fullonline: Who are the persons responsible for Exposure Productions, why you choose that name to the label and what are your goals as a psytrance label?

DETOX: Exposure Productions is consisted of one and only person which is of course me, future plans include hiring a 2 meters tall secretary with red hair and blue eyes but till then I am doing all the work for the label including answering the phone and preparing my own coffee in the morning. Exposure is a new label in the trance scene, just 18 months old, with four releases in its catalog so far and two releases scheduled after the summer. The name of the label was inspired by the famous compilation series Northern Exposure mixed by Sasha and John Digweed, I liked the music in these compilations, I liked their covers and, of course, I liked the name so I used it for my label. My goal as a label is to provide people with high production quality music and innovative ideas in order to satisfy everyone's taste, for me the ultimate cd includes music both for home listening and dancefloor material so this is what I try to achieve with each one of my releases.

fullonline: Can you keep a comfortable lifestyle working only as psychedelic trance label manager or a second job is needed?

DETOX: For me being a psychedelic trance label manager is more an expensive hobby rather than a real job. The trance scene and market in our days is so small that very few people can focus just on running a label and living out of it, personally I am very happy when my label breaks even after a release and when a small profit comes I invite my friends and go out to a good restaurant in order to spend the money. My real job is running a boat company and keeping an eye on my family's other business in New York, thats where the money comes from for me to live and to invest on my label. At the same time being an International Business student made me realize that the fastest way to become a millionaire is to be a billionaire and open a trance label.

fullonline: You compiled and released two albums, each with 10 new unreleased tunes. How do you choose the music you will release?

DETOX: Compiling a cd is the best part for me in the label. First I make a list with the artists I would like to see in my compilation , then I contact them and explain them the concept of the cd and what kind of track I am looking for, also I check if they have the time to make a new track for me because I rarely sign already produced tracks. In order to sign a track it has to be top notch production quality and to have nice ideas in it like catchy melodies, interesting samples, groovy rhythm, deep atmospheres and stuff like that, if I like a track then I sign it, if not then I look for something else.

fullonline: How it feels to a Greek label to be releasing the music from Wizzy Noise, the most famous psytrance Greek artist?

DETOX: It's an honor for me to work with Wizzy Noise the best psy trance group from Greece and one of the best international artists around. The guys are amazing producers and easy going persons and I enjoy them both as musicians and friends. At the same time though this is a big challenge for my label because releasing an album from established artists like Wizzy Noise is a big step forward for any label in the world and means you got to act 100% seriously and professionally if you want to keep a good image for your label. Thankfully everything is smooth so far.

fullonline: Please explain the whole concept behind the Wizzy Noise trilogy. You already released "Punk City -The Single" together with Harmonia Records and now the new Wizzy Noise album: Sabotage part 1. Tell us about the feedback you' re receiving and what's coming next.

DETOX: Last December I visited Wizzy Noise in their studio and had the chance to chat with them about their music and their future plans, they told me that they were searching for a label to release their new album and that they already had some offers from Japan and Usa, I was very impressed by their big studio and the music that they produce so I asked them what their terms were and returned to Athens the same night. Next day I met with my good friend Thanasis , the owner of Harmonia Records, and told him that we must join forces and make a deal with the Wizzy boys , the original concept was to release a cd single and then a double album. We made an official offer to Wizzy Noise, they accepted and I left for New York for vacations. While staying there I made some phone calls to Japan, Germany and my distribution manager in Greece and we reached the conclusion that it is better to have a cd single and two separate albums in a short time rather having a cd single and a double album. We all agreed and the Wizzy Noise trilogy concept was born. The feedback from the cd single and the first part of the album is really massive and full of positive comments, the people that buy the cd's are happy, the artists that listen the music want to collaborate with Wizzy Noise or remix one of their tracks, the promoters ask for free dates all the time and the sales are boosting making everyone happy, I will just mention to you that the first print of their album was sold out in just 2 days.

fullonline: In your opinion which of your releases have more impact on the psytrance scene?

