It’s been quite a year for Above & Beyond. In the twelve months since they last visited Australian shores, this British-based trio has covered quite a bit of ground both literally and figuratively. Their just-released artist album Tri-State has received rave reviews from all corners – from DJ Magazine’s labelling it ‘Brilliant’ and rating it 5/5 to the UK’s best selling tabloid The Sun calling it ‘one of the most original trance albums for years’. They picked up six nominations at this year’s International Dance Music Awards in Miami, including Best Underground Dance Track, the latter of which they handily won with their collaborative single with Andy Moor, Air for Life. Their two record labels, Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep, continue to define their respective genres, while their weekly radio show and hectic international touring schedule have helped redefine melodic dance music to an entire generation of clubgoers. On the eve of their return to Australian shores for the third time in as many years, Above & Beyond’s Tony McGuinness caught up with ITM to share the good news.
It’s an early morning in London as the overseas operator connects our call, and Tony’s recent arrival from South America – and the resultant jet-lag – makes it feel even earlier for him. But despite his apologies for being a bit sleepy, the enthusiasm in his voice for Above & Beyond’s recent South American tour is readily apparent, and within minutes Tony is recounting their recent adventures through South America.
“It was absolutely amazing,” Tony begins. “We spent two weeks in Sao Paulo, Rio, Porto Alegre and Santa Catalina – Santa Catalina was the last gig,” he says. “We went to Buenos Aires for the Thursday night of last week and it was an unexpected delight. I didn’t really know what to expect, and it was just the most amazing place. It’s like a film there. Lots of old European-style buildings, but in this slightly kind of run-down way that looks really good – just this complete potpourri of architectural styles. Some gothic, some English, a few Italian-style buildings, all jammed together, very overcrowded, and very, very friendly.” “Amazing food, too,” he adds after a pause.
While we’re on the topic of international travel, I ask Tony for his thoughts on Australia, and find his recollections of Above & Beyond’s last tour down under to be equally enthusiastic. “Ahh yes, Australia,” he says. “Our last tour through Australia was the best tour we’ve ever done, anywhere. It was the best organised, the best attended, and with the size of the crowds, it really was the best tour we’d ever done at any point in time.” I ask if there are any parts of the trip that stick out in his mind in particular. “Sure,” he says. “It was quite entertaining being on tour with BT – it seemed he’d brought his entire studio along. We’d see fifteen or so bags of his outside the hotel every morning!” Of their other tour partners, Gabriel & Dresden, Tony notes without further elaboration that “the after parties with Dave Dresden were some of the most memorable parts of the tour.”
Of course, this time through Australia is somewhat different for Above & Beyond, as they’re touring not only as a DJ act, but also in support of their artist album, Tri-State. I ask Tony what difference the remarkable success of the album has made to their DJ sets, and to what extent their current tour is an album-support tour. “The release of the album could easily have turned itself into a live album tour with all live singers at festivals and all that,” Tony acknowledges. “We could have done that, but ultimately it ended up being impractical. As far as what we play, essentially we’re still the same Above & Beyond that you know, but that now we’re also playing new mixes of some of the tracks off our album in our sets.”
For those who still think of Above & Beyond as purely a trance act, the Tri-State album may come as something of a surprise for the broad range of musical styles it encompasses. “Crossover to me has such a negative connotation,” Tony explains. “With this album, we wanted to go back to the core of what it is that we do as musicians – writing songs. We wanted to appeal not just to our fans, but also to people who might like what we do but have never heard it.” The success of the album speaks for itself – in addition to the aforementioned accolades from The Sun and DJ Magazine, Tri-State has featured in iTunes’ Top Ten US dance albums for more than three months, further increasing Above & Beyond’s not-insignificant fan base.
