IS PROGRESSIVE HOUSE DEAD?

[dj ferdy]

John Digweed & Nick Muir's new Bedrock track 'Santiago' isn't your bog standard prog house.

DJmag.com meets Nick Muir to discuss how progressive is redefining itself.

Nick Muir & John Digweed's new single pushes the boundaries of prog

Words: Terry Church Source: DJMAG.co.uk

"The progressive house backlash is a good thing," insists John Digweed's studio partner Nick Muir, one of the genre's most respected producers.

"It helps keep things fresh, and now prog can return back to the underground and evolve out of the public eye," he says.

Progressive house used to be one of the most popular genres of dance music, and was the sound that revolutionised the concept of DJing and clubbing with its epic production values and highly complex musical arrangement.

John Digweed and Nick Muir, under the alias Bedrock, produced some of the genre's biggest records, including 'Heaven Scent' that reached the UK top 40, and the ethereal classic 'For What You Dream Of' (which featured in the soundtrack for Brit flick 'Trainspotting').

At its peak, progressive house rivalled trance music's global popularity, and its DJs were counted as some of the most popular in the world.

Indeed Digweed, who was one of the first to champion early progressive house in the mid-90s with Sasha, was voted No.1 DJ in the world when he topped DJmag's Top 100 DJs Poll in 2001.


Digweed was voted No.1 DJ in the world in 2001
"Prog used to be the alternative, it was totally underground and something you'd only hear in dark, dingy clubs at 3am," says Muir.

"It happily existed in its own niche, but when John was voted No.1 it suddenly became flavour of the month, and prog house blew up.

"For a while, almost every house DJ played prog records, so it was only a matter of time before they moved onto something new," he insists.
Minimal
If anything, 2005 will be remembered for the year that minimal dance music blew up, with all the year's biggest records having been influenced by the minimal sound that originates from Germany.

Berlin-based minimal label Get Physical is DJmag's label of the year (the latest issue comes with a special Get Physical 7").

Minimal's simplicity and unashamedly electronic sound is the antitheses to progressive's complex and astute musical production.

Nick Muir thinks that this is the exact reason why minimal is so popular, and why prog has lost its crown as the true sound of the underground.

"These days most dance producers are software based, and producing music only using computers tends to result in gritty, electronic music," he says.

Without any hardware or instruments, dance music becomes truly computerised.

Prog was about slick, polished production, these days dance music is dirtier and more electronic, even more avant-garde.
Bedrock: Three Years in the Making

'Santiago' sounds refreshingly happy
'Forge' was the last record that John Digweed and Nick released under their Bedrock moniker, three years ago.

Why did it take so long for them to release another record?

"John is so busy touring, and a lot of our studio time in 2003 was taken up with doing the soundtrack for the Spider-Man cartoon," says Muir.

"In 2004, we decided to take a step back, as we were aware that prog had become too overexposed.

"John had started to incorporate more electro and techno into his sets, and that was where the most exciting music was coming from, so we decided to use some of those elements for the new single."
Santiago
'Santiago' is the new single from Digweed and Muir, and it certainly isn't bog standard progressive house.

Gone are the hypnotic, moody basslines that characterised Bedrock – in its place is an uplifting, Latino sound, something that's really not Digweed at all.

"John wanted a breath of fresh air, he wanted to make a joyful, party record," reports Nick Muir.

"John roadtested 'Santiago' all summer, and it's a really Balearic-sounding, it well down well in Ibiza."

Bedrock's alternative 'St. James' mix of 'Santiago' is a more pumping club record, and more what you would expect from the duo.

On another mix, Parallel Sound's intelligent piano riffs add a different dimension to the original, and they too have fused some elements of electro house and techno into their mix.

"We were pretty stoked when John asked us to do a remix," admits Australian Tim from Parallel Sound.

"We're big fans of Diggers, and used to go to Bedrock' s monthly Thursday night at Heaven, and then call in sick on Fridays," he says.

Nick Muir says enthusiasm from new producers and DJs like Parallel Sound is the exact reason why dance music will never die.

"The way dance music evolves is like a good DJ set – just when you think it's getting a bit stale, it takes an unexpected twist.

"It's always regenerating, reinventing, and reviving."

Bedrock's 'Santiago' is out now on Bedrock records.

[tante nay]

tunggu 17 maret di centro..

6 jam pun

[kc]

waaaaaaaaa..
more bocoran pls tanteeehh.. moree moreee..

