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It's Ehren Stowers' generation
Reported by Agnes Klos
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Submitted 06-01-10 18:57
As one of the best loved and fondly remembered trance parties Trance Generation holds a special place in many a clubbers heart. Moving on from the early success and translating it to a burgeoning producer career, Ehren Stowers is ready to break into the big time. Correspondent Agnes Klos crossed the generation gap for a coffee and a chat.
Having been amazed by the music and atmosphere recently at the Ministry of Sound, after the party I met for a coffee with Ehren Stowers – Trance Generation resident - to find out more about the parties of the past. Ehren is one of the originators of Trance Generation and the co-host of the monthly two hour radio show Trance Generation run till now with Simon Bostock. From 2010 Corderoy and Gary Ramsden will join the show as Simon will sadly leave for other commitments. The radio show is broadcasted on puresound.fm and totaal.fm radio stations packed with all the latest upcoming electronic dance music.
Hi Ehren! Thank you for finding time to talk to me about Trance Generation. Could you please explain to those who are completely new on the clubbing scene how the whole concept of Trance Generation started?
Well, prior to Trance Generation there was a regular house/trance night in London called DPressure. It was started by Gavyn Mytchel and Nigel Lewis who had met at the Gallery some years earlier. Gavyn eventually left DPressure to concentrate on The Gallery, whilst Gary Ramsden, Boris Bosniac and Nigel carried on. In late 2002, I was invited to play for DPressure and became a regular guest throughout 2003. At the end of 2003, Nigel, Gary & Boris then invited me to join them on the promotional team. It was out of this relationship that we decided to re-jigg things and try something different. Up to this point, we had noticed that the crowds seemed split - those that wanted to hear house and those that wanted to hear the trance.
So we decided to try a trance night that delivered exactly what it said on the tin - and so Trance Generation was born. We tested the concept in Feb of 2004 to a very small intimate crowd, using some of the DPressure DJs - and this worked very well. So in April '04 we invited Scott Bond, Matt Hardwick and Solarstone to play for us in the intimate surroundings of The Soundshaft. The event was a massive gamble - but it was a huge success and the rest is history!
What is the ideology behind Trance Generation?
To deliver the best night possible for clubbers' hard earned cash in a small intimate venue - to have big club DJ's in a small space (so you can reach out and almost touch the DJ's). We believe in the visual as well as the audible. Trance Generation is ultimately a collaboration of efforts - from the likes of the dearly missed and late Alex Klement (who delivered stunning visuals every time and was a regular on these forums) to the agents, DJs, venues, crowds and many others that help in one way or another. Trance Generation is also about consistently pushing great new music forwards. Trance is such a wide spectrum of a sound, that many people don't realise it also encompasses house, prog, funky, tech and the traditional uplifting and harder elements that most people associate with it. Trance Generation encompasses all of that!
Would you say that Trance Generation was and still is very much a secret accessible only to those who are privy to it?
Absolutely, our events are just not the kind you just stumble into!
What can a clubber expect from Trance Generation parties? Why should they choose it over any other night if they hear about it?
Trance Generation events were all about excellent, intelligent and forward thinking dance music. The crowds were also the key. People that attend know their music and were there for a good time. We invest heavily in the visual aspect of our events just as much as we do in the music. This isn't all.
One of the unique elements about our events is that they are essentially non profit. As much money is placed back into the night as we can possibly manage - for the sole purpose of giving the crowds something they could not get anywhere else (every pound really is put back into the night).
Why did the parties stop after the re-launch in 2008 at Hidden?
Our last event in 2008 was a huge success - so it was never about that. Before we held this event, we had decided to only put on events as and when we wanted to do them. So this event was only ever intended as a one off. The landscape has changed dramatically in the last few years. One of the many problems now facing trance promoters - certainly in the capital, is that DJ fees have risen, rather than dropped. This makes putting on trance events with the more well known DJs un-economical (with the others being tied to bigger venues). The fees need to be much more realistic in order to help the scene become vibrant again. When a promoter doesn't own the venue - they tend to only make money back through door and ticket sales (not through other sales like over the bar for example) - so this makes it very tight. Although we have an ethos for being non-profit and putting as much as we can back into the events, our ethos is certainly to not lose money as this will not benefit anyone.
