My interview with Fabio Stein

[Briggsy]

My latest interview for my website (www.TheTranceArena.com) was with Fabio Stein, so I thought you all might fancy a read as you all recognise his work from Jules support.

Here's how the interview went....

Carl: You've been a producer since 1998, and a DJ since 2000 - what got you interested in dance music - did a certain tune pull you into the scene, or did you like a particular artist and thought to yourself "That's what i'd love to do"?

Fabio Stein: I always loved music, since I was a little boy. In time, I felt the desire of doing music myself, just for the fun of it, so I started to learn a few instruments like piano and bass-guitar. I also learned by myself how to play the guitar and drums. So, by the time I was 15 I was set to have my own band… but I was never able to find the right people to play with. One day, I was at a house party with my school mates and someone slipped in an Altern 8 CD… I can still remember it vividly, it was their ravin’ “Frequency” track that made me fall in love for electronic music. After that, I started fooling around with some basic sequencers and realized I didn’t need a band to make my music… just a computer! But even then, I wasn’t familiar with the DJ figure and, after I had several tracks ready, I felt the need to play them out - so a friend gave me the idea of burning up a CD to hand it out to a DJ he knew… it was 1999, and we’re talking about a big Brazilian old-school legend called Ricardo Guedes - so, after seeing him playing one of my tunes live in a club, I knew that DJ’ing was in my future.

Carl: You've got a very unique production style - fast, energetic tunes with bouncy, Techy basslines combined with big powerful breakdowns - where do your ideas come from?

Fabio Stein: From anywhere!

I really don’t know, it just happens that sometimes I wake up at 4am with a riff, a lead, bass line or a drum loop in my head… so I just go to my studio and sequence it out. You have no idea how many unfinished projects I have, and most of them started out like that. When I get excited about one of those experiments, I develop them slowly and carefully, until they become a proper track.

I know a lot of people know me by the tech-trance Tran-4 sound, and I’m really happy about it, because Tran-4 was a track that came out of nowhere… I was trying to do something else, but it came out like that at the end. Later, I had many remix requests and I knew I had to explore the “Tran-4 sound” further, so I did.

But now I want to take this sound beyond and renew it. I was never a fan of templates and presets, so I really feel the need of doing something different. Of course, I won’t stop doing tech-trance, but some different stuff is coming up on the side!

Carl: Judge Jules has become a massive fan of yours - rating 'Tran-4' as one of the best tunes of 2006 after giving it the second highest amount of plays on his radio 1 show. He also booked you to play at one of his Judgement Sundays events in Ibiza this year and asked you to remix his "Keep Me Running" production - how does it feel to get such great support from one of the worlds most famous DJ's? I bet you never expected it to happen when you first started producing?

Fabio Stein: I can honestly say that I never expected it! I never thought a big name like Jules could be such an amazing and easy going guy. I can only imagine the tons of emails he must get every day… so yeah, I’m very grateful to all the amazing support I got from him. He believed in me, when everyone turned their back at me.

I feel happy in sending him every track or remix I do, months before even thinking about sending it to other DJs. It’s the least I can do!

BIG RESPECT TO THE JUDGE!

Carl: Due to the support of your tunes by Judge Jules, and also Eddie Halliwell, you've become a name that everyone has suddenly started looking out for in the UK - resulting in your UK debut here at Vaccine (Turnmills) - what did you think of the UK crowd compared to other places you've DJ'ed at?

Fabio Stein: It’s amazing! The UK crowd really listens to what the DJ is playing, they don’t care about who you are, or where you’re from… it’s all about the music, and this is how it should be everywhere!

I only played at Turnmills in London, so I don’t know if it’s like that in the other british clubs and events.

I loved playing there, because the club is big at the right measure, the sound system is loud, pumping and crystal clear, there are 3 dance floors and tons of small rooms to hang out, the people is very open-minded to different/unusual stuff... and, that's the best part, it's not a pretentious club, you feel welcome and free.

Carl: "Panic Mode" has just been released in the UK, and "Tran-4" was released late last year too. Do you think you'll release an artist album in the future?

