X. Dream

Marcus C Maichel and Jan Mueller met coincidentally, like many great partnerships, in 1989 when Marcus had technical problems with his computer and someone suggested Jan could help him.They met and decided to combine their equipment for a recording session. They worked on various projects before the birth of X.Dream in 1991. They released their first record on Hamburg's Tunnel Records which had more of a "techno" slant and preceded their interest in trance. Under a number of different pseudonyms, "XME","Moondust","The Pollinator", Organic Noise, C.O.P. they released thirteen singles and two albumswith Tunnel Records.

Their current psychedelic direction was determined after they were hugely influenced by the first Waldheimparties in Hamburg and they became more deeply involved in the trance underground. After releasing a 12in, "Panic in Paradise" on TIP Records they were signed to Blueroom and their own individual brand of "space techno" came to wider attention with the excellent "Frog" 12in and cd single which stood out on the trance dance floor with it's authentic bull frog sample recorded in a Mexican desert during a mind blowing peyote session.

The track reveals the sometimes childlike nature of the band as Marcus agrees ;

"When Jan and me sit in the studio sometimes I have the feeling that we're like chldren. I think that when you want to create something new you have to play around with the equipment like a child so maybe that's why our music is like it is".

They became known as the band to play at the parties that take place a global scale, spreading their sonic soundscapes throughout Europe, South Africa, Japan, USA, Israel and South America during 1997-98. They weren't inactive on the recording front either releasing two singles "Brain Forest / Stop" and "Radiohead" prior to their debut album "Radio" which was released in March 1998. This is a seminal and sublime album of exemplary tech trance including the full frontal assault of "Electro Magnetic", the gentle throb of "Radiohead" ,the classic "Frog" and pulsing "Telegram". The album shows it's techno roots as Marcus observes ;

"In the last two years trance did not develop that much. The sounds got fatter and the arrangements very professional but somehow it didnt develop so fast. Lately I think the influence of techno music is coming back, which is good. It's getting more interesting and it does not always have to have this Goa formula which is ok but gets boring when you've already heard it twenty times in one night. I think we are getting to the point again where more influences will come into play. I can imagine in the future tracks will be with a reduced melody and even when I listen to some of the latest releases I can hear that the bass drum is getting much louder. People are getting the bass drum."

Marcus and Jan , also known as the production team Rough and Rush, are creating the soundtrack to the underground and dont contain themselves to just X Dream but are involved in spin offs such as Noosphere, The Delta and "Fools and Tools" as well as a number of other pipeline collaborations with Simon Posford and Tim Schuldt.