In times when Hard Dance is being constantly criticised for lack of originality and ideas, praise must be given to those dedicated enough to constantly strive to push things forward. Adrenaline Dept. are one such duo who are now establishing themselves as the most devastating export from Norway since The Vikings. With productions signed to some of the most respected labels around, and having both remixed and been remixed by some very respectable players indeed the future is certainly looking bright for these young Nordic DJ / Producers. Ahead of their next UK gig at The Addiction X Mas Ball on Saturday Dec 9th where they will personally be launching their brand new EP featuring two monster Hard Dance anthems, please welcome to the chair Thomas Madsen & Fredrik Pettersen, better known to the record buying public as Adrenaline Dept.

AT: So guys, tell us how you both met and how you got into production, especially the sounds that you’re churning out today. Is there a thriving Hard Dance Scene in Norway that spurred you onwards or have you always looked further a field for your influences?

Thomas: Well, we’ve both been into production for several years now as well as DJ’ing and we met for the first time in person in April 2005 when I was playing for Tidy Norway alongside Paul Maddox and Tara Reynolds in Oslo. Fredrik had “stalked” my dj career for a while *lol* and wondered if I was willing to listen to some of his tunes, and we just got to talking about doing some collaborations together as we were both producing and we were both into the same kind of cutting-edge Hard Trance. We both knew after the first session together that this was bound to go somewhere.

Fredrik: Our sound just got moulded by hours and hours of sitting together picking samples and tweaking our synths and generally the whole soundscape. The hard dance scene in Norway is almost non-existent with occasional exceptions such as the annual “SummerParade” and a couple of parties such as “Sundance” and “One Floor From Heaven” where the Tidyboys, Amber D and Colin Barratt recently played in September. Influentially, we look towards the UK market as there are virtually no other hard dance acts here, and our sound is also best suited for the UK scene.

AT: How often do you DJ on home soil or elsewhere?

Thomas: As Adrenaline Dept. we obviously have to look abroad to find promoters to take us on, as we earlier explained how dead the scene is over here. I’ve been DJ’ing professionally over here for about 12 years and used to DJ as resident in clubs over here playing everything from commercial House to Techno, Tribal and of course Hard Dance, but the scene is struggling. You basically have to sell out and play hit lists and R’n’B if you want a “safe” job as a DJ - and we’re not about to do that. Getting more gigs in and around London is our main priority DJ wise for the moment.

AT: It’s already been a great year for you both. With tracks signed to NuklearPuppy, Oblivion Recordings & Addiction Digital, and having remixed the likes of Jason Cortez and Chrysus, plus having your own works remixed by MDA & Spherical, Trevor McLachlan and Olly Perris, and now your own launch party @ Hidden. What do you see as your biggest achievement to date?

Fredrik: Biggest achievement and certainly the most memorable one DJ-wise, would have to be us playing alongside BK in London’s premier hard dance super club “The Fridge”. We have as long as we can remember looked up to Ben, both as an awesome producer and DJ as well as being the godfather of Hard House. Production-wise, we’re pretty proud of the tune “U Got 2 Be There” as well as our newest effort signed to Addiction Digital – a tune called “Give It Up” which is coming out in December and will be personally launched by us at the Addiction X Mas Ball @ Hidden in London in December.

Thomas: …and also finding out at 4AM in the club that you’ve thrown away your passport in the hotel right across London when our plane back to Norway was leaving from Stanstead in 3 hours….you dimwit….

AT: I remember when I 1st heard an Adrenaline Dept. track back at the beginning of the year and I instantly knew it was the right sound for our label. You’ve managed to craft a very unique vibe which is captured in all of your productions. How would you describe an Adrenaline Dept. track?

A.D.: We always go for that huge and uplifting driving factor in our tracks, making sure that the listener never gets bored, whilst also keeping up that high energy feel with plenty of dynamics to make the tune come alive. In our beats we often quantize the notation of the percussion or the hats to give the tune that extra little “swing” as some call it. You have to be careful what you do to it though, as it could cause your tune to sound like a train wreck! We also love using harmonies in our riffs that work well with the carefully planned key of the vocal to give that certain emotion we’re always aiming for.

AT: Always working as a pair how would you describe your relationship with each other in the studio? Do you both have different strengths and weaknesses? and how often do you agree or disagree on ideas?

A.D.: Actually, we don’t always work together. We often work separately a lot, and then bring our own ideas to the sessions we do together. Sometimes one of us comes up with a synth riff or an idea for a vocal, sometimes one of us comes with a complete rhythm section and other times we sit together picking every sample from scratch. Our relationship in the studio is based on the idea we went with from the first session; to just have fun with the music. If it isn’t fun to work with, then there’s something wrong and we just start something else or take a different approach to it. If we’re going to try to point out a strength in each of us we’d have to say Fredrik usually comes up with some fantastic harmonies in the riffs, while Thomas has been a club DJ for over 10 years, knows what drives the floor and has a huge understanding of percussion, rhythm and dynamics. We seldom disagree on ideas, but the few times we do - we just don’t use the part in question and make something new we both agree on.

AT: What are your preferred Sequencer & VSTi’s of choice, and what would you recommend to the ‘newbie’ producer who can’t tell one from the other?

