Binary Finary first exploded onto the club scene after their release ‘1998’ became the first electronic dance track to enter the UK Top 30. The track with that killer riff became the first Trance track to enter the UK official chart. It climbed to number one in the European dance charts, and a decade later it’s still one of the greatest uplifting Trance tracks ever to hit dance-floors.Binary Finary split up in early 2000, with Matt and Stuart going their separate ways. It wasn’t until the start of 2004 that they got back in touch. Eager to build on their experiences of the early days, and their new knowledge and life experiences, they reformed Binary Finary with a new grounding of processes and technology.
Spearheaded by Stuart Matheson in Australia, and enlisting Sasha Vatoff as a performer for many of the shows, Binary Finary are armed with a collection of new releases and remixes, generating a huge buzz and incredible crowd feedback with a brand new live show that kicked off at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on New Year’s Eve. As well as the Live set, Binary Finary are also playing out a more traditional DJ set, incorporating the latest digital technology, fusing Progressive, Trance & Tech, alongside Binary Finary mashups.
Binary Finary teamed up with DJ Ernesto to set up their own record label called ‘Future Focus Recordings’. The label very quickly managed to become a firm favourite in the Trance scene, and their releases are simply magnificent. Their remix for Alpha Duo’s featuring Fisher – ‘Fight For Love’, was a huge success followed by Binary Finary vs Pulse & Sphere – ‘High Stress’ and their latest one ‘Flight of Life’. Of course they release remixes and tracks on other labels also, including their very hot-at-the-moment collaboration with Genix on Digital Society recordings, called, Smoking Gun. As it seems the Binary Finary beloved project is back in full force with a series of must-have future trance classics.
This seems to me the best opportunity to request an interview with them, and I’m very glad they accepted, and now you can read their very informative and honest answers.
Interview was written & conducted by Dimitri Kechagias Radio/DJ/Music Journalist
Dimitri: When and where you were born? Are you fortunate enough to come from a family that has any association with music and particularly electronic music? Do you have the support of your parents in the pursuit of your musical career as DJ’s and producers?
Stuart: Born in 1974 in Epsom, UK, where the races are. Neither of my parents had any musical background or connection. It was really the rise of computing, with graphics and audio that caught my attention. Once I started messing with audio on a computer, there was no turning back.
Sasha: Born in 1976 in Sydney, Australia. I have been DJ’ing since I was about 15 and used to play at rave parties here. At High School I learnt a few instruments and was even in a school band playing Bass and Guitar. It was a natural progression into music production and quite easy for me to pick up new techniques.
Dimitri: Is it possible to list for us the Top 5 DJ’s or EDM producers that have a major influence on the style of your productions, and give us a short comment about each of them?
Binary Finary:
The Orb: Fell in love with their music. Still in love to this day.
Orbital: Wow, the music these guys create is incredible.
Eat Static: Love the sound,
Ozric Tentacles: My all time favourite group. Born from festivals with psychedelic guitar and strong riffs. Awesome.
Everyone else: Massive respect from us to any producer. They are an inspiration.
Orbital: Wow, the music these guys create is incredible.
Eat Static: Love the sound,
Ozric Tentacles: My all time favourite group. Born from festivals with psychedelic guitar and strong riffs. Awesome.
Everyone else: Massive respect from us to any producer. They are an inspiration.
Dimitri: Have you had professional training in music or are you self-taught? Do you think its very important for a young producer to attend music composition classes, or do you feel, as many people, that formal training kills creativity and innovation, and nowadays its easier to learn to produce with amateur video tutorials from you tube?
Stuart: No none. I never had any training, can’t read music and can’t pick up an instrument to play. Back in the day when Binary Finary was formed, there were reasons why we stayed true to who we were. As long as the results were good, all was ok.
Sasha: I can read music and learnt this at school. I have done a few production courses over the years, but mainly to brush up on new software. I think some type of formal training is generally needed, and you can pick up some good tips this way and get rid of bad habits.
