The technoclub are moving the dance floor to the beach on the 27th July for their Dance For Love summer event. One artist on the bill is the very highly rated Darren Porter. We had the chance to sit down with this very talented trance star...

From the humble surroundings of the north east of England, near Newcastle, Darren Porter began his musical journey experimenting with keyboards and pianos and without the ability to read music and not one music lesson he was able to learn what made music work, from this he began to write small film scores for independent short films, but his real passion lay with electronic music.

Since he first a mix tape from SASH! Darren became hooked on EDM, spending hours everyday through his teens learning the groundwork to production. He went on to study music technology to further his interest in production and to satisfy his thirst for producing music, in early 2003 Darren took his first steps into professional producing and since then worked tirelessly to perfect his tone and style which over the years has evolved into the hard driving euphoric trance we hear today.

Whilst not ready to let the world hear his music Darren held back until he was happy with what he could hear, he then entered the “Dave Pearce bedroom producer” competition which he won after Dave heard his track “termination” only hours before the show went live, “Termination” was subsequently signed to Oceanstate Recordings which received support from Tom Colonotio and Vicky Devine.

Over the last few years Darren has built a steady reputation for driving and hard euphoric uplifting remixes known to deliver huge energy, he has remixed over 10 tracks all of which have been supported by some of the biggest DJ’s on the planet – 2011 has been a monumental year for Darren Porter – winning the title “Tough as Titanium track of the Week” for his monster chart topping release “Daytona” – Signing his collaboration track with Sy Gardner “Springs Scent” to Sean Tyas’ label “Titanium Recordings which was tracklisted at ASOT500.

2012 saw Darren explode with a flurry of remixes and originals and caught the attention of big game players even earning himself a worldwide twitter trend for his track “foundry” while been played and supported by Armin Van Buuren. to further his progression Darren remixed one the biggest vocal tracks of the summer of 2012 Sean Tyas feat. Lo-fi Sugar – The world which caught great reviews and was played through the world during the summer festivals. In 2012 Darren has completed number 1 track Foundry, collaborated with Manuel Le saux and Ferry Tayle and unleashed his biggest track to date “tesla Effect” with Gareth Weston, also playing live and now starting his tour on the scene as a live performer Darren Porter has truley stamped his foot on the scene and is sure to keep rising.

The Technoclub needs no introduction and neither does Talla 2XLC. It’s a place that champagnes the finest in trance and attracts clubbers from all over the globe. Talla is hosting a very special beach Technoclub on the 27th July putting taking trance music into the sun shine. Darren Porter is one of the many talented artists selected to make the party go with a bang and we had the chance to catch a few words with him.

 i:Vibes: The next highlight is coming end of July where you will be performing at the Technoclub summer party at beach club. How excited are you about headlining with Talla 2XLC and Giuseppi Otaviani?

Darren: Hi thanks for the interview, I am really excited to be playing along side two great names in the scene it’s really a privilege and I am really looking forward, cant wait.

 i:Vibes: When was the first time that you heard the name Talla 2xlc?

Darren: I have been fan of Talla 2xlc for many years growing up listening techno club compilations so Talla is one of the names i heard right from the very beginning for me.

 i:Vibes: How has the music of Talla 2XLC effected you over the years and do you have a favourite track of his?

Darren: I think he has influenced many artist of today as he was there right at the beginning so I’m sure there is some underlining influence of course.

 i:Vibes: You started your music career by writing small film scores for independent movies. What is the perfect film soundtrack that you could say influenced you early on in your musical direction?

Darren: This is hard because film music has so many different feelings and styles, but id say the emotion that the likes of Hans zimmer and Steve Jablonsky offer has an impact on my sound in trance, but to select a film score that really made me listen was when I was young, and that was the score from "The Lion King", Hans Zimmer even won an Oscar for it!

 i:Vibes: You became hooked on EDM after listening to a Sash mix tape. What made his mixing so unique and how much did that early mix tape effect how you became a DJ and how you have developed over the years?

Darren: I was pretty young and many different styles of music were popular but i got this tape and heard sounds on it that really made me listen, the riffs and melody were new and different. I was more interested in how this music was making me feel and this i think was the start of my producing tenure and things have just evolved since.

 i:Vibes: You started dabbling with electronic music in 2003, but only since a few years have began to steadily release music. Which producers have been your biggest influences?

Darren: From 2003 I was just listening towards the end of the golden era of trance and I listened back to all the classics so a lot of the guys from then were a huge influence on me, but it wasn’t until about 2006 -2007 things got a little more serious for me and really wanted to get involved and the new up comers at the time were a big influence, the likes of Sean Tyas who I looked up as producer along with Manuel le Saux, Armin van buuren, Guiseppe ottaviani, ferry Tayle and many others, too many to mention ha!

 i:Vibes: After the quick success of Daytona, were you surprised how rapidly your producing career has evolved?

Darren: Its been pretty fast and I am very humbled, but there has been a lot of disappointments and tough rejections involved too, but I still very surprised at the response and support my music gets at the moment and having the opportunities to work people that I looked up and never though for a second I would be able to get involved with these guys. So, yeah I’ve been VERY surprised.

 i:Vibes: How thankful have you been to Sean Tyas who realized your talent from the start? When will you guys make a track together?

