Chicane - "The trance thing is hideous"

"I got bored of dance music this year and haven't really been listening to
very much. My roots are real bands like Simple Minds, U2 and the Police -
that's been influencing my attitude to playing live." Nick 'Chicane'
Bracegirdle spoke to mezzmusic this week as he packed his bags before
setting off for Australia, where he'll be performing alongside Paul
Oakenfold on his stadium tour.

mezzmusic: You're made a few tracks yourself that are usually called trance...
Chicane:"I actually got a Dancestar award this year for being their 'Best
Trance Artist', which was really nice, being my first award, but I thought
back then that trance is not really me. If you want to call me something
it should be widescreen-cinematic-epic-house. I'm afraid I associate
trance with that Dutch sound. I like Ferry Corsten, who's the sound's
originator with records like Out Of The Blue, but lots of the others all
still sound the same. I'm turning much deeper towards tracks like Sasha's
Xpander."

mezz: What kind of live show are you taking to Australia-
Chicane:"I'm taking a full band with guitarists, keyboard players and all
the visual stuff as well, plus we're taking all our sound engineers and
vision mixers, so all in all it's quite a big party. We're playing a set
mixing some of the old and new music."

mezz: How much does living the rock star/VIP life appeal-
Chicane:"Not really at all, 'I'm making hay while the sun shines' right
now, (ie working hard while it's good) I've been pretty knackered
(exhausted) this year and I'm really looking forward to taking time out and
having some fun. This year I've also been pushing my song-writing and
right now I'm working on some songs for some huge international stars that
I'm not allowed to talk to you about. Opportunities have arisen through my
success this year and I want to try and take advantage of them."

mezz: Do you still feel much affinity towards dance music-
Chicane:"My enthusiasm has waned seriously this year, I've really gone
right off dance music this year, I think the creativity in dance music is
severely lacking, there have only been 2 or 3 tunes that have been really
good this year. Modjo's Lady was a great one, even though it's still in
that Stardust vein. The trance thing is hideous, I'm so, so sick of it.
No-one's making an effort, it's been stuck in such a rut and is suffering
from what I call Robert Miles Syndrome. His track 'Children' came out
(1995) then we had millions of not-as-good soundalikes. Trance is a bad
word, anyway, because to me the term means music from 5 years ago, with
that Goa vibe. 'Trance' sounds like europop these days. Your average
bedroom producer has found out how to make this music and it's become music
by numbers. It's dull, dull, dull."

mezz: And beyond trance..-
Chicane:"I got bored of dance music in general, this year and haven't
really been listening to much. One of my favourite records this year is
the new U2 record, it's so much more refreshing. My roots are real bands
like Simple Minds, U2 and the Police - that's been influencing my attitude
to playing live - I've stopped doing club gigs where I can't play downtempo
material because people are too off their heads."

mezz: What kind of places are you performing in with Paul Oakenfold in
Australia-
Chicane:"Big arenas with between 10 and 20 thousand people at every gig. I
hope the music scene's going to change a little. I think the trend is to
go deeper."
Jonty Adderley

Chicane Australian live dates:
28 Oct - Perth - Ministry of Sound Party @ Belmont Racecourse
3 Nov - Brisbane - The Arena
4 Nov - Sydney - The Atrium Building, Macquarie University with Paul Oakenfold
6 Nov - Melbourne - Victoria Docks with Paul Oakenfold