As any promoter will vouch - putting on any event is tough work and takes up a lot of time. So the reason we have not held an official events since has been due to a combination of economics and time constraints. Having said that though, we are trying to pull something together now - more on that later!
How did the idea of Trance Generation radio show begin?
It started a year ago after myself and Simon Bostock decided to carry on the concept of the club events - delivering great new electronic music in a radio show format. The show is monthly - see www.ehrenstowers.co.uk for details on the show.
Unfortunately though, Simon has just announced that owing to time constraints he will no longer have the time to help with the show. But as one door closes, another opens - and I'm pleased to announce that Corderoy and Gary Ramsden will be joining me on the show each month from early 2010 - so you can expect to continue to hear only the best in upfront and exciting new dance music!
Do you think that quality trance scene in London is dying or thriving at the moment?
Trance is an eternal sound. However it has become a victim of its own success in recent years. As the DJs fees and exclusivity to big venues have increased (making these DJs more inaccessible in smaller intimate venues), the underground crowds have diminished. People cannot always afford the costs of attending the big venues all the time - certainly the younger crowds with less disposable income. A sure sign of how healthy any given scene is or isn't, is by checking how many smaller underground nights there are - and how busy these are.
Unfortunately a quick check of the London underground trance scene reveals there really isn't much going on! I think though, that when the economics balance out again (much like house prices!) - and the fees come down to more manageable levels - we will ultimately see a return of more underground nights. These will feed back into the bigger venues making the whole scene a much healthier place once again.
Is there a chance of Trance Generation coming back as regular parties?
Yes - despite all these challenges we are working on an exciting event for the last quarter of 2010 - providing we can get the economics right that is!. It's a bit of a wait I'm afraid - but this is to allow us to get everything right. After all, the reason we do these events is not for profit - but because we love the scene and we love the music. Trust me though, if things go our way - it will be worth the wait!
Not only a DJ, you recently turned your hand to producing - how has the been going and do you have any releases planned?
Yes, I started producing in 2004 after meeting my now good friend, Andy Young at the first Trance Generation event. We hit it off and produced a track together under the alias Stowers & Young called The Second Coming, which was supported by Judge Jules on Radio One and then later seeing huge support from all the big boys after it was released in 2008.
Since that time we have produced several tracks together whilst I also started to produce solo work. I have had releases on Perfecto, Spinnin, Kill The Lights, Alter Ego, Monster Tunes, Conspiracy, Perceptive, DJSA and my own label Insight Recordings amongst others (www.insightrecordings.com). I have a couple of exciting projects coming up, with my new track Replicator coming out on Kill The Lights early this year and am currently working on my first vocal track Predator.
Can you tell us about your label?
I started Insight Recordings in early 2008 with partners & friends Andy Young, Simon Bostock and James Cognet. We are predominately a trance label, featuring artists such as Gareth Emery, Mike Nichols, Mystery Islands, Octagon, Sean Truby, DJ Ange and many others. Our latest release which has just gone on general sale is a fantastic new track by Corderoy - called Rock Guitar - it features stunning remixes by Arctic Moon, Sean Truby, Fat Kid, Gary Optim and myself and Andy as 'Stowers & Young'. It has seen fantastic support from Judge Jules, Armin Van Buuren (and is to be released on his forthcoming ASOT compilation this year) and many others. We have some exciting plans for the label over the next 12 months, so watch this space!
Thanks for your time Ehren.
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Other Features By Agnes Klos: Back2Basics - 10 Years of Party Productions & Tomorrowland Stage Hosts Atmosphere Records - The opening of IBIZA 1936 Entering the world of Waldfrieden in Germany with DJoanna Piracy is not a crime – sail away with Feestgedruis! Progressive flavours with DJ R'Deem ahead of Neelix party
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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