Geck-o's WAYBACK MACHINE - hardtrance throwback mixtape

I recently came across my music collection from the early 2000s, full of bad quality MP3s, dusty vinyl rips, mixed cd cuts and muffled liveset recordings. Listening to these tracks really brought me back to the magic of those days of discovery. I had not heard many of these for at least 20 years! Music was not as ubiquitous and available as it is now with the streaming services, it was so much more scarce. It felt really special to get your hands on an MP3, no matter the quality. The collection was small, and I could listen to the same tracks over and over.

Since this re-discovery, it's been on my mind to capture that magic feeling and bring it across to you in the form of a mixtape. I want to present an authentic experience, to have it sound like listening to a radio stream back in the days. To get the right balance between listenability and that authentic lo-fi soundscape, I've cut out the high frequencies, added a little too much compression, made for a slightly strange stereo room and pushed it for some distortion here and there. Having it not so clean, direct and sharp really does add to the experience!

I did not go for the biggest hits in this one - just a few I could not deny - but rather went for some forgotten gems and tracks that surprisingly managed to grasp me again after all those years. Some tracks shine in their full length, but for others I've only used a part, providing a strong drive or special spark as puzzle pieces for the full mix. I'm very curious how you will experience listening to the mix, but that feeling of entrancement is absolutely unmatched for me. Trance, hardtrance, techtrance... these are my origins, setting the stage for my later musical endeavours.

My latest album "Get On The Train!" is built on this love for hardtrance, tapping in on the magic of that old music and bringing it to modern days and ways of production. This style of music lives on, and will forever continue to be an inspiration for me. You'll clearly hear the influence I got from an artist like Scot Project and his featured track "FM1 (Feelin' Me)", but there's surely more links to be found within the selection. Let me know if you find any!