The past few years have seen a steady rise through the trance ranks for production gun Sean Tyas. It’s a good indication of the man’s current standing that he graduated to mainstage at Trance Energy in Holland this month, going back-to-back with Simon Patterson. With an album in the making and a return to Australia imminent, inthemix got on the phone to Tyas.

How is the album coming along?
I’ve done my first four remixes of the year, and I think I’m now going to cut back and focus on original material. I’m excited; this is the first week I’ve had in the studio for four weeks. I can’t wait to get back to work. I haven’t decided if the album is going to be separate tracks and a multitude of ideas or more like a mix-CD. I think it might fall somewhere in the middle. It’s not going to be too crazy. I’m not going to put any hardcore techno on there.

After being away for four weeks, is it hard to find your feet again in the studio?
It’s always really, really hard. That’s why I do my Tytanium Sessions radio shows on Mondays, because you don’t have to be as creative and concentrating as when you’re doing track productions and remixes. Even though I do complain because the show is due every Monday, it frees me up and lets my brain wait till Tuesday.

What did you want to achieve with Tytanium Sessions?
I just wanted it to be consistent. I didn’t feel doing it each month was enough, and bi-weekly is always an odd thing. All the shows have a ‘track of the week’ – what are you going to say, ‘track of the fortnight’? [laughs] A lot of awkwardness comes with doing a show every two weeks, so I had to bite the bullet and do it weekly. When you look at people like Armin, his claim to fame is his radio show – it’s weekly, it’s professionally produced and he’s really in with the fans. It seems like the right idea.

Is there a healthy amount of young, vibrant talent in trance at the moment?
Yes, but by the same token there are just as many completely untalented people getting records pressed, which is depressing. There are too many record labels out and too much crap to sort through when looking for good music for my radio show. Out of 50 promo tracks I downloaded last week, two were playable on the show. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would’ve played those other tracks. Melodically they don’t make any sense. People are getting a bit crazy – everyone has got a record label, and even though I’m probably going to open a record label, I feel like just one of a number.

You get promos sent to you every day, and you know which labels to look for and always listen to their stuff. Lately I’ve been listening to almost everything, because even those labels I might’ve deleted in the past have put out some gems. You never know when you’re going to find a cool track. If you’re the first person playing that record, it’s pretty cool.

How important is it for DJs to be adept at the production side as well?
It is essential now. There’s really no other way around it. I don’t think I know any DJ that’s just a DJ anymore, except for maybe James Zabiela and Eddie Halliwell. They can get away with it. I don’t think anyone else can.

Last year, you played the Australian debut of Trance Energy. How was the edition in Holland a couple weeks back?
It was stressful, looking out over 20,000 heads. Being on the main stage was like a stamp of approval. It went perfect. Simon Patterson and I went back-to-back. We did a bit of preparation, selecting the songs we knew we’d play and doing edits. We looked at each other after the set and said, “thank god we had a full day of preparation”.

There’s obviously a side to your sound that errs towards techno. Is there much planned on that tip in 2010?
Well, I would like to have some pure trancers on my album that reach back to that classic Nu Energy sound and at the other end, the real-deal techno, not minimal. I want to see how that mix goes. The techno stuff is a bit more fun, because you can get it done quicker. There are no rules and you can do whatever you want as long as it sounds good.

Why is it that a techno track would come together quicker?
In trance, you have this unspoken set of rules and a formula that you need to follow, so to make it snap within that boundary can be a bit trying. You need to have your break, and a build-up, then it needs to really take off…getting all those things in a line is a bit of a pain sometimes. Whereas in techno you just let go and stumble upon things, which results in it getting done quicker.

Do you ever find those structures frustrating in producing trance?
Not really anymore. I did at first, yeah, but you kind of get used to it. “It’s frustrating in the media when they blow trance out of the water and say, ‘it’s just too formulaic”. But that’s honestly why it works so well. The reason it works on the dancefloor and for the people is that it is predictable – you know what’s coming and people want that. So when a surprise comes it’s even better.

Who have been some of the DJs and producers you look to as inspiration?
Obviously Paul van Dyk, and that can be clearly heard in my tracks. Growing up when New York had Twilo open, that was where I first saw Paul van Dyk in 1998. It was amazing and I went every month to see PvD or even Sven Vath when I was in the mood for techno. I got in to the European sound then, up until that point I’d been exposed to New York house DJs. The page I would take out of Carl Cox’s book is the energy he shows in that DJ booth – he’s a big dude, but he’s got great energy over long sets.

This tour you’ll be playing some shows with Matt Hardwick and Eddie Halliwell – are you looking forward to sharing a bill with those guys?
I’ve played with Matt and Eddie a couple of times before, and it’s always a good time. Even if we play relatively similar styles, I don’t see any overlap of tracks.

Kill Rock Star brings me out every time, and every time it’s perfect. I love being there, the weather is always great. The kids at the parties like the music hard, and that’s luckily what I specialise in. I’ve got a new remix of Tiesto’s Suburban Train that I’d like to try out. I tested it out at Trance Energy and A State Of Trance, and it went over perfect. I’m looking forward to how it’ll go down in Oz!

Sean Tyas tour dates:

Friday 23 April – Subconscious @ HQ Complex, Adelaide
Saturday 24 April – Liberate @ Planet Nightclub & Surrounds, Brisbane
Friday 30 April – Tytanium Sessions @ Rise, Perth
Saturday 1 May (Day) – Creamfields, Sydney
Saturday 1 May (Night) – Tytanium Sessions @ Room680, Melbourne