Darren: Sean knows how grateful I am because it’s true that he supported my stuff in the early days when really it wasn't of standard, he must have heard or seen something and kind of helped me on the way. It was because of this early support and a couple of "Track of the week" accolades he gave me that generated a small buzz around me and he has helped me keep my feet firmly on the ground and is always happy to give advice, support or feedback, but I think this where I am lucky because I been able to make friends in this business not only colleagues and the same goes for Ferry Tayle, Manuel le Saux , Ram, Gareth Weston, Ian Standerwick all of which have given invaluable advice and more importantly a friendship that makes things just better - back to the collaboration with Sean? All I can say is maybe haha!

 i:Vibes: Springs Scent has that unique break that just needs to be on repeat. What made this track so special in your eyes?

Darren: Springs scent was one of the first tracks I did where i wanted to use my background in film music, and I asked Sy Gardner if he was interesting on working on an idea I had and he agreed, if anything I think the special thing about the track was trying to merge the ambiance of the film music with trance to create a unique breakdown and hopefully we achieved it.

 i:Vibes: Your sound has that driving full throttle ahead similar to a Sean Tyas, but how would you describe your sound?

Darren: I think my sound can be versatile although I have been getting more support with my fusion of hard uplifting driving trance. Some of my remixes, even the one for Sean Tyas (The world feat Lofi Sugar) was at 132 bpm and not the big 140bpm banging sound although it does sound ok at 140 ha! This is similar for the collaborations with Ferry Tayle (Neptunes trilogy) again at 132. So how do I describe my sound? Trance

 i:Vibes: What is your memory of producing trance gem Foundry with your friends Manuel Le Saux and Ferry Tayle? What was the most important thing you had to do to get this track perfect?

Darren: Foundry was in fact an experiment for me, i wanted to see if I could get the same energy and drive from 130 bpm track like i do with a 140 bpm track, (yes! foundry is 130 bpm) so the most important thing was this drive and energy flow through out, and as a result of this track I met Ferry Tayle and Manuel le Saux and opened opportunities for collaborations with both of them.

 i:Vibes: One could call you, Manuel Le Saux and Ferry Tayle the three amigos. What is the secret behind your friendship in and out of the studio?

Darren: HA! the 3 amigos, our friendship is really good and special because we don’t have to try to be friends, we just became instant friends within 10 minutes of meeting and we all get along incredibly well, and this rubbed in the studio too. While working both Ferry and Manuel we had such good fun and loved every minute of it and will work with them time and time again in a heartbeat.

 i:Vibes: You have made three consecutive hits in a row with Foundry, Tesla Effect and Neptunes Siren. Are you starting to think more about how you’re making music or not feeling any pressure as a certain 17 year old wunderkind Boris Becker did at the 1985 Wimbeldon?

Darren: It does get hard if a track does well as the pressure is on because there are a lot of people who will tell you that a follow up is not good enough or you can be a victim of your own success and to be able to build on the track previous each time will have to stop soon. After those 3 tracks I did "Spellbound" which seems to be the most supported track and is making it a very difficult job to keep it up, so yes, pressure is on.

 i:Vibes: What was it like working with Gareth Weston on Tesla Effect? What was your duty exactly in the studio for this track?

Darren: Working with Gareth Weston was a treat, as long as he was kept with bacon sandwiches and beer he’s fine ha! But Gareth came over to work on a track only expecting to get a few ideas down and maybe a basis for the track so we could go off and build on it, but we clicked of each other and finished the track while he was here.

 i:Vibes: I love your new track Neptunes Siren which is coupled with a big remix from Sean Tyas. The break is really breathtaking. When you sit down and listen to the break, what are the first thoughts that come to mind?

Darren: Thanks! When I sit down and listen to the break now I think to myself how many more times can I hear this ha! As I rewrote the main riff and break about 100 times, (ask Ferry Tayle! ha!) we needed it be right, it had to tell a story, it had to be surreal. We are both really pleased with how it came out and Sean did a great remix. Neptunes Return has also just been released to follow on the story; you got to check that out too.

 i:Vibes: Your remix of Lift is fantastic and totally different from the original. Is a remix at times more difficult to make than an original track?

Darren: It can be, a remix has to be different, and it has to bring something else to the table. Because I did the Lift remix as part of contest I kind of expected the style of remix that would come, its what I would have done if it was just a single remix so I was forced to think a bit differently about it, so in this case, a remix was much harder to do.

 i:Vibes: you could be locked in the studio with an artist for 24 hours who would you chose?

Darren: This is really hard, but, I’m going to choose someone who is not in EDM, I would love to sit and pick Hans Zimmer's brain purely because of his immense talent in writing melodies and riff that really connect with you and this style lends it self to trance so much, the experience I have in understanding and studying this genre of music has been invaluable in my productions of EDM.

 i:Vibes: If you had to play your last ever track in your last DJ set which track would you end it with?

Darren: That’s probably the toughest question yet! I think it would be a track that I first experienced the "euphoria" with and I'm going to say Lange - Follow me (original mix)

TECHNOCLUB PRESENTS: DANCE FOR LOVE 2013

:: Technoclub presents: Dance For Love / 27th July

:: Find out more about Dance For Love right here!