Forging new ground in a completely new genre that captured the world during the late 1990s, pioneers Christopher James Agnew and Robert Frederick Nelson as Agnelli & Nelson have defined trance into the sound it is today. As the arbiters of lush melodies, unchecked bass lines and dense chordal walls of sound, these Northern Irish lads have emerged onto the global dance stages and stayed at the top of the ladder as stalwarts in the industry, thanks to unforgettable classics El Nino and Everday casting them forever into the record books, and remixes from Armin van Buuren to U2 hitting every aspiring DJ’s CD wallet Having materialized from Northern Ireland, it is their undisputed talent and enduring love for their art that keeps them in the A-List of Global Dance. Previously in Australia for Trance Energy, their fans will be treated to a special follow up this week in Brisbane and Melbourne. In the leadup to their tour downunder, ITM sat down with Robbie to chat about the UK club scene, how it compares to Australia, their struggles, their triumphs and dealing with the new digital age.

With the dance industry tainted thanks to the commercial media one must ask: what are two nice Irish boys like you doing in the dance industry?

Well basically, the whole thing’s a buzz. We are here because of the reaction we get on the floor. We make tunes in the studio, play them and get hooked on the reactions we got from the crowd. Hopefully, we will be here for a while yet.

I know there are clubs all around the world, but concentration for dance epi-centres are mainly in Germany, the UK, Ibiza, the States and very little mention is made especially of Ireland. How does the clubbing in Ireland compare to clubbing in the rest of the world?

I think the main reason Irelands has always been quiet is because we are right beside the UK – we’ve always sort of run a parallel with the UK. But anything that’s been going on in England, Scotland and Wales has been happening in Ireland as well. Out of those four countries, the crowds in Ireland are probably the best and are right up for it. There’s always been a healthy scene here, and especially at the moment with a lot of these big productions coming out of the Belfast and the Dublin area as well. Things are very strong as far as that goes. I’ve just played at Planet Love which is the biggest festival in Ireland, and I think this year we had the biggest crowd we’ve ever had. It’s been going on there for about 10-11 years and this was one of the most successful ones to date.

It’s been a decade since you’ve first started out as Agnelli & Nelson, what have you seen change about trance in that time and what do you think of the current times with trance?

Like everything else, it goes up and down and changes along the way. I think that as the music has changed throughout the years, it’s gone into different directions which is a good thing. For me now, I think it’s kind of back to square one, and personally, I’m happy with a lot of the music I’m playing, whereas two to three years ago it was a bit of a mish mash and we were struggling to find good tunes to play, in the style you wanted to play.

With at least a decade of success behind you, what challenges do you put before yourselves to grow as artists?

I’m producing on my own at the moment, so I’m sort of challenging myself to do a lot of remixes, when Agnelli & Nelson never really did many remixes. We’ve always tried to keep our time in the studio for our selves really. In the last year or so, I tried to do different things and different styles. I think it’s important to keep producing new music all the time.

What are your thoughts on the explosion of digital music on the internet? How do you think the internet has helped shaped music over the last decade?

It has completely changed the scene but there’s two sides to the coin. In one way, it’s been good because a lot more people have access to music and you don’t have to go to the record store to buy it. I think people are buying more music. I have actually bought more music myself on itunes – music like Pink Floyd, which I would never have gone into a record store and bought. On the other hand, it has destroyed a lot of producers in the capacity of making money – which has dropped. The one thing I don’t like about it, for example – last night a friend of mine rang me and told me someone had made a remix of Every Day which always happens. But then they put it up on youtube and it was terrible. There’s no quality control there. People can just do their own version of your tracks and people can download them and people think they are official remixes. It’s taking the value out of the music. When we did Holding On To Nothing, it was probably our biggest tune ever, but it didn’t sell well because the minute it was released on promo, it was available on these Russian download sites. Things get leaked too easily.

The dance industry is so fluid as an entity – it has grown and morphed so much. Where would you like to see dance evolve to?

I would like to see it go more underground. There was a big explosion a few years back and I think it did the scene more damage. So I think it needs to go underground again.

Where do you get your inspiration from for your tunes and what are you working on in the studio at the moment?

I’ve just started a remix of The Space Brother’s classic track Forgiven. It was a big track about fifteen years ago. I only started it yesterday, so I won’t be able to work on it ‘til I get back from Australia. I’ve got a new single coming out as Robbie Nelson which will be coming out on Crashing Waves. When I’m working on my own, I just take references with what’s going on at the present time. I just go into the studio and have a listen to all the tunes and take little bits and ideas from other people and build them into my own tracks. It’s like a trial and error process really; like having a small idea then building it into a big one. I enjoy working with vocalists because it gives you a better direction.

Brisbane and Melbourne will be treated to a very special show with Agnelli & Nelson this weekend. What can we expect to hear from you from the dancefloor?

I think it going to be a good tour! The last time I was there was for Trance Energy and that was big as you know. I really only got to play for an hour and it wasn’t long enough. Playing for an hour, you don’t get long enough to express what you’re doing. This time, I’ve got a couple of hours and it’s going to be much better from my point of view. I’ve just finished a remix for John O’Callaghan – a mixture of techy house and trance which I’ll be playing when I’m in Australia. I’ll be able to express how I’m feeling at the moment with my music, so hopefully we’ll see the whole place with their hands in the air…nice and melodic. “

Agnelli & Nelson tour dates:

Fri 18th September – Planet Nightclub, Brisbane
Sat 19th September – Room 680, Melbourne
Sat 7th November – Freedom Festival, Sydney