One of the most loved and respected acts on the UK festival scene is the live Psytrance duo Zetan Spore. The Cornish twins Ian (Synths /Programming) and Mark (Guitars/Didgeridoo) Hasdell, have been plying their trade around Europe and the world since 1997, headlining at gigs such as Antiworld and Synergy Project, with top slots at festivals including Waveform, Sunrise, and Bearded Theory, the highlight being a cracking performance in front of 25000 at Euphoria in Singapore.

With nine albums under their belts, these talented Geminis are as prodigious in the ‘studio’ as they are on the circuit. Their pumping, energetic Psytrance is instantly recognisable, often because of Mark’s unique use of the didgeridoo, which adds a haunting, tribal element to their sound.
The guys took some time out of their busy schedule to have a quick chat with Parallel PR about….stuff.

Parallel: Did you both realise that music was going to be a major part of your lives at the same time, and how young were you?

Zetan S: Yeah, kind of – Mark started playing bass and then didgeridoo when he moved away from the South-east to Plymouth in the late 80’s, while I stayed up there doing vocals in a band and then later experimenting with keyboards and electronics. After moving to Cornwall there was a space of a few years before I started back on electronic music and Zetan Spore was born in 1995. Mark joined about a year later playing didgeridoo and also learnt guitar. After our first gig in 1997 we realised it was what we really wanted to do and the rest is history as they say.

Parallel: Who were your EARLIEST influences?

Zetan S: Our dad got us into Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre in the mid 80’s. In the late 80’s we got into space rock - Hawkwind , The Magic Mushroom Band, Porcupine Tree, Poisoned Electrick Head and the like and then early dance acts such as Astralasia and then Eat Static in the early 90’s. When psychedelic trance came around for the first time in the mid 90’s we were off!

Parallel: Has the didgeridoo been part of Zetan Spore since the very beginning?

Zetan S: It’s cheating, we know, but see the first answer….hah!

Parallel: Yes, then. OK. Next please. Although live psytrance is your very enjoyable ‘business’, what OTHER genres of music do you enjoy as listeners?

Zetan S: All sorts - I’m still well into Space Rock and other forms of psychedelic music and I still love my Punk and Ska – I listen to nearly all genres – everything has a time and place depending on ya mood. Mark is more into his progressive Psy and Psy Dub/Chill.

Parallel: Who else do you enjoy on the Psy scene at the moment?

Zetan S: Still loving people such as Talpa, Commercial Hippies, Mad Maxx, Eat Static, etc., but haven’t heard anything THAT mindblowing come out on the trance scene for a while – tend to keep going back to acts such as Wizzy Noise, Electric Universe, Talamasca, Cosmosis, Juno Reactor and the like. Loving the Psy Breaks scene though – can’t beat a bit of Hedflux, Bad Tango or Neurodriver to get the dancefloor going.

Parallel: You’ve played hundreds of gigs since ’97. Do you prefer a crowd of 25,000 like Euphoria, a smaller festival like Waveform, or the intimacy of a club/room?

Zetan S: We love them all – Euphoria was a bit daunting but awesome, we really enjoy the UK festivals, especially Waveform, Alchemy, Bearded Theory, etc., and still love doing smaller, more intimate gigs where you’re right down with the action rather than up on a big stage.

Parallel: You appear regularly at several festivals, what is it about Waveform that brings you back year after year?

Zetan S: The atmosphere at Waveform is the best of any festival we’ve been to, it’s so uplifting – we always come away with aching faces and fucked knees! I suppose it helps that we seem to know half the people there too!

Parallel: That’s how we feel about Waveform too. Do you spend as much time in the studio as you’d like, or don’t you like the studio much?

Zetan S: (IAN) My flat is my studio so I’ve got no choice! I like to be comfortable when writing, so I’ve set everything up so I can work from my sofa. It tends to take about one and a half to two months for us to write a track in between gigging, rehearsing and the admin side of things – I’d like to spend more time writing and experimenting but there’s just not enough hours in the day. When everything’s coming together in the studio it’s a great feeling – we love creating something and imagining what it’s gonna be like on the dancefloor – I often find myself drawing the curtains and busting it up to check that the section I’m sequencing all works properly!

Parallel: Do you have any projects on the go as we speak?

Zetan S: I’ve just finished our latest track “Tribalistics” and have one more left to write (probably starting next week) before we release our next (9th) album. By the time you read this it may already be done – we’re hoping for a Spring release so we can hit the festivals with it over the Summer. Mark’s busy putting the finishing touches to his second Lunarsonic album also due for release this Spring – you’ll be able to catch both at this year’s Waveform!

Parallel: And finally, what are your long term plans for Zetan Spore?

Zetan S: More gigs and festivals all over the World – we want to take Zetan Spore to as many different countries as possible and party with as many different psy tribes as we can, and still be doing it in another 20 or 30 years’ time!

Parallel: Brilliant, guys. Thanks a million for taking the time to answer our questions. We wish you every success, and if we don’t catch you somewhere beforehand, we’ll definitely see you at Waveform in September.

Zetan Spore will be appearing at Cat’s Cradle Stage at Waveform 2013. Mark’s Lunarsonic will be playing the Gaia Chill Stage at the same festival.

