NASA (Iboga Records)

JK: Hey man!
NASA: Hi! Lets do the interview!

JK: So man, can you tell me a bit about how you started out in trance music? you've been around for a long time now?
NASA: I began fiddling with music when i was about 15 or 16, they were really bad productions, but also very fun to produce! Around 1999 A began the NASA project, with deep minimal music, and also started a dark minimal project with a friend, which we called The Gnome Effect. We produced a lot (of crap!) and learned more and more of arranging and creating, and I kept developing my own sound into what it is today.

JK: Which labels where your first releases on?
NASA: My first release was Floedekaramel, on the danish Ayahuasca Records compilation “Daneism”.

JK: I've seen a few releases on stuff like Sinn-Tek and Tatsu... What's in the future release wise?
NASA: Plastik Park, Tribal Vision Records, Psytropic Records, Iboga Records and Crotus Records, to name a few!

JK: Wow! That’s a big list! You must be a busy man! Do you get a chance to tour much abroad?
NASA: Well I work hard these days with new music, working on an album and making tracks for compilations at the same time… its hard to keep up! I tour a little bit, but not as much as I would like. I have a few gigs in the world later this summer.

JK: An album ey? What label is that going to be released on?
NASA: For now, a sub label to Iboga… Depends on what style I’m going to do. The more progressive it gets, the bigger the chance of releasing it on Iboga Records instead.

JK: I have noticed your sound has evolved recently… Less of a minimal sound, more melodies etc... What can you tell me about the new sounds of NASA?
NASA: I’m becoming more and more atmospheric and melodic in my music, focusing a lot on the harmony of the track… I’m a bit of a psytrance head, so I throw in a lot of weird psychedelic stuff in my new tracks. But I am very fond of melodies, from the deep trance melodies to the very mainstream trance melodies.

JK: Do you think that old minimal sound is dying out? With the exception of a notable few (Zenon Records, Crotus, etc) less and less labels seem to be carrying that sound?
NASA: Well, there's no doubt that most minimal music has turned into progressive music, but some artists and labels stills holds true to that old school minimalistic style… I don’t think it will ever die completely.. It’s just that full-on and progressive trance is a lot more popular these days.

JK: Who are some of your inspirations in music? Both from in and outside trance?
NASA: Sensorica (melodic trance), Kin Dza Dza (dark psytrance), Antix (progressive trance) and Beat Bizarre (deep trance). There's a lot more, but these are the ones I can remember right now!

JK: Haha, cool. I do see quite a few tracks by yourself floating about the net. What do you think of what has happened to trance since the advent of mp3s?
NASA: It’s both good and bad. Bad for label business, as they loose a lot of money from mp3 releases... Good for the artists because they get their name out across the globe, to people who might not have heard them without access to mp3.

JK: It's true, a lot of artists haven't got the releases under their belt yet, but I can tell you a sound is there for sure! Do you collaborate with any artists at all?
NASA: Rarely. I don't work well alongside with other artists in a studio. And I cannot just sit down and make music, I need to be inspired to work. Inspiration doesn't just appear. But I do collaborate with other artists, often using the Internet to transfer work files and ideas. So far I have only released Gnome Effect, which I produced with another person. These days I work a lot on my NASA project, so I haven’t got the time to collaborate... yet!

JK: Where do you hope your project to take you to? You seem very focussed on it!
NASA: I don’t expect to ever make a living out of it, that’s a impossible idea for me, I think... But I would very much like to travel some more, meet interesting people and playing for big crowds... Music is my main hobby and interest, so I’m very into it!

JK: Cool man. Thanks very much for the interview man, any last words or thank yous?
NASA: No last words, just a big thank you for interviewing me and a bigger thanks for the support from the people who like the music I produce!

JK: Good luck with everything, looking forward to hearing more NASA music!