MDA & Spherical – Matt and Mark to their mates – are still only clubbing whipper-snappers but have recently taken the hard trance scene by storm. Over the past 12 months, they began a residency at hard dance super-night Logic, and made high-profile appearances at Innovate, HeatUK vs Frantic: Supernova, Getaway (Brighton), and Hard House Academy. Their explosion in popularity over has coincided with their widely acclaimed live PA, ‘Welcome2TheFuture’, which they have taken to some of the 2007 summer festivals, both at home (for example the Slammin Vinyl Sanctuary Festival) and in Holland.

In terms of production, MDA & Spherical have had releases on Tidy White, Tranzlation, Oblivion and Masif, as well as on the Bonkers compilation CDs. They are cited by Trevor McLachan as ‘probably the most consistent and sought after remixers on the hard trance circuit at the moment’. Current tracks include the driving electro-quirky ‘Tarantism’ remix (Oblivion, 2007), the uplifting old-school eclectic sampling ‘Supersonic’ (Global panic, 2008), classic-trance-meets-electro-beats ‘Futurism’ (Oblivion, 2007) and the dark emotional hard trance ‘Industrializm’ (remix of Pienaar & Technikal, on Technikal, 2007).

With INSEKT opening its wings to embrace other genres, MDA & Spherical are set to make their debut at the monster hard nrg event. So, in anticipation of their appearance at INSEKT’s eagerly awaited ‘One Love’ night at La Scala, Saturday 2nd February, Nutter caught up with the boys in their university lecture-theatre and set them an exam on their approach to hard dance production and playing out. Bonus marks were awarded for extra levels of foot-stomping euphoria beyond the reading list.

Hi Mark and Matt! You have been frequently cited as one of the hard trance hits of 2007. What do you put your current success down to?

Mark: Hi Nutter! Thanks for the kind words. I like to think it’s because we both listen to a wide variety of music and take huge influences from all styles. Hard Dance is about enjoying the music and sometimes it’s easy to get too involved and forget the basics – fun, happy and euphoric.

And what was your own highlight of the past 12 months?

Matt: Hmm, so many to choose from! I guess our Live PA at the last Timeless Romance was probably the biggest moment for me - mostly because so much work went into it and to see it come off so well was really special.

Mark: Yeah, that was one of the most enjoyable performances I’ve ever done! The last year was jam-packed with good times though, kick-starting with a ‘Ones To Watch 2007’ feature in January’s DJ Mag and ending with a packed-room, sell-out Tidy Weekender 12 appearance!

Matt: Oh yeah how could I forget Tidy. It was really rocking in that room, great atmosphere.

About you and INSEKT… INSEKT is more hard house than hard trance, but there are of course some important commonalities between the two. What are the points of continuity and difference between hard trance and hard house, in your view?

Matt: The line between the two has been blurred many times and there are many DJs that play both hard house and hard trance together in the same set. I think the basis of both are quite similar in terms of the kind of beat and percussion used, just hard trance has those more uplifting moments. I don’t think that there should be too much focus on genres and what makes one track a particular genre or another. As long as it makes people want to dance and have a good time its all good music!

Mark: Agreed. It’s too easy to get caught up in genre wars. At the end of the day, if the music is good and it makes people dance then play it. We’ll often drop psy-trance, techno and electro tracks into our sets to keep it interesting. I’ve tried convincing Matt to let me play some sped-up Country & Western but he keeps saying no.

I wonder why! ;o) So what’s the essence of good hard trance, for you?

Matt: I think a lot of it is about injecting energy into the tracks - this really helps to get the floor moving. Couple that with a good riff and you’re onto a winner.

Mark: To make the hard trance cake it’s got to have three main ingredients; a pinch of funky, solid grooves, a huge dollop of energy and a cup full of ‘hands-in-the-air’ uplifting riffs that are guaranteed to make the clubbers raise the roof!

Tasty!... You’ve also produced a number of hardcore tracks and are on the well know ‘Bonkers’ hardcore compilation CD. What’s the relation between your hard trance and the hardcore you play?

Matt: The hardcore thing really was a bit of a side project. We only ever actually did one proper track which was originally a hard trance tune with a big female vocal made with DJGRH (Illusion, Oblivion 2006). When we wrote it we thought that it would also be perfect for hardcore so we gave it a go. Fortunately the guys at Nu Energy picked up on it and put it out on their Liquid Hardcore label with a couple of remixes.

Mark: I do think that the hardcore and hard dance scenes are moving ever closer, with guys like Technikal/Technikore and Gammer/Matt Lee crossing over into both scenes. Perhaps there is room for some middle ground combining the best of both genres? We shall have to see what comes about in the future!

Interesting… Your live PA show over the summer was widely praised as a great success. In your live sets, you often throw in really well-known tunes and give them your own twist. Do you have any favourites?

Matt: We both think that a crowd needs to hear things they recognise as well as new, upfront material but we always try and put our own twist on it with our exclusive remixes. I think the one that always goes down a storm is the Prodigy mash-up where we have about six Prodigy tunes mashed-up running over a hard dance backing.

Mark: I think it’s important to take influences from all different genres, which is why we bootleg anything from old-skool rave/indie to ’99 trance classics. Of the dozens we have done exclusively done for our live sets I’d have to say that the most popular have been ‘Blur – Song 2’ and ‘Steve Blake – Expressions’.

Tell me why producers/DJs such as yourselves do live shows instead of just playing disks. What does it add?

