Grabbing the attention of the Trance World and quickly climbing the ladder of success in the cut-throat world of music, James Dymond has captured the adoration of fans and co-artists alike with his spellbinding sounds. James Dymond has taken the term, “grand entrance”, to a whole new level..
Hailing from training in classical music, James Dymond entered the Trance scene in September 2011 in a blaze of light of musical glory. His captivating sound brought him quickly to the attention of many established artists but most notably Armin van Buuren who featured James’ track ‘Gundam’ on his ‘Universal Religion Chapter 6′ CD compilation, which was later released under Armin’s legendary label, Armind Recordings. Armin has also rewarded James’ musical prowess by labeling multiple tracks of his as, ‘Tune of the Week’ on his weekly “A State of Trance” radio show where he has stated – “If you were to look up ‘uplifting’ in a dictionary, I’m sure you’ll find James Dymond in there somewhere!”
Throughout James’ music career he has had a string of hit releases, both in originals, collaborations and remixes. With his #3 Beatport collaboration hit with Ben Nicky, titled ‘Refresh’, the hugely supported original ‘Siren’s Song’ released on Armada’s exclusive ‘Who’s Afraid Of 138 Recordings’ and tracks such as ‘Slingshot’, ‘Millenium’, ‘Solidus’, ‘Carbon’, ‘Just Let Me Be’ and ‘Samples of Silk’ on labels including, “Perfecto”, “Mental Asylum”, “Monster Tunes” and more have all shown Dymond’s wide range of skills in his production portfolio. As equally on form with his remixes James has put his slant on classic Trance tracks such as, “Armin van Buuren – Communication”, “Binary Finary – 1998” and “Ralphie B – Massive” (which immediately gained a spot in Black Hole Recordings’ “In Trance We Trust Records” and then topped the Trackitdown Trance download charts) as well as a string of remixes for industry heavy weights Indecent Noise, Jordan Suckley and Mark Sherry.
James has regularly found support from almost every notable DJ in the scene, whether this is live at worldwide performances or on countless digital radio stations, as well as 2 plays on BBC Radio 1 ‘In New DJs We Trust’ show. Hailed by Armada as someone who, “…could very well be the answer to a promising future of trance,” James Dymond continues to prove his admirers true. His stunning rise has left a wake of successful gigs. He opened at the “Who’s Afraid Of 138” stage at ASOT 600, the first time the arena was created in front of crowd that topped 5,000 people. He has headlined at the world famous Ministry of Sound in London, been booked for gigs in almost every continent of the world including sold out shows in London, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Madrid, Prague, Warsaw, Belarus, Bangkok, Borneo, Dubai, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Auckland and Argentina to name just a few. Add to that festivals such as ‘Nature One’ (Frankfurt), ‘420 Festival’ (LA), ‘Volksfest’ (Plymouth), Grotesque (Amsterdam), Luminosity twice (Amsterdam) and ‘Amsterdam Music Festival’ (Amsterdam), James is no stranger to performing in front of some of the biggest crowds in the scene.
James continues to impress with his emotionally-charged performances that fill the dance floor with energy. A Dymond set is not just another trance set but a deep and passionate journey into emotion and sentiment while riding the waves of electronic music.
Name: James Dymond
Location: London
Dimitri: Can you mention your biggest achievements in your music career in 2014 and your personal life if it is something that you wish to share with our readers?
James Dymond: I think my biggest achievement is that in May this year I quit my job and went full time in music production and Djing. After working very hard for a good 3-4 years it was a great feeling to be able to do something I love each day! At the same time I also had my new studio built. It was a custom job by a professional studio builder, created to the exact measurements of the room, with special fibre glass acoustic panels, which are 10x better than your standard foam ones. It's my little baby for sure!
Dimitri: 2014 was packed with releases from so many different styles, which Electronic Music style you believe is the absolute Electronic Music Style Of 2014 in the mainstream indifferent if you like it or not. Why you believe this style became so successful in 2014?
James Dymond: The new style of Progressive House music, or EDM as it's commonly known, has definitely been the music of 2014. Artists like Hardwell, Martin Garrix and Steve Aoki have had an incredible year and the EDM gigs around the world are huge. I think the USA has helped this style become so successful as they are beginning to really welcome Dance music, and with EDM being more commercial than other genres such as Trance, it reaches a wider audience.
1) Best Track:
James Dymond: Simon Patterson – Brush Strokes (Original Mix) – has everything in one track: driving bassline with a tech trance vibe, big uplifting breakdown and a mainstage style drop!
2) Best Artist (Dj & producer):
James Dymond: Mark Sherry. I've loved every single one of his productions this year and he has been great to work.
3) Best Remix:
James Dymond: Max Graham – The Evil ID (Mark Sherry Remix). My go to track in all my live sets, the production quality is second to none!
4) Best Remixer:
James Dymond: Jordan Suckley. He has the ability to turn any track no matter how different to his style, into his style.
5) Best New Talent (Dj or producer):
James Dymond: Sam Jones & Will Rees. Haven't heard a bad track from these two as either collaborators or as solo artists. Top blokes also who have the right attitude towards their music and the trance scene.
6) Best Electronic Music Album:
James Dymond: A State Of Trance 2014. A little biased here as one of my tracks was on this album, but a great album none the less.
7) Best Electronic Music Compilation:
James Dymond: Tales From The Mental Asylum Chapter 2. Uplifting, Techy & Psy; what more could you ask for?
8) Best artwork/cover of an Album or Compilation:
James Dymond: Tales From The Mental Asylum Chapter 2. Deon Butler is a hell of a designer!
