As everyone is preparing for Trancegiving, Factor B stops by to discuss his young career, new projects, and his Dreamstate debut!
Factor B might be a new face on the trance scene, but he’s making a name for himself at lightspeed. He’s quickly found his home on some of the biggest labels in the business.
Over the last 18 months, his homeland of Australia, the UK, and Netherlands have all witnessed countless shows. At long last, Factor B makes his big stage debut in North America this November for Dreamstate SoCal. Fans of euphoric, uplifting trance rejoice!
Stream his set from Luminosity’s Showcase at ADE this year, and read on for our in-depth chat with him below!
Hello Brendan, thanks for stopping by and giving us the opportunity to talk with you today. How are you doing?
Very well thanks, just enjoying another day in the studio here in Amsterdam!
I’d like to start by giving our readers an insight into who Factor B is. How did you first come into contact with trance? What motivated you to start creating music?
The moment I first had contact with trance was hearing Ferry Corsten’s Trance nation CD at a friends place in the early 2000’s. “Robert Miles – Children” in to “System F – Out Of The Blue”. Stopped me in my tracks.
But ultimately there are elements of trance in a lot of music I was exposed to growing up. When I heard ‘trance’ it was like a more euphoric, up-tempo version of music I was already listening to. Once I learned about how it was created and performed – it was a natural journey into Djing. I then moved into learning production so I could make my own interpretations of the sound.
Australia is not known for having a big trance artist community. This can be rather inhibiting in the early days of a career in music. How did you find help and support when the going got tough?
Obviously, Australia is quite far away from the Trance hub that is Europe. It makes it a little more difficult to break through, but I always felt that the music would always end up doing the talking and if I kept working hard at my craft, things could happen.
To be honest, I worked quite an intense full-time job up until Jan this year, so it was never really a question of support. Nevertheless, Dan from Neptune Project & Solarstone were very helpful and insightful during this period.
More so, it was finding ways to continue to motivate myself to get into the studio and produce. I stepped away from a few other things in my life so that I’d have more time for the studio and so it happened, it ended up working out thus far.
Late last year you made the difficult decision to leave Australia and set up shop in Netherlands to be closer to the heart of the industry. How are you enjoying Amsterdam so far, and most importantly, how would you assess the move so far?
Absolutely loving Amsterdam. I’ve visited the city many times when I was residing in London in 2006-2009 – and knew that if I was going to come back to the EU to live, Amsterdam would be top of the list. The move has been great, accessibility to shows has helped a lot with tours and bookings. Safe to say – so far so good!
Even though you’re rather new to the scene, you’re already making waves with some of the biggest labels in trance with multiple releases on FSOE and Pure Trance. What have you done differently than other newcomers to warrant this recognition?
For me, it’s always difficult to compare to other artists. Everyone has their own journey and interpretation of the music they want to create. To be honest, I try to stay a little removed from what other artists are doing.
Creative identity is so important in music – especially trance music, you want to have your own style and feel – and I think the more you focus and listen to what others are doing (successfully or not), the more chance you’ll lose focus on the music you want to create.
I guess, in short, perhaps you could say I’ve made what I’ve wanted to make regardless of what’s all the buzz in the charts or what’s expected by the labels.
Speaking of Pure Trance, the latest mix compilation, Pure Trance Volume 6, included you as a guest mixer. You’ve premiered five new tracks and remixes as well as fresh music from your friends Neptune Project and The Noble Six. How did you go about making the track selection?
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – The Pure Trance compilation was the most exciting yet challenging project of my career to date! The whole journey from start to finish was an incredible experience.
I really got to understand the time and effort that goes into such an album. From reaching out to your favourite artists for exclusive music to the trials and tribulations of release dates & then actually mixing the compilation in a way that is to your liking.
I wanted to make sure the album was reflective of my sound and style, euphoric, uplifting and melodic. I was very lucky to land some amazing new music from Neptune Project, Activa, The Noble Six, Lostly & Cold Blue amongst others.
You’ve played at Pure Trance’s ADE party as well as at the Luminosity event. Both brands are great examples that sticking to the roots of trance instead of jumping on the commercial bandwagon works. How do you feel when such entities show incredible support for your career thus far?
It’s been such a buzz playing for these brands over the last year. They are supportive of my sound and outlook on trance. I’m very appreciative and proud to be able to perform for these guys and push the pure style of trance that I love.
Time for a few light-hearted questions. What’s the one thing that you miss about Australia?
Going to watch my AFL team the Essendon Bombers in front of 90,000 people at the MCG!
For anyone interested in Australian cuisine, what meal would you recommend? Preferably one without any vegemite. :)
Surely it’s a Parmigiana. I’ve been around the world but no one does a Parma like a good Aussie pub. Crumbed chicken breast, melted cheese, ham, gravy, fresh cut chips, side of veggies – get around it.
What’s the best memory you’ve had from one of your shows?
I think one of my best memories was during Luminosity beach festival earlier this year when I played “Luna Therapy”. It was this moment where I could see all the crowd REALLY knew the track. I had this feeling inside like “Holy shit, people are really starting to understand & know my music!” The video still gives me goosebumps. :)
Let’s jump back into the studio for the last few questions. We’ve seen you remix trance classics with the “Back To The Future” moniker. Compared to most modern updates, you manage to imprint your sound whilst also keeping the feel of the original mix. Firstly, how do you pick what classic to remix, and most importantly, how do you ensure that the essence of the song is maintained?
My “Back To The Future” remix series tries to encapsulate exactly that. I want to bring certain older trance tracks back into a modern feel, but not take away what makes them so special and unique.
I’m super picky about what tracks I remix. If I can’t add my specific sound & style to it to make it a better interpretation, then what’s the point? I feel a lot of ‘updates’ of old tracks are just that, updated kicks, basses etc. I really like to introduce new elements so people can still go on a new journey with the track but never lose the feel of what they loved about it in the first place.
Earlier in the year, we saw you working in the studio with Robert Nickson before the FSOE club night at Panama, Amsterdam. It’s been quite a while since then. What news can we expect from you two in the future?
You’ll just have to keep an eye out for that! :)
Outside of the material already featured on Pure Trance Vol. 6, what other projects are you able to share with us?
I have a lot of new music coming up over the next few months. However, there is something bigger in the works, but that’s all I can reveal about that right now!
Dreamstate SoCal marks the first big event for you in North America. With the show just around the corner, what can we expect from your set and why should those that are not familiar with you come and see you?
As it’s my first big event in the USA, I’m going to try to work around somewhat of a producer set. As a lot of people in the US have been waiting to see me play, I feel it’s important to not forget tunes over the last few years that have helped introduce people to my sound. Anyone who’s not familiar with my sound & style, expect proper trance! Energetic, euphoric, hands in the air – uplifting trance!
Before we let you, do you have any message for the crazy Factor BAE supporters out there?
Haha! I don’t know where this Factor BAE thing started, but any publicity is good publicity, right? :)
Absolutely, I’m incredibly thankful & appreciative of everyone’s support thus far. I appreciate all the niceties that have come my way. Hold onto your hats at Dreamstate because I’m coming with some serious uplifting trance & debuting some brand new Factor B material.
That concludes our interview. Thanks again for stopping by and looking forward to seeing you soon in California!
Pleasure, and can’t wait! :)
While the final schedule and stage breakdown is still to be released, we know that Factor B will play on Friday, the 24th of November at the festival. Fans of uplifting trance, mark your calendars!
