From his humble beginnings, the past 25 years have taken Carl Nicholson on a journey that can only be described as the story of a true underdog. From pulling himself from the rock bottom, Carl learnt his craft from the undisputed king of dance, the late, great Tony de Vit, and then went on, armed with Tony’s Trade record bag, to bag himself a residency at Fabric and festival spots around the world. His tracks are revered worldwide with staunch support from the likes of Armin Van Buuren, Ferry Corsten and Paul Van Dyk – DMCWORLD checks in with the main man as he releases his rework of the classic 90s hit ‘Delicious’ via Tidy Two…
How have you been holding up during quarantine? What are some things you’ve been doing to keep your creativity flowing?
Hi Guys, I’ve not been too bad actually, the only downside is I have an eight month baby at present and the whole lockdown seems to be causing her issues, so not much happening in the land of sleep for Daddy at them min haha. Creatively wise I have just been doing my normal routine, but still have somehow managed to write another album called ‘Now We Are Free’ which I’m aiming for release as soon as all these restrictions go.
We love your new remix for Jam & Spoon’s ‘Right In The Night’. What inspired you to make your own rendition of the track?
The track was a very important one to me indeed, it was the single track that made me fall in love with the genre we now call trance, and one slightly inebriated night I gathered the courage to message Rolf (Jam) asking if I could have a shot at it, little did I know that they were planning to do a 2020 re-release, so with a little help from my good friend Arny Bink at Black Hole I got the shot. The track took me almost 6 months to complete and 36 versions, I had to get this one right, and by the looks of the response out there at the minute it seems it was time well spent.
You have quite an impressive rolodex of releases. What are some of your favorite tracks you’ve worked on?
My favourites I’d say were my remixes of Tony de Vit’s – ‘The Dawn’, Quench – ‘Dreams’ and of course ‘Right In The Night’.
What originally attracted you to trance music and how has the genre evolved as a whole over the course of your career?
It was the way you could just close your eyes and be transported to another magical land no matter how shit your life might be on that present day. I’d say it’s over evolved if I’m honest, some of the ‘Trance’ I hear sounds nothing like what it’s originated from, but I suppose it comes with the oversaturation of producers that we currently have. But, on the same note there are some truly awesome examples too, you just gotta look around to find it.
You recently released the massive tune ‘Inflicted’ on Perfecto Fluoro. Tell us a little bit about how this song was created and why you think it’s a good fit for Oakenfold’s imprint.
The track was written purely for the Fluoro label, I like to call it ‘Psybrid’, it has the melodies of trance but has a much darker Psy edged groove to it, to give it that underground feel.
Apart from producing music, what are some activities you love to do?
I love spending time with my family and friends (When the government allows), and I am a massive film freak, so much so it takes me an hour to find anything new and decent I haven’t watched as I already seen most of them.
What genres of music do you enjoy listening to in your free time?
I love all types of music, not just dance, I love to listen to a bit of Rock, Reggae, Hip Hop and so many others. I find it amusing when people will only listen to one genre out of elitism, it’s a big world out there guys, you never know you might enjoy what you hear.
What advice would you give aspiring trance producers?
Stay true to what you love about music and try not to get into the trap of template producing, and also the most important bit of advice I can give is, don’t expect to be successful overnight. I’ve been doing this 25 years as a hobby really so far, it’s only just coming to fruition. If your heart is in it, you will get there in the end no matter how long it takes.
Tell us a little bit about your vision for your impending EQ Recording Studio.
EQ is going to be a small powerhouse of a studio taking the best of vintage equipment and fusing it with today’s modern technology, it’s a labour of love. I’ve been building for 5 months already, couple more months to go but when its done it will be the very best bar none for miles.
Any upcoming plans or goals you can share with us at this time?
Loads coming up, a new album called ‘Reverent’ is soon to have a release date scheduled, and I’ve got a ton of other stuff you can keep in the pipeline with on my site www.nicholsonworld.net