Dimitri: Please take on a virtual tour in your home studio and let us know the kind of hardware and software that you use. Do you have favourite music composition software that you prefer to use and you can recommend to other artists?
Stuart: The home studio is pretty much a computer, with software synths and a couple of hardware additions. A JP8000 and CS6x compliment the software of Sylenth, Nexus, and Ableton Live.
I find Ableton Live a great tool to use. I like the way it allows you to work the way you want without many restrictions.
The best advice I can give to anyone wanting to use any form of software is to use what feels most natural to you.
Sasha: I have a similar set up to Stuart as sometimes we work out of each others studios and share projects we are working on so need the same environment. My studio is fully digital now across my Mac Pro desktop and Macbook Pro laptop. This allows me to take my studio on the road. Like Stuart, I stick to Sylenth, Nexus but have recently picked up Logic again and I am having fun with this on our new projects.
Dimitri: Is it possible to tell us how the Binary Finary project started and why you chose that particular name for your project? Does this name signify something special for you?
Stuart: Prior to the reforming of Binary Finary (Stuart and Sasha), I met Matt in a music shop in 1997, when I was looking to buy some hardware. He told me about a keyboard that wasn’t in the shop, but he had one at home I was welcome to come and check out. I went along to check it and heard the basics of 1998 (then called 1997) and things pretty much formed quickly after that. The scene at the time was so powerful; we just kind of got pulled together.
The name Binary was used because at it’s root the synths and computer were pushing binary numbers around to make the sounds, Finary because nothing else rhymes with Binary ?.
Dimitri: Of course your biggest anthem to date is the awesome 1998 that came back many times with brand new mixes, and even managed to climb to number 11 of the UK Top 40. Would you like to recall for us how this track was produced, and who was responsible for discovering and turning it into a huge club anthem?
Stuart: Matt had the basis of the riff written by the time I came along to the shop. Over a period of a few weeks, the track was worked on by us all, and then it was sent off to a label. Aquarius picked it up, and before we knew it Paul Van Dyk was remixing it, and then everything just exploded.
Dimitri: From the various remixes released for 1998, is it possible to choose your absolute favourite, and tell us why you like it so much.
Stuart: I think the Paul Van Dyk remix has to go down as my favourite, simple because it built on the potential of that riff and brought us to the world stage.
Dimitri: In 2000 you split your project but you decided to reunite and even released the Lost Tracks albums in 2005. How did you feel when you found those Lost Tracks on your hard disc, and was a surprise for you that this album was a big success?
Binary Finary: We have written a lot of content over the years, some potentially for release, and others just for the fun of writing. Finding those tracks was a surprise, and we were grateful for a broken motherboard leading us to the find! Always surprised whenever anything is successful. Music is a personal thing, and we write what we like to listen to, so when others feel the same it’s a massive buzz.
Dimitri: You are currently residing in Australia which is famous for its great club events and big festivals. Is it possible to tell us how the scene is in Australia at the moment, and if you have a favourite club or event that you enjoy playing at or attending?
Binary Finary: Yes Australia loves it’s festivals. The scene here is probably similar to other areas. House music seems to be the big thing, trance not so much. However there are still some massive events going on with the big international artists touring, so we generally get all the names out here.
I think Future Music Festival would have to go down as our favourite. Although in saying that, we had nights here playing in front of only 40 people, and it was a great night. Whenever you get people into your music, no matter how many, it’s the best feeling.
Dimitri: You started the record label with Ernesto ‘Future Focus Recordings’, and already the first two releases include remixes from your side that follow the groovy progressive trance style. Are you going to abandon the fast paced uplifting trance tracks in favour of a more clubby progressive trance sound? It would be cool to define the current Binary Finary sound if it’s possible.
Binary Finary: No we won’t go completely away from that type of sound. That sound is part of our DNA. It is good to branch out into slightly different styles, it just so happened that those tracks got released. We’d written a few around that time, of various styles etc.
