Sinistry's Jester interviews Dean Zone

This article is about Together Twisted 'Official Klubbed Together Tour' @ Empire club in Bournemouth (UK), Sat 11 Jul

J – Hey Dean, how’s things?

D – Things are good Stu, thanks for asking.

J – Tell us a bit about yourself!

D – Well, I am 26 and I come from Walthamstow, London (no East 17 gags please, I have heard them all before!). Im a massive Tottenham Hotspur fan, in fact my passion for football is the only thing that rivals my passion for music. I've been mixing since 2004 and playing out since 2006. I work full time in Londons Baker Street which totally sucks but it pays the bills and then some so I cant really complain, especially given the recession and all.

J – You’ve been a big supporter of the European sound for many years now. What is it about this style of music that does it for you?

D – It's a combination of lots of things for me. I love the big, fuck off bass lines that you get and the fact that every element of the tunes seems to be much more bass defined. This just helps to add so much more energy and power to the mix for me, from the large, stomping bass drums you get in Hardstyle to the sick off beat basses pioneered by Scot Project and DJ Wag. European Hard Trance seems to really capture that uplifting element of the "trance" side of things better for me too. I find a lot of UK Hard Trance still has that "Hard Dance" feel to it, even though it's been moving closer to Psy Trance over the last few years. I also find that the European stuff is much harder to predict, which although it sounds like a bad thing it keeps you on your toes and makes the tracks stand out as less generic. I'll stop there though because I really could go on all night about this topic to be honest mate, haha!

J – You’re also involved with Magnetix.
How did that come about?

D – It started after Phil Lankester decided to finish the Swamp parties but wanted to start something new with me as he had been approached by the 414 to run events on months where there was a 5th Friday, which happens about 4 times a year.

I brought Ashley James on board and we quickly got a crew together from there and arrangbed our first party, which rocked big time. We have been busy growing and expanding ever since, so quickly infact that we're hiring a boat for our 2nd Birthday Party in September!!!

J – Who are your influences?

D – Ferry Corsten - His Trance Nation CD got me into Trance when I was about 15. From there I discovered the harder sounds via Frantic and Phil Reynolds. Im also influenced quite a bit by metal as before I was old enough to get into Trance clubs, all of my mates at the time were into the Metal scene so I just followed them about really. It was either that or stay at home watching Fraiser and South Park on a Friday night!

I still love bands like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park so im always up for dropping tunes with gnarly guitars in them, but the Trance part will always win for me.

J – Who are your favourite DJs/Producers?

D – DJ: Phil Lankester, no question. Ok so he's my co-promoter at Magnetix but this aint just typical bias, trusy me! He plays Psy Trance which isn't always my cup of tea, but he's the most technically gifted DJ that I know. I reckon he could give Andy Whitby a decent run for his money, such are his skills. I'd also put Alex Kidd, Mark EG and Nick the Kid in there too.
As for producers, Dark By Design, Log: One, Sully/SHOCK:FORCE, Mauguzun and The Sixth Sense are really delivering the goods for me right now.

J – What’s been your highlight as a DJ so far?

D – That's a very difficult question as I have had so many great times, but I think my set for Planet Angel back in Febuary this year has to be up there. It was one of those ones where every mix worked perfectly, the club was jam packed and the response I got from the clubbers was so good I thought I was dreaming. Others include when I went to Wales for Triptonic, the best and funniest road trip of my life, and the Magnetix 1st Birthday party last August with K90. Never have I seen the 414 so rammed!

J – What are your plans for the next 12 months?

D – Mostly to continue to get them tunes out, both solo and in collaboration with a number of other artists, and at some point get my label up and running, but I have been saying that for the last 2 years so who knows if it will be done by then! Also looking at getting as many gigs outside of London as possible just to keep everything fresh and exciting and hopefully start getting more recognition across the scene.

J – What have you got in store for the Sinners at “The Crypt”?

D – I've got lots of fresh promos through my inbox over the last couple of weeks which I have been gagging to play out, along with some exclusive new material from myself and Dutch producer The Sixth Sense that's never been heard in a club before. It'll definitley start at European Hard Trance and will probably end up with some Hardstyle wrongness somewhere along the line; it usually does when im behind then decks!

___________________________________________________________________________________