[DimsumonDLine]

tunggu 17 maret di centro..

6 jam pun

uurrrghhh,,, apa nih tante??? bagi2 donk!!!!

[Ricco.Sepet]

tunggu 17 maret di centro..

6 jam pun

wah apa nih? gw taunya febuari doang...

[tante nay]

EXCLUSIVE 6 HOURS DJ DENY INDIKA FM
@ CENTRO
MARCH 17 2007

[AndrE ClayZ]

yang februari DJ Deny juga Co?

[Ricco.Sepet]

yang februari DJ Deny juga Co?

bukan dre, tp entar ada flg, trus ada acara yg main marquee-ronjon-altuna..trus ada lagi yg romy-dade-didi...
mm banyak deh..

tp sayang mesti di centro

[AndrE ClayZ]

yang februari DJ Deny juga Co?

bukan dre, tp entar ada flg, trus ada acara yg main marquee-ronjon-altuna..trus ada lagi yg romy-dade-didi...
mm banyak deh..

tp sayang mesti di centro

owh...hehehe,,ga bole masuk ya lo klo di centro??

[Loki]

HUakakakkakkaka....nasib mu Co...sama gw juga pernah ditolak masuk, gara2 pake sendal 

[Ricco.Sepet]

@andre: gw ga suka crowd n tempatnya..
@oki: itu mah elo yg dodol.. elo kira mau ke pasar?

[jana]

The way dance music evolves is like a good DJ set – just when you think it's getting a bit stale, it takes an unexpected twist.

It's always regenerating, reinventing, and reviving.

[Loki]

@Ricco ||
namanya juga basian dari Kemang Soob...malez yg jauh kan jalannya...

[AndrE ClayZ]

HUakakakkakkaka....nasib mu Co...sama gw juga pernah ditolak masuk, gara2 pake sendal 

itu mah elo yang dodol,,masa ke club pk sendal....emang mau ke wc...

@ricco : gw juga ga suka tempatnya Co,,,jauh dari rumah gw...

[Loki]

Tadi nya niat bli pulsa doank di kemang..trus tiba2 ketemu temen gw di jalan, malah diculik ke oishisha  ternyata cuma sampe jam 1/2 4 dah bubar  sementara efek masih berasa 

[ToM`s ~Hardcore~]

EXCLUSIVE 6 HOURS DJ DENY INDIKA FM
@ CENTRO
MARCH 17 2007

wah canggih neh, musti hadir......

[tante nay]

apa dibuat gathering akbar kembali???

hihiihi

[RoniJoni]

EXCLUSIVE 6 HOURS DJ DENY INDIKA FM
@ CENTRO
MARCH 17 2007

hehehhheeh hidup deny!!!!!!!
progtrancenya,,,,okeh bgt ....
wajib dtng n ancur.....yuuu
daku mah ikutin aja deh flownya deny mau kemana!!!!udh percaya bgt!!!heheheh

deeeee shinchan!!yuhuuu

[jazzymike]

penting nih dj deny 6 hours set... *merinding

[Loki]

Bakal seru bangeth nih...penting gila...cateeeeeetttt!!!

[sonique]

wahhh... seru banget nihh... pengen journey bareng dj deny dongg...
cuman knapa tempatnya musti d centro yah? 

[Loki]

Kaya nya mesti dibuat thread baru nih ada apa dengan Centro 

[sonique]

Kaya nya mesti dibuat thread baru nih ada apa dengan Centro 

mendingan lo bikin thread baru soal kenapa lo suka nyampah...
daritadi gua liat tulisan lo mulu... cape ngeliatnya cink...

[Loki]

Kaya nya mesti dibuat thread baru nih ada apa dengan Centro 

mendingan lo bikin thread baru soal kenapa lo suka nyampah...
daritadi gua liat tulisan lo mulu... cape ngeliatnya cink...

Gw bukannya niat nyampah..kebetulan aja gw lagi senggang sempet2in posting di forum...besok2 dah sibuk dengan laporan gw ngilang lagi 

[tante nay]

mari bersama2 kita MEMPROGRESSIVEkan diri bersama2 di 6 hoursnya DENY yaa...
dimanapun tempatnya yang penting kebersamaan dalam progressive....

SETUJU PARA PONAKANku YANG CANTIK2 DAN GANTENG2?



Cheerzz... mwa2

TANTE