BiXX has made a name for himself through uplifting trance that puts melody, emotion and personal storytelling at the centre of his productions. With the launch of his own label, EuphoriXX, he’s taking greater control over how that music reaches audiences, while looking to create opportunities for a new generation of producers.
Following the release of his 17-track debut album, The Voice of Reason, and the launch of EuphoriXX with Movement, we caught up with BiXX to discuss the psychology of trance, the challenge of knowing when a track is finished, his unlikely musical influences and why he wants his new label to be about more than simply releasing records.
You’ve built a reputation for making emotionally charged trance music, but what does that actually mean to you as a producer? When you’re starting a track, are you trying to capture a particular feeling, tell a story or simply follow wherever the music takes you?
I start every track with an idea and a story. The track tells a story. Personally, I need emotional triggers to experience emotion. It is due to my childhood, being a child of very high expectations. I did not want to let down my parents. For most of my tracks there is a deeper inspirational message that is delivered by the lyrics. We tend to receive inspirational messages better when our hearts are opened up from emotional sounds. I want there to be that BiXX Beautiful Moment in a track where the emotion is so strong you surrender to the track. For me, it’s easier to build a track around a story and a message, plus get help from a vocalist. The track needs to immediately grab you and pull you in, so hopefully no boring intros. Finding some unique instrumental sounds to bring in the track is also important to tell the story.
Launching EuphoriXX gives you complete creative control, which sounds wonderful in theory. How prepared are you for the responsibility that comes with it, and what have your experiences with other labels taught you about the kind of label you want to run?
I agree that running a label is opposite to where I am in life right now. Lots of work. I look for maximum return from minimum input when it comes to investing time and money. When you get to a certain age in life, you realize you can always make more money, but you cant make more time. So fortunately, I have an excellent label manager (who also runs another recognizable label) who has done most of the back end work and who will manage the label. I hired him to run the label and do much of the heavy lifting. We talk nearly every day so I get to do what I do best, and he does what he does best. Label management.
Trance has always had an unusually devoted following, with fans maintaining connections to particular artists and records for decades. What do you think creates that loyalty, and how has your relationship with your own audience influenced the music you make?
This is an excellent observation and question. While trance is a very small genre, to the fans, the music is like a drug that must be consumed every day. There is 100% truth to the words, Trance Family. I have a theory about why this is so. I think it’s about how the music is processed in a certain type of brain. Over active and over thinking brains appreciate the speed and the multiple layers of music all working together. Many trance tracks have over 100 music files with so many different sounds, melodies, counter melodies all beautifully blended together. The music produces a calming effect to the brain, literally putting you in a state of trance. Friends of mine have listened to my music and say it’s too fast or too powerful. Their brains are wired differently than mine. I do think trance music is loved by a certain type of brain chemistry, which is like a happy drug to that person. Thus, causing extreme loyalty to the genre.
I make music that is a part of me. An idea, a piece of art that reflects my state of mind interpreted through uplifting trance. I hope that people like it, but that is not what drives me. On the other hand, I do think about the many messages I received in the past about how a track helped them get through a tough situation. How the emotion in the track helped them during a bad day to escape for a moment. These messages mean alot of me and do impact and reinforce that I want to continue to deliver inspirational messages.
Last comment on this. As a matter of creativity and to inject energy into my uplifting sets, I have done some fusion style tracks, what I call tech lifting. Fusing uplifting into tech trance. It’s not my passion, but I do love experimenting with edgy bass lines and delivering a track with different extremes. Not really what my fans want, but I think it’s important to keep trying to evolve your sound.
You’ve spoken about wanting to bring influences from outside trance into EuphoriXX. What music are you listening to away from the genre at the moment, and are there any artists or styles that have fundamentally changed the way you think about production?
Right now I am working on a track that was inspired by both Enigma and Enya. I will call it Enigmatic. I love bringing native instruments, instruments specific to a country, into my tracks. For example, my follow up track with Natalie Gioia, has an Irish flute in the track. It stands out in a beautiful and powerful way. I am majorly influenced by movie theme cinematic tracks, orchestral, opera, symphony, guitar sounds from some soft rock songs. Currently I am working on a cover track for the Dan Fogelberg ballad type track, Run for The Roses. I have a vocal in my file, a cover version of Andrea Bocelli, Time to Say Goodbye. I am not sure how to approach this track as the melody in the original will not sound good in trance, But I have some new ideas on how to change the melody to make it work. I made a track called Master the Mind where music in the breakdown was from mindfulness music. This track is on my album, The Voice of Reason. There is really no limit on what you can bring into trance. The only limit is the mind.
