ZNA aftermath!

[Trunksan]

Hi guys,

 

back in the office after 13 days in Portugal (6 at ZNA, the rest routing around Lisbon area).

 

The festival was simply fantastic. Great crowd, Great location, Great music. Even the weather was fresh!!!

The only thing that one could complain about is the prices for the food (not a responsibility of the organizers), it was a bit overpriced which I attribute to the fact that the fest was 13km from the closest town, so it was a hassle to get the van to leave. We (5 of us) had a rented car, so we didn't care, we had an endless supply of cheap food and booze but I think the stalls took advantage of the situation.

 

Best live: Infinity project by faaaaar, followed by Moonstone project (Holeg and Spectral)

Best DJs: Ray castle and Jean Borelli

 

The music was so good at the main stage that I spent hardly any time at the chill, just for my mate Haris (DJ Fishimself) and the MAN, Graham wood (thanks to Federico for telling me to leave Sarolta Monspart and head to the chill). 

 

Even Sarolta Monspart who had absolutely no flow in his set and was just throwing tracks of different genres, one after the other, was fun.

James Monroe was the only dissapointment. They said his suitcase got lost but I can't confirm it. He tried to play a set of early acid trance/techno, proto goa and industrial and he totally failed, some people were giving him the finger and swearing. Masa on the other hand, did exactly the same thing at his dance set, playing very little goa and a lot of industrial, he even played this relic:

 

and totally nailed it!!! It was an awesome start of that day for me.

 

The Jap guys (Ree K, MASA and Yuta) at all their performances (techno, chill and trance) were superb!

 

Of course Psynewers couldn't miss this fest: Except for our stars: Fabien, Joske, Ward (DJ Inada) and Federico I spent some quality time at the dancefloor with Matthew (K-ban) and Steffan and also met Dolmot at the after party (he was very tired so I left him in peace).

 

We had a BLAAAAAAAAST and are already thinking about 2019. This morning I woke up early for work and it was a bit dark so I was disoriented. In my head I was thinking "Where am I? Why is the music not on? Who's playing now at main stage?" it took me a minute to realise that I was no longer in ZNA land.

 

back to work!

 

[Agneton]

Hi guys,

 

back in the office after 13 days in Portugal (6 at ZNA, the rest routing around Lisbon area).

 

The festival was simply fantastic. Great crowd, Great location, Great music. Even the weather was fresh!!!

The only thing that one could complain about is the prices for the food (not a responsibility of the organizers), it was a bit overpriced which I attribute to the fact that the fest was 13km from the closest town, so it was a hassle to get the van to leave. We (5 of us) had a rented car, so we didn't care, we had an endless supply of cheap food and booze but I think the stalls took advantage of the situation.

 

Best live: Infinity project by faaaaar, followed by Moonstone project (Holeg and Spectral)

Best DJs: Ray castle and Jean Borelli

 

The music was so good at the main stage that I spent hardly any time at the chill, just for my mate Haris (DJ Fishimself) and the MAN, Graham wood (thanks to Federico for telling me to leave Sarolta Monspart and head to the chill). 

 

Even Sarolta Monspart who had absolutely no flow in his set and was just throwing tracks of different genres, one after the other, was fun.

James Monroe was the only dissapointment. They said his suitcase got lost but I can't confirm it. He tried to play a set of early acid trance/techno, proto goa and industrial and he totally failed, some people were giving him the finger and swearing. Masa on the other hand, did exactly the same thing at his dance set, playing very little goa and a lot of industrial, he even played this relic:

 

and totally nailed it!!! It was an awesome start of that day for me.

 

The Jap guys (Ree K, MASA and Yuta) at all their performances (techno, chill and trance) were superb!

 

Of course Psynewers couldn't miss this fest: Except for our stars: Fabien, Joske, Ward (DJ Inada) and Federico I spent some quality time at the dancefloor with Matthew (K-ban) and Steffan and also met Dolmot at the after party (he was very tired so I left him in peace).

 

We had a BLAAAAAAAAST and are already thinking about 2019. This morning I woke up early for work and it was a bit dark so I was disoriented. In my head I was thinking "Where am I? Why is the music not on? Who's playing now at main stage?" it took me a minute to realise that I was no longer in ZNA land.

 

back to work!

 

Nice review! Wasn't there, but definetely fun to hear some of the highlights!

