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Edzes is a man who's been producing solid trance tunes for a long time. He has seen TiS, online and working, and is known for releasing tunes on the site. His music is loved by many, even by those who normally dont really like trance. CTG is proud to announce that he is the newest AOTM, an artist who's music just sounds awesome.
During the interview we will find out who edzes really is and why he started producing.
Analysis: Could you introduce yourself to the readers of the interview?
edzes: My name is Andreas Skaarung (in fact it's Skårung, but I prefer being international). I was born in a city far north in Norway called Baatsfjord on March 28th, which makes me 21 years old.
My biggest passion in life is, surprisingly enough, music. Although I know it's more like a dream than a realistic goal, I hope one day to do music for a living. It would be an incredible priviledge.
I do have a life other than music though. Being social with my friends is something I consider very important, and I try to keep myself in shape by going to the gym some days a week. Another mention is that I'm a complete sucker for all kinds of sports, and especially football (I'm a dedicated Manchester United-fan).
Analysis: What do you do in your normal life? Do you go to school, or do you work?
edzes: Yes, I've got a contemporary job in a company where I basically receive "broken" modems from customers. They think there's something wrong with their modem, and my job is to find out why they don't manage to make it work. To add short - most of the modems work perfectly. The only thing that's wrong is usually the lack of knowledge from the customers.
Sound boring, eh? I can insure you it is. 
However, my "real" job will soon be in Mallorca, more precise april 16th, where I will be working as a guide. You know - a person who works at the hotels, meets tourists at the airports, keeps them entertained in the evenings and so on. I'm sure everybody who has been to a trip somewhere knows what I'm talking about I'm really looking forward to this, and all the experiences that follows!
Analysis: What happend when you first heard a tune that struck you?
edzes: I had (and still have) a friend who was always very updated on electronic music. And that way - he also kept me updated, and I was influenced by his taste of music.
I was especially very fond of one artist that seemed to produce the type of music that hit my spot - Ferry Corsten. One day I heard a song called "Carte Blanche" at my friend's place, that was produced by him. It really took my breath away! The melody was unique.. simply orgasmic, unlike anything I'd heard before, and it was the first song ever to really give me goosebumps and spinechills at the same time. I was in heaven! From that day on I was totally addicted to trance music, and although my music taste has changed a bit over the years, this remains a favourite. I use to look upon it as a musical milestone. It's the very tune that introduced me to the world of trance, and inspired me to procude such music myself.
Analysis: When Ferry Corsten blew your mind, did you instandly want to make music yourself, or were there other important things that introduced you to tracking?
edzes: At the same time trance music came into my life, an incredible program called Fasttracker 2 also did its appearance. I still remember the first tracked song I listened to - it was "Unknown Phuture" by Elwood. If Ferry Corsten was the one who introduced me to trance, Elwood was the one to get me into tracking. I was incredibly impressed by the way he managed to create such beautiful music on such a limited platform.
At that time it wasn't very realistic for me to be able to produce "pro" music. I was very happy to have the opportunity to make my own music at all. It was a new and really fascinating thought back then - Perhaps people would one day listen to MY music? So I started playing around with the tracker.
It became an addiction to me very quickly, and I started to realize that this was something I really wanted to spend a lot of time on. As the days went by, I managed to finish my first songs (I think they are still online somewhere, but I won't tell you where!), and I think you know the rest of the story Here I am!
I'm very grateful for the chances tracking has given me, although I rarely track anymore.
Analysis: How did things evolve from there? Was you instandly as good as you are now? What sites did you use to get feedback?
edzes: I soon found out that there were tracking-communities on the web that had a lot of members. Here you could get good feedback and ratings on your songs, something I found very interesting. So I signed up for the well-known Modarchive and Trax In Space, which were the largest communities around at the time. The communities gave me new friends and contacts, whereas some of them are people I still speak with quite often.
I joined the communities at a point where I'd been tracking a lot for about a year, so my skills were on an acceptable level I guess. But I experienced some kind of breakthrough when I released a song called "Beautiful Dreams" during the year 2000, which is also available on my CTG artistpage. It got a lot of attention in the communities, and became a hit back then. It even won a contest here in Norway, so I was extremely pleased. Suddenly I had a name that was familiar to other than my friends, and this of course motivated me to keep on tracking. And I did!
Analysis: What are you goals now? You are very well-known in the scene, are you aiming for something bigger now?
edzes: I've always had certain goals, and my current one is to bring my music up to an even higher level and improving my mixing abilities. A wise man once said that there is no such thing as perfect, and that's a thought that motivates me - One can always improve, no matter what.
Like many other artists, I hope to get my tunes signed one day and make some money (although the economical aspect is not very important). I do believe it's a realistic goal.
It's important to have dreams and ambitions - At least that's one of the things that have kept, and still keeps me going strong. I love music, I live and breathe for music, so why not try to make a living out of it?
