A celebration of Peace, Earth, Air, Resonance and Love, Pearl is the new kid on the festival circuit this summer. Having scored the gorgeous former Glade location at Norfolk’s Houghton Hall, the organisers have been working their everythings off to bring the best décor, production, facilities and festival frolics to the forest.
Of course, central to Pearl is the music, and the top names in international psy trance, techno, prog, breaks, dub, minimal and all styes of dance music in between are converging to bring you a festival of epic proportions. With the countdown well and truly underway, we caught up with a couple of the headliners, local lad Al Shanka – who’s half of Psymmetrix and half of Dirty Saffi – and Saffa-born Spanish ressie Rinkadink, to hear what they’ve got in store for you over the coming long weekend...
Al Shanka
Richie (left) and Al (right) aka Psymmetrix
Half of Dirty Saffi with wife DJ Nuky, half of Psymmetrix with Richie ‘Asimilon’ Elmes, Al Crowther has emerged from the UK underground psy trance scene to headline next weekend’s Pearl Festival at Houghton Hall with both live acts.
Founders of pioneering next-generation psy trance label Bom Shanka Music, Al and Richie have been DJing, promoting and throwing parties for over a decade. With 35 tracks over 8 labels behind them including the albums Twin Headed Monster (2007), Psymmetrix and Other Animals (2009) and No More Milking It (2011), the guys have put together a plethora of collaborations, compilations and live acts. The A.R.T. Conspiracy (with Tron from Spun Records) and Big Scary Monsters (with Illegal Machines) are two of the most mind-blowing.
Richie got his first computer at 12 and was sampling tracks within a year, then once he got an Amiga he was well on the way to DJing psy-trance on vinyl and DAT at squat and outdoor parties around Kent. At the same time, former drummer Al was getting into electronic music in Australia, which lead him to Goa and psy trance. Richie started scoring studio equipment, Al bought his first laptop and all it took was an infamous squat in the Kentish countryside to bring them together in 2004 and the rest, as they say, is history…
Al and Nuky, aka Dirty Saffi
Psy-Sister DJ Nuky has been DJing for eight years and is one of the core Bom Shanka DJs, having compiled Bloodlines (2011), the ninth release on Bom Shanka Music, and played festivals as huge as Boom and Ozora. Describing Dirty Saffi as their “hard twisted acid soaked offspring”, Nuky and Al have been in the studio together for the last four years and recently released their first full-length album Beauty and the Bitch. It’s been getting rave reviews and cemented their place on the international festival circuit.
With the countdown to Pearl well underway, we managed to catch the jetsetter that is Al Psymmetrix at the airport where he answered some questions for Pearl fans…
What inspires you the most about the psychedelic trance family around the world?
I like the individualism that comes from the trance family; many of the people in our scene have to some extent chosen a different way of life that is slightly less conformist than your average Joe on the street. It might be as small as staying up most of the night and listening to music or it might be as large as rejecting ‘normal’ society completely and having a truly unique way of life. My friend sums it up very well with the term ‘free range’ to describe someone that thinks and acts for themselves, someone that isn’t in the cage of modern society but is free to express their own way of being in whatever way they want to.
Personally I’ve found that the psy trance scene attracts for the most part nice people that want to live in a friendly world of helping each other and looking after one another. This though can encourage users or energy suckers, but I believe that anyone that enjoys psychedelic experiences wants to be a good person no matter how far down that road they are.
BomShanka Music Label Party in Moscow (17.03.2012)
How do you identify with the Pearl Festival concept, values and philosophy?
So, first things first: Pearl Fest is a psy trance festival, so me being a psy trance producer, well we instantly like each other. I’m not too sure about the values of a festival, maybe I can answer this question more easily after the gig, but I’d hope that they coincide with my ideals of collectivism, empathy and most important of them all: be nice-ness.
This for me is the most important thing, be nice to people and have fun, I mean, what more do you really need to do apart form that? Follow your heart, work hard, be honest for sure, but if you’re being nice to yourself and your immediate surroundings then that is already covered. My full concept is: “Be nice, have fun and don’t get pregnant”, but I think that the pregnant part is lost on so many of my friends, so forget I said it and just keep on smiling!
Due to the massive growth of the global psy trance family and the increased demand to play at fabulous festivals around the world, how does it feel to be performing for the UK audience?
Massive growth?! Playing in the UK is a bit like playing in your local village hall, you know most of the people there, it feels like family, but at the same time you can’t help feeling that there’s a whole world out there.
England is great, I love the place and psy culture is so deeply rooted in our green fields, but sometimes I think that it’s a bit separated from the rest of the world, a bit disconnected, we really are an island more than just geographically speaking. We are so lucky with all the wonderful musicians that have come from our country, but if we don’t try to make more high quality events then our rich bloodline of talent could easily finish.
In London there are far too many low quality parties with cheap line-ups made by promoters that use the ideals and concepts of the psy culture to make money for themselves. They sell you an environment of love and unity but give you shit locations, nasty security and wannabe DJs that are in it for the ‘glory’ of being the person behind the decks. We need more promoters that work for the honest love of making a rocking dancefloor, not ones that just care about how many people say they are going to go on the Facebook event page!
What message do you want to send to your friends and fans about what the music (psy trance) and influences by other artists and relationships with fellow producers and the energy of the people has had on your life?