We are actually at the moment working on a 140 BPM driving Trance track. If we could make it faster we would but we always keep in mind and people tend to overlook this that as a producer you need to be aware of your market. Yes Trance has slowed down but it has also opened the doors to allow us to take this sound to the masses. There will always be haters out there who want the old trance tempo and sound back, but with every genre of music an artist’s sound changes over time.
Dimitri: When and why you did you decide to start the label with DJ Ernesto? Do you think there is space in the market for a record label like Future Focus Recordings?
Binary Finary: We have been doing a lot of collaborations with other artists and the one thing we kept hearing was that they were struggling to get their content signed. When you work with an artist and see the talent they have, and they can’t get tracks signed, it’s terrible. We decided that we could offer their works a good home, so that’s why Future Focus Recordings is alive. We want to work with our artists and help build them up, giving them a home and an avenue to release their sounds is important to us.
Ernesto is a great enthusiastic guy, when we ran the idea past him he was so super keen, we just knew it would work with him as a partner.
Dimitri: Is there a special motto or statement that you have at the back of your mind about the music policy of the record label?
Binary Finary: The main thing we ask people is when they have their track to the point of where they are happy with it, then send it to us. We love to hear quality tracks that are not just a copy and paste of the Beatport Trance Top 100 sounds. Generally when we listen to a demo we can hear if its the right fit for the label straight away, if its not and we feel it could work in another format we will definitely let the artist know this, and work with them to make it fit. We have signed releases where they have taken our criticism on board and reworked it into the perfect sound we like.
Dimitri: Do you listen to all the demos you receive and do you have time to reply to the artists with your opinion?
Sasha: Yes I personally listen to all of the Demo's that come in. Its a long process as we need to download the track from various sources they supply and then go through them all matching it to their submission forms. We do respond to everyone if the track is not suited, though we don't have the time to give feedback on every track as this would take a long time, and then follow up with the artist when they reply.
Dimitri: Are there any artists on other record labels that you would love to sign for releases on Future Focus?
Binary Finary: We have found since launching the label that a fair few big name artists are coming to us now with their releases. The good thing with us is we are open minded to the sound of the label. We also give some of our smaller up and coming artists the chance to remix some big name tracks, which gives them some good exposure. There are a few artists we would like to have on our label, but we will see over time when we grow. Coming up we have releases from Aerofoil, Tom Colontonio and Orla Feeney, to name just a few.
Dimitri: Do you have any brand new tracks ready to release as Binary Finary, and can we expect to get a new album too soon?
Binary Finary: An album has been on the cards for a while. Just we need to time to pull it together. There are actually 3-4 album ideas on the table. Need to get them off the table and onto a computer and finished! In terms of singles we have a whole heap of new releases coming out, not only on our label but others as well. More recently, we did a collaboration with Genix for Digital Society, and also one with Jordan Suckley for Goodgreef. We love working with other artists as it helps our sound grow, as sometimes you get stuck for new ideas plus also you learn off each other (and make good friends).
Dimitri: Can you explain the way that you produce a track. Do you start from the beginning of the track, or do you work first with the breakdown and then with the rest of the parts?
Binary Finary: There is no particular way we write a track. Usually we just mess about until something gets the inspiration going. It could be a bass groove, or even just a sound. We don’t specifically start with anything first, although we do sometimes work up the main section of a track and then work backwards.
Dimitri: From the countries and clubs that you performed in so far, can you choose your all time favourite club or big stadium event, and your favourite country with the finest club crowd?
Stuart: Honestly, there isn’t one gig I haven’t enjoyed. We feel incredibly lucky to be in the position to play gigs, even at this time in our lives. All that have gone before have been equally memorable for many reasons.
We’ve had massive technical failures at a gig in Poland in front of 15,000 people, and we pulled it back from the brink, that stands out. We’ve done gigs to only 10 people in a bedroom and had the most amazing time.