There’s a tendency within uplifting trance to associate bigger melodies, longer breakdowns and more dramatic arrangements with greater emotional impact. Do you think restraint and simplicity are sometimes overlooked? What’s the hardest thing for you to leave out of a track?
You are on a roll with great questions. Yes, absolutely simplicity is often overlooked. Lots of push towards less is more nowadays.. I mentioned there are over 100 music files in most of my tracks. These type of tracks are more difficult to mix. On the Armada label for example, I can hear there are 50-60 music files in those types of tracks. To me, it sounds empty, too simplistic. In my case, a busy mind makes a busy track. I to have a tendency to over cook a track. A friend of mine who owns a studio in Ibiza told me to ask, is this sound necessary to make the track better, or will it over cook the track. Yes it is a constant battle with me because I love to hear more interesting sounds throughout the track, as I get bored with tracks that are more simplified, less musical files. I love the many different sounds all working together. It’s like my brain craves it. Cold Blue is an example of a producer who is an absolute genius creating many layers of sound that all work together brilliantly.
Your debut album The Voice of Reason was a substantial undertaking at 17 tracks. What did the process teach you about yourself as an artist, and were there any creative habits or assumptions you had to reconsider along the way?
The first thing working on making an album taught me is I have so much to say to the world. We don’t know what is inside of us until we go there to dig for information. I was concerned I could not come up with enough track ideas. Once I got started, I listed over 30 track ideas. Mostly inspirational messages that I wanted to weave into each track. So I had to cut back the ideas to 14, plus 3 acoustic versions of 3 dance tracks on the album. Creatively, I worked with some different producers so I have some different interpretations of the BiXX sound in the album. Not just the same familiar sound over and over. My new relationship with Paul Skelton, spawned the acoustic mixes, which are quite stunning. Much too good to be buried on an album. When I get some time, perhaps I will try to get those tracks licensed to get more exposure on an orchestral label. So when making an album, it is definitely a journey inside oneself.
Electronic music has become increasingly focused on measurable success, from streaming figures and chart positions to social media engagement. How do you personally judge whether a record has succeeded, particularly when you’re making music that deals with such personal themes?
This is another great question. I do subscribe to Songstats which gives me just about every measurable on the web. I look at that to look for the business side of it. But for me personally, I measure it against a standard. A standard I create for myself. My standard has gone up over the last several years as my knowledge, ability, and my relationships have improved. Not all tracks come out as good as I thought the original idea could be. And some come out better than the original idea. In other words, I look within, not outside for validation. I discovered this a few years ago that looking outside for validation left me unhappy. Because one day you’re on top of the mountain and a few weeks later you are at the bottom of the ocean. So I look internally for the success of my tracks. With that being said, I do enjoy heartfelt messages with some content from fans. I enjoy that look in the faces of the audience when I play it live. This tells me if the song is really connecting. As I believe it is my job to make a lasting impact on the audience.
EuphoriXX is beginning with your own music, but its longer-term identity will depend on the artists who become part of it. What qualities would make you take a chance on an unfamiliar producer, and what would you hope they gain from working with you beyond simply releasing a record?
I hope we can open up the label to other artists. We need to finish building out the processes and infrastructure of the label to do this. When we look at other tracks, it will be all about the music. Our label values are Inspire (Emotion at the center), Empower (A home for creativity, confidence and artists who believe their music has something to say), and Elevate (Chase the Goosebumps, uplifting trance that is truly uplifting). We compare the track against these 3 values.
Being a new label, I don’t expect any big name artists on the label. It’s all about the music so more unknown artists can release quite easily on our label. Like any good labels, we make a commitment to do our part to promote the track, and the producer has to do their part. There has to be past effort on their social media channel to promote the track. In regards to what do artists hope to gain from releasing on our label, please consider this. We want to be a transformational label. Not a transactional label. Sure, releasing a track is a transaction. But when everything in your life becomes transactional, you begin measuring everything in your life by what you receive, rather than what you contribute. So instead of focusing exclusively on results, we want to focus on growth, relationships, values and the process of becoming better. Who can we do that with? And what great relationships can we build along the way.
BiXX – Movement is out now
