His new album “We Are Lucky People” has just been released; his radio show “InterCity” has just reached 150 episodes… The last days were the final of a really great year for Lange. So there are lot topics to talk about with Lange. Let’s get it on! 😉
TranceAttack: First of all, congrats for the release of your new album “We Are Lucky People”. How long did you work on the album and what can the listener expect?
Lange: Thanks! It’s been a year in the making and as well as the new tracks, there are many of the original club versions that have been released as singles included on Disc 2 but for the album on Disc 1 I’ve given all the tracks new twists! e.g. ‘Risk Worth Taking’ with Susana has become an acoustic version with Guitar and Piano, ‘Crossroads’ with Stine Grove is a more ethereal version with tribal beats, ‘Violin’s Revenge’ with Ilseviolin gets taken into a completely different direction making it lighter than the ‘Dark Mix’ etc. I wanted this to be an album people can listen to from start to finish so disc one flows continuously with each track transitioning into the next and some extra soundtrack-style sections written in.
TranceAttack: The first thing we noticed is that your new album “We Are Lucky People” has been released on your own imprint “Lange Recordings”, while your last album “Harmonic Motion” (2010) appeared on “Maelstrom”. Please tell us why?
Lange: I’ve put a lot of focus on my own label in the last couple of years and since we’ve moved distribution and back end support to Enhanced Music we’ve managed to build the label further. I felt it was time for Lange Recordings to take on it’s first full album release and all good so far! Tbh, My label worked very closely with the Maelstrom guys on the release of ‘Harmonic Motion’ anyway and ended up very much a joint operation.
TranceAttack: I know that it is always difficult for a producer, but please tell us which one is your personal favorite from “WALP” and why?
Lange
TranceAttack: “WALP” is targeted in two directions – the listening experience at home (CD1) and the party experience for the club (CD2). Many labels would have rather decided to turn it into 2 releases. What where the reason for you to go the opposite way?
Lange: I didn’t want to split it into 2, and wanted to give the whole package as one piece. Quite a few singles had already been released from the album so I wanted there to be a fresh take on the tracks as well as the original club mixes. It was really good to be able to tweak all the tracks and piece them together into one flowing album and I really enjoyed allowing myself to take sections into other directions and create the transitions. Although I attempted a good flow with prevoius albums, it was good to spend more time on this aspect. It’s also nice I think for people to hear melodies they’ve already this year in a different context.
TranceAttack: There are now many new faces in the scene and also some on your label, e.g. Lele Troniq or Noah Neiman. To whom should we pay particular attention?
Lange: You’ve started with 2 great names already, but also keep your ears peeled for Stephen Kirkwood who’s making some inventive grooved tech trance. (Check out ‘Mars One’). Also on my label I’d recommend checking Tangle, Johnny Yono, Mateusz, Lee Osborne and Alex Larichev.
TranceAttack: You look back on more than 15 years long career as DJ and Producer. What is your opinion on the future of the EDM?
Lange: It’s bright! We’re obviously going through a massively commercial period which is both good and bad I suppose. It’s positive in the sense that all genres have seen a lift and extra exposure, but the downside is that the sounds are getting a little boring. Whether it’s because so many are chasing that commercial success I don’t know, but it feels that way. Years ago records would be carefully promoted over many months then see a release but of course due the net, things have drastically changed and tracks have become somewhat throwaway – they’re done after a few weeks. But good music always rises to the top and there’s still plenty of inspiring stuff around…you just need to wade through the bullshit to get at it!
InterCity150
TranceAttack: “intercity 150” was held last week in celebration of 150 episodes of your radio show. Congrats on that! For those who aren’t aware of the show, familiarise us with its format and how the intercity 150 event went?
Lange: Thanks! I invited 23 DJs to join me for a 24 hour takeover of Afterhours.FM and the event turned out even bigger than last year’s 100th episode! DJs included Paul Van Dyk, Markus Schulz, Paul Oakenfold, Ferry Corsten, Andy Moor, Simon Patterson, John O Callaghan, Sean Tyas, Max Graham etc.. We managed to achieve the #1 Worldwide trending topic on twitter during the show and received around 25,000 tweets using #intercity150. I was also amazed to see that the hashtag was the 7th most popular trend in the USA that day; a Trance takeover!
TranceAttack: What are your plans for the rest of 2013 and the future?
Lange: With the album out this week, I’m busy doing interviews and promo. Tbh, this has been the busiest year of my life with touring & Intercity Radio every week, mixing Trance Nation for Ministry Of Sound, and writing the album, so I’m hoping to take it down a gear between now and the end of the year! There will be more singles from early next year and I already have some exciting new projects lined up for 2014.
TranceAttack: Thanks for the interview and we wish you all the best for the future!
Lange on Facebook, Twitter & Web:
https://www.facebook.com/langefan
https://www.twitter.com/djlange
www.djlange.com
Read our review and compitition about Lange's new Album here!
