invisioner | Trance producer

Above & Beyond’s ‘10 Years of Anjunabeats’ celebrates not just a decade of the label’s existence but a decade of defining Anjunabeats moments. Giving you a deeper insight into this journey, our ‘Behind The Music’ series presents week-by-week interviews with the artists that make up the album – talking through the inspirations and effort that poured into their tracks and remixes. In our final edition, Breakfast runs us through his remix of ‘Northern Lights’ by Smith & Pledger , Sunny Lax reveals the story behind his classic ‘P.U.M.A.’ and Bart Claessen talks about taking on Super8 & Tab’s 'Helsinki Scorchin'.



Smith & Pledger – Northern Lights (Breakfast remix)
“For this remix I really wanted to capture a cold atmosphere, while still keeping these warm sounds in there. This remix has a lot of different elements that are chilly and reminded me of those cold Nordic winters, but still keeping an inner warmth to the overall feel.
“At first I had a lot of different options to work with after laying a few tracks down, but ultimately I wanted to keep the new "Breakfast" sound in there so I went back and took some of the elements from 'Every Night'. The original 'Northern Lights' was in B Minor, but I thought it sounded a lot better a whole step down - everything in my mix was tuned to A. This also allowed me to use the Prophet 5, which unfortunately is a very unstable machine, but the second oscillator seems to work a lot better in A minor.”
“The best part of Northern Lights is the slightly detuned sine-bell sound at the break - extremely euphoric leading up to the climax. I really love that sound, probably my favorite from any of the Smith & Pledger productions. The rolling bassline was also a big factor. This being a classic and all... I had to keep that in there.
“With the "Breakfast" elements combined with the original's smooth chords the finished product turned out to be a really beautiful remix that compliments the original in a sort of gentle "hats off" gesture.” -Breakfast


Sunny Lax - P.U.M.A
“I usually don't show my tracks to anyone before they are finished, but I remember I got a telephone call from one of my friends when I just finished recording of main melody and played it to him down the phone – he said it was incredible so I knew I was on to something.
“After that I sent it to Anjunabeats, and the Above & Beyond guys were very keen about the track so they played it four times in a row in TATW! I always like to write tracks that will make people say ‘wow, that’s amazing’ even if they are listening 5 or even 10 years later. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don’t, but it is always the audience who decides what will be a classic.” -Sunny Lax


Super8 & Tab – Helsinki Scorchin (Bart Claessen Remix)
“I have always liked the original, especially the way it works so well while it contains just a few sounds. Sometimes, definitely in this case, simple but good equals strong. That said, this makes it harder to remix. Especially when one of the main hooks of the track is not a big lead or something, but a nicely cut up vocal that floats instead of punches.
“I thought that a track like this needed a darker remix for an interesting contrast. I used that vocal and a slightly altered version of the original melody. And I blew up a small sample from the original track to arena proportions, which has maybe become the main hook of the remix. I'm very pleased with the results myself. I've played it live and the crowd response tells me this is one of those tracks that I'll be playing for a long time to come!"-Bart Claessen

Featuring tracks and remixes from Above & Beyond, Andy Moor, Super8 & Tab, Bart Claessen, Nitrous Oxide, Maor Levi and more, Above & Beyond's '10 Years Of Anjunabeats' is out now. Buy from iTunes here, order your double disc CD here or click here for full buy links. Read full story

Above & Beyond’s ‘10 Years of Anjunabeats’ celebrates not just a decade of the label’s existence but a decade of defining Anjunabeats moments. Giving you a deeper insight into this journey, our ‘Behind The Music’ series presents week-by-week interviews with the artists that make up the album – talking through the inspirations and effort that poured into their tracks and remixes. This week Andy Moor talks to us about the production intricacies behind his ‘These Shoulders’ remix, Daniel Kandi reveals the inspirations behind the classic ‘Breathe’ and Sunny Lax discusses his remix of Nitrous Oxide’s ‘North Pole’.