This year, inthemix has heard a range of opinions from some of the leading names in trance on the vitality of the sound in 2010. Sean Tyas remarked that there’s “too much stuff coming out; most of it doesn’t make any sense melodically”, while on the flip-side Markus Schulz enthused, “There’s grittiness to trance now – it’s not all rainbows and unicorns.”

One DJ-producer who’s well qualified to opine is UK gun Simon Patterson, who’s due to arrive here in July for the Airport tour. Speaking to inthemix, the man was optimistic, while echoing some of Tyas’ reservations. “The scene has found itself in a real purple patch with its creative energy,” Patterson remarked. “For me, one of the beautiful things about dance music is that fresher ideas are always welcomed – the scene is about evolution. Neither the artists or clubbers are shunning away from opening their minds to that.”

However, he did admit that there is a glut of uninspiring productions to wade through for his DJ sets. “It’s just harder to find new stuff I like these days. Of course music being digital has more pros than cons, but the issue for me has been the quality control. Too many under-produced tracks make the grade, too many artists think that releasing a 100-plus tracks a year is the way to go, when sadly it’s not.”

So what to expect when Patterson he touches down again down under? “The crowds can expect my usual style,” he hinted, “but maybe with a bit of psy in there!”

Simon Patterson and Sied van Riel bring the Airport tour to these venues:

Friday 2 July – Billboard The Venue, Melbourne
Saturday 3 July – Secret Warehouse, Brisbane [day show]
Saturday 3 July – Gaelic Theatre, Sydney
Saturday 10 July – Rise, Perth
Sunday 11 July – HQ, Adelaide