Church of Trance

Trance Jesus chats with Cold Blue for a relaxed car ride from the airport to Downtown Minneapolis in a wide-ranging interview covering his return to the United States, the love of intimate club shows, the story behind his latest album, the surprising staying power of vinyl, and how life in the German countryside has reshaped his creative routine. Enjoy a real look at the person behind the music, and a raw look at trance culture, artist life, and the connection with one of Trance’s most beloved artists. Cold Blue Hey Chris, how are we doing? Some traffic there. Yeah, nice to see you. Nice to see you. We met before. Trance Jesus Yes, Dream States. Dream States of the past. Cold Blue Yeah, you look very familiar to me. Trance Jesus I'm, uh, I'm told I'm hard to miss. Yeah, especially when I'm skating out. Cold Blue Especially what? Trance Jesus When I'm standing up. Cold Blue Oh yeah. Trance Jesus About 196[cm]. Cold Blue Okay. Trance Jesus So people are usually lookin...

FEATURING THE MUSIC OF TIËSTO, SOLARSTONE, NALIN & KANE, LAURENT VERRONEZ, CASS & SLIDE, STARECASE, DJ REMY, MAX GRAHAM, MARK OTTEN, PERRY O’NEIL, KING UNIQUE, LUSTRAL, DJ TON T.B. & MORE First there was Techno. Then came Trance. Then - as an almost immediate phasedown of the latter … progressive house.  So, what in the world’s Progressive Trance then!? Well, for the main, it’s trance in its purest, dawn-of-the-genre form. Effectively a handy tag that anchored the music to everything that came - stylistically at least - before 1997. It was trance music for those that were not yet ready to surrender to the sugary rush of the gated synth, the furious snare and the advanced tempos that, tsunami-like, rolled in, as the Nineties reached their peak. No one however expected Progressive Trance to last more than a baton passing year or few. Nor that a myriad of labels and imprints would spring up in support of it, or that already supremely well-established ones would whole...

This summer, Push returns to the album format with ‘Known Universe’ – the eighth longplayer in his eminent career. That 'known universe' specifically is the hardware-driven studio world that shaped his earliest work. The one that Mike Dierickx painstakingly reassembled in order to reconnect with the tools, challenges and workflows of his original environment. In doing so he’s nailed an album that’s “ the truest reflection of Push to date. ” ‘Known Universe’ has landed! ‘Keeping it real’ ... It was a thing back then and something that lies at the very bedrock of what - production-wise - Mike Dierickx did … and still does to this day. Over his studio lifetime, he hasn’t mutated, changed-to-order or had his sound knocked off course by fleeting trend. Not even the once. Being true to the craft has quite literally been his be-all and end-all. At points that might’ve cost him ground, but Mike had an oracle-like idea of what the long game looked like. Impactful music, made wi...

Having stopped to smell the roses for a few cycles, Roger Shah’s hallmark music compilation series returns to streams, stores and shelves in 2026. Onboard, naturally, is its usual, impeccable prog/trance/house blend of melodic-tropics, harmonic sonics, castaway chords, beachfront character and seaside atmosphere. Ready to do it to the summer, before the summer does it to us, here comes ‘Magic Island – Music For Balearic People 13’ !! As is his way, Roger Shah’s again pursued a one-hundred-percent exclusive material mandate for his latest ‘M.I. ’ excursion. To that end, he’s reunited his singing, songwriting and composing family of ‘Balearic People’ for lucky no.13. Those returning from the last edition alone include Pierre Pienaar, Rafael Osmo, Yelow, Ditoma, Clarks, Aytaro, Spy and, naturally enough, Roger’s Sunlounger alias - all contributing to its compound hybrid makeup. Adding to that family are actual blood-tied Shahs . Three years further on, Roger’s son Noah Shah has ...

AS IT NAVIGATES ITS SECOND ALBUM DECADE, SOLARSTONE BRINGS MAJOR CHANGES TO HIS MIXCOMP MARQUE. (MUSICAL PURITY HOWEVER REMAINS STRICTLY INTACT !!).   Having solo-helmed the milestone tenth ‘Pure Trance’ outing, Solarstone reflected at the time that it was: “a transitional moment’ for the series. A natural temporal point, where one ‘chapter’ would close and another open. ” And that new “ chapter ” is where we find ourselves today.  At their core, ‘Pure Trance’ albums has always had an ethos – something seeded in them from the very start. However, that culture Rich felt was: “achievable, but not yet fully achieved”. Specifically, it’s that of creating the albums the ‘Global Underground’ way or by following the ‘Northern Exposure’ trail. A commitment to compiling and mixing so detailed, so thought through and so experience-led, that it enshrines the 20/20 club experience as close to 1:1 as is humanly possible.  So, to finally make that flesh, he returned the...

Fusing two generations of artistry along a single conceptual thread,  Fisherman  ( Isaac Vissers ) lands his debut album with a project as deeply rooted in family as it is in music. ‘Metamorphosis’  takes inspiration from a series of twelve graphic works created in the early 90s by Isaac’s father, painter Jack Vissers, with the meaning of each canvas now reinterpreted as a corresponding piece of music. Across its twelve tracks, the album charts the human journey – one that moves from states of innocence and possibility, through the rebellious and aspirational stages, before finally reaching understanding, transcendence, and continuity. Whichever way you cut it, there’s never been an album quite like ‘Metamorphosis’ . Across its twelve tracks, the album charts the human journey – one that moves from states of innocence and possibility, through the rebellious and aspirational stages, before finally reaching understanding, transcendence, and continuity. Talking about ‘...