Fredrik: We have chosen Reason3.0 as our main choice of weapon, and since there is no VST support in Reason you’ll never find a preset or a VST in an Adrenaline Dept. tune. We make all our own synths from scratch in each tune thus hoping they all have a different vibe and somewhat stands out from lots of the generic-sounding Hard Trance out there at the moment. For people just getting into production I’d say go for either Fruity Loops or Reason to start with and continue on to Cubase or Logic as you’d probably just get confused and give up trying to understand them at first. The other two you can easily comprehend the basics on within a short matter of time, then it’s just about gaining some engineering skills and making it all sound good. Most sequencers on the market today will be able to do what you want them to do. It’s just your own imagination that sets the barriers.

AT: With a sizeable back catalogue behind you consisting almost entirely of original tracks, how important is it to you both to keep your productions fresh and innovative, and what are your personal thoughts on remixing classic tracks for re-release?

Thomas: It is very important. We don’t want to be just another Hard Trance act, but strive to be one of those that breaks the boundaries and pushes the genre forward. Remixing is another one of the things we love doing. We’ve remixed K90 - Red Snapper, Chrysus - 31 seconds for Addiction Digital, and arguably the biggest Hard Trance tune of yesteryear Jason Cortez - God, and we’ve just finished off a remix for Wid & Ben and Andy Whitby which we will be premiering at the Addiction X Mas Ball. Future plans for other remixes are also on the schedule. On the subject of remixing classics, we’re a bit ambivalent - we love touching up older tunes and bringing them bang up to 2006, but then again there are certain tunes that should just be left alone like Tony De Vit tunes and for example Energy 52 - Café Del Mar.

AT: What gems have we got to look forward to from you both in the near future?

A.D.: First up we have our new EP2 on Addiction Digital with the 2 tunes “Give it up” and “Movin’ On” hitting the stores on December 1st. Then we’ve got a tune called “Saturday” coming out Dec/Jan on Phil York and Jason Cortez’s label Nuklearpuppy with a Jason Cortez remix on the flip. “U Got 2 Be There” complete with an MDA & Spherical remix forthcoming on Oblivion Recordings early in the new year as well as the Wid & Ben meets Andy Whitby remix coming out on their label Experience and a remix of Iridium & Colin Barratt’s new track for High Drive Recordings. We’re currently also working on 2 collaborations with Digital Kid and are constantly in our studio working on new material, so there’s going to be quite a few exclusives at the release party in December. In other words; plenty to keep an eye out for!

AT: You’ve only played in the UK once before in the main room of the Fridge for Twisted Riot! Having witnessed the set myself I can guarantee to everyone that they’re in for a real treat, but who are you looking forward to see play the most in what’s an incredibly diverse line up boasting many different styles and genres across three rooms?

Thomas: There’s so much for the clubbers to look forward to at this event that it’s really hard to pinpoint one certain set, but if I have to make a choice - it’s got to be Sentience seeing as I’ve been huge fans of Nicks Productions since…I can’t remember when. He’s been an innovator and an inspiration for years, and his EPs on Riot this year including ‘Corona’ and ‘Bring It On’ have been huge and in our box for months. To say the least, we’re honoured to go on after Nick at this event. Also chuffed about seeing Jason again as we’ve played alongside each other and even back-2-back over here on two occasions. He really is one of the nicest and most down to earth blokes I’ve met in this industry. A real nutter he is as well!

AT: What aspirations do you have for the future? Have you any desires to enhance your image, sound, performances or productions?

Fredrik: Image..hmm…haven’t really got one have we, Thomas?

Thomas: Sure we do, we’re those….vikings!

Fredrik: Right…moving on….The Live PA thing is really catching on and getting bigger, and we’ve been meaning to get into that for quite some time now, so my guess is that’s what we’ll be doing to take things to the next level as well as continue to push our unique sound to the masses out there with more releases and (hopefully) more UK DJ gigs. Sound and production wise we always try to exceed ourselves, and we’re hardly ever fully content with the results.

AT: If you had to choose would it be DJ’ing or Production and why?

A.D.: That’s a tough one…they pretty much go hand in hand these days as you’ll never get any big gigs if you’re not producing tunes that people might know you from. which to be honest is quite fair. Who wants to see a band play other bands tunes all the time? As long as you are just a dj, you’ll always be that cover band that doesn’t have any original tunes. Then again, DJ’ing and playing in front of a crowd is where this music is in its element, and it’s also the other thing we love doing the most, so we’re going to have to go with a split decision there.

AT: Vinyl or Digital and why?

Thomas: Obviously, vinyl has its own sound and charm, but I think we can agree that its glory days are over. Digital allows you to get tracks straight from the studio of your favourite producers, if you are lucky enough to know them and also allows you to cane your own bits without having to think about getting it signed to a label and wait a year for it to get released. It’s also nice to be able to pack your stuff in the hand luggage rather than dragging heavy vinyl cases around everywhere. Digital is the future!

AT: What’s your current top 5?

A.D.:

1. Adrenaline Dept. – Give it Up [Addiction Digital CD-R]
2. Iridium – Overwhelming Power [High Drive Recordings CD-R]
3. Nick Rowland – Communicate [Nuklearpuppy]
4. Jason Cortez – God (Adrenaline Dept. Remix) [Personal CD-R]
5. Captain Tinrib – Ride Me Baby (Paul Maddox Remix) [Recharge]

AT: And finally for all the ladies out there fainting at their desks over your PR Shots. Are you both single?

Thomas: Haha, you REALLY need to get your glasses sorted mate! Just kiddin’ - we’re both gay…. Nah kiddin’ again! Actually, I am about as far from single as they come. I’ve just bought a house together with my pregnant girlfriend, and am happy to say I’m taken ;)

Fredrik: I am, I am!