Skazi: Rockin' trance

He released his first album, Animal, in September 2000 and due to its impact this had Skazi is now considered one of the gods of the psychedelic trance scene. “Once I left the band, I opened my mind to different kinds of music and discovered trance in 1996. There was no turning back,” says Skazi, Influenced by musicians like Metallica and Prodigy, rather than trance artistes, Skazi has dished out some of the best-known trance tracks trademarked by his own unique blend. He followed up his initial offerings with his second album, Storm, in March of 2002 and this propelled him into the spotlight once again. “My kind of music is a combination of rock and psytrance, with a whole lot of instruments and vocals. I use a lot of guitar, drums and some heavy kick and base to make my sound. It’s very different from the usual suspects of the trance scene,”

More than anything, Skazi exudes a kind of animated energy that flows into his style of hard-core, “dance floor destroying” music. “It’s all in the sound. Essentially, trance is based on a 4×4 beat, but what makes it different is the sound and melody sequences you add to it. Trance is like weaving a story into music, so what you put to enhance the beats makes all the difference. There’s psychedelic trance, techno trance, minimal trance, rock trance, and then there is Skazi trance. Every -where I go, DJs are copying my style, calling it Skazi trance. It’s the music of the future,” he says.

Although Skazi has collaborated with some of the biggest names in trance like GMS, Infected Mushroom and Talamasca, he prefers working alone. “My new release is called Zoo 3. It’s part of a personal collection that I release twice a year. I will also release a solo album around April 2004,” says Skazi. His label Shaffel/Chemical has signed and released a whole host of top acts such as Exhaile and Void and more recently Psycho Micro, Tube, Omi and the top act from South Africa – Damage.

Skazi is set to erupt on April 24 – Anzac Day Long Weekend @ Space in Sydney (BUY TICKETS) and the Hi Fi Bar in Melbourne on the 25th. For more info check out ITM Whatson.