Sonic Species Q&A
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Sonic Species Q&A

It’s officially now less than a month until the arts, music and culture experience that is earthcore is upon us. Looking forward to it just as much as Forte is, is Sonic Species (aka Joe Markendale) who is set for his very first performance at the festival this year.
Hi Joe, thanks for taking the time to chat with Forte Magazine, how are you and what are you up to at the moment?
No problem at all, it’s my pleasure! I am currently sitting in the studio working on an original track for the forthcoming Future Frequency album with Avalon that we are releasing on Nano Records early next year.
We just saw the clip from your set at Ozora Festival, which looked incredible, how was it?
Without a doubt that was the top festival moment for me this year! As far as I have seen that was the most rocking edition of Ozora Festival to date: slamming dance floor energy, crystal clear sound and amazing decor. That was up there with the best festival gigs of my career for sure.
And you have been attending a heap of international festivals at the moment, did you attend many psy/trance/EDM festivals before you were a performer? How does it compare being on the other side?
Growing up I attended many club events and outdoor festivals both in UK and Europe. Being on these dance floors and hearing trance evolve from goa into psy around the turn of the millennium instantly hooked me into the uplifting energetic power of the music. I just hadn’t ever seen a dance floor explode with joy in the same way as I was seeing at trance events, and so naturally my listening collection gradually became a CD wallet and me and my friends began making our own small outdoor trance parties in which we all played DJ sets. I later began producing purely for fun and for the buzz of trying to make the incredible music that I had been exposed to.
Being on the other side of the decks these days hasn’t really changed much for me. If anything I am having an even better time dancing and enjoying the music as I can see how much people are getting into it on a mass scale. In an ideal gig, I always feel like I am on the dance floor and we are all rocking to the beat together as one entity. When that feeling happens I know we are all in the ‘Trance Zone’!
‘Unleash the Beat’ really saw you become of the top psy-trance artists in the UK, what first got you into the industry?
My first introduction to the scene was a string of underground UK events called Liquid Connective from 2000 to 2004. These parties were fully international yet they took place in the beautiful English countryside very close to where I had grown up. It was like by some magic the ultimate dance floors on the planet had been transported to our back yard! After attending these events my friends and I made our own indoor and outdoor events and began to perform as DJs.
You recently did a remix of a Christopher Lawrence track, what’s the process of when you remix a track, is it something that you really plan out or do you just let it happen?
Yes indeed! When I remix a track I like to use the best hooks and most memorable melodies from the original and mash them up with my sounds and style to produce a fresh cutting edge track. I don’t over listen to the original track as I love to reinvent and innovate so that the resulting Sonic Species Rmx actually sounds like a completely new track with sounds and influences from the original.
You’ve been announced on the earthcore festival line up, will this be your first time at Earthcore? Looking forward to it?
Yes this is indeed my 1st ever earthcore! I heard it’s a mega festival with a killer sound system and top notch production level. I am looking forward to it immensely!
Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us, are there any last words of wisdom you’d like to share with our readers?
Keep smiling, keep loving and keep dancing! 🙂
When & Where: earthcore, Pyalong – November 26-30