Simon Patterson is one of shinning lights in trance music today. 2 years ago he went from feeling "lost" to becoming an innovator within the scene thanks to his powerful productions and by successfully introducing psy-trance and techno into his live sets and radio show. Back when artists were combining mainstream sounds into trance, Simon went the other way and sought influences from the underground. The result? Simon has enjoyed 17 Beatport Trance #1 hits.

His latest project was to mix the next Trance Nation compilation series for the Ministry of Sound. Known as one of the most important compilations within the European trance scene, it was an honour for Simon to be asked to create the next album. EDM Canada managed to talk to Simon about this and so much more within this extended interview below.

If you're into trance and are a fan of Simon Patterson, then this interview is a must-read. Enjoy:

Do you feel like you had a helping hand in veering the trance scene more towards the underground?

Simon Patterson: I think the Open Up radio show helped shape that a little bit. Once psy-trance and techno became a focus for the show, I noticed a lot of people jumped on psy-trance more than what they had before. At that time the up and coming DJs weren't ready to take that risk and it wasn't as popular as “EDM” at that time.

I'm hoping I changed the scene a little bit and introduced people to more underground sounds. Since the Open Up launch I've noticed more and more DJs from my scene play that sound, which is a good thing because it's helping grow the underground. So I'd like to think that yes.

Armin Van Buuren named you as one of his favourite artists. Do you think your influence in trance helped Armada to move toward the underground by creating the “Who's Afraid of 138” sub-label, as well as Armin to take a chance on the psy-trance ASOT episode 666?

Who knows, but hopefully. I don't have time to listen to Armin's show but I'm so grateful that he mentioned me. I just think Armada are clever in the way they have marketed the whole thing. I don't think to tag things based off of BPM because it's so irrelevant. Armin knows that the 140 BPM sound never died and never will die, and whether you call it 138 or 140 or 141, it doesn't matter because it's a unique sound following suit from the old discover sound that was around 4 years ago. The strong kick drum, upbeat bass, and plucky melodies is something Paul Van Dyk has been playing for 10 years.

Armin found a really smart way to market it and I think it's really good that he supports the faster sound because without him and his radio show, who else is going to reach the masses like that? No one. I'm not sure if Armin listens to Open Up or even knows that I play psy-trance, but if he did and take influence from it, then it's really an amazing thing for me.

Tell me about Trance Nation, your upcoming double disc compilation project.

I'm not sure how relevant Trance Nation is in Canada, but in the U.K., especially from 10 years ago, it's been a legacy. Judge Jules did Trance Nation in 1999 and it was the first time I had bought it. Ferry Corsten took over from him and it just continued from there. It was such an amazing CD that pushed trance music. Being asked to do it is just an honour for me because I bought the CD since then.

My Trance Nation release is going to be a double CD and it includes everything that I want people to think what I'm about. It has laid back sounds that you'd want to hear on a Sunday to full on club tracks to vocal stuff. There's loads of exclusives that's really hard to get in the album as well. It's just a complete journey of sounds. It took a long time to do and I hope that people are going to like it because it truly represents what I'm about.

Trance Nation will feature a brand new original from you called “Drop The Bass” - can you tell me about it?

“Drop The Bass” is a track that was half finished quite a while ago and Ministry wanted an exclusive for the album so I went back to it and polished it up. It follows suit from the old “Thump” sort of sound. These days everyone likes the drop so it's a track that is 140 BPM and its uplifting with loads of crazy samples in it. The track evolved from the oldish sound that I used to do. I hope people like it.