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Chris Blackburn: I'm Trance Jesus here, aka Chris Blackburn here at the Church at Trance. And we're really excited to conduct one of our first interviews, our exclusive artist interviews with an internationally renowned DJ that, and music producer for more than ten years, that was an IDMA nominee, played in over 40 countries worldwide on five different continents. In 2023, he was included for the 6th time the DJ Mag top 150 DJs in the world. I'd like to welcome Alexander Popov. Welcome!
Alexander Popov: Hi, Chris Blackburn. Thanks for having me today.
Chris Blackburn: Absolutely - we're excited to have you! We're excited to really talk to you about yourself, your career, and kind of where you see things going within the music industry and within trance here in 2024. So let's start off with an easy one. How about an easy question? So some of your early inspirations. Can you share with us the moment you realized that trance music was your calling and which artists influenced you the most in your early days?
Alexander Popov: Well, I started listening to electronic dance music when I was a teenager, about 15 years old, I think, and I was studied in music school and listened to different kind of music. But when I first time heard a track called Bullet in the Gun, my whole supply fact project there was kind of the gun for me. Like, it's really touched my heart, my kids heart, and I thought that kind of stuff that I really want to listen to more. Then I understood it's called trance music. So after that was some early Tiesto tracks, some Armin's tracks, maybe most of all, the album by Tiesto called Just Be, that was that one, that big thing for me that I really loved. I still think it's one of the biggest albums in trance music. I had only started to listen to Trance music.
Chris Blackburn: I know a lot of us veterans and I hate using that word, but I know a lot of us that have been around trance more than 20 years definitely have a special place in our heart for DJ Tiesto and really kind of help how he helped set the foundation for a lot of electronic music, especially in the Trance world.
So when you think about those early inspirations and how that's helped to shape your work as a producer in your sound and your music with its distinct style. How would you describe the Alexander Popov sound to someone who has never heard your work before?
Alexander Popov: It's every time very emotional and melodic electronic dance music. Of course, most of my tracks were released by A State of Trance, and I'm still mostly a Trance producer. I've been exclusively with Armada music for more than ten years. And yeah, I think 90% of my releases Trance music. So it's emotional classical trance sound with my own signature of both sounds. But they call, I don't know, it's badass people, you know, I love it.
Chris Blackburn: I love it. And speaking of Armada and some of the biggest names that they have signed and worked with in their history, when you think of some of the tracks that you've produced and you've collaborated with some of the biggest names in trance, what do you look for in a collaborator? And what has been your favorite collaboration to date?
Alexander Popov: Of course, I'm really proud of collaboration with Armin van Buren. The king of electronic dance music and trance and commercial trance. And yeah, proud to call him a friend. The guy who made a lot for my international music career.
Also my personal favorite collaboration called Angel. That's the track we've done with Paul Oakenfold, the guy who really inspired me again, he was surreal to work on the music and to have release of our collaboration on my label intro play after like, 15 years when I was a kid and start listening to that music, but then we can do music together. That's a magical thing. So I think these two tracks that I'm really proud of in my career, and it's always a big experience to work with such big artists.
Chris Blackburn: And one of my favorite quotes that I love is work hard to make your idols, become your peers. It's such an awesome experience when you can be that fan and then work hard and be able to call them a peer or collaborator. So definitely see that as a big milestone in any artist's career, like yourself. So thinking of the creative process, what is your creative process? When you're working on a track, where do you usually find inspiration?
Alexander Popov: I think this is a studio routine. So you have to get back you to the laptop, to the studio daily or a few days per week. You need to go to your laptop or to your doll and to find some ideas to work on your demos, to communicate with the people who I collaborate with. And it's about aspirations. For me, the most important thing is to travel around the globe to meet the people, different cultures, different cities, and that really inspires me a lot. That's why I love to travel around the globe. That's why I do love these international gigs and really feel happy still able to do that.
Chris Blackburn: So outside of your home in Russia, where has been your favorite place to find inspiration?
Alexander Popov: I love Moscow. I think it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It's changed a lot for the last ten years. So now many people that come there saying, wow, it's so beautiful. And it is, trust me, if you have a chance, just go and see yourself. How beautiful the city. So any part of the city is very different and very beautiful. And I do love to just walk through the streets to see some places. There is a lot of beautiful nature in Russia, so I love travel, and it just depends on the mood. If you want a more experience in the city, then you go to the center of Moscow. Sometimes you can go to the forest and to enjoy the nature.
