Tripswitch

Biography

1) Nick Brennan’s musical history is long and varied - he studied piano from the age of 5, dabbled briefly with the trumpet for a year, and moved onto the guitar at the age of 12 which he studied profusely throughout his teens in both classical discipline and rock, blues and jazz improvisation. Having spent the latter half of the eighties playing in everything from punk, rock and even blues and jazz bands, Nick discovered acid house music in 1989 when he started going to the now legendary DiY r...

1) Nick Brennan’s musical history is long and varied - he studied piano from the age of 5, dabbled briefly with the trumpet for a year, and moved onto the guitar at the age of 12 which he studied profusely throughout his teens in both classical discipline and rock, blues and jazz improvisation.

Having spent the latter half of the eighties playing in everything from punk, rock and even blues and jazz bands, Nick discovered acid house music in 1989 when he started going to the now legendary DiY raves around Nottingham. Seduced by the hazy hedonism and good vibes of those early raves, he moved more and more away from his rock roots, abandoning his guitar for a pair of decks in 1992.

His interest in acid house and hardcore was counterbalanced with a new-found love for dub reggae and the psychedelic sound of the Ozric Tentacles, which became his everyday soundtrack for life in 1991-92. Moreover the early days of progressive house and the emerging Frankfurt trance scene had a profound effect on him and he became increasingly interested in production. Artists like Jam & Spoon, Sven Vath and particularly A.C. Boutsen (who released under a wide range of names including CygnusX and Brainchild for Eye Q and Harthouse), helped to cement his interest in trance music. As the scene and the music evolved and diversified Nick aligned himself firmly at the progressive end of the spectrum, where the sounds were deeper, more expansive and melodic and the production values were that bit more important.

He bought his first Juno 106 synth for £100 in 1996, and over the next few years he partied hard while developing his production skills and expanding his studio. In 1998 he went into business with close friend Dave Eserin, setting up Vivid Audio, a recording studio and rehearsal rooms in Kennington, South London. Here they taught themselves recording and production techniques recording demos for live bands, and Nick spent his spare time writing trance with a number of collaborators. He also put on a series of legendary ‘Club Tiny’ parties at the studio, which were host to an auspicious cross section of DJ’s from the London scene.

In 2000 NZ DJ Pied Piper Paul , whom Nick was living with at the time, passed a CD of his early chillout experiments to Humphrey Bacchus , A&R for Liquid Sound Design, who immediately snapped up one of the tracks for his next LSD compilation, Mana Medicine. The compilation received rave reviews, and interest in Nick’s music started to build. The next LSD compilation, ‘Butterfly Dawn’, included 2 Tripswitch tracks and was hailed as a downtempo classic. The track ‘Silver’ in particular received a great deal of positive press and the 2004 remix by dub maestro Ott went into the Top 30 reader’s list of Russian music magazine PLAY. Recent releases have included a remix of Ott’s ‘Escape from Tulse Hell’ on LSD’s ‘Wider Horizons’ and an inclusion on the debut compilation of Italian label Neurobiotic ‘s new chill-out sister, Indica.

Nick’s debut full length album, ‘Circuit Breaker’, was released in April 2005 and received widespread critical acclaim, with tracks being picked up by the likes of José Padilla and DJ Ravin (Buddha Bar) for forthcoming compilations. Since it’s release Nick has been inundated with requests for new material, remix work and club and festival appearances. After in a busy summer in Europe, Nick has a tour of North America planned for October/November 05 with Bluetech.

Other forthcoming releases include a remix of a Suns Of Arqa track for the forthcoming LSD release ‘Hallucinasia’, two tracks co-written with Gaudi to be included on forthcoming Interchill and Liquid Records compilations, and a number of other compilation inclusions to be confirmed. And work is currently underway on an exclusive video production of a new track by video specialists Inside Us All in collaboration with legendary compositor and music video director Chris Cunningham…

In addition to his established chill-out activity, Nick is currently working on some progressive breaks which will see him tap into his darker side. He is also throwing around some breaks ideas via DSL with Seb Taylor (of Shakta/Digitalis/Angel Tears/Kaya Project fame), and will shortly be expanding his collaborations with Gaudi to produce a full length album.


2) Tripswitch play a heady mix of heavy Guitar driven music infused with dark samples, counter pointed by gentler, almost ambient sections. Tucked away in rural Lincolnshire UK and free from scene trends, the band draws on the seemingly disparate tastes of its individual members to create an eclectic brand of Metal influenced by Tool, Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Dredg and early Pendulum.

‘Wormhole’ is their new EP and is the follow up to 2009’s highly successful ‘Until.’ While it is without doubt the heaviest thing the band has so far released, it also features sublime rhythms, quirky time changes and massive sing-along choruses alongside the extra weighty down tuned riffs.

Tripswitch’s last EP ‘Until’ was immediately picked up for distribution by Code 7 through Plastic Head, garnered great reviews and even gained the band their first celebrity fan: Porn star Belladonna. A large promotional run followed its release, handled by Andy Copping at ACP, plus appearances on cover mounted CDs with Zero Tolerance and Terrorizer magazines.

Their live show had already won them an impressive array of support slots with the likes of Lostprophets, Skindred, Breed 77, Ghost of a Thousand, Earthtone 9 and Raging Speedhorn before they landed a coveted slot at Download Festival. The bands’ appearance was extraordinarily well received and that, coupled with the success of ‘Until’, helped Tripswitch step up to playing more shows in bigger venues nationwide.

‘Wormhole’ is released on June 6th 2011, distributed Worldwide by Code 7 through Plastic Head.
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