Matti Laamanen

[TRANCExual]

Biography (interview) :

Matti Laamanen (1978) from Finland started making music at the age of 12. French electronica legend Jean-Michel Jarre had a great influence to his music from early on. - I listened to him a lot when I was young and it was him who first got me excited about synthesiser sounds, remembers Matti.

At the end of the 80's Matti listened a lot of Italian disco and acidhouse which got him even more excited about making dance music. Years passed and at the end of the 90's he got interested in melodic trance. Matti started again to concentrate on composing after a long period of time. The styles changed from breakbeat to hard trance and eventually to melodic trance.

- The inspiration to create music can come from almost anywhere. You need a certain emotional state. It can come from driving around in a car, walking, a sunset, people, nature - almost anywhere, explains Matti. Usually I start with a beat and play different tunes from a keyboard. When the pieces start to come together, I choose different sequences and sounds on top of them.

Why trance?

- Trance has always been close to my heart because it's melodic, the soundscape is very wide and it creates powerful emotions. At its best trance music gets you to close your eyes and move your consciousness away from reality, says Matti.

Under the alliance CosmicMan he made his debut in the summer of 2002 with the single 'I Love You'. Melodic approach to trance resulted in a pumping, yet soft track which gathered catchy trance hooks into a powerful package.

Under his own name he signed up with the famous Tsunami label and his first release was called "Flakes".

[Dreamboy]