Chris Blackburn: I love that. That's kind of like Minnesota, too. We've got our 10,000 lakes, we have our, you know, lots of state forests. And then, of course, I probably spend every weekend in the city of myself going to music shows and with friends. So I definitely can see how that inspiration can change just based on the environment. So let's shift gears. Let's talk about interplay. And as founder of Interplay Records, what is your vision for the label? And, you know, all the different sub labels that are underneath of interplay, I've had an opportunity to experience them all from all sorts of the sides of electronic music. Absolutely love them. But from your vision of the label, how do you curate the artists in the music for it?
Alexander Popov: Well, we started in 2017 as a part of Armada Music, as a sub label, just with one release per week, only progressive and trance music. Now we became an independent company and we now release like five or six tracks per week. So it's very wide musically with different genres from like house, bass house melodic techno, some progressive stuff, and of course, different kind of trance music. So at the moment, it's not just a record label. We also an event brand. We doing a lot of events across Russia. And not only Russia. We've done a showcase on Amsterdam Dance Event last year and we planned that for this year. Again, we've done two times in Ibiza. And for us, it's really important to develop our event brands, also to give opportunity for our artists to play live on our shows and our showcases.
And also we have a studio. So we sometimes build, like, from zero to something people to come and try to learn for some music production. We have a studio here in Moscow for DJing and studio production and also sometimes doing streams from this studio, like, done for 500 episodes of my radio show last week.
Alexander Popov: So it's kind of three most important thing for me, the studio, the events, and of course, the label with five sub labels at the moment. That's how we develop the brand.
Chris Blackburn: That's amazing. Congratulations on the 500 episodes. I know that's quite a milestone. I've only really started since COVID in doing regular radio shows monthly and live streams. And it definitely takes a lot of dedication. So congratulations to you and to the label and to your team. And speaking of live performances, you performed at, you know, some, probably some of the most exhilarating venues across the world. What can you tell us a memory from maybe your most memorable performances?
Alexander Popov: Well, there was a lot of very big and great performances. I think the most memorable is the one that played right before FIFA championship in Moscow, right before the opening ceremony for 65,000 people. Kind of sea of the people from around the globe, a lot of TV and radio stations from around the globe. And that was really huge. And that is all for the whole life, you know, that kind of memories.
Chris Blackburn: Was it nerve wracking at all or was it just, you were more excited?
Alexander Popov: I was super excited, you know, and I was on stage and I see that sea of the people. It was, wow. I think, wow, I'm not flipping. That was a big joy. And another one last year in Berlin, the Love Parade, right now they call it Rave the Planet.
Alexander Popov: So they say it's about 300,000 people there. So it's just.
Chris Blackburn: It's like a sea of people as far as you can see. Right.
Alexander Popov: It’s unbelievable.
Chris Blackburn: So then it's. It's got to be crazy. And I know I've had this experience myself, and many artists had to go through and weather COVID differently. And a lot of them based on just where they are in the world and the ability to connect with fans really had an impact on them. From your experience, Alex, how did COVID impact you personally? What kept you sane and how did it affect your career here in 2024?
Alexander Popov: Well, to be honest, it was a hard time for me these two years. I lost my father because of COVID.
Chris Blackburn: I'm sorry to hear that.
Alexander Popov: But at the same time, we built a lot of great things in these hard times because that's the time when we started independence with our label. We built event brand. Event brand. We could not do a lot of parties, but we sometimes tried. And that. That the base for us that we built in these like two, three years for Russian market. So it was challenging time, but I hope it made me a little bit stronger because, yeah, after that, I found a lot of good people from my team and I worked under the album, so reflected the album that was released at the end of last year. Most of the track I've done in this COVID times. So anyway, there was. This was a good, good times for my career because I worked hard.
Chris Blackburn: Sure. Yeah. And I know it's. Everyone kind of experienced it differently. And those, I think, that use it as an opportunity just to work harder and to really drive their own success are the ones that are starting to see those benefits here in 2024. So I'm glad to hear that it's been more of a positive experience coming out of COVID than more of a negative. And then in looking at the industry, electronic music, especially trance music scene, it is constantly evolving. I think for those like us that have seen it over the last 20 years, know that it's definitely not the same as when we started. How have you worked to stay relevant and adapt to the change?
