Nigel Whorlow also known as Sebastien has been making waves in the UK dance scene for decades. He’s had massive singles, hot mixes and has shared the stage with Trance legends like Orjan Nilsen. After taking some time off from the music industry, Sebastien is back and ready to establish himself with his brand new Trance sound. I took some time to speak with Sebastien and find out a little more about where his passion for Electronic Music started.
Hi Sebastien, thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. You’ve been in the Electronic Music Scene for quite some time. How did you first get introduced to it? And what caught your interest and made you want to get into DJing and producing?
I was always into music growing up my mum was a child of the 60s and 70s, there was always music in our house. Then when I started secondary school, in the early 90, the UK Rave scene really became big, I started listening to tape packs from Creamscape, Fantazia, Helter Sklelter, I became a massive fan of The Prodigy (I still am, RIP Keith Flint!) I also became a fan of one the biggest Rave/Hardcore and Old Skool DJs on the scene at that time, DJ Vibes…He is now one of closest friends, how mad is that, im still a little star struck when ever we meet up, if you can believe that!
In the late 90s a friend started An under 18s party in my local town, I started helping out setting the speaker rigs up, setting up the desks, learning how sound worked, he was also a dj, so I learnt a little from him on that aspect too….good times!
For me djing was/is, an escape, producing tracks is about expressing myself, showing the world I’m not just the 9-5 office worker, I love it and can honestly say I’m loving be back in the scene!
Who are some of your influences when you started and now in 2019?
Djs/Producer wise it has to be Indecent Noise, Alex Di Stefano and Sneijder, those 3 produce and dj the sound of trance I love, a little harder edged to the normal trance sound but still groovy and rocking!
Why did you take a ten-year hiatus from producing and DJing? What made you want to come back to making music?
I found the scene to be becoming oversaturated with the same sound, nothing was freeling new and fresh for me any more, sometimes I used to listen to tracks and think they literally sounded the same, it was time for a break, maybe my ears had just become stuck with hearing the same sounds.
Coming back wasn’t a hard decision, but I can honestly say, hand on heart, it was due to one single party, ALL THINGS TRANCE, is a party set up by some very old friends from back in the early 00s, these were djs and producers who were out on the London and UK Circuit, we all knew each other, it was like a little family of people who knew, loved and understood the UK Hard Trance sound – These were Phil Reynolds and Trevor McLachlan – They got together at a bar and decided to start a new party, ATT (All Things Trance) and I was invited along, sort of the “Nige, come on you’ll love it” sort of conversation….I went and loved every single minute of it, came out with the biggest smile I have had from being a clubber for a very long time, the music, the djs, the people, the clubbers, everything was on point!, I knew then it was time to get the music equipment out of the loft and give it another whirl.
Another catalyst was Luminosity this year – I have been a few times before, but this one BO and his team pulled it out of the bag, and I’ll say now to anyone reading, GO, GO TO LUMINOSITY! It’s the best trance party on the planet, and when you’re nearly 40 like me, I’ve been to a few parties, so I don’t say that lightly!
I met up with Les Hemstock at Luminosity from Hemstock and Jennings (his set was outstanding btw!),, I said I was going back in the studio, he told me to fire it over when finished – I got a fantastic bit of feedback from Les And Chris, so this was another little bit of help to bring me back!
I love your new track “Falkor”, what was your inspiration for the release?
I’ve always loved the harder sounds, UK Hard House and UK Hard trance, but my finding my love of trance again I wanted something that was me….but also the departure of what I used to be, bringing in a new era of sounds, and also hearing Alex Di Stefano making tracks like “The Sin”, and Indecent Noise making tracks like “Polybius” showed me you can make trance “Hard” It had it first Airing on the KBGT Show and got a massive response so I knew then it’s a direction I should take.
Tell me about one of the most memorable events you’ve played? Why was it so special?
Out of all the events I have played I think it would have to be my “out of retirement” gig at EGG In London, in June this year, I was playing in the Harder Trance room, so nervous….yes at nearly 40 I felt like I was sitting behind a pair of 12102, aged 18/19 in a club in London for my first ever gig. Anyway – It was amazing, I was the warm up, well the younger clubbing generation probably haven’t heard of me but I was just happy to be playing such a massive and new club promotion that Flotation Is – I got to basically run through my love of trance music for 2 hours, from 138bpm to 142bpm, it felt amazing to be back behind the decks again!
You have a few events coming up in Berlin, Amsterdam, and London; where can we find more information on your releases and events?
September – is an Industry only gig, sort of an invite-only gig, so, unfortunately, there is no info on this one.
October Amsterdam is in ADE, the details haven’t been released publicly yet, so right now I can’t release too much, but I will share as soon as I have it.
London, 26th October I’m back again at EGG in London for London’s premier Trance Day Party, Flotation, the full line ups haven’t been announced as of yet as their September party is still being promoted, but I will be playing the Harder Trance Room along, you can find the event info at the link here. You can check out their past events lineups here, they bring some of the biggest names in trance under one roof!
Also, look out for my new Guest Mix on the Substance Sessions Podcast which is due to drop in the next week.
Watch out in the next couple of weeks for my remix of “Sundown” by Miroslav Vrlk to come out on a teaser – “Sundown” is one of my tracks of the summer, amazing production so being asked by ART Recordings to remix it is fantastic!
Make sure to keep an eye out for events and new releases from Sebastien. He is hard at work in the studio and will be releasing several more tracks this year.
Sebastien: Facebook | Soundcloud | Mixcloud | Spotify
1 comment
Thank you FMF team