Amazingblaze is the latest red-hot new talent to be signed up by Charlotte de Witte’s KNTXT label. The Russian artist serves up four fierce techno weapons on his Venture EP, due for release on 25th February 2022.
Though a relative newcomer, Amazingblaze is already making big moves mixing up heavy-hitting hard trance and techno. He has a sound that combines old school influences with new school sound design, and it never fails to captivate the dance floor. On this first EP for KNTXT, all of the signature Amazingblaze essentials are here: weighty drums, massive synths and authentic atmospheres.
Says the artist, “The Venture EP was started when I was living in Saint-Petersburg and there was a pandemic situation. Experimenting with different shades of techno I created a pretty authentic sound which works very well on the dance floor. After leaving Saint-Petersburg I decided to move to Moscow, gladly the pandemic restrictions there were lifted and I became inspired by the new city and parties where I’ve never been before, I completed the EP adding some new bangers with an already experienced touch.”
Says Charlotte de Witte, “My eye fell on Amazingblaze for the first time during the preparation of my Tomorrowland Around The World Set, where I closed with his beautiful track “Stratosphere”. A couple of months later, I fell head over heels in love with his track “Venture”, which, I’m proud to announce, turns out to be the title track of the newest EP on KNTXT. Venture captures every crowd of people I’ve played it to, ever since I debuted it in my set at Exit Festival. The entire EP is an out-of-the-box masterpiece.”
First up is the mighty ‘Venture’ with its pummelling drums and turbo-charged trance stabs. They are bright and bring the energy while a rapped vocal adds something utterly fresh. ‘Inner Fire’ ups the ante further with a diva female vocal straight from the classic trance era. She brings waves of euphoria and, after a spine tingling breakdown, the machine-gun grooves fire on. There is terrific turbulence in the synth stabs of techno gem ‘Flashback’ as well as industrial textures and walls of white noise that bring real tension. ‘Neutron’ closes down with the most fierce groove of the lot, this time rippled with cosmic psy trance chords and irresistible video game synths to take you into the next dimension.
Venture EP is a superb outing from Amazingblaze. We had the chance to chat with the young artist
WWD: Hey, how are you, how has 2022 started off for you?
Hi! I’m good, thanks! Well, it was pretty nice. I released a few tracks on my favorite labels, played at the biggest Russian techno event, and now preparing for the drop on KNTXT 🙂
WWD: How did you come to release on Charlotte de Witte’s KNTXT – did you reach out?
Oh, I remember when they opened the demo submission and I tried ahaha, but no one responded. Anyway, during this period my tracks were not so good 😀 After a year maybe, I released an EP on Ismus and Charlotte discovered my track Stratosphere, this is how it started.
WWD: What does it mean to you? What does the label stand for in your eyes?
I’m not gonna lie, that’s a big step for me. You know, when I looked at the artists on this label I thought “wow, should be so hard to get there” but I did. KNTXT is doing a great job exploring new talents to the world.
WWD: Tell us about the “Venture” EP, what inspired it, what was in mind when you wrote it?
Actually, I made the first track a year ago haha, during this period I was living in cold Saint-Petersburg and for sure, its vibe inspired me a lot. I was trying to produce as much good stuff as I could and working really hard. Other tracks were made in Moscow (I moved there about half a year ago), I took inspiration from people, parties where I played, and for sure, the new place. It makes you think a little different getting you out of your comfort zone.
WWD: Tell us about your journey into techno and trance – when did it start? Why did you fall in love?
I started exploring techno when my friend recommended a few tracks, as I remember, it was Drexciya and Basic Channel, nice stuff! After that, I started discovering tracks by myself, my first favorites were SNTS and Marco Bailey. It was my first steps into techno, my first parties and festivals. Looking for more and more stuff my taste was changing too, and I went through more trancey vibes and my head fell off, that was it. I like the emotional part of trance and banging character of techno, they fit together very good.
WWD: What is your take on it, what is your signature sound do you think?
I really like to experiment with sound. Mostly, I make a hybrid of old-school techno and trance with a fresh look, but can go through some industrial stuff, as well psy and classic rave vibes. Of course, this should be blazing without blazing it’s not Amazingblaze haha
WWD: What gear do you use currently, does that matter to you?
My gear is very simple: MIDI keyboard and Ableton Live. When I was working in a studio and trying some different hardware synths I discovered that actually can make stuff way faster just using my DAW so hardware is not matter for me (maybe some good monitors)
WWD: Where is your best environment as a dj? A small dark club or a huge outdoor festival stage? Late at night for the weirdos or early so you can play slow and eclectic etc etc?
I’m very universal. As you hear in my releases, some of my tracks work perfectly on big festivals, some in the small dark clubs. It’s two different worlds. But the only thing I know 100% – I’m not into calm stuff at all, so, no slow bpms. Time of playing is not really important for me, I like both audiences 🙂 but at night it feels different.
WWD: What else have you got coming up/are you working on?
At the moment I’m working on new podcasts, waiting for a few EPs and vinyl. Also, trying to conquer the world and attend as many parties as I can, so don’t forget to follow my socials, maybe I’ll be in your town soon!
WWD: What are your long-term goals, where would you like to be in five – 10 years time?
The goals are pretty simple, in 5 years I’d like to have a big fan base of 200k+, get my own studio, email full of bookings for world-lead festivals and clubs, maybe will start my own label to discover new talents to the world.
Amazingblaze’s “Venture” EP is out now on KNTXT. Grab it here
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