Words by Dex Flett (Parallel PR)

dex@parallelpr.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Parallel-PR/34168036863
www.waveformfestival.com
www.zetanspore.co.uk

However, his game is up after the real singer found out and tweeted about the fake.

It seems the imposter has been attending glitzy parties at the Cannes film festival, meeting the likes of actor Adrien Brody and James Bond star Naomie Harris.

He posed for photos with the stars and even reportedly managed to get behind the DJ decks at an event hosted by a Russian oil man.

However, the real Psy found out and posted about the imposter on Twitter, saying:

"Seems like there's another ME at cannes...say Hi to him @scooterbraun lol."

He later posted an image of the fake Psy before confirming that the real version was actually in Singapore.

The Sun says the imposter is 34-year-old Denis Carre, who got the idea after being mistaken for the Korean whilst in Ireland. He reportedly said:

"A crowd of people gathered around me and the situation got totally out of control. We were only able to get out with the help of the bouncers".

The tour kicks off at Ireby Music Festival on Saturday 25th May followed by the first leg of the walk from Cumbria arriving at Heddon on the Wall, Northumberland on June 1st.  Steve will then take the tour to Derby and Southwell Folk Festival before returning north for a grand finale at the Folkalpoint festival at The Sage Gateshead on November 30th 2013.

The tour has been inspired by Steve’s long term musical buddy Tim, who developed the neurological condition ataxia which curtailed his ability to perform. Steve wrote and recorded the song Steady, which features Stephen Doherty’s hauntingly beautiful whistle-playing, to raise awareness of ataxia and to support the charity Ataxia UK’s 2020 campaign to find a cure.

Ataxia is a progressive neurological disorder for which there is no cure. It affects motor co-ordination, walking, vision and speech. There are 10,000 adults with the condition in the UK and it can affect any age group including children. Ataxia UK supports people affected by the condition as well as funding vital research into finding a cure. www.ataxia.org.uk/

Steve Bonham says “I want to do something about this ataxia thing and I want to make more people aware of it - so people don’t think those affected are drunk or stupid. I want people to see beyond the stumble and the uncertainty to the still strong person within. And I want to raise some dosh so that good research by clever people can go on.” 

Steve will be show casing Steady along with songs from his 2012 critically acclaimed album ‘The Moon’s High Tide’ and some new pieces. He will be joined by the “Bishop” (keyboards, tuba and percussion) and special guests to create some exhilarating performances of contemporary folk music.  Steve is a folk veteran and has collaborated with folk royalty such as ex-Saw Doctor Pearce Doherty, Jimmy Higgins (Irish band Altan) and Fairport Convention’s legendary Dave Pegg.

Steady is now available for free download with donations to Ataxia UK. http://www.stevebonham.net/steady or to view http://youtu.be/eHg-x4ubk3g

 Hadrians Wall Walk Tour Dates

Hadrian’s Wall Path is a national trail stretching from the Solway coast in Cumbria to Wallsend in Tyne and Wear, crossing the North Pennines area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and following the roman wall built by the Emperor Hadrian as a frontier of the Roman Empire.

May 05 – Sunday, Tour Launch BAAfest Bellingham

May 26 – Saturday, Ireby Festival

May 27 – Monday, Robin Hood Bar and Restaurant, Eastwell Houses

May 29 – Wednesday, Twiced Brewed Inn Twice Brewed

May 30 – Thursday, Boatside Inn, Warden

May 31 – Friday, The Angle Inn Corbridge

June 01 – Saturday, The Swan Heddon on the Wall

Midlands de Tour

June 8 – Saturday, Southwell Folk Festival

June 5 – Wednesday, Derby The Quad

Folkalpoint Festival Finale

November 30 – Saturday, Folkalpoint Festival Gateshead Quays

December 01 - Finally reach Wallsend for rendition of “Steady”

For more information, interview requests or MP3 please contact:

Trish on bootsontour@aol.com or 01434 240428 or

Ellis on north1@quitegreatmusicpr.co.uk or 01422 399430

Speaking to The Metro, the superstar explained that he chooses movies based on how inspired he is by the script and has become really good at finding the ones that stand out: "I feel pretty good about it. I just feel as though I try to make specific choices for the projects that are inspiring to me.

"If I can continue to do that, then I'll be gratified by whatever the outcome is. The more you get to work, the more you realise the journey and the process are the parts you remember forever."

"Sometimes movies are an experience you didn't expect they were going to be. I think you hope for the best and expect the worst, and if it ends up in the middle, you're fine."

Watch Timberlake talk about his new project at Cannes Film Festival here:

Frontman Chris Martin, whose band will take to the stage for the event at Stratford’s Olympic Stadium on Sunday September 9th, admitted he was overjoyed at being asked to take part:

"Being asked to play at the closing celebrations for the Paralympic athletes in London is a great honour for us.

"It will be a spectacular closing ceremony for the athletes and spectators in the stadium and everyone watching around the world and we're so happy to be involved.

"It will be one of the biggest nights in our lives and we're very excited to try and create a performance for the last night of the Games that will close London 2012 in style."

International Paralympic Committee President Sir Philip Craven also expressed his delight at the band’s appearance at the ceremony, which has been dubbed the Festival of Flame:

"Athletes are delivering record breaking performances on a regular basis and ticket sales are the best yet, so far out from the Games.

"Add Coldplay into that mix and I think the ingredients for the best ever Games are coming together."