Bio: |
With every incisive musical move, Trafik move closer and closer to the forefront of the musical world, both in an electronic and a mainstream sense.
The creation of the now renowned ‘Electric Calm’ series, labelled by Jive magazine in the US as “….the best chill out CD(s) ever….” the jaw-dropping big name remixes for the likes of Dave Seaman, their debut singles ‘Your Light’ and ‘Echoes’ which dominated dance floors from Miami to Melbourne and now, with the inception of ‘Bullet’, their ‘genre destroying’ debut long player, the band has arrived to set a new precedent for the standard of new sounds and help re-establish electronic music as the true future of the modern music.
Trafik were formed in a flash of fate, as two people came to the pinnacle of their respective musical projects in 1999. Andrew Archer, was at this time becoming one of dance music’s most wanted re-mixers as one part of the Forth, alongside Global Underground founder, James Todd, and the current manager of Dave Seaman’s Audio Therapy label, Scott Dawson. The trio had achieved huge notoriety re-mixing the top 40 hit, BT – Loving You More, cementing them as producers who’s output was contently on demand from the original heavyweight DJs themselves, namely Sasha and Digweed. Over the years their careers saw them charged to apply the Forth power to acts as diverse as Dutch Trance legend ‘Taucher’, to the flailing legs of the Lord of the Dance himself, Michael Flattely.
Andrew, with the aid of Scott Dawson then developed the Forth as an all conquering DJ outfit that would see them become just as wanted and successful as any of their previous productions, and also saw them travel to the four corners of the globe in the process. One memorable moment being Andrew’s show on the Great Wall of China, this was the first performance by a western DJ in China; contrary to a claim made by a certain Mr. Oakenfold. All of this culminated in the release of the Forth’s debut E.P, Reality Detached, the title track of which has often been described by DJ Hyper, as his favourite track of all time. Also featuring on this E.P was a destructive club track by the name of Solavox, featuring vocals from a certain singer named, John Elliott.
Previous to this first meeting of minds, John had been living the life of a rock band member since leaving school at the tender age of 16 to go on tour with the widely loved British indie band Solavox. Over
a period of three years John would experience the highs and lows of the music industry ranging from being the youngest songwriter on Polygram’s books in a deal worth over a quarter of a million pounds, to the cold and lonely road home after the pulls of rock and roll excess laid waste to the band labelled by Melody Maker, “….even better than the real U2”. Although there are no regrets, this time on the road gave John a grounding education in the world of live music, now being able to not only sing but play guitar both axe and bass, keyboards and ‘a bit of drums!’ experience that cannot be taught.
However, fail they did, leaving John back in his hometown of Newcastle upon Tyne, looking for work. This search landed him in the offices of Global Underground, a place that would both seal his conversion from the depths of rock to his newfound love of all things electronic and introduce him to Andrew as colleagues at the world’s most exclusive dance label. This spurred a new ability to be creative musically outside of the confines of a band scenario. Working as vocalist with dance music super group Tilt in the studios of Celvin Andrew’s, the man responsible for Robbie William’s Brit Award winning ‘Rock DJ’, and with fellow GU worker John Paul Denton under the pseudonyms of Avatar and Spector, all the while honing the all important production skills essential to the sound of Trafik.
Out of this huge range of experience, Trafik was born. Combining the DJing and programming skills of Andrew Archer and the live ability and production skills of John Elliott, the pair has formed one of the most dynamic forces in dance music, if not music itself, today. Their experience has been revered by the likes of Nick Warren, using productions from the duo on three of his four Global Underground albums, Dave Seaman, who has required their re-mixing skills for his label Audio Therapy on more than one occasion and their synonymous career with Global Underground mixing nine compilation albums all of which have collectively amassed well over a million sales in total.
But it doesn’t stop there with the cinematic experience that is ‘Bullet’ their debut album, expect the band to become more a part of everyday life than just huge in the clubbing world. Bullet has already been described as ‘...hugely diverse,’’…genre destroying,’ and ‘….ultimately powerful’ by the press and this is a full month before its release, but why does it deserve such merit?
Beginning in a wash of Eno cinematic atmosphere, the album kicks of into the hazy neo-rock and roll world of new single ‘Echoes’, then travels through the seedy club musings of ‘Disco Trafiko’, finishing in the orchestral tinged masterpiece that is ‘Surrender’. Along the way there are guest appearances in the form of the lead singer of post-rock menace, Peace Burial at Sea, namely Jonny ‘Riggers’ Longrigg who’s angst ridden vocals and demonic guitar playing can be heard on ‘Escape From’, and the soulful, folk-tinged vocal appearances of Rachel Lamb on the anti-war mantra ‘Into the Wind’ and shuddering, whispering messages on the album finale ‘Surrender’.
The album features too many high points to list all, but whether it’s frantic or subtle, simple or complex ‘Bullet’ maintains the Trafik ethos of size, clarity and power – a true cinematic performance.
What now for Trafik, well in simplicity, to carry on with the creation, promising to carry on with the exploration into the true depths of electronica, choosing to fuse and era and any style of music. The looming second album, which will undoubtedly spur them into the arena of live performance. Continuing to develop their newly built recording studio; Loft Studios. And more precisely, on the horizon is a host of promotional exercises to launch their debut album. First up is there new single ‘Echoes’, which is released on September 20th, next is an hour long show on John Digweed’s Kiss FM program which is to air on October … Then on and on they go, a host of remixes already loom, of which details will be released in the future, but whatever happens I’m sure they will never be too far away. Trafik rarely are.
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