protoculture

No worries. In fact, the tracks that Armin has supported I don't consider to be psy at all. I doubt anything thats gonna be coming out of my studio for the next while will be psy. That was the whole point of me posting here... not to defend my work but to let you guys know where I'm coming from. I totally get some people would be a little annoyed if I was punting some of my new stuff as underground psy... thing is I'm not claiming its psy at all. I'm in a bit of a transition at the moment, where a lot of people know me for what I've done in the past. My main thing is I'm tired of being boxed into a genre... and the psy scene is a very small little box Not that its bad at all... its just I want to be able to wake up in the morning and go... hey, "lets do a vocal today", "let's try a bassline other than a 16th saw riff" or "cool, lets write some frigging country music" (Ha ha, just kidding ).. but you get what I'm saying. I don't really want to even call myself a trance artist, or progressive artist for that matter... I just wanna do what I do. Its Protoculture, nothing more, nothing less. And whats coming out of my studio at the moment is what I feel like doing. @Procyon ... my final say on the matter, please don't misunderstand me. I'm really not pissed or defensive that you don't like my work, in fact I'm sure our musical tastes are complete polar opposites so you not liking my music is probably a compliment (Again, not to say there's anything wrong with your musical tastes). Thats really not the issue. Was more the matter of fact way you made your statements... it kinda comes across as you thinking you're the be all and end all of music. I'm sure thats not the case, but thats how it sounds... a little arrogant. Anyways, water under the bridge. Didn't mean to offend anyone in any way. So finally... basically, if you're a hardcore psy trancer and into your underground stuff... don't bother checking out the new Protoculture releases, cause its probably not for you as thats just not where I'm at at the moment. Just realise I'm not putting out these tracks to "pollute" the psy scene or whatever some people may think. I honestly couldn't give a shit about psy genre's or trance genre's or whatever. I'm just making music I like at the moment. Otherwise, thanks for listening and all the comments

Dude, I couldn't have put it in better words... thats my point exactly. Beauty (or musical taste in this case) is in the eye of the beholder.

He he no worries... I wouldn't have thought so anyways

Hey buddy... I don't take offense. Honestly, and as an Artist, trust me bro, I'm use to taking criticism. This is a conversation, not a rant. I'm interested in both sides. I'm kinda confused though... "I don't blame you, you're a product of the environment you're inserted" So the reason people think my music is not necessarily psy is because I play with guys like Eskimo and Wrecked Machines? Thats a silly statement bro... I've played parties with Kindzaza, Kashyyyk, Azax Syndrome (good mate of mine I might add) and various other artists not like me on the line up as well and my music didn't suddenly become "dark psy" for example... "I am sure you're talented, but your work just reflected what was expected from you, not your full loaded creativity." Ha ha, thats kinda insulting but anyways. So because I don't make your kinda "true" "real" "psychedelic" music I automatically haven't reached my full potential? Bro you're kinda proving my point with that statement that a lot of people in the psy scene are ignorant and arrogant. Who are you to say that I'm just doing what's expected of me? Jesus, the more I read that line the more blown away I am by how ridiculous a statement that is. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you again, please if anyone else is getting the same from that line let me know... but dude, what you're essentially saying is that because "you" don't like what I'm doing, its shit and I'm not doing my best? Like I said, I'm used to criticism, trust me... I'm more offended by your ego though. "I repeat you must be a nice guy, but 1990's was horrible for psy trance and you helped keeping it so." Thanx for the nice manners... really. I respect the fact you're not resorting to the flat out disrespectful attitude most people adopt on forums these days... but seriously man, if the last 20 years have been so shit for the scene, why are you still here? Man, I would've bailed ages ago and stopped listening then and rather stuck with an ancient collection of goa and gabba techno from back in the day. Correct me if I'm wrong, but artists like Halucinogen are from the 90's (Twisted was 1995)... so maybe you're talking about from 2000 onwards? Even so, 10 years is a long time to sit around bitching about the state of the scene. This is a classic example of what I said in my previous post... if you don't like where the music's going... don't listen to it! "real Psychedelic" "the true one"??? You can disagree with me on this... but Psychedelia is in the eye of the beholder my friend. "your tracks sounds better in a gatecrasher trance club than in a psy festiva" I'll take that as a compliment... funny though how I still get booked at loads of outdoor parties Anyways, again... I don't know you personally and I'm not trying to insult you or start a fight, but I'm really taken aback by some of your comments. Not because its insulting to me but because I'm amazed at how people think this is the right attitude to have. I hope I'm not the only person here who feels this way...