 

Wonder what went wrong during the James Monroe set, cause the concept sounds cool...was it the execution, or just a horrible choice of tracks? :/

[Trunksan]

Wonder what went wrong during the James Monroe set, cause the concept sounds cool...was it the execution, or just a horrible choice of tracks? :/

 

Well, I'll only say this: We heard the first 2 tracks TWICE. Track 1 - Track 2 and then again Track 1 - Track 2..... We were all staring at each other in a  WTF moment.

 

... and that was just the beginning, the rest was just a horrible choice of tracks especially give the energy that there was at the dance floor beforehand.

 

Technically, the only act that had bad quality sound was MWNN.... Some of the tracks sounded like the beat (bass) was not timed properly and generally the sound quality was not up to the standards of the rest of the fest. People had fun though, it was a fun set in the famous melodic MWNN style.

 

Talking about technical stuff (I'm a PA guy), I had a talk with BotFB (Dave) because I thought his set was not as good  as when he had played in Athens last year.

I mentioned it  him and he agreed. He apologized for not playing his usual style, but he had to play more morning stuff (it was about 7am), some of which he prepared with the occasion of ZNA

Also, he didn't like the setup of the soundsystem, too much lows and too much highs but little clarity at the mids... which is typical of Funtikon one.

[K-BAN]

I can confirm Trunksan is a fun wild man to be around haha! And really for the James Monro getting the finger from people?? Was it you? haha! I think I joined his set midway through and then took another break. Just that time of the afternoon where it was good to swim or relax. Poor dude!

 

My experience with the sound is it definitely varied per track or even performer. Some guys on stage had a level sound across their mix. A few times one performance was back and forth with the volumes per track going high, then low and back again. The bass could be overwhelming so I would shuffle around the back line of the dancefloor, sides to middle til I had my clear zone. I think the speaker layout did this as right side (facing the stage) seemed slightly pointed inward dancefloor. Sometimes I had to put one of the dancefloor tree between me and one speaker wall and that was good enough hehe

 

Not sure thinking back who my favorite performance was. MWNN did play the most complete and fan deserving set. All the hits! TIP was solid and Im not too aware of their music actually. Manmademan did ok before the full-on later half. Dado/Transwave played a solid set. Ree.K and Masa for sure had the most unique mixes with their oldies selection. Goat Ranchers/members Draeke, Anoebis and Solitare always have me wondering "which track is that/what version" whenever they play ;p I heard Anoebie from the water - what were your last two tracks? 2nd to last was especially catchy! Not sure what else to say other than it was cool to catch a Syb Unity Nettwerk set to hear 'Sun Invaders' played since I looooove that one! And Miranda just being there was sweeet.

 

Cool you got to hang in the country longer. Once the ZNA bus got me to the airport, Staffan and I hung out til our flights at the same time. First time ever I didnt sleep on a flight or for the entire duration. I landed in NYC and had a shuttle to take to the bus station - waited around for my bus departure back upstate. In total I spent 24hrs to get home and walk through the front door. ;p Thats becoming the typical amount of time now after each overseas trip.

[U.F.Orb]

How was Xenomorph ?

Any new music in the pipeline ?

It's been years since we heard anything from him.

[the goa constrictor]

Masa and DJ Yuta played at the Oregon Eclipse festival and it was fucking magic.

Sunday morning with Darshan at 4am, then Masa at sunrise followed by DJ Yuta and then Bumbling Loons... 
Sunday was absolutely fucking magical =) 

 

Ree.k was supposed to play but something happened and she canceled or something. Was a bummer 

[HappyHorse]

 

 

Ree.k was supposed to play but something happened and she canceled or something. Was a bummer 

 

 

Correct: her luggage was lost in Rome and only came very late back to her.

Drove with the ZNA shuttle with her to the airport and there we stood in line for hours, trying to get some info and to retrieve her lost luggage (with gear), ...and no info at all... Finally it came (too late).

 

But her dj set was epic: best at the main stage (for what I've could have seen @ ZNA, as I could only stay the first 4 days). Psychedelic techno at its best

[Dave]

How was Xenomorph ?

Any new music in the pipeline ?

It's been years since we heard anything from him.

i think the first track in this video is a new track

[Trunksan]

Talking about psynewers, I caught most of their sets.

 

Unfortunately I missed Sunborn's set (Kyriakos) who's a good friend and DJ here in Greece. There was a bit of a delay at the goa guardians night schedule so I got confused with the timetables. Anyway, I'll catch again here!!!! heehehehe

 

Draeke - last half of his set.  As soon as he came down from the booth I jumped him and started speaking Italian, he was a bit confused yet fired up from his perfomance so I was laughing inside since his confusion was obvious, however, we spoke several times during the fest.