9) Best Lyrics in an Electronic Music track:
James Dymond: 'I know I'm burning, this is my final day, I'm gonna go out smiling. A king for a day.' (Above & Beyond – Blue Sky Action)
10) Best Vocalist/Singer featured on Electronic Music track:
James Dymond: Meredith Call. Beautiful voice, really loved her track with Boom Jinx titled 'The Dark'.
11) Best Electronic Music Label:
James Dymond: Damaged Records. I have pretty much played all of the Damaged releases in either my live sets or radio show. Jordan has ensured high standards not just for melodies but production quality also, which for me is sometimes more important.
12) Best Electronic Music Video:
James Dymond: Does anyone do music videos these days?
13) Best online Funny video related to Dance Music:
James Dymond: 'When Will The Bass Drop' (Saturday Night Live parody) So funny!!!
14) Best Online Social media network:
James Dymond: Facebook, what else? :) Soundcloud is also up there.
15) Best Twitter or Facebook message you received from a fan or friend or you have read on someone else’s account:
James Dymond: A message I received on Twitter, was something along the lines of: 'Your set from Singapore makes me moist!' hahahaha WTF!?
16) Best personal selfie of the year, where, when and under which circumstances you took it?
James Dymond: Myself and Angry Man playing B2B at Godskitchen, UK, at 5am in front of a packed crowd.
17) Best music composition software:
James Dymond: FL Studio, have used this for years and absolutely love it! Best work flow out of all the DAWs.
18) Best Event or Open Air Festival:
James Dymond: The Gallery, Ministry Of Sound. Have been a regular attendee of The Gallery for years, so goes down as my favourite event.
19) Best personal Dj Gig:
James Dymond: 420 Festival, San Bernardino (USA). Had absolutely no idea what to expect for this gig. Thought it was in LA, was actually over an hour outside of LA. Thought it was a club, turned out to be a massive fair ground complex with aircraft style hangers for the rooms. Played to around 2000 people who went mental for my whole set. Walking around the fairground with people dressed up in all kinds of costumes, two guys in flashing Transformer masks were the best! Loved it, very memorable.
20) Best Dj set of the year from other fellow Dj:
James Dymond: Astrix, Ministry Of Sound. You'd think it would be a Trance set, but I've seen the majority of Trance artists already. Having never seen Astrix play before I was pretty excited. I do love Psy Trance, but having played at Psy events and listening to radio shows for me I can only listen to about 30 mins none stop. However, Astrix proved me wrong and I stayed for the entire 1.5 hour set, each track better than the last! What a set!!
21) Best country that you have visited to perform with the most up for it crowd:
James Dymond: Belarus. I played an extended 6 hour set earlier this year in Belarus, and the crowd literally did not stop dancing the entire time. The setting was very intimate and we were all in this together. At no time throughout the set did the dance floor thin out, their determination and stamina was on form!
22) Best Radio show:
James Dymond: ASOT. I don't really listen to many radio shows, but have been a regular listener of ASOT for years. The variety in the tracks played is what I like the most. Everything from 132 – 138 Trance.
23) Best Radio station:
James Dymond: AH.FM
24) Best Online Record shop that you purchase your music:
James Dymond: Beatport
25) Best Website that you visit frequently:
James Dymond: Soundcloud. Not one day goes by where I don't look on Soundcloud. It's quick and easy to find new tracks, follow your favourite artist, manage my own profile, and send private links of my 'work in progress' or finished productions to my friends.
26) Best Smart phone/Mobile phone device:
James Dymond: Samsung Galaxy series. No Apple products for me!
27) Best Dj equipment (software or hardware):
James Dymond: Rekordbox, it has transformed the way I prepare for my live sets. Absolutely love the way you can insert cue markers in the tracks to quickly skip forwards or backwards.
28) Best tip that you learnt this year for your Djing techniques or music composition:
James Dymond: Using vocals as a trigger for sidechain compression on the main lead.
29) Best piece of advice you got in relation to your career in 2014:
James Dymond: Pretty generic, but from a high profile artist manager: 'Keep doing what you've been doing and soon enough you'll be smashing it'.
30) Best hobby or activity that you spent a lot of time in 2014:
James Dymond: Playing my Xbox :)
31) Best holiday destination for 2014 that you manage to visit this year either to relax or to perform in a club or festival:
James Dymond: Sydney, Australia. I stayed for 2.5 weeks in March this year, primarily as a holiday but also did 2 shows while out there. I really like the vibe of Sydney, beautiful city and lots to do!
32) Best Movie of the year preferably related to Electronic Music that may inspire you to compose a track:
James Dymond: The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, incredible music!!
33) Best online/PC/video game of the year that you have played this year?
James Dymond: Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2. The ONLY game I've been playing this year :P
34) Best soundtrack for video game of the year:
James Dymond: Not a game from 2014, but Deus Ex: Human Revolution has some pretty awesome scores!
Dimitri: Finally, 2015 is ahead of us would you like to tell your plans with your future releases, tracks, albums, collaborations, Dj gigs.
James Dymond: Some big tours and gigs are coming next year, in places such as Australia, USA, Asia and Europe. I'll be taking part in a world wide Mental Asylum Records tour also so really can't wait for that!
Music wise, I've recently finished a remix for one of the top Trance artists in the scene and will be released on Armada early next year, as well as a remix for Perfecto Fluoro. Myself and Ram have finished a massive vocal collaboration which we are looking forward to getting released as a single and on his album. For original productions I've been working hard and have a brand new tech trance influenced uplifter to be signed, and lots of ideas for new originals!
Thanks so much to James Dymond for his excellent detailed answer to his interview.
Thanks so much to Chris Duncan, Artist Manager at Audio Religion Music LTD
Additional info: