It was Airwave who fired the starting shot for Bonzai’s now three-years-and-running ‘In The Mix – Progressive Sessions’ series back in the summer of 2015. Maintaining a clockwork-regular two-per-year release-tempo, it most recently dropped Gai Barone’s Feb-released ‘006’ edition. (“9/10 – the ethos of progressive captured” said MIXMAG upon its arrival). ‘ITM007’ – out this autumn, sees its mix-baton passed back into the hands of the Belgian. In the pursuit of conquering even ‘ITM 001’s dizzying heights, Laurent has gone the extra mile brilliantly networking 28 tracks into 150 mind-expanding minutes of progressive eminence.
Along its path you’ll make contact with freshly sourced studioware from Gai Barone, Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor, John 00 Fleming, Eelke Kleijn, Oovation & Yoachim, The Stupid Experts, Stan Kolev and a progressively star-filled sky of others. It also includes material from Airwave’s own most recent release (the DJ Mag 8/10 scoring ‘Bliss EP’), as well as hot-from-the-studio production ‘Attraction’ and two purpose built intro pieces, which establish the feel for each of its discs.
With mixing skills almost otherworldly in their ability to blend without margin and a blackbelt understanding the composition of its assembled music, Laurent serves the album a cultured, layered and textually intense experience unlike any other.
In the most classic of senses, Airwave overtures with his bespoke ‘ITM007: Intro Part 1’ creation. It places the anticipatory sounds of an orchestral string section tuning up against atmospheric pads and intruding drum march. Scene luminously set, it cedes to allow the air-spun melodics of Eelke Kleijn’s ‘The Calling’, Slam Duck’s drumatic retake of Narel’s ‘Circle Sky’ and Airwave’s own swirling prog-noir ‘Gravy Train’ in. Around its midpoint, Rauschhaus’ rebuild of Oovation & Yoachim’s ‘Open It Wide’ finds common ground with the bassy prowl of ‘Night And Day’ from The Stupid Experts. As Mix1 thunders hypnotically towards its terminus, Laurent feeds ‘Bliss’ – the lead track from his latest EP – into its system, before reaching its atmospheric apex through brilliantly vivid ‘Eclipticum’ from Cortex Thrill.
Storm’s-coming drums & scudding bass notes herald mix 2’s arrival. Giving tone, tempo and sonic tenacity a nudge, Laurent also allows a shot-glass’-worth of trancier liquor into his mix. Basil O’Glue’s netherworldian ‘Shrine’ flashes the steel; Stan Kolev’s ‘Utopia’ (in its Audio Noir Trip version) adds darker, even more sonorous notes, while ‘Voyage’ from Andromedha ups its celestial ante. Midway through, Airwave slips his newie ‘Attraction’ in, which makes a lightning connection to Gai Barone’s ‘Flash’. As the ether turns darker again, Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor’s ‘Timelapse’ bring the moodily rolling bass and crunchier percussive elements in. That sets up John 00 Fleming & EEEmus’ (per DJ Mag “chunky, warpy and not without its funkier moments”) ‘Drop From The Vile’ up to deliver the release’s final coup de grace.
If a journey into the very heart of the music is what you’re after, call off the search – Airwave’s ‘In The Mix 007 – Progressive Sessions’ is available to order here or you can listen via Spotify here.
