First of all I would like to thank you for taking the time to share a little about yourself with the readers of TranceSound.net and all of your fans from around the world.
1. Tell us about how you came up with your name, SoundLift.
SoundLift: Well the name SoundLift is an idea to put together what I use to demonstrate my ideas and how I want to do it. Lifting the sound from the generic trance industry, giving it more feeling and emotion.
2. Describe to me the style of music you create.
SoundLift: My style of music is uplifting/emotional trance, I can describe it as a very melodic and enjoyable sound and I try to create a story from the beginning of the track to the end combining the beautiful natural landscapes and the meaning of trance (a journey).
3. What was your favorite track to remix so far?
SoundLift: Well, I don't have a favourite track because in every remix I do I take a different approach. In the end the result should be good I think, trying to keep the feeling of the original and highlighting the melodies according to my style.
4. You just released your track "Nakhti". Have you had any feedback from the EDM community on this one?
SoundLift: I got a Huge feedback from Djs and also from the listeners. The track got support from artists such Armin van Buuren, Aly & Fila, Fast Distance, Manuel Le Saux and many more. People like very much the arabian feeling that I created into the song. I happen to enjoy that one very much myself. If it was today I would do another kind of song. I did "Live From Above" that is like a follow up to this one.
5. What artists have influenced you over the years and why?
SoundLift: Well, in trance I can say that I take influences from many artists like Lemon & Einar K, Aly & Fila, Andy Blueman and many more. My main influences come from other genres like rock: Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabath, Guns & Roses... Dire Straits, lots of rock bands.
6. Are you planning on doing collaborations with other artists?
SoundLift: Me and my label - Blue Soho Recordings - decided to create a unique collaboration by the way, me, Artic Moon and Temple One, with Andy Blueman on remix duties. I think its the first time in trance that such collaboration is done.
7. How has your equipment and music production software evolved since you began producing?
SoundLift: My DAW is the same (Ableton Live). I started producing with Live 5 and now I am with Live 7, I know that Live 8 is out already but I didn't have time to try it so I will give it a test when I get some free time. My first vst was reFX Vanguard that I still use to create a lot of things in my tracks. Now I got a lot of vst's, but what I use most is Z3bra, Nexus and FM8. Recently I bought a pair of decent monitors (Mackie Mr8) and the rest is still the same, not to many have changed. I don't use hardware (except the computer).
8. It is my understanding that EDM is not too big in Portugal, is this correct?
SoundLift: When we talk about EDM here its good to focus the various genres in EDM, because Portugal have a strong culture based on House music, probably because of some African influences related to our history. Trance is not strong here and the main reason is that many people don't have knowledge to understand the different kind of electronic such as Progressive House, House, Electro, Minimal, Trance or Psychedelic Trance that many times is confused with Progressive and Uplifting trance.
9. What role do you think you will play in expanding the EDM scene in Portugal?
SoundLift: Well, when it comes to music its very hard to change people's habits, normally here teenagers listen to what is played on radio stations and the main radio stations have influence over the discos. My main idea is to keep talking with radios and convince them to play trance music, because I know that when the radios start playing trance music, it will spread out fast and will reach the discos with a big impact.
10. Some of your listeners want to know if you are single.
SoundLift: I'm single right now. It's hard to keep a relationship with a person that don't share the same feelings about music, because my life is music!
11. Do you have any big plans coming up in the near future?
SoundLift: In today's world is nearly impossible to live by doing only music, so my idea is first to finish University and then I will focus on my main objectives that are to expand my name across the globe and continuing producing and signing high quality trance music. The rest is a matter of luck, things don't fall from the sky so we have to work hard and believe in what we do!
12. Would you like to share anything else with our readers?
SoundLift: I would like to say that our small community Jump4Trance is our main support here, we are glad if anyone can come to our parties. We are still few, but I think that trance will become more strong in the near future. I also want to invite everyone on MySpace and Facebook profiles, if anyone wants to catch me there!
Interview made by Juliet Star aka metalfrog (TranceSound.net journalist)
Links:
SoundLift @ MySpace
Soundstation 351 official website
Juliet Star official website
The Mix Hour official website