Sensation White in Australia was memorable because it was a comeback gig for me personally, and was when Sasha joined the group. I wanted to see if I still enjoyed doing it, and I loved every second, performing with Sasha Vatoff who had ignited the passion to perform as Binary Finary again. That stands out.
One thing that I personally love is the dull thump of a club from outside the venue, knowing I’m going to perform and there is an ache of nervousness, as well as excitement. Did I crap on there??? ?
Dimitri: When someone books Binary Finary, do you perform as a duo with back 2 back DJ set, or do you like to perform more LIVE with PC’s samplers and other equipment?
Stuart: Both are good! We love to do live sets, as they represent a different challenge to DJ-ing. Most recently Sasha and I really have been enjoying the DJ sets. We get a lot of enjoyment from them.
For the live show we use a mixture of touch screen controllers and more traditional controllers like the APC 40. Whatever helps to make the set function and allows us to creatively control the process.
Dimitri: Do you actively and passionately use the internet and the social networks to promote your music? Everyone nowadays talks about Facebook or Twitter and its influence particularly in the explosion of EDM music scene. Do you think the internet is the main factor for the growing popularity of EDM across the globe?
Stuart: Matt and I used the internet early in our careers to swap music projects. It is one of the reasons Binary Finary is what it is. Otherwise we probably wouldn’t have written anywhere near the amount of music we have together. Now days we still use the internet to swap project files, difference now is they download a lot quicker! ;)
And yes, I think the fact an unsigned artist can get his/her music out there easily and market it is of great value to the EDM community. It is only going to get bigger!
Dimitri: What is your opinion about the explosion of radio shows hosted by well known DJ’s? Do you have your own radio show and have you noticed that the radio show helped you to increase your fan base?
Binary Finary: It’s great there are so many options for DJ’s to get music out there, great for the listener, great for the producer. We do a few radio shows, one for Afterhours.fm and one for Digitally Imported FM. We also do one for Bam Radio here in Australia and syndicate that to a New Zealand radio as well as a show in the states.
It definitely helps to keep the name out there, and it is also a good vehicle to get some content out there, for us personally, as well as the artist we know and respect. It’s all about good music!
Dimitri: One of my favourite questions to all the DJ’s is that one about self-reflection and self-criticism. Out of 10 with what score do you rate the various elements of your DJ performances and why?
Stuart: Haha, ok I’ll be honest…
a) Your mixing skills: - 5… I’m not a DJ, I’m a producer. I do love mixing though; just go easy on me ;). Sasha is a good DJ though so for him, I’d score him a 9 ?
b) Your ability to choose the right track for the right occasion: - 8… This I can do, although there is always room for improvement.
c) Your friendly attitude towards the fans that come to shake your hand when you perform and after? - 9.9... It’s always about the people who came to listen.
Dimitri: What other things do you enjoy doing except for of course producing music, or listening to other producer’s music?
Stuart: Spending time with my daughter, watching her develop and grow. This is incredibly rewarding. Spending time with good friends, eating nice food, the odd drink ;) Spending time outdoors, generally doing my best to enjoy life.
Sasha: Well at the moment Music and the label is taking up most of my time, in between that I do enjoy renovating and trying to get my Kitchen done at the moment. I live 5 min from Sydney's famous Bondi Beach, so in summer is Sun, Sand and Surf.
Dimitri: Many giving us your time. Please give us your message to the people who will read this interview.
Matt & Sasha: Thank you, and for the people reading this, thank you for taking the time to read. It’s been a real honour and pleasure to be involved in the dance music scene for as long as we have, and we look forward to many more good nights!! ?
Many thanks to Matt & Stuart for finding the time to reply to this interview, and let’s hope one day we will enjoy their live sets.
Many thanks to Ernesto from Future focus recordings for his great support in helping to organise this fantastic interview
Many thanks to Paul at 1mix for proofing the final version of this interview
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