To start off July's interviews we have Trevor Mclachlan. Trevor McLachlan is a name you may or may not know. That is , if you have been sleeping under a rock for the past year. In 2006 Trevor had not 1, but 5 tracks reach number one on Tidy Digital, with his tracks being signed to some of the biggest hard dance labels including Tidy, Impact, Addiction Digital & Tranzlation. When not producing Trevor is destoying dancefloors all over, infact so much that he was awarded runner up in the "Best Newcomer" and "Best Resident DJ" catogories at the 2006 Hard Dance Awards.

First off, thanks so much for taking the time out to do this interview and mix.

No problems at all, thanks for the invitation.

For those who do not know, where abouts are you from?

Even though a lot of people think I am from the UK, I am actually Australian. I moved to the uk nearly 7 years ago, so all my DJing and Production has been out of the UK, therefore, that’s where a lot of people think I am from. I will head back to the sunny shores of Australia soon enough ?

What got you into the hard dance scene?

Well in the year before I came to the UK, I started going to some trance nights in Sydney, which was my first forays into clubbing and I loved it. That was ’99 so the whole massive trance invasion was happening, which was amazing. Then I moved to the UK, and it took me a while to find my feet, but I started finding nights in the UK, which were more Hard House orientated, like Frantic etc. That’s how I got into Hard Dance, then the DJing and Producing was just a natural progression.

Why hard dance over more popular genres like house or progressive?

I prefer something a bit tougher, something that has the large build ups and breakdowns of hard dance, and I have always been into the tougher side of music when it comes to bands etc.

How long have you been djing?

I first bought my decks in May 2002, so about 5 years now, which is not a long time considering how long some other artists in the scene have been going.

What has been your most memorable djing experience?

Hard to say really there has been many. I have been fortunate enough to play at a lot of great venues, in front of large up for it crowds, so to single one out would be very tough. I’ve played in Germany, Amsterdam, Ibiza, London, all over the UK, and recently completed a tour of Australia and NZ, playing in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, which was amazing.

What has been your worst djing experience?

Nothing springs to mind straight away, things like taking the needle off the wrong record (in the vinyl days), bad or no monitors etc etc.

What programs and hardware (if any) do you use for production?

The studio where I do all my productions has Cuebase software as the sequencer, and many many plug ins, synths, etc etc, as well as a Virus T1.

Do you do all your own production, or do you use an engineer? If so who?

I use an engineer for my own productions, which is Alf Bamford, as all of you probably know as Technikal. Alf and I have worked for many years together in the studio and know each others styles very well, so we work extremely well together. I have recently collaborated with some great artists as well including Phil Reynolds, Technikal and Greg Brookman so keep an eye out for these new productions.

What advice would you give to someone who is new to production?

Time and patience, just like DJing, it takes a lot of both of these!!

What can we expect to hear in the coming year? Anything in the production pipeline?

As mentioned above I have just recently finished collaborations with 3 high profile artists, and the results have been fantastic… The track that Technikal and I did has just been released on a brand new label that Alf has set up called Technial Recordings, and you can download it here. http://www.trackitdown.net/genre/hard_dance/track/337588.html

Track that myself, Phil Reynolds and Technikal have just completed, is coming out on Phil’s artist album in about a months time, and also will be available on single on Phil’s label Digital Creation sometime in the next few months. And the track with Greg Brookman is not quite complete, but we will be getting that out to all the major labels once completed.

With 5 of your tracks reaching number 1 on TidyDigital, it can be safe to say that you are embracing the digital format. Do you still use any vinyl or is it all cds for you?

I very rarely use vinyl anymore, it’s mainly CD’s for me, but do play the odd vinyl from time to time, of old classics that aren’t actually available on CD formats.

In your opinion, do you see the hard dance scene slowly growing or slowy fading?

Hard to say really. I think at the moment it’s in a definite lull, but that’s not to say it’s going to stay that way. I can see it getting strong again, but everything goes up and down, so you have to take the good with the bad.

When can people see you play out next?

I am playing at the famous Camden Palace in London (now called Koko) on July 14th for the launch party of Phil Reynolds’ artist album called ‘The Evolution of Phil Reynolds’.. It’s being put on by the HeatUK brand, which is also responsible for the massive SW4 festivals here in London and Cardiff.

Thanks again Trevor, any last words?

Thanks for the interview, great to spend some time answering your questions.

Past Interviews