Ha ha... ok here we go again "What is this? This has nothing to do with Psytrance at all." Who says it has anything to do with psytrance? I just posted that I'm not really into psytrance anymore... this may be a "psy" forum, but I gues this does have something to do with me since the thread's name is "'Protoculture' played by Armin..." 'Hey, Protoculture (when you're reading this), can I ask why you didn't choose another alias?" Why should ditch a brand which I spent 10 hard years building up from nothing? Protoculture is MY thing, My own little genre, MY means of expressing myself... it doesn't belong to you guys, the psy trance scene or anyone else. The reason I never changed the name is because i feel I never changed the essence of what me and my music were about. Its still uplifting, cheesy to some of you Im sure, happy music that I write from the bottom of my heart... its just slower now and being marketed to a crowd who actually appreciate it for what it is. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved the psy scene, but I'm moving on to new things now and I don't feel I should be expected to leave my hard work behind in a scene that I'm not interested in anymore. I'm always amazed how... particularly in the psy trance scene (suppose cause thats where I've had the most experience), you people (I'm generalizing so please don't automatically take offense) think everything belongs to you because you've been to a few parties? Funny, its always the people who put the hardest work into the scene that have the utmost respect for everything and everyone else... and completely the opposite from the people who just hang around forums and complain about shit they're not willing to do anything about. I've had this conversation countless times before... and I think I say this for all the artists that take flack for trying to evolve or do their own thing. We don't owe you anything... we're not in this to make the minority of critics happy... and if you don't like it, the simplest and most logical thing is to not listen. Forget about it, go out and make your own tracks the way you think they should be, go out and throw a party and book the artists you wanna book. @Procyon "but because his sounds never were part of OUR world. At least that fits me: I think he made mediocre psy trance before, now he makes mediocre euro trance. That's it" Dude, I respect your opinion about my work... you're entitled to that and it doesn't offend me in the slightest... However... I've definitely been a part of "your" world for the last 10 years. I've played on every continent at some of the biggest psy trance events around the world consistently for the last 10 years. My problem with your comment is a classic case of "psytrance forum" mentality... you think psytrance has to fit perfectly into your description of it! Maybe you're into darker, more psychedelic stuff, so automatically you think everything thats more melodic and uplifting gets disqualified as part of "your" world? Correct me if I misunderstood you, but thats a seriously narrow minded outlook. "Your world"? Last time I checked we were all living on the same planet, all created equal, no? Don't mean to sound cocky but it bugs me sometimes when people that come from a scene that claims to be based on freedom, love, acceptance and unity, can be so intolerant, arrogant and defensive. Sorry if that came across a bit harsh... not trying to have a dig at you personally Anyways, I'll stop there. I'm not trying to start another 50 page battle of the genres If I didn't make myself clear enough in my first post... what I'm trying to say is I'm on my own path. Just trying to stay honest with myself and do what I love. Whether that falls into "psy" or whatever, I honestly couldn't care less. I owe it to myself and the fans who do appreciate the music to just follow my heart. Thanks to those of you here who actually GET it...

Found this thread by accident... Usually I shy away from forums and these threads, but this seems to be a pretty intelligent discussion as far as some of the forums go so thought I'd post a response from my side. First off, yes I've been changing my style as of late, and yes I suppose it does fall into the category of trance rather than psy and I suppose you can classify it as more "commercial" if you want. Personally, I've had a revelation in the past few months in that I really couldn't care less about genres anymore. I've been heading this way for some time now, you can hear it on the last album as well which was kind of a stepping stone for me from what I was doing in the psy scene to what I'm doing now. Really, the reason for this is I've just not been inspired by the music coming out that's labeled as psy these days... to put things in perspective, it took me three years to put together "Love Technology" and in the last 6 months since that release I've managed to churn out 15 new tracks and remixes simply because I'm being more honest and true to what I feel is what I should be doing. Being in a creative line of work, you have to realize that forcing yourself to do something your'e simply not that into is really shooting yourself in the foot. It was never a conscious decision to "sell out"... although I will admit there are a lot of benefits of working on more "commercial" releases... but rather I just needed to move on to something new. Funny thing is, if I'd gone ahead and done an album just like "refractions" or "circadians" people would have slated me for not evolving as a musician. The whole thing with Armin is just an added bonus... his music might not be to the tastes of most underground fans, but he didn't get to the top by being shit. He's done wonders for me by playing my music on ASOT (amongst others like Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Paul van Dyk, Max Graham, John 00 Fleming, Above and Beyond, and Christopher Laurence who have also been supporting my tracks on their shows and at their gigs) and you'd be an idiot to turn down exposure like that... his radio show has a listener base of around 3 million a week and its an honour to bee considered good enough to be a part of that. As for doing this for money... this is something most people never understand. Even working with Armada, while I'm making more than I was, if I was in this for the money, I would have become a doctor or a lawyer. Working as a professional dj/producer is never easy, but it is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world, but its not a cash cow. Not by a long shot. Sure the money is important, I've got a family and bills to pay just like everyone of you... but it can't be the driving force behind doing this. I've been so happy lately doing this as it just feels right for me at the moment. I'm aware some people feel like they've had their toes stepped on when their beloved scene changes, but hey... its not the first time its happened. The psy scene has gone through various phases in the 10 years I've been involved in it. Funny though, its often the younger generation that are most vocal about it... Psy has had more in common with Trance over the years than most people will like to admit to. Anyways, I just thought I'd add my two cents so you could hear it from the horses mouth. Thanks guys Nate Protoculture