Solarstone has fast become one of Lebanon’s favorite DJs over the past year. His debut with Ferry Corsten in 2009 earned him a lot of respect from Lebanese crowds. In an exclusive interview before the November 27 big day, Solarstone had a lot to tell the Lebanese people and a exciting announcements for everyone planning on being at the Forum de Beyrouth next Saturday!
The first thing we quizzed Solarstone about was what he thought and felt about the Lebanese party scene. To our utmost delight, Solarstone had this to say “I was totally blown away by last year’s Twice In A Blue Moon party in Beirut, the crowd was incredible, very receptive and enthusiastic. I think over in the West there is a lot of apathy towards edm, whereas in places like Lebanon it is still a young and exciting scene, it’s not taken for granted, which makes it a very appealing place to play.”
The Solarstone fondly added “I made some friends last year, and I’m looking forward to seeing them again.”
Solarstone’s productions include varying forms of electronic dance music, from progressive house to melodic trance. These forms combined with Ferry’s and Lange’s style were something we were curious about, to which Solarstone explained “My Dj style compliments what Ferry does, which is why I open for him on a fairly regular basis.”
Solarstone continued “so when I play with Ferry as I’m not expected to hammer it out it leaves the door open for me to play the more experimental progressive stuff that I love, and take the crowd on a proper journey up to the melodic track which is also synonymous with Solarstone, while not straying into territory which Ferry occupies!”
As for the third man of the night, Solarstone deduced “Lange does something altogether different, which should follow on nicely from Ferry’s OUAN2 set, all 3 of us should compliment each other perfectly… at least that’s the theory!”
Apart from rocking parties all around the world, Solarstone runs several labels and has released several albums and compilations and continues to do so, asked how one man can juggle between being a DJ and being a producer, Solarstone corrected us and said: “The juggling act is more between producing music and running the labels which take up quite a bit of time.”
When we asked if he could tell us more, Solarstone was more than happy to oblige and said “Generally I audition new music for my labels and radio show / Dj sets every Monday, and work on new music all the rest of the time. Djing is when I can test out new signings and productions, sometimes unexpected things happen, for example a rough demo can rock a club, and in contrast something that sounds good in the studio can have the opposite effect! You do really need to get a crowds reaction to stuff.”
Now that we know we will be ‘testing out’ Solarstone’s new productions, Solarstone elaborated by telling us “When I produce music it’s either a ‘club’ track or a ‘sofa’ track, the two rarely overlap for me. Composing and production does always take priority over everything else though.”
As for whether digital technology or more analogue techniques were Solarstone’s favorite, he confessed “I’m not a fan of making music on a laptop, I need to be in my studio with my instruments and equipment to produce music… long periods in the studio are something important to me, especially now I have the addition of a baby grand piano.”
It was time to get to the chase, and we were eager to know what Solarstone was going to play for us next week, and to our delight, it’s going to be “75% exclusive music”
Here’s what Solarstone revealed to BNL “Some new mixes of tracks from my latest album ‘Touchstone’, exclusive new music from my labels Solaris, Molecule, Crashing Waves and solarSwarm Recordings and also some exclusive remixes of classic Solarstone tracks. My sets are usually comprised of 75% exclusive music, so audiences are guaranteed a unique musical experience! I’ve also just finished a ‘Smashing Atoms’ mix of ‘Is There Anyone Out There’ (from ‘Touchstone’) that I’ll be debuting in Beirut. In addition I’ll be road testing a few tracks from the forthcoming ‘Electronic Architecture 2’ album.”
Pumped with excitement, we asked Solarstone what would be different in Once Upon a Nigh Vol. 2 2010, to which he admitted only Ferry Corsten can answer. And when we wondered if Solarstone would be advising Lange on his first visit, he answered, “I don’t think Lange needs any advice from me! He’s pretty good at reading the crowd, I’m sure he’ll know what to do. Last time I played Beirut the crowd was totally open to whatever I played, so all I’d say to Stu is have fun and experiment a little.”
Less than 9 DAYS till the FINAL dance event of the year 2010!
Make sure you’re at Forum de Beyrouth on November 27!
More on the Event
Go here for a chance to win one of FOUR VIP and TWELVE Regular tickets to see Solarstone with Ferry Corsten and Lange
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