But for now, I keep on doing what I've always done. Then the future will decide what happens. No matter what, the most important thing to me will be to express my emotions through my music.
Afterall, that's what music is all about.
Analysis: How do you think that the scene is evolving? You've been in the scene for so long, you've seen people come and go, is there actually something called 'improvement'?
edzes: The most apparent change is that the music usually isn't open source anymore, because of all the different software people are using nowadays. That's a reason why I miss the old tracker days sometimes
But if we look on the former communities like Trax in Space compared to CTG, there is one thing that is improved - communication.
When TiS started operating with forums and even their own chat, the community had already grown too big. It was out of hand. There was an extremely small percentage that used the forums, out of all the many thousand registered artists. Browsing through TiS was like walking around in a ghost-town. The site was rarely updated near the end, and I think most of us saw its death coming.
What I like about CTG is the fact that most people here know each other, something that makes it easier to run a decent forum. There are also many participants, and a staff that has got a good look of what's going on.
I think CTG in many ways seems to have learnt of TiS' mistakes, something I find very pleasing. That's why I like this community so much. It's not too small - not too big. Let's just hope it'll stay that way. I have to give acecream a big hand for always keeping his faith for CTG.
Analysis: You've said that you were a great soccer-fan. How come?
edzes: I think I can thank my father for that. He's just as crazy about soccer as I am. It's more than a game - it's a culture! Grabbing a beer and watching the game must be the best thing in life
I played soccer myself, but quit some years ago. I realized that I would never be a new van Basten or Maradona, so now I just play for fun every now and then with my friends.
I guess I have to change my previous statement that music is my only passion.. Soccer can also be put into that rare cathegory
I especially remember one time.. When Norway went out of the group-play in the Euro Championship of 2000 because of a last minute goal. I got so mad I ran into the woods and cut down a huge tree. I don't think I've ever been so filled up with rage, as I was at that very moment!
Well, that only proves that soccer is a lot about emotions to me - just like music.
Analysis: What do you think of the way that Manchester United plays this season?
Remember that this question was asked on the second of march, due to circumstances, the staff wasn't able to post it earlier. At this time, the response seems kinda weird
edzes: After a rather mediocre start of the season, the lads now seem to be on the right track. I still hope and believe they can win the Premier League. 
Analysis: As a true Manchester United fan, you dont have lot to say about your club . Does your music reflect events that you've been through as a person? Or do you get inspiration out of other things?
edzes: Definately. As I've already mentioned, music is a reflection of our emotions. Music is often like therapy to me. I'm happy to have the opportunity to write down my feeling, and express them though my music. Quite paradoxal, some of my more cheerful tunes have been made impulsively during tougher periods of my life.
Inspiration is something I wish I had more of lately Like many others, I can find inspiration for my music from artists that I admire. But when I play around on my keyboard and my mind seems emptied of creative ideas, I get off my chair and try to do other things than making music and seek that inspiration otherwise. Doing something completely different can be quite an inspiration-boost! I can e.g. go for a walk, where I just wander around collecting impulses from the environment, strangers I meet, or just observing mother nature surrounding me. As a trance-producer, I also listen to other genres to get ideas. In fact, I don't listen that much to trance nowadays.
Analysis: Your best song so far is called 'Alumina'. Is it hard to make a song that even tops that one?
edzes: Oh, funny you mention it - personally I consider 'Pain' my best one on CTG. It's mostly about what I relate to it personally that makes me have a special boundry to that one.
But to answer your question; I spend a lot of time doing my best to make my currect music sound better than the music I've already released. I know what to improve, and quite frankly I think I do pretty well in my attempt. Some of the things I have in progress can turn out really good with enough work put into it. But too many times I've started out a new project while I've been in the middle of another one, so I often end up with fifteen unfinished songs instead of a finished one. It's a sad fact.
I've had a lot of inspiration lately, but there have been so many other things in my life that I've considered more important. So I can't always allow music to be the first priority the same way as before.
I've promised myself to finish something soon though, to show the world I'm still alive. Let's hope I can keep my promise
Analysis: What is the most important aspect of a song, and why would that be the most important thing?
edzes: I think it's hard, or rather impossible to point out one particular element or aspect as the most important one, since it can vary from each genre, and even from each song within a genre.
I mean..such a thing as melody is clearly an important matter within e.g. many branches of trance, but hardly within detroit-techno. Often, the whole arrangement makes a tune sound good rather than just one element.
The one general thought that comes to my mind from an artistic view, is the importance of finding your own sound that you feel comfortable with. I think most artists have a certain idea inside their head of how they want their music to sound, and that sound can be achieved with enough work and effort put into it. When people listen to a song, and they can tell who made it within the first 5 seconds, it shows that the artist has got a unique sound that makes him stand out from the crowd. I'm not saying all "unique"-sounding music is good music, but quite often it's a good sign.
Analysis: I'd like to thank you for the interview. It was a pleasure to interview you
More: Edzes on CTG |
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