You and Ben’s debut on Pure Trance’s main label! Congrats! How long have you guys waited for this moment?
Ben:
I’ve had aspirations for a long time to create dance music – I mean literally over 20 years since I used to DJ as a teenager – but life happens and you lose focus sometimes on the direction that your passion could potentially take you…
Sonia:
…So, here we are 2022 and releasing an EP on one of the most influential Trance labels in the world. That’s a lot of ideas in the making – creating the music we want to make and drawing from multiple influences – finally finding the opportunity to make our own sounds.
You’ve both been fans of the Pure Trance movement for a long time. What does the movement mean to you?
Ben:
Showing my age a bit but I was a huge fan of Trance in all it’s forms back in the late 90’s. I was spending all of my money on vinyl and lived in Birmingham for a while. They had a great selection of record shops and I was massively into the styles of Oakenfold, Sasha, Thrillseekers, BT, Taucher, Nick Warren and of course Solarstone – I think the first Solarstone track I remember buying on vinyl was “The Calling” and I was blown away. These DJ’s and the music they created and played was a huge part of my musical journey in my younger years. Gradually though it’s easy for life’s demands and distractions to outweigh your dreams and passions, and although my love for dance music and electronic music has always been there the scene seemed to become saturated by a lot of commercial generic Trance which wasn’t doing it for me and to be honest I lost a bit of interest…
Leaping forward to about 2012 both Sonia and I clearly had a joint interest in that classic trance sound and started DJing together – just for fun initially… but the passion was there.
We were mixing a lot of classic trance and started discovering more and more current artists. We discovered the Pure Trance movement and for both of us it was a bit of a revelation. I remember thinking it was a real shot in the arm for the scene and we were discovering some amazing sounds and talent. Personally, it became a massive part of developing my own creativity. It reignited a passion for melodic and emotional dance music that really brought my love for modern Trance and Progressive back to life. When Sonia and I started to pick up on the shows some years back and discover the Pure Trance family it was clear that it was a shared feeling.
Sonia:
On the subject of the radio shows, the Morning Show as well as the weekly show was such a great way of staying connected – Pure Trance has a lovely community which again is what we love about Pure.
What has made you want to make the transition to being a producer?
Sonia:
I’ve been helping Ben with his projects over the years; he’s bounced tracks off me and I’ve thrown ideas into the pot but it was never more than that until I went to PTR200 in Amsterdam. I listened to the interview Rich did about women in trance and it inspired me and made me realise that I had all the tools I needed to create music, I just needed to spend time learning how to use production software. Once I started to learn how to use it I became addicted! I made lots of terrible tracks and even sent one to Rich which I cringe at now!! But you’ve got to start somewhere right….
So, husband and wife, together in the studio – what’s that like?
Sonia:
Well…. It’s been an interesting experience hahaha… We get on really well usually but when were in the studio together it can either be sweet harmony or fireworks! We abandoned “Hidden” for a few weeks because we just couldn’t agree on its content. We’re both very passionate about music and it’s not always easy to compromise but I think on the whole we compliment each other.
Ben:
Echoing what Sonia said, it’s hard; working together on a track can be a dream sometimes but when you’re literally as close as a married couple it can become quite challenging. There’s definitely a case to be said for biting your tongue if you reach a point where it’s “checkmate” – when you each feel so passionately about your idea but the other isn’t on board. Divorce was mentioned a few times… (I’m kidding!).
It’s a three-track EP and it’s hard to pick our favourite. What can you tell us about all three tracks?
Ben:
Well, the three tracks I think all capture what we were craving at the time that we were producing them; an escape.. a journey. They were produced collectively during the pandemic and subsequent lockdown when the overseas travel we longed for just wasn’t on the cards.
“Zen” was a big deal for us – it was a track that we wanted to develop around the basic idea of a meditative, hypnotic mantra guiding the listener into a hypnotic state of mind right up to the drop. The arpeggio is a huge part of Zen’s character and I think that the cheeky octave lift in the final section rounds it off nicely.
Sonia:
We produced “Hidden” next … I’ve always had a thing for breaks and wanted to make a track incorporating breaks with a difference and so “Hidden” was born. It’s a track that brings together all the things we love about Trance… Breaks, beautiful Vocals, rumbling baseline, deep pads and euphoric synths finished with a drop into a 4/4 kick. It certainly was a labour of love!
Ben:
“Tatakoto” was a project I was very passionate about. I wanted to create a soundscape that was based on that whole castaway shipwreck scenario. I was reading Robinson Crusoe at the time and was quite immersed in the concept of a person being resigned to the realisation that they are stranded. It’s kind of a love / hate concept where you find yourself in this beautiful place surrounded by everything that you might seek in a holiday to warmer climates but you are at the mercy of the elements.
Thank you Ben & Sonia for taking the time for this interview! STOBY & Sonia Scott’s ‘Zen EP’ is out now on Pure Trance. Buy / Stream it here