Airwave – In The Mix 007 – Progressive Sessions Tracklist
CD 1
01 Airwave – In The Mix 007 Intro (Part 1)
02 Pranav Mayekar – Elixier
03 Eric Lune – Benji
04 Eelke Kleijn – The Calling (Extended Mix)
05 Laurent Chanal – Marlin (Nicolas Rada Remix)
06 Juan Sapia – Lonely Mountain
07 Narel – Circle Sky (Slam Duck Remix)
08 Airwave – Gravy Train
09 Groovegsus & Jason Heat – The Alpha (Original Mix)
10 Oovation & Yoachim – Open It Wide (Rauschhaus Remix)
11 The Stupid Experts – Night And Day (Original Mix)
12 Airwave – Bliss
13 Sylk Poletti – Double Face (Original Mix)
14 Cortex Thrill – Eclipticum (Aurora Borealis Mix
CD 2
01 Airwave – In The Mix 007 Intro (Part 2)
02 Basil O’Glue – Shrine (Early Mix)
03 Stan Kolev – Utopia (Another Audio Noir Trip)
04 Andromedha – Voyage (Original Mix)
05 Kamilo Sanclemente – Secret Garden (Original Mix)
06 Airwave – Attraction
07 Gai Barone – Flash (Cherry Remix)
08 Jerome Isma-Ae & Alastor – Timelapse (Extended Mix)
09 Erich Von Kollar & Radicz – Kepler-452b (Andre Absolut Remix)
10 Austin Pettit – Nightride (Original Mix)
11 Fanizza & Andrew Cash – Galaxia
12 Van Czar – Adsum (Original Mix)
13 Hell Driver – Global Warming (Original Mix)
14 John 00 Fleming & EEEmus – Drop From The Vile (Original Mix)
About Airwave:
Laurent Veronnez aka Airwave aka many many other guises was born in Brussels in 1977, he is a naturally gifted artist and this manifested in him at the age of just 7. Influenced by the 80′s and 90′s sounds and by greats such as Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre, Orbital, Oliver Lieb and BT, he honed his skills in music knowledge and technology. Laurent would then see demos picked up by the infamous Bonzai imprint in 1996 and the stunning Airwave – “I want To Believe” was released. In 1998 this was picked up by many top DJ’s including Sasha and Oakenfold and later on by an up and coming DJ, Tiesto. Airwave’s sound was and still is prominent in the UK and Dutch trance scene and this has helped a host of today’s top DJ’s be where they are now. His infectious music spread further in 1999 to Germany, Italy and the world and now Airwave is a very popular name on the EDM scene with a huge, loyal fan-base.
Versatility and great skill in the studio led to many collaborations including with his friend Jurgen Leyers forming together Fire & Ice and E.N.E.R.G.Y., with Georges Petkidis on some Planisphere tracks and with Marnik Braeckevelt as Antidote. The list continues with many other greats including Yves Deruyter, M.I.K.E., Armin Van Buuren, Ferry Tale, Marcus Schulz and John 00 Fleming, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Breaking boundaries and turning his hand to many genres of music Laurent has as many as 500+ productions and remixes under his belt. Laurent then started to develop his DJing and live performances and has played in some big venues, Slinky, Gatecrasher, Godskitchen, The Gallery, 1015, Dopler in Bratislava, and many others back in the day.
In 2000 he embarked on a new wave of performance with gigs all over the world in England, Scotland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, South Africa, with totally improvised keyboards while DJing and the Triloset was born and continues to this day. Fast approaching 20 years in the business, Laurent can never be pigeon-holed to one genre as his impressive list of albums will attest. His first album “Believe” in 2002 performed very well and this was to do well again in the 2004 album “I Want To Believe”. “Trilogique” soon followed and it is now that Laurent’s passion starts to come through in a big way. Released first in 2006 this album contains three parts, bringing the audience three different tastes of electronic music into one single package, “Trilogique” would go on to be a huge success reaffirming Laurent’s position in EDM. Many more albums followed and each have made their mark on the world.
Time saw him finally running Banshee Worx with his long time partners and friends Marnik and Fly, and also expanding his knowledge of acoustics in order to develop his career as a producer and as a sound designer among others. Laurent runs a monthly radio show called Progrez where he showcases a wide range of music, this is followed religiously by his army of fans the world over. Music that is full of emotion, special and unique with expressed feelings, many have claimed it has changed their lives for the better. When there are discussions on greats of EDM the name Airwave-Laurent always crops up.
He has a deep respect among his peers for his beliefs on the industry and he speaks honestly about how he feels and where he sees his musical vision take him. One of the most gifted artists of our time and with a passion still very strong we are sure to see a lot more from this man. Laurent’s works under many of his guises can be found at all good download stores and a comprehensive list of his various aliases can be found at Bonzai Music artist pages or Discogs.
