Interview with Trevor McLachlan

Hey Trevor, just to give those who aren’t in the know a bit of background, tell us a bit about yourself.  Where do you hail from, what’s your present status/location and how did you get into DJ’ing?

Hey Timmy, how's it going. Righto, I'm an Australian who came here 10 yrs ago on a 3 month holiday and is still yet to make it home. I have been back of course several times, some of which to play gigs in Australia and NZ, but will move back to Oz with my family for good one day. I live just outside of London, in Kent and travel to London to work in the City during the week. I got into DJing about 9 years ago, I used to go to a West End club and got to know the DJ there, called Nana Blade (whom I am still friends with and she was also into hard house) and I used to love watching her DJ and wanted to be able to do what she did. It was about the same time that I thought there must be more to London than the West End and went out to find out about the underground scene and started to going to the Fridge and Camden Palace regularly to events like Frantic, Convergence, XLR8, Tasty and all those pioneering nights 'back in the day'. I bought a set of decks and started going vinyl shopping on a weekly basis. The rest, they say, is history!

Do you have a musical background?  Did you ever think you’d end up as a career musician?

No, I don't have a musical background as such. I have always been into music and when I lived in Sydney for 2 years at the end of the 90's before coming to the UK, I got right into the trance scene there and loved it! So I guess that helped me when I took up DJing. but no, I never thought I would ever end up in London carving out a career in music like I have.

What have you been up to in the last year in the way of gigs and productions?

To be honest, things have been pretty quiet on the music front from me for a couple of years, mainly because of a very busy City job and now a family with 2 gorgeous young boys. I have still been playing some great gigs from time to time, I played in Oz again last December and one of the stand out gigs for me in the past 12 months was probably Glow Ball, which is an awesome event at Mass which has a great atmosphere and following just like the old days. I am still resident of Friendz, which I have been for the past 6 years and loving it! I am managing the Friendz Music label also, which concentrates on releasing quality uplifting trance which the Friendz parties have become synonymous for.

Any parties stand out as particularly memorable and for what reasons?

As above, Glow Ball stood out for it's sheer atmosphere and the amount of hard work they put in for making it all about the clubbers, with lots of visuals and a great music policy. Of course all the gigs I play in Australia are a stand out, I do love playing in Australia, even though I wasn't a DJ when I left the there to come to the UK, but it's great to go back and play there.

And what can we expect from you in 2010 in the way of upcoming productions and DJ’ing appearances?

I seriously don't get the time to produce much these days with a young family and extremely busy job which has taken me to Hong Kong, Atlanta and Barcelona in the last 6 months, so it's hard to get in the studio these days. But I won't rule out getting in there in 2010. DJ wise there's a bit going on which I am excited about. Of course with the summer coming up, the Friendz boat parties are always something to look forward to, the Friendz crowd are awesome and ensure you get an awesome party with great music and atmosphere, so am looking forward to that. I've just played at a new trance night called Alchemy which was set up by Phil Reynolds and Charlie Bradley which had a great launch, so looking forward to playing there more. I have got Puzzle Project coming up, which is always good fun and then of course it's reFre5h's 2nd Bday which I am excited about. With James Lawson and Marc French on the line up, it reminds me of an old Twisted party at the Fridge when I was resident!

We know you’ve in the past been extensively involved with Friendz and their top notch boat parties.  Can we expect any more Friendz events this year, whether nautical or otherwise?  (Required answer - yes!).

There's the Friendz 7th Birthday Boat Party is coming up on May 1st on the Thames, on our usual boat, The Golden Flame and it's always a special day out with the Friendz boat parties. I have been resident for 6 years and the events are as strong as ever, although we do less events now and concentrate on our successful boat parties.

You’ve become renowned for your euphoric yet tough and driving brand of trance.  Any changes of direction lately?  Which producers and/or labels are really pushing your buttons at the moment?

I haven't really changed direction lately, I have always been a ardent fan of both proper uplifting trance and the UK hard trance sound I portray in my tougher sets and of course my productions on labels like Tidy, Impact and Addiction Digital. There are some great young producers coming through that I have been supporting lately like, Trevor Dans, Sheldon Ives and April and a guy called Kris McLachlan (no relation can you believe). All this new lot are producing some wicked uplifting stuff which have been part of sets recently.

And as for classics – are there any tunes that have become a permanent fixture of your record box?

I always have a few classics in my record bag, on the trance side, Ian Betts did a great bootleg of Matt Darey's Liberation which I've rinsed over the years, it's a track I loved when first getting into trance in the late 90's so that is always there. In fact I have a number of Ian Betts bootlegs that I've played a lot in my trance sets. On the harder side of things when I think classics I think of tracks like Ilogik's 'Make It Happen', Steve Blake's 'I Get A Rush' and Prime Mover tracks like 'Black Dogs' - I had the privilege of working in the studio with Dave Parkinson from Prime Mover which was amazing!

We certainly used to enjoy some of the cracking sets you played at Twisted – any amusing or exciting events from those parties you look back on with fondness?  Or indeed with horror – that’s probably more amusing!

The Twisted parties were awesome and I was so privileged to be a resident at not only a great party like Twisted, but also at an amazing venue like the Fridge. Back in the day the Fridge was the place to be and to play in that club when there were 1200 people getting their groove on was just amazing and I will never forget it. There's plenty of stories from those days, not many I can probably repeat though :-)

What’s your take on the London club scene in the present day?  Are you still an enthusiastic clubber and if so which nights do you attend?

There are some great club nights emerging at present after a difficult few years in clubland. Events that I have mentioned above are going great like Friendz, Glow Ball, Puzzle Project and of course reFre5h and I still love to play at all these events and others. I unfortunately don't get a chance to attend just as a clubber much anymore, but when I get the chance to DJ out at these and other events and I always enjoy myself as a clubber as well.

What’s your dream gig and where would it be?

Tough one - Perhaps at Home in Sydney - Awesome club!

When your not DJ’ing what do you do to unwind?

Just hang out with my family which I love doing on weekends. I have 2 amazing boys with my wife Charlie who are 3 yrs old and 9 months old and it's great to be around them as much as I can.

Got skills in the kitchen?  What’s the most impressive thing you’ve ever cooked?

I love cooking and I cook a mean Risotto or Lasagne.

We’ve already mentioned the Friendz boat parties – what’s your best and worst moments whilst on a boat?

The best moments are always during the build up of a track I am playing and seeing the packed boat, all with their hands in the air and smiles on their faces. The worst is having to dock mid boat party to throw some drunk wanker off the boat because they're causing trouble.

And finally to whet everyone’s appetite for our birthday party, perhaps you can give everyone a little hint of what to expect?

I am really looking forward to reFre5h's 2nd Birthday and have a few ideas of what I will be playing. I am planning on playing some upfront tracks from the producers that have been doing it for me lately as well as throwing in a few classics. Hopefully my set will go down well! See you all there.