Interview for TranceFamily: album behind the scenes

The interview for GTranceFamily reveals Daniel Lesden’s upcoming album behind the scene details.

Hi Daniel, congratulations on the new album and thanks for taking the time to speak with us today?
Hello guys, and thanks for your kind words! It’s a pleasure to talk with you again.

Can you share with us how the idea of ‘Chronicles Of The Universe’ first came about?
Oh, I’m very fascinated about the Universe, the Cosmos and all that bright dots above our heads! I think understanding the Universe is the most important goal for us as human beings, because it can answer so many timeless questions like ‘where we come from’ and ‘where we are going’. My previous EPs were also connected to the cosmos in some way, so it wasn’t a hard decision for me to make a full-length album based on this same theme.

I believe that our Solar System is a very unique place, all the planets are so different but at the same time are so harmonic with each other. It is, after all, our home. I get my biggest inspirations, which really made me want to start working on my album during my evening running near the sea where I live. Every time I saw a sunset it made me wonder how the Sun could be so far (150 million km away!) but still look beautiful and warm, so I guess the Planets, which we can’t see through the naked eye must look amazing too.

Each of the tracks on the album tells a very different story but all carry a similar theme linking them together. How hard was it achieving this but at the same time creating each with its very own sound?
Being honest with you it wasn’t an easy thing to do. I watched a lot of documentary films and read numerous scientific journals to double check facts. You can actually see many parallels between the tracks and the planets they are about.

I think understanding the Universe is the most important goal for us as human beings

For example, Mercury is solid rock with a huge metallic core and no atmosphere. And despite it being the closest planet to the Sun, the opposite side is very cold and if you look up from the Mercurian surface you’ll see absolutely dark skies. So I tried to create this feeling by not adding any pads or atmospheric sounds. The tech-groove and percussions and even some kind of dubstep sounds which you here in the breakdown relate to the metallic core. It has pretty minor melodies with a few evil laugh effects because, well… ‘Mercurian Night’ is a pretty scary place!

Another example is the next track, ‘Ishtar Terra’. Unlike Mercury, Venus has a very tight atmosphere, so it has a very low and heavy ambience. It has a very hot temperature, so the track runs ‘hot’ all the way through, almost with no breakdowns.

Or ‘165 Earth Years’, is actually how much time it takes for Neptune to make one orbit around the sun. It is a story about one of the most atmospheric planets in our Solar System so of course, I had to put this into the track.

You can also hear how the track tempo reduces down from 138 BPM to 130 BPM from first to last track in the album, symbolising the various orbits form the nearest planet from the sun, to the furthest.

During the album production process, I tried not only re-create some scientific facts but also create my own fascinating story for each track, which with a bit of imagination, makes you wonder and really travel through the Universe. Did I achieve this, well that’s up to the listener to decide.

We’re interested to understand how long it took you to finish the album from its initial conception through to final mastering?
Talking about production, I started working on the album in May 2013 and finished in October 2013, whilst at the same time making few extra tracks. I finished remixes for Lyctum’s ‘Galactic Society’, Ace Ventura’s ‘Presence’ and of course my latest single ‘Space Form’, which is pretty fast I’d say.

Searching for the label was something that took a very long time and if I am honest was quite frustrating. You just send a demo out and can only hope you hear back from them. Unfortunately, you’re not able to speed things up or to do anything else other than just wait, which can be very painful.

Full cycle from initial idea to release it took nine months, so I’m very happy and it was totally worth it to know the album gets released on the 10th February.

It took me took nine months from the initial album idea to signing it on the label

Your new website that goes with the album provides the listener with an extra dimension with both it’s visuals and write-ups. What were you thinking behind this and how much does it go hand in hand with the album?
It seems my brain is the so-called ‘visualising’ type and whatever track I listen to, I always have some images in my mind. Depending on the track I am listening to they can be pretty abstract or specific.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank some people who without their assistance the website would not have become the success I dreamt it would be. Simon Waring for the well-written texts, Dragos Zavadschi for technical assistance and to all of the artists and agencies who’s images perfectly illustrate each track: NASA, Max Mitrofanov, Billelis, Joe Vinton, Mirai Art Studio and Greg Martin.

Creating a great album as you have done is one thing but getting it signed to such a respected label as JOOF Recordings is something else. Tell us how this came about and your excitement when you first found out?
First of all, you have to know I am a very big JOOF Recordings fan from a listener’s point of view and have been following this label since 2006 and have over 100 of their releases in my collection.

I have enormous respect for John 00 Fleming and with any doubt, I can say he is the person who inspired me the most to start my musical path. I guess now you can understand how happy I was to find out ‘Chronicles Of The Universe’ would be released on one of the most respected and my all time favourite label.

Whilst I can’t give away too much at this stage, the album is just the beginning of my relationship with JOOF Recordings. I am currently working on further projects and hope to be able to share with you more about this very soon.

We wish you all the success you deserve with your new album and can’t wait until it’s release.
Thanks a lot for the chat and your kind words! I sincerely hope the listeners will find similar sentiments in the album as I did writing it.

Link to the original post
Text — Simon Waring