Anoebis - first half of the set (then went to eat), my mate Demos loved Joske's set. We were together at various sets at the main stage.... didn't really talk, just waived and shared some dancing space.

Inada - Most of the set, really good stuff (Message to Ward: We spoke before your set and you told me to remind you again about our conversation since there was too much noise and you were preparing, I'll also speak to you at messenger as agreed)

Fabien - Spoke several times during the fest, also got to see photos of his daughter!!! Cute girl, looks a lot  like him.

Solitaire - Solid stuff after an awkward Eat Static set

 

About eat static: I know we all admire him for his contribution in this scene, for his technical expertise and passion for analog but I can't remember a time I had a good time with him playing.... It's like "OK man, we know you can tweak all those knobs and what you do is admirable and hard BUUUUUT what's the point of it if we are not having fun???????"

 

Other encounters:

Bumped into Kris Kylven at Martiz Muniz square in Lisbon and gave him some touristy advice (as well as talking about the fest and music) since I had spent 4 days in Lisbon and he hadn't been there in years. He had 2 days to stay there before playing at a fest in Dubrovnik Croatia.

 

DID YOU KNOW REE K and MASA ARE HUSBAND AND WIFE???? Well I didn't.

Since my mate Haris (DJ Fishimself and stage manager at the ZNA chill area) has good connections with them and they seemed to be very insecure (probably because they don't speak much English as well as a Jap thing) I tried to speak with them a little bit a bout my experience in Tokyo in 2002, Solstice festival 2002 @ Mt Fuji and my Japanese friends from Tokyo and Nigata. I failed, since they hardly spoke a word, just passed me joints later.....    

 

The surprise Etnica/Pleiadiains set - Towards the end of it I was dancing between Fabien, Solitare and Draeke at the center of the stage so I was like "Fuck yeah, I'm between some of the coolest people in the world!!!!!!!" and I got into an argument with Solitaire because I said Pleiadians - Maia is the 2nd best goa track ever and he insisted that it was number 1.... I told him Hallucinogen - LSD is better... he disagreed but said it's a good choice. 

Knowing the good connections Draeke has with the Etnicanet guys I was sure he had arranged for the surprise act (which wasn't really a surprise since Maurizio was at the dancefloor a lot and I had caught Max a few times and there was a rumor around) so in a cheeky Italian voice I said to him: "did you know about this???" 

He repled: "Of course, I arranged it"

I replied: "I know about it, that's why I'm speaking in this stupid voice"

Max was doing pirouettes like when Christano Ronaldo scores and crosses his arms like a Super Saiyan. I don't know if he was doing it because we were in Portugal or it's something he does all the time.

I found their set a bit tiresome, it was anthem after anthem, some with modern sound others in their classic form. I would have preferred something more subtle but I understand that both the organizers and the group would want to end the fest with a blast and for they sure did. All of my friends left half way through the set, both because the were tired physically (we had spent something like 12 hours almost non stop at the stage) and they saw no point in staying. Towards the end, I was even saying: "OK guys, play trip tonite so we can go rest... no point in this going on anymore". I didn't really hear anyone complain that they wanted more, which I guess is a good thing, better than leaving unfulfilled      

 

 

About Xenomorph: During that night, It was my anointed time to sleep since the next day would be massive and I needed rest. Hardly heard anyone say something..... who knows????

[mars]

Dolmot told me we should have called for a Psynews meet up beforehand, and he was right, but we eventually bumped into one another randomly.

I'm not sure we're amongst the coolest people in the world, we just try to make people happy (even though sometimes it's a tedious task).

Anyway I'm very hHappy to have met several of you there!

 

I had a blast too! The Portuguese crowd is amazing. The Belgians and the Serbians too as usual! The Greeks are kickass kind people!

 

The Goa Guardians night alone was worth the money!! I danced so hard then that I ended up having a black toenail, blisters on the right foot and a busted left knee! Yet the rest of the festival went on like a charm. Days passed one after the other soooo fast. Lots of dancefloor time, a little on the Chill (Eat Static and Ree.K were just great) and some nice discussions with pretty much everyone pretty much everywhere (even whilst taking a bath in the lake).

 

The only downside is, despite the fact this was clearly a retro fest, many oldschool artists couldn't resist to stick a few modern/fullon tracks in the middle of their sets. Maybe they're tired to be invited for the music they made 20+ years ago...still, people dance to it!