I’ve always felt that there was a gap in the generation of psy producers. We’ve the glorious old school big names like Tristan/Laughing Buddha and Dick Trevor, but for a few years no-one new came out (at least not from the UK anyway) – then our generation started! EVP led the way, showing us all that it is possible to make the music quality enough to stand up with the big boys. Then Yab Yam, Shotu, Psymmetrix, Illegal Machines, Dust etc. all started to blast, and the best thing is, we are all friends. It’s so nice to be involved with peers that respect you and look after you.
In general we all share production techniques, take the piss out of each other and always hang out together at festivals... so my message to our friends and fans? We are nice freaks that work and play hard, and if you make parties, book us, we will make you dancefloor rock! And if you go to parties and you like the music, try something really crazy like buying the music – we will love you forever for it! In fact free hugs to anyone that buys underground psy trance!!!
What is your message to Pearl Festival fans?
Bring some Wellies and don’t get pissed off if the organisers have any unexpected problems, making a fully licensed festival in the UK is far far harder than anyone realises.
Many thanks Al! Looking forward to seeing you rock the main dance floor at Pearl – twice!
2013 has been a time of change and growth for Werner van Jaarsveld aka Rinkadink. He’s now releasing his own music, managing his own bookings, making a different style of dance music and perhaps most importantly, getting “more productive and proactive”.
The South African-born Spanish resident has been DJing since his mid-teens and playing in clubs and releasing music for over a decade, including the albums Rabbit from Darkside (2004), Pirate Signal (2005) and Human Technicians (2011, all on Alchemy Records). Having already played in 34 countries, he’s now working with new agencies in Brasil (DM7 Bookings) and Mexico (PPL Bookings), with a tour on the horizon in October. With Pearl being his sole UK festival appearance this summer, he was happy to answer some questions for his fans on HarderFaster…
Rinkadink Live @ Boom Festival 2012
What inspires you the most about the psychedelic trance family around the world?
There’s really something magical about this scene. For me personally I am always humbled when I think about Boom Festival – in what other music scene could you make a festival with more than 30,000 people with practically no violence, environmental impact or antisocial behaviour? Which other scene has so many thoughtful, kind and aware people that can come together in the spirit of celebration and peace?
How do you identify with the Pearl Festival concept, values and philosophy?
To be honest I have no idea! This is the first edition of hopefully many Pearls and the organisation has worked tirelessly through a great many obstacles to bring this festival to fruition. I look forward to experiencing it firsthand!
Due to the massive growth of the global psy trance family and the increased demand to play at fabulous festivals around the world, how does it feel to be performing for the UK audience?
I always feel some kind of connection between a British dance floor and the very first raves that happened in the UK long ago. There’s a real unpretentious ‘let’s have it’ attitude that I really miss when I play in some other countries.
What message do you want to send to your friends and fans about what the music (psy trance) and influences by other artists and relationships with fellow producers and the energy of the people has had on your life?
Along with thousands of other people I really enjoyed Loud’s hilarious Youtube clip Why psytrance has become shit, but this video really got me thinking. Yes, it’s true that there are arrangements, rhythms, tricks and sounds in today’s trance music that have become clichéd and hackneyed, but we have to ask ourselves why they’ve become so prevalent. I think it’s because they work on a dancefloor, people like hearing them and they get a dancefloor moving.
A few years ago I was in a van being taken into a massive rave somewhere in Brasil. We drove over a rise and suddenly the whole party spread out in front of us, an ocean of young happy people enjoying themselves faded off into the distance. the DJ next to me grinned and said “Fresh meat for the grinder eh?” The phrase stuck with me, I liked the idea of an never-ending hoard of people passing through this relentless global dance music machine, enjoying themselves for a bit then being spat out the other end.
Rinkadink – Psychedelic Your Self – DJ set 2012
But now I realize that I understood it completely wrong – actually, it’s the dancers, the actual people there on the dancefloor who are the grinder, and its me and all the other DJs, the producers, who are “the meat”. The dancefloor dictates the direction the music will take, how it will develop and mutate over time. Art and music are not created in a vacuum, it is almost always reactionary, so the reason that music sounds like it does is because the dancefloor has willed it that way.
If you don’t like the way music seems to be developing then make some yourself – if you can get people to dance to it and like it then you have the power to guide things on in a way that you think fit. If not, you’re just the same as those old guys who sit alone saying, “Bah! Music was better in my day…”
A handful of tickets are still available at the time of going to press, but once they’re gone, they’re gone! Get yours now to secure your place.
All advance ticket holders get to download a free copy of Pearl Music’s album Body Modulation containing exclusive tracks from the headliners to get you in the mood.
Pearl Festival has been cancelled, due to cash flow problems.
Here's the message from promoter Chris Williams:
"Hello, this is probably the hardest thing i've ever had to write on here, as im very upset. After working tirelessly for over 9 months to make Pearl Festival happen and secure the fabulous Houghton Hall, it no longer is. We have sold 2000 tickets, and have a license for a 24 hour event. Houghton Hall have been great, as have all the artists (many of whom we have paid for flights for in advance at great cost) and people coming to the event, but the bottom line is, the ticket agencies hold the cash for the events until they happen, and the financier and promoter of this event (who also runs another festival which was last weekend and narrowly missed targets) has run out of cashflow. All options were looked at over the last 2 days to get the necessary money into the operation but alas we then got beaten by time as there is not now time to get the infrastructure on site for the Safety Advisory Group tomorrow. I have to say after 10 years of working on events, this is the most gutting and disappointing thing i have ever had to deal with."
Images courtesy of Al Shanka, Rinkadink and Pearl Festival. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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