Above & Beyond’s fans are remarkably dedicated. The online forums of anjunabeats.com are a hotbed of activity and discussion, and the official Above & Beyond MySpace page has nearly 30,000 friends at last count. For the benefit of those ITM readers who follow Above & Beyond closely, I ask Tony for an update on some or their upcoming tracks and studio projects. “Well, we have an Oceanlab album in the works,” Tony tells me, referring to the successful Above & Beyond side-project that includes vocalist Justine Suissa and as already spawned such hits as Satellite and Sky Falls Down – both huge favourites of top DJs Armin Van Buuren and Tiesto. “We’d hoped to release the Oceanlab track Sirens of the Sea before Tri-State came out, but it didn’t happen that way,” he says. Also in the works? Reworks of the ethereal down-tempo album cut “Good for Me” by Darren Tate and Basic Perspective, as well as a house mix of the track.
Central to Tri-State’s broader appeal are the vocals of newcomer Richard Bedford, who sings on a number of tracks on the album, including the anthemic single “Alone Tonight”. Having been thoroughly impressed with the vocal work on the album, I ask Tony how Richard came to the trio’s attention. “That’s a funny story,” Tony says. “You know the line from ‘Alone Tonight’ that says ‘silver stars collide’? Well, when we’re working on songs in the studio, I record rough demo takes of all the vocals myself so we have something to work with. Dan, who works with us here at Anjunabeats, came in one day with a CD of a mate of his from the north of England. The CD said something about ‘silver stars’ on it, and so we put it on, and in about four seconds we said ‘yes, this is exactly what we’re looking for!’ Richard’s got this emotionally intense voice – a white soul voice, this kind of indy whinging Coldplay / REM / Jeff Buckley kind of thing – sad but emotionally intense.”
Tri-State’s success should come as little surprise to anyone that’s been following the trio’s successes over recent years. Above & Beyond have long had their fingers on the pulse of the global dance music community, both as artists and as the brains behind the wildly popular Anjunabeats label. “As a label, we’re growing all the time,” Tony says. “We’ve never lost money on any record we’ve ever put out. Our forums are booming, and our records get reviewed well, and so I suppose you could say that we get a very pink-spectacled view,” Tony says with a chuckle.
Nonetheless, Tony is realistic about what it takes to succeed in the larger music marketplace. “Part of the problem is that we still do operate in a niche market, and so we operate through the fans we already have,” he says. “A lot of our support comes from the fans we already have, with news of our album spreading by osmosis out of the trance area.”
And so is there a reason for this consistent success in an industry where so many labels and artists have fallen by the wayside or fallen out of fashion? “We don’t see the musical landscape from a static place,” Tony offers. “We’re always moving around, so we get to see a very different perspective. You go to Russia, or to China, and the feeling musically is very different.”
As we wrap up our conversation, I ask Tony for some insight as to just how the dance music landscape varies from continent to continent. “It has something to do with culture and history,” he begins. “We were in Buenos Aires last week, in this cool, arty neighbourhood with arty restaurants, and we walked into this bar. There was a DJ in the bar, a live DJ in this little wine bar, which is fairly normal in Argentina. Now in the UK he’d be playing house, and here he was playing really deep progressive. Everyone in the bar is really grooving on this deep prog, really getting into it, you know, and when he finished, everyone in the bar clapped for him, and it was really something to see the difference. In the UK, it seems house is the ‘pop wallpaper’, whereas in Buenos Aires it’s deep prog. It’s just different everywhere you go.”
Don’t miss Above & Beyond touring the country with Godskitchen! Dates and ticket details below.
Stonkmaster says...
as usual, storming interview Nyq.... look forward to A
Pendulum says...
"“the after parties with Dave Dresden were some of the most memorable parts of the tour.” hahaha yes yes, the after party shenainigans in Sydney were very very dubious indeed!! So much fun!
Ossie says...
haha indeed, afterparty at lukes was highlight of last year.. those boys sure know how to party can't wait to see them again on sunday!!
Budge says...
Another great article Matt. Will be awesome not only to see them again this year but to see them @ Family