Alexander Popov: Well, like Armin said, don't be prisoner of your own style. Yeah, that's. That's probably my motto. But still, I'm trying different kind of sound lately. Like last two, three years, I released from organic house to hardstyle, even sometimes. But to give a try, be more open wide producer, music producer and artist. And even as a DJ, when I playing Cafe del Mar, have to play more like Chill House maybe 115 or even 110.
And I do enjoy that when I play for the big festival, sometimes in Moscow for very young kids who have no idea about trance, to be honest. Just have fun on the dance floor. And then you can even play, even finish your set with some drum and bass stuff, you know, for me, it's fun and I sometimes do that. But my heart is still with the trance music. I still do love that genre and I think I still can do something in this genre. So that's why I'm. I keep, produce and release and play more than half trance music because I love that, that genre, that. That's the roots. That's what in my heart.
Chris Blackburn: Yes i say that to people too. Trance is always my first love. But in any great artist, any great artist is versatile and can play any genre of music. I know that too. People know me as Trance Jesus. And it's so hard to break the mold to do Chris Blackburn music, which is like mainstream house. And then I do a project with my wife Jen, as Chris Blackburn and Jen, where we'll do house and techno. And then I even do bass house with another friend of mine on our Ragebeards project. So it's, it's. It's fun when you're versatile and you can play across the genres. I think being an artist continues to have more joy.
Alexander Popov: That's true. That's true.
Chris Blackburn: So thinking of future projects and looking at any upcoming projects or collaborations, are there any that you're excited about that you can share with us?
Alexander Popov: Just in a few days? Coming remix for big artists called Iman Beck, the guy who got a Grammy a few years ago and probably the biggest his act so that we have a collaboration with Ron Aso. He's also one of the hottest acts from this country and also some. Some good remixes on my album from trance legends. I cannot name any names at the moment so. But yeah, I hope we'll get the great versions for the tracks on the album and we will share it maybe second half of this year. Let's see. So a lot of music now in process. Really excited to share it with the world.
Chris Blackburn: That's exciting. Mind if I ask you a question about a recent release on your label, your track with Simon and Phil called Rise Again.
Alexander Popov: Yeah.
Chris Blackburn: Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind that track?
Alexander Popov: Well, we just got the demo from guys like we want to sign it on intro play and there was like maybe 60 or 70 percent complete track but not enough good quality of production. And I say, hey guys, I feel a big potential in this song and I have some ideas how we can finish that. If you opt for that, it's of course, yeah, let's do that. We really want to have this collaboration with you. And I've got stems and worked on the project for a couple of months and we finally got released and I love to play that in my live sets. It works really well for the trance crowd. The song I think is good.
Chris Blackburn: That's awesome that you can just help out other artists, help them on their journey. I think that, you know, from being in the position of a legendary artist, having a lot of experience and being able to continue to build that next generation of producers, whether it be Trance, House, definitely where you are today, Alex is certainly an inspiration. And so, you know, one final question. What advice would you give to aspiring DJs and producers who want to make a mark? Maybe not even necessarily in the trance scene, but maybe within the electronic music scene as a whole?
Alexander Popov: I think the first thing is to have your real love and passion for music. If you do not have it, then you don't need to start. So that's the base. If you have a real love and passion and you are ready to work hard, then you can go. It's very important to have your own signature because too much music releasing day by day, and if you have something to say in your sound, in your ideas, then that's the thing that can touch people. So you have to look for your own signature from the start and just work hard and believe in yourself. Make a big goals. It's easy to get for the big goals, and then you get it.
Chris Blackburn: Amazing. Awesome. Any final closing words? Any big performances that are coming up here, Alex?
Alexander Popov: Well, this summer looks really good, so a lot of big festivals and shows confirmed. I'm really excited to play this year on Tomorrowland in Belgium. Also got confirmation for Ultra Europe at Beachville stage and some local biggest festivals like Transmission, that happening like a few weeks. So I'm really excited about this summer and I'm looking forward to get back to the United States. Hope I get new Visa soon. And just want to say big thanks for all the fans and all the people who support the music. And thank you very much, Chris, for having me for your time.
Chris Blackburn: Well, thank you for the time and the opportunity. Hopefully we'll get to meet here in the States in person and hopefully to have you out here for a show here in the future. And once again, really appreciate your time.
Alexander Popov: Thank you very much.
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