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Jun 18, 03
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Solarstone (UK) Invades Vancouver!
~Solarstone~
On July 5th, Solarstone will be capturing the attention of every trance lover attending Twisted's next upcoming event "Breathe". The staff, djs, promoters and members of form-kaos.com would like to extend a big warm welcome to these blokes as they engage on a 9 hour journey into Vancouver for an exclusive set at the Plaza Of Nations. The kind people at ntlproductions have offered us an exclusive opportunity to share the music and history behind Solarstone via the site. Click on any of the links to sample their music and also if there’s anything you'd like to ask Rich & Andy now is your chance! Huge thanks to Solarstone & NTL for their hard work! Vancouver welcomes these truly amazing artists. Sincerely, Form&Kaos FnK Team The Members of FnK.com Twisted Productions  LISTEN!  LISTEN! LISTEN!  LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN!The Story So Far.... Rich Mowatt and Andy Bury are Solarstone - The hyper-versatile UK (Birmingham) based production duo who record and produce under many aliases, including Z2 and Liquid State. They have been working together since 1994 and have gained a large following and support from just about every DJ 'worth their salt' over the last 5 years. Their current musical styles range from deep-progressive house to 'blissed-out music for the chilled generation', (depending on what mood they're in at the time) though at present they are perhaps best known for producing melodic 'quality-trance' (as they like to put it) since the release of their most famous singles to date: 'Seven Cities' and 'Solarcoaster'  They essentially came from completely different musical backgrounds, though their roots in 80's acid-house were the same. Rich was the keyboard-player from Midlands Indie-dance band Emission... Andy was a pirate radio head mainly into house, disco, funk and soul. They met after Rich called one of the stations Andy was involved in at the time and asked him to plug their single. It turned out that Andy had been following the band for ages, turning up at most of the gigs. Within months a strong musical b0nd had formed between them, and their love for house music started to grow. It all initially began around early'95 with producer Sam Tierney doing 'disco-acid-energy' style tracks under the name 'Space Kittens', and had a minor commercial success with their debut track 'Storm' on Hooj Choons. This was followed with a load of 'half decent' high-profile remixes (for the likes of Jimmy Somerville and Human League)  Eventually, having gone as far as they could with the 'Spacekitten' sound, Andy, Rich and Sam managed to return to the dance music world by the end of '96, recharged and in full effect; totally reinventing themselves in the process with a more credible progressive-style sound using the name 'Solar Stone' Their debut single, 'The Calling' was, and still is regarded by many DJs as 'a classic'. Red Jerry (Hooj Choons) described this as being 'ahead of its time', which undoubtedly became a 'blueprint for many tracks to follow in its footsteps.' Soon after its release, Solar Stone instantly became a force to be reckoned with. A string of quality remixes from the group soon followed. By Autumn'97, they were able to settle down to experiment with various song projects using vocalist Kym Marsh (yes.. the Kym Marsh) - The result was the excellent Impressions EP, featuring 'Day By Day', the Sunship remix of 'So Clear', and a re-release of 'The Calling'. This was followed shortly after by the departure of Sam due to 'artistic differences'. By the end of '98 (and after a much-needed six-month break) Rich and Andy returned to the studio. Their first result was 'I Want You' using the new name of Z2. This marked a fresh new turning point, which promptly followed with the launch of their own label 'Deepblue'- initially a label setup as 'a launch pad' for new material of their own and other local talent.  The lads always had a love of melody, and in late 1999 they released the seminal 'Seven Cities' through Hooj... which became a UK top40 smash and is still regarded by many as being 'possibly the best trance track in the last 10 years!' After 'Seven Cities' another spattering of remixes followed, most famously the massive 'Bullet in the Gun' remix that sent the record spiraling into the Top Ten, and their remake of Moonman's 'Galaxia' -one of their personal favorites. Next up was the launch of another identity 'Liquid State'- enlisting the talents of Top Ten Diva Marcella Woods for the massive 'Falling' on Perfecto, which featured a beautiful blissed out chill remix from Solarstone with layers of pink floyd-esque guitar work. At this stage the lads decided to relaunch their 'DeepBlue' record label- Starting with another collaboration... This time with folk-funkster singer/songwriter Elizabeth Fields on 'Speak In Sympathy', followed by a prog trance collaboration with Dom Farrington from Breakz-scene new boys Brothers Bud on the rolling 'Herbgrinder'. The boys next got busy with another remix, the massive 'Young Parisians - U Write The Rules' which at the time of writing is doing huge business all over the world. The Future Which brings us to the present day. To support all the new releases, including the re-release of 'Seven Cities' on Lost Language and the equally in demand 'Solarcoaster', Solarstone have decided to dust down their headphones, record boxes and cd's, and get out on the road with a series of worldwide DJ appearances (see DJ section for regular updates), starting with Gatecrasher in Sheffield to rave reviews. The next series of tunes to come from the DeepBlue stable includes Solarstone "Release", another collaboration- 'Solarstone vs. Sirocco "Destination", and the long awaited project with Gatecrasher's own Scott Bond resulting in 'Third Earth'- currently doing the business in every trance loving territory worldwide.  Solarstone's career so far has been full of twists and turns, particularly their prominence in the 'Chilled-Out Revolution' of 2001 til the present day, spearheading this new scene with a string of quality after-hours remixes and their much plaudited 'Chilled-Out Euphoria' compilation, which was in their own words; "A labour of love". It's a career littered with chance meetings, unbelievable highs and some crushing disappointments, but the collective of brilliant musicians and vocalists they have around them always ensures they deliver the goods. The scene has undergone some strange mutations over the past few years, but it always returns to where it began... Grooves, Melody and Emotion- without which there would be no dance music scene, and there would be no Solarstone. The Concept behind DeepblueRecordings: "Deepblue means we can release the sort of records we like as and when we want to" says Andy, "It gives us control to do what we want both creatively and commercially - Although we have done work for bigger labels, the frustration to deliver what they want from you can eventually leave you disillusioned with the whole game- If things don't work out with Deepblue then fair enough - But at least we can say we had a go, and we did it our way!"  LISTEN! ..LISTEN!
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