Jordan Suckley: "It's been intense for the past year." (Interview)
/Jordan Suckley has been someone to watch out for within the trance scene for the past few years thanks to his unbending style of darker trance vibes. Now with his own record label, his non-stop touring schedule, Jordan has released the first Damaged Records compilation mix with 38 tracks mixed by himself and Mark Sherry. Jordan digs deep into the crates for this compilation as many of these producers featured in Damaged Records Volume 01 have barely 500 Soundcloud followers! It's a rare treat to have someone as established as Jordan Suckley to take a risk on brand new producers and is not afraid to find true trance gems.
In this interview I talked to Jordan about his new mix compilation, his views on the current trance scene, and his thoughts on how trance music will move forward as 2015 rolls on. Enjoy:
How's life with Jordan Suckley over the past year?
It's pretty good, it's been intense for the past year. Non-stop touring.
Damaged Records seems to be growing quite nicely. How's that journey been?
I didn't really plan on starting my own label, but it was my manager kind of convinced me to give it a go. I'm really surprised at how well it has done as it has come out as 13th best selling trance label on Beatport. It's the highest new entry for new record labels. I'm surprised at how well things have gone.
Congratulations, what's your secret?
It's just about picking the right tracks, doing the right promotions and getting the right support. There isn't any special formula as things just kind of click together.
Tell me about the new mix compilation series, Damaged Records Volume One.
We are going to do a yearly compilation and for the first one I got Mark Sherry on board. He has a good contrasting style to my own because I play a little darker with the psy-trance and tech-trance elements. Mark still does tech-trance but he also does techno. The compilation is a nice mixture of two different styles. My CD is the sound that you hear me playing in clubs around the world. It's nice to have an actual physical CD of that stuff.
How deep did you dig to find these gems? Some of these featured artists have less than 500 Soundcloud followers.
I dig deep. I do a lot of search on beatport, and I get sent a lot of tracks to my Damaged email address and use them as exclusives. Since I have a record label I get sent hundreds of promos all the time. I get sent a lot of bad stuff but there are some gems in there.
"Rather than doing a beautiful compilation that you play at your wedding, this compilation is what I play in the clubs."
You picked Mark Sherry to do the 2nd CD – what's your connection with Mark?
Mark is one of my favourite producers, he's so talented and has been around the scene for a long time as well. He's a reputable name and one of the remixes he did for the label was one of the biggest selling tracks we've put out so it's only right to have him on board for this.
This CD goes hard as its full of powerful tracks.
Yes it's all of the stuff I play in the clubs. Rather than doing a beautiful compilation that you play at your wedding, this compilation is what I play in the clubs. This is what the label is about. I just put up what I like on the CD and I hope people like it.
What's your view on the trance scene in 2015?
It's amazing, never been better! I always think that the scene is only as strong as the number of good producers out there. There are many producers always making quality stuff. As long as there are good producers making tracks then the scene will keep on thriving. I'm playing gigs in loads of random places that I thought I never would have been able to play at before So that's a good sign.
Can you name some next level artists that we should look out for in the trance scene this year?
The next one I'm pushing is a guy called Sam Jones, he has a few tracks on my label and I'll be working on a collaboration with him at some point. He's from Wales, he likes tech-trance and has worked on tracks for Mental Asylum and Kearnage. He's got quite a few good bits coming out as well. He's definitely the next talent.
How do you keep your sound fresh and interesting for you?
In the last 6-8 months I have refreshed my sound a bit by adding different elements. Trance is so broad that just as long as it has a trancey rift in there, you can add anything in the breakdown like a bit of techno, psy-trance, or a normal trance bassline. It's different with every track but I like to bring in elements from different styles of music.
What's next for the trance sound?
I think more people are going to do sound design with unique bass sounds and leads. The production techniques will change with more individual sounds.
What can fans expect from Jordan Suckley in 2015? Tours, releases?
I've just done a remix of Tiesto, which will come out in July. I've got a collaboration with Paul Van Dyk for this next Politics of Dancing album. I've done a remix with Heatbeat that's coming out on Armada. I've got a new vocal track with Erica Curran coming out on Damaged. I've got a couple more originals in the works. Touring wise I'm going to Australia next week and in May I'm going on a North American tour – but I'm pretty much booked up until September.
My thanks to Jordan Suckley for this interview. If you want to pick up Damaged Records Volume 01 2 disc compilation featuring 38 tracks mixed by Jordan and Mark Sherry, click here to buy it now via iTunes.
Tracklist:
Mix 01 - Jordan Suckley
01. Royal Flush – Humanity
02. Royal Flush vs Freedom Fighters - Walter White
03. Shekinah - Get Out Your Self
04. Future Disciple - The Mayans Are Coming Back (Original Mix)
05. Microsis - Anno Machina
06. The Technicians - Re:sample (Original Mix)
07. Thomas Datt - Prana Flow (Original Mix)
08. Allen & Envy - Coherent (Johnny Yono Remix)
09. Jordan Suckley - Droid (Original Mix)
10. Future Antics - Twisted (Original Mix)
11. Kriess Guyte - Galactic (Original Mix)
12. Jordan Suckley - Elation (Original Mix)
13. Jordan Suckley - Medic (Original Mix)
14. Sam Jones - No Angel (Original Mix)
15. Jordan Suckley - Who Cares? (Original Mix)
16. Sam Jones & Will Rees - Oversight (Original Mix)
17. Tangle - Sahara (A.R.D.I. Remix)
18. Daniel Skyver featuring Cat Martin - No One Else (Original Mix)
19. Reverse - Ultima (Original Mix)
Mix 02 - Mark Sherry
01. Mark Sherry & Dr Willis - Here Come The Drums (Pedro Delgardo & Dualitik Remix)
02. Mario Piu- The Code (Original Mix)
03. Shelley - Talk About Drums (Original Mix)
04. Alex Di Stefano - Ironclad (Spektre Remix)
05. The Reactivitz - Techno Is Of The Essence (Alex Di Stefano Remix)
06. Alex Di Stefano - No Pain, No Gain (Original Mix)
07. Jamie Walker - Rojo (Original Mix)
08. Ikorus - Nine Lives (Original Mix)
09. Max Graham - The Evil ID (Mark Sherry Remix)
10. Markus Schulz - Remember This (Mark Sherry Remix)
11. The Space Brothers & Mark Sherry - Let It Come (Outburst Vocal Mix)
12. Mark Sherry & Clare Stagg - How Can I (Solis & Sean Truby Remix)
13. Alex Di Stefano - I’ve Got the Power (Original Mix)
14. Corti Organ - Narrow (Original Mix)
15. Mark Sherry - Vengeance (Tempo Giusto Remix)
16. Mark Sherry - Vengeance (Lostly presents Audio Militia Remix)
17. Mark Sherry - The Pillars Of Creation (Original Mix)
18. Kaimo K - Mayhem (Original Mix)
19. Sam Jones & Rhys Thomas - The End (Original Mix)