 

Some guys really made my day: Man With No Name was just incredible as always, Indoor/Tandu/Oforia, Ray Castle, Power Source, Human Blue (that I heard from the Suntrip shop), Atmos, Anoebis, Draeke, Sunborn, Psychaos, Solitaire, Syb Unity Nettwerk, Battlke OF the Future Buddhas... I'm thankful my health has improved in the past coupleof years, else I wouldn't have been able to stand up so much on the dancefloor (no drugs for me you know). Oh yeah, I just turned 40 and I danced like attending ZNA was like my 20th birthday present!

 

I uploaded a bunch of videos on Youtube, on the Suntrip Channel too and am currently sorting the 2000 pics I did there (must have swapped lenses 500 times along the way). I'll post them all somewhere soon.

[technosomy]

i think the first track in this video is a new track

new track sounds great!

loving the rest of this set also

glad you guys had a great time

something decent like ZNA needs to happen here in australia one day

especially here in the byron bay region

did anyone happen to talk to ray castle at all?

i should have asked someone to pass a message on that we need another revival here in the same vain as he introduced goa

to this region all those years ago

[Trunksan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAvyNjyGId8

 

Trunksan, towards the end of the video, with the New Orlean Pelican purple shirt sharing some drinks (how not typical         )  with Haris (DJ Fishimself),Dave (BotFB) and Giota. It's funny cause you can hear the typical Greek "Geia mas".

I'm pretty sure that at the final day I'll be present at a lot of K-ban's videos since I was dancing in front of him and harassing him all the time!

[Shpongled247]

Dayumnn... Sounds and looks so good!

Thanks for sharing all that wow... Mmm what do you mean by 2019? Is ZNA every couple years? Only asking coz we are travelling next year (18) hah..

+1 Technosomy to gettin Ray to bring goa back to Oz again hah...

 

Also, how was the Miranda set if anyone caught her??

[Trunksan]

Also, how was the Miranda set if anyone caught her??

 

I was at the beach but listened to all of it... It was a little too club-trancy for my taste (as it has always been), not so psychedelic.  Ans she has gotten really chubby!

[staffan]

Amazing festival, amazing people. I had such a good time, ZNA is perfect.

 

Ree K was my favorite along with MWNN.

 

I've uploaded some videos on my youtube.

 

[K-BAN]

I'm pretty sure that at the final day I'll be present at a lot of K-ban's videos since I was dancing in front of him and harassing him all the time!

oh you mean like here at 3:43 ;p

 

[Colin OOOD]

Great review, really gives the flavour of what sounds like a wonderful edition of ZNA

[Trunksan]

On 18/9/2017 at 4:05 PM, K-BAN said:

oh you mean like here at 3:43 ;p

 

 

This and alot of other of your videos on youtube!!!

[Prao]

Hi ! 

 

Sorry for reopening an old thread, but I'd like to know more about ZNA.

I'm interested in it as it's goa-focused, but would like to know what other psy-genres are played there. I quite like forest myself and I wonder if any of that is played at ZNA. I always dreamed of dancing to forest psy in a forest, at night. 

 

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[Tsotsi]

On 9/3/2017 at 7:57 PM, technosomy said:

something decent like ZNA needs to happen here in australia one day

especially here in the byron bay region

did anyone happen to talk to ray castle at all?

i should have asked someone to pass a message on that we need another revival here in the same vain as he introduced goa

to this region all those years ago

I'd take a revival in the NT, WA, TAS, or just about anywhere in Australia. 

[Trunksan]

On 8/7/2018 at 4:06 PM, Prao said:

Hi ! 

 

Sorry for reopening an old thread, but I'd like to know more about ZNA.

I'm interested in it as it's goa-focused, but would like to know what other psy-genres are played there. I quite like forest myself and I wonder if any of that is played at ZNA. I always dreamed of dancing to forest psy in a forest, at night. 

 

Thanks in advance for your replies.

There is some dark music played at night, like Tim Schuldt, Xenomorph, BotFB but not forest.

Probaly the best festival for "forest in a forest" is MoDem.

 

[Prao]

1 hour ago, Trunksan said:

There is some dark music played at night, like Tim Schuldt, Xenomorph, BotFB but not forest.

Probaly the best festival for "forest in a forest" is MoDem.

 

Meeh, nevermind then. I'm always too tired to stay up till 3 or 4 am anyway. Thanks for the info!