Q.I believe this is your first time to Australia, what are you expectations of the trip?

A. Well as we haven’t played in australia before, we’re really basing our picture of the gigs on what we’ve heard from our friends who’ve been there—so expecting some amazing outdoor parties in beautiful surroundings with lovely people.


Q.How would you describe your sound?

A.We’re attempting to make better quality, melodic, uplifting, banging trance.


Q.I believe all 3 of you are coming out, what can we expect from your Advent*jah performances? Will it be a 3way back to back set (Paavo Siljamaki, Tony McGuinness, Jono Grant)?

A. It is Paavo and Tony out this trip (Jono will be here next time) and we play back to back or take it in turns – whatever suits the mood of the gig.


Q. You guys are playing a mixed of Festivals/Big Events and club gigs. Will you change anything for the different gigs? How and why?

A. We always go to places with an idea of what roughly we’d like to play but as each party is always different, so are our sets. I suppose the reasons to changing the sets is to make it fit with the mood of the night and to make each one special.


Q. Advent*jah Summer 2003 has a massive bill (for an Australian gig), is there any other act’s or dj’s you are keen to check out?

A. We’re keen to see John Kelly as Tony used to go see him at Malibu Stacey, Paavo’s a big fan of Ronald van Gelderen and we’re both keen to see B.L.I.M, who shares a studio with us in London!


Q. You’ve got a new single out “No One On Earth”, it’s due to be released New Year, any chance it’ll be played on the tour?

A. We’re still working on finishing the track and the mixes for it – we probably won’t play it out yet because we’re so darn picky with this stuff.


Q. One of the standout producer’s of 2003, Gabriel & Dresden, remixed the new single. Did you approach them to remix it, or did they approach you. What made you choose G & D?

A. We’ve agreed a mix-swap with them as we have a mutual admiration thing going on. We loved Motorcycle and have done a new mix of that which we’ll be debuting on the tour, and they loved No One On Earth and are working on their mix of that.


Q.What influences your production and production techniques?

A. Alcohol, cigarettes… well… really everything we hear and experience. As an example, we were hanging on around sydney before the first gig and were recording some sounds to use in our sets. For production techniques, it’s great to meet talented musicians as it’s really eye-opening to see how
different people’s approaches to making music are.


Q.What gear do you use in the studio?

A. A mac with logic and plenty of synths. We’ve recently hooked up lots of old analogues as we’re really trying to get some warmth back into today’s digital world.


Q. Is it hard finding vocalists to work with?

A. Its not hard to find vocalists, its hard to find good ones. We’ve waited a long time to get Zoe Johnston to work with us as she’s so special and has an amazing voice and way with words.


Q. What would you say to people who say trance is too formulaic these days?

A. The problem is not that trance is too formulaic, its that the genre has become so well known people recognise the common things, the common records and not the breadth of it. I don’t think Seraque’s mix of Nitromethane is anything like Marcus Schultz’s mix of Satellite, for example.


Q. Trance was glorified as having peaked through the mid to late 90’s. Where do you see the trance scene at the moment? What does the future hold for trance?

A. With most of the world’s top 10 DJ’s being trance, I’d say its doing OK right now. As the whole scene seems to be moving closer to it’s source (underground) we feel it’s a very exciting time – we are sure to hear a lot of very creative and innovative music in the next few years.


Q. Are you classically trained musicians?

A. Jono & Paavo did some, tony’s still doing some.


Q. What inspires you to keep making records?

A. I don’t think we’d ever stop but seeing thousands of hands in the air while playing our new stuff even when the crowd haven’t heard the song before is inspiration enough!


Q. Where’s your favourite place to DJ?

A. Passion, UK / Anywhere outside when it’s warm :)


Q. Who is your favourite DJ/Act to watch play?

A. Probably Markus Schultz right now – he seems to have his finger on the pulse and we love his sets.


Q. Your guises are mostly on the uplifting, melodic side of trance,The Dirt Devils (Jono & Paavo) productions are a bit different sound to this. What was the thought, motivation and goal behind this?

A. The different guises give us an opportunity to experiment with different kinds of music.


Q. Your Oceanlab live debut UK show @ Passion this year prompted resident JFK to describe it as ‘the best live act we’ve ever had’. Is there a chance that the Above & Beyond boys with ex-chicane vocalist Justine Suissa, will bring their live show to Australia in the near future?

A. This is something we’d love to do but we don’t have any exact plans yet – Let us know when you want us round!

Q. You must hear a tonne of up and coming dj’s throughout the year, who is someone to look out for in 2004 and why?

A. Again, probably Markus Schultz – he’s made some excellent music and is playing beautiful, interesting, melodic music that still rocks the floor… love it!


Above & Beyond Tour Dates:
November 21st @ Candy’s Apartments, Sydney, Australia
November 22nd @ Advent*jah Festival, Melbourne, Australia
November 27th @ Emotion @ k2, Manchester
November 27th @ Slinky, Adelaide, Australia
November 28th @ Slinky, Auckland, New Zealand
November 29th @ Advent*jah Festival, Brisbane, Australia