Matt: I think it’s the being able to take what you have done in the studio directly out into the live setting that appeals. It adds an element of fun being able to tweak and change the music as you go.

Mark: Indeed, the possibilities are almost limitless - you have full control over what happens when! For example, if a particular tune is rocking it, you can make the main section go on for that bit longer. If you want a breakbeat in the breakdown, you can put one in. Of course, all this takes a while to prepare before a gig, but it’s worth every minute.

Moving on, I guess the inclusion of yourselves and Olly Perris in the INSEKT main room reflects the night’s overall brief of musical progression brought to you by the people that make the music. Do you think producing your own music helps you play out better?

Matt: Definitely, I always find that DJs who also produce have a much better approach to actually mixing their sets. A lot of what you learn in the studio about EQing tracks and song structures also applies to mixing. Of course being able to swap upfront material with other producers also always helps.

So what will you bring to the INSEKT party?

Mark: We’ll be bringing all our brand new material straight from the studio including some tasty collaborations and cheeky edits. If you’re lucky, I’ll be bringing some hot, single girls. So guys, spruce up!

Don’t know what my missus would say! ;o) … Tell us what other plans have you got for 2008?

Matt: Well if we told you we would have to kill you! Seriously though, lots! We’ve got quite a few side projects on the go as well as re-launching our PA with an enhanced music policy and more live, twisted craziness.

Sounds good! Going back to your influences and tastes, I understand you have a broad range of influences, across the various genres of dance music. But are there any names that stand out for you as particularly important in shaping your own style of music?

Matt: In terms of hard dance we love the work of people such as Nick Sentience, James Lawson and Matt Williams who have really shaped the sound we have now. I also think that everything you hear and see in your life influences you in some way or another.

Mark: I’ve always been a big fan of The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Eric Prydz and recently, D.Ramirez. These guys amongst others have really helped us shape our musical style. With the varied influences, it means we can really broaden the horizons of Hard Dance into the future.

And who on the current scene do you particularly rate now – in both hard house and hard trance?

Mark: When it comes to the harder end of the scene the one person that stands out is probably Paul Maddox – this man’s productions have always been sublime and always has the perfect groove in his tracks.

Matt: On a hard trance tip, no one seems to be able to get close to the quality and consistency of Technikal’s productions. He really is the king of euphoric riffs. In terms of new guys coming through we have recently be sent some great tracks from the likes of Aftershok, Iridium and Trevor McLachlan.

Tell us your current favourite top five tracks?

Mark: The five tracks that have been going down a storm when played out are:

Technikal vs MDA & Spherical – Supersonic [Global Panic]
jFrantik vs Matt Williams – Interstella [Addiction Digital]
Mindbender - Wicked Game (MDA & Spherical vs Technikal Mix) [Tranzlation]
Amber D – I’ve Got A Feeling [Tidy]
Billy 'Daniel' Bunter & CSLM - My Desire (MDA & Spherical Mix) [CLSM]

Thanks! And which of your own upcoming releases would you like to draw our attention to?

Matt: After having a short break for holidays in the last part of the year the releases are going to be coming out thick and fast. Next out is our MDA & Spherical EP2 on Oblivion Recordings (due Jan 08). This contains the tracks Futurism and Hypertension which have been getting some great feedback being made ‘Tune of the Month’ in Mixmag and ‘Recommended’ in i-DJ. After that, due out in the next few months are:

Technikal vs MDA & Spherical – Supersonic [Global Panic]
Billy 'Daniel' Bunter & CSLM - My Desire (MDA & Spherical Mix) [CLSM]
Brookman and Coe – Panzan (MDA & Spherical Remix) [Impact]
MDA & Spherical feat. Jennie Rix – This Feelin’ [Oblivion Recordings]
Mindbender - Wicked Game (MDA & Spherical vs Technikal Mix) [Tranzlation]

What’s on your car CD player or personal MP3 player right now?

Matt: At the moment Mr Perris’s INSEKT Mix (nice work Olly!), some great Tech Trance from Mark Sherry and a fantastic psy-trance album by Broken Toy.

Mark: Well, I’ve just come back from a three week holiday in South Africa so haven’t had much access to new music. However, I am ashamed to admit I did buy a CD called ‘Bump 21’ which is full of cheesy chart hits! On the iPod before I left though was the Digitalism Essential Mix – pure genius.

I understand you were full-time students taking courses in music production. Did your work as DJs and producers help with or detract from your studies?

Matt: I think it was more of a distraction to be honest. Monday mornings never really seemed to work after a big weekend of DJing! Then there was trying to pull ourselves away from finishing a new track in the studio, to finish a boring assignment. The track of course always seemed to take priority!!

Mark: I think it gave us some initial knowledge before we got there – especially when we had to produce tracks, but as the rest of the course was quite technical it wasn’t that useful. It worked the other way though; we learnt how to professionally record live instruments, vocals & master tracks which we would have been clueless about before.

Finally… Marks awarded for this interviewer (please tick one only):

1. Could do better.
2. Spends too much time day-dreaming and gazing out of the window.
3. Two sides of extra work for poor spelling and grammar
4. Get out, you half-wit! (1)

M&M: Ha, only joking Nutter! Thanks for the interview and see you all on the 2nd Feb!

Links:
INSEKT DSI group page: http://www.dontstayin.com/parties/insekt
MDA & Spherical Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/mdasphericalmusic

Thanks to Daf for the pictures.

This article digitally edited by Nutter of the INSEKT swarm
with help from K8-e.