Fabio Stein: Hopefully yes! I’m still setting up a proper studio to do so, as I want to have the perfect environment to fully experience and live this album. So, for now I’m just gathering up ideas and sounds… but it will happen!

Carl: You're most famous for your Tech-Trance style, but do you like any other styles of dance music too? Would you ever produce a non-Trance tune?

Fabio Stein: I love almost everything in electronic dance music… as long as it is exciting and makes me feel good.

I used to play house, techno and even italo-dance before getting into trance. I also was one of the very few trance DJs around here in Brazil when we had absolutely no scene at all: we had to blend other genres in our sets, in order to keep the public interested in this new music we were showcasing.

That’s how I grew as a DJ, I had to be ecletic… and it’s not something I regret, because it kept my mind open to other sounds.

So yes, I would definitely produce a non-trance tune (as I already did, actually). For me, trance is a feeling and I’m sure I would keep it going on even if I produce other genres.

Carl: What about outside of dance music - what other styles of music do you like?

Fabio Stein: I don’t have much time to listen to other stuff, since I’m always between the studio, clubs and in search of new tracks. I can’t even rely on the radio: every time I turn it on my ears start bleeding… we don’t have decent radio stations in Brazil. They play mostly really bad pop music, which I really don’t like: I hate when a track is fully made of clichés… it just makes me mad!

So, whenever I get a chance to listen to something different, I rather browse thru my big old CD collection and just go nuts on the stuff I gathered thru the years: heavy metal, rock in general, a little old-skool rap and also a little bit of classical music. I should do that more often!

Carl: Tell us something else interesting about yourself - apart from DJ'ing and producing, what other interests do you have?

Fabio Stein: I used to be really into graphic design, I worked with that until early this year. I had a really stressful job in a big company, I can’t even remember all the overtime I did! At a certain point I had to choose between my music or my job.

I also like cooking, which is very similar to making music: you prepare something for other people to enjoy!

I also enjoy a good game of Poker with my friends.

But, actually, djing is not just my work, it’s also my hobby: sometimes, when me or my DJ friends don’t have any gigs or there are no good parties going on, we pack our stuff, crash someone’s home (or even rent one far from the city and bitchin’ neighbours) and spend the whole weekend partying!

Carl: You're good friends with DJ Jack - another well known producer. Who are your other closest friends in the dance music industry?

Fabio Stein: Jack is one of my dearest friends, we don’t just work together, we also hang out and have fun outside the dance music circle. Danny Oliveira is also a good mate. We met thru the music and now we get in touch almost every day.

There are also other cool people I know in the business, but unfortunately I’m not so close to them, since they live very far from Sao Paulo: Superti, Everson K, Danilo Ercole, Flávio Grifo, Foxxy and DTC. Those guys (and girl) are the biggest trance DJs here in Brazil and part of our beloved family at Energy BR (www.energybr.net), so if you haven’t heard of them so far, you might do so in the near future!

Carl: Finally, what's next for Fabio Stein - do you have any more productions on the way? Are we going to see you DJ'ing in the UK again soon?

Fabio Stein: This year was all about new discoveries, studio wise, I was working on ways to renew my sound and now I can say I have a lot of new stuff ready roll on 2008. I have done tons of collaborations: I worked with Ali Wilson, the Italian DJ Phunk (some people might remember him as Planet K, Pacific Link or DJ Kharma…) and even the amazing song writer Katie Marne (doing my very first vocal track). So yeah, expect a lot of new stuff to pop out soon!

We’re already working on some UK gigs for early next year, we still haven’t signed anything so I can’t say much about that… but I guess I’ll be around the UK more than I did this year.

I really look forward to be back very soon!

If you enjoyed this interview, keep your eyes peeled for more interviews that are coming up over the next few weeks - those are with Lange, Guy Ornadel, Riley & Durrant - and a special "ten years of Trance" interview with JUDGE JULES!

[Aza]

Top stuff mate

What great responses you got from Fabio and such a down-to-earth chap!

Structure of interview was great and the wording of your questions were top draw, esp the description of Fabio's musical style!

Looking forward to the others :mrgreen: