bass friends to come over while Mark Sherry was playing, and I feel like I started to convert some of them! All we can say to people who aren’t familiar with trance, is, and I’ll quote Jano here, “Give Trance A Chance”.
THOMAS CROWN: First let me correct you, Seattle is TRYING to be the Bass capital. I remember when majority of USC’s lineups were trance and many clubs brought in trance DJs. The guys at USC who booked the acts made a judgement call a few years back to make Seattle the Bass capital. It’s helped their wallets but I’m not sure how the clubbers and revelers who have been around for awhile have liked it. So in that regard you have all my friends who are ecstatic to see trance booked at shows and all these kids who are getting tired of the same drop, the same big room tuned kick, the same womp over and over. The challenges I think we face are with the promoters, not the kids. And as far as bringing friends to shows who aren’t into trance; well my roommate’s first trance show was Lucky and he told me with the vibes of the crowd and being with me and my friends he has never felt more connected and felt like he truly belonged. Being at the FSOE stage for him was one of the best nights of his life. Does that answer the question?
Q: So far, what has been the most special moment you’ve had playing a set?
GOTEK: As goes without saying, every time I am lucky enough to play out, whether for a local’s night or opening for a headliner, those are always incredibly special and memorable moments for me. I never in a million years would have guessed that I would one day get to share the stage with so many of my heroes and idols in Trance, Paul van Dyk, Super8 & Tab, Ronski Speed, Lange, Solarstone, Omnia, Jaytech, Arty; it’s honestly been like a dream come true that I will be eternally grateful for. A few particularly awesome memories that come to mind are 1) unexpectedly handing off the decks to Ilan Bluestone in front of a sold-out crowd at Foundation, who had stepped in to do an unannounced cameo Anjuna set at the EDX show in 2014, and 2) being the first of three DJ’s opening for Max Graham at the Fez in Portland, and ending up being the only opener and playing a 90-minute set (instead of 30) before handing off to Max himself. Sometimes the craziest things happen when you least expect it!
SUNRISER: To date it would have to be at my most recent show, Alex Morph, on our 1 year anniversary for the Seattle Trance Alliance. I was able to close my set with a track from my favorite artist The Blizzard and I was all smiles and couldn’t be happier!
THOMAS CROWN: Well, I was playing a party up here in Bellingham about a month ago and the kids who stayed around till the end were going nuts with all the psy I was playing. I started hearing a group of them make yippie and cackling noises to the song like on beat! It blew me away that the crowd was this enthralled by the music. That was a really cool moment! I’ve never experienced the crowd giving back to me the energy they were receiving from the music.
Q: If you could open for any artist, who would it be?
GOTEK: Ahh jeez, well maybe David Bowie? Haha, well, Sunny Lax is a huge inspiration to me; I have been a fan for so many years, and opening for him is a dream come true, honestly. A lot of my faves come to mind, but I guess the ultimate for me would be to open for Above & Beyond, as I place them on a pedestal and have traveled to Cream Ibiza and ABGT 50 at Alexander Palace in London to see them. That, for me, would be a thrill of a lifetime.
SUNRISER: I’ll have to say Standerwick. I’ve been pushing for a good year already to bring him to Seattle, his music has been on fire! A close second would be a tie between Aly & Fila and Above & Beyond.
THOMAS CROWN: Hmmm this is the toughest question yet. Ask me 7 years ago I would have said Tiesto. But, now I’d have to say either John O’ Callaghan or Simon Patterson or John Askew. These guys all know how to DJ so well. I know they would care what I played so as to keep the flow going at the show. They would tell me things not to play as well as encourage certain tracks and from my interactions with Simon he would probably ask for track suggestions for his set haha.
Q: What advice can you give to new DJs?
GOTEK: Well, first I would ask what advice can they give me? I learn something new every time I DJ by watching my peers and asking questions, you never stop learning. If I can think of a few key points that took a while to sink in for me, they would be (aside from endless hours of practice and buying your own gear if you can swing it) 1.) learn how to produce, I still aspire to produce but it takes years to get good at it and I started too late; if you ever want to get big you need to produce your own tracks, 2.) networking is key, go to shows, meet the DJ’s and promoters, get people to go to shows to support, then if preparation meets opportunity you may get a lucky break, but it starts with supporting the scene, and 3.) DJ for the right reasons, if you don’t you will never be a great DJ, but you’ll have to figure that one out for yourself!
SUNRISER: Don’t ever give up, don’t expect gigs to happen overnight. I started to DJ about 6 years ago, I didn’t get my first club gig till September of last year, work hard to perfect this art as much as possible, and keep doing what you love. Every day I learn something new and still practice to better myself! If you see there is an opportunity, take it. And when you do get a club gig, don’t be sad if you can’t play all the bangers, work hard to where you can be at the point where you can if you want, or work hard to be able to take people on a musical journey. You learn more being put in situations playing music you aren’t used to playing.
THOMAS CROWN: Stick with the music you love! Don’t get discouraged because the people you happen to be playing for don’t like your style or genre choice. When I was younger I would play at these get togethers with friends. We called it Soup Sessions. We would have soup and booze and DJs would play lots of tech and deep house. I would play trance or try to and my friends would just hate on it so much. I eventually started playing more deep house and techno with that soul twist to make them happy. Really I should have just focused on producing more like I do now and just waited for the right crowd, the right gig. Just because this crowd thinks you’re shit right now doesn’t mean you are. You just haven’t found the right audience. And as a DJ if you want to become something you gotta produce. So focus on that too!
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to catch some great local vibes this weekend, along with a gem of trance, Sunny Lax! The show will be held at The Underground on Friday, April 28th.
Tickets online are only $15 online before fees!