DETOX: For me my last compilation Digital Performers was the cd that established Exposure Productions on the trance map as a serious young label. The people were amazed by the quality of this release and the impressive tracklist that included some of the biggest names around like Deedrah, Astrix, Logic Bomb and Dino Psaras plus an amazing collaboration track between Silicon Sound and Jaia. Also it included the massive hit Opus Drive from Wizzy Noise that for sure is one of the best tracks released in 2005 as people and artists say so far. For those interested Electric Universe is preparing a remix on this great tune.

fullonline: What Psytrance artists are signed currently on Exposure Productions crew?

DETOX: So far there are three exclusive artists on our roster, Wizzy Noise from Greece, Overlap from Russia and Prosper from Yugoslavia. At the moment the label is in negotiations with two great artists, one from France and one from Germany, plus there will be a big surprise announced by the end of the year concerning a very special collaboration album that will be signed on the label.

fullonline: I heard some comments from artists telling that Exposure Productions is an example of how a label should work with artists. What is your way of work? How you pay the artists? You pay them for number of sold copies? You always have a signed contract?

DETOX: I'm glad to hear that other people speak nicely concerning the way that the label operates. Well their is no special way of treating my artists, I just answer their phone calls and emails all the time and most important on time, for me communication is everything. The same by the way takes place with ordinary fans and people interested in the label. Concerning the artists payments I always make sure to pay everyone in advance the amount of money that we agreed before they provide me a track ready to send it to the mastering studio, most of the artists don't care about the royalties story and also my relationship with them is based more on mutual trust rather on signed contracts or any other papers.

fullonline: What kind of support you give to the artists you work with?

DETOX: Well giving support to the artists I work with means giving support to my own label so I do various things for them like arranging gigs for them abroad and in my home country Greece, put advertisements on magazines, flood the internet with information concerning them and their relationship with the label, print flyers with the labels releases and their names on it and various stuff like that. Also soon I am planning to print T Shirts of the label and distribute them to all of the artists I work with mostly for the fun of it but also for the promotion that this action might provide to them and the label. Last but not least Exposure Productions has a huge promo list making sure that its releases reach all the major artists, labels and promoters of the trance scene promoting the music of the artists that work with the label.

fullonline: What do you think and feel about the Greek scene. Lately I've seen a lot of complains about the scene there. Please comment that.

DETOX: Well this is a really tough question. Things are very complicated in Greece at the moment, in my home city Athens trance music is not welcome at all by the authorities and the major promoters including myself are on 'vacations' for some time now only helping younger promoters to throw smaller parties when we are asked to. The days when 2000 people attended psy trance parties on a weekly basis are long gone and only small parties for 200-300 people take place in Athens once or twice a month, the situation is so tough that even parties with techno, progressive or even house music face problems with the authorities. Things look better in the second biggest city of my country Thesaloniki and thats why every weekend many people from Athens move there in order to have fun and listen to their favorite music. Those who dont like traveling just organise their own private events and have fun with their close friends playing their own music. I really hope that this situation will change soon otherwise the party scene will slowly die here.

fullonline: What are your future releases, and what are the artists you're currently working with?

DETOX: Well my latest release is the new album by Wizzy Noise named Sabotage Part 1 released just two weeks ago, the second part will be out in the first week of October in collaboration with Harmonia Records of course. My next release is a new compilation named Grey Area that will be released on the first week of September featuring ten new exclusive and previously unreleased tracks by Deedrah, Prometheus, Dino Psaras, Protoculture, Silicon Sound versus Jaia, Wizzy Noise, S Range featuring Tranan, Electric Universe, Polaris featuring Galaktik Wave and last but not least Prosper. By the end of the year I hope to have released the new album of Overlap, the double album of Prosper named When The City Sleeps and a new compilation with a very very special concept and even more special tracklist.

fullonline: What do you think about people sharing music through mp3 instead of buying it?

DETOX: Like I have stated many times in public I believe that illegal mp3 downloading, sharing and trading is one of the main reasons that the small trance industry is falling down. The majority of people dont understand that their actions affect directly everyone involved in the trance scene from labels to artists and from distributions and record stores to even the occasional fans and unfortunately we have reached a point where big and respected labels shut down their doors because of this situation. Anyway this is a very controversial subject and I think that we will need much more time to speak about it in the future. My advice to everyone out there is to support our small scene by buying original music at least from the labels and artists that each one of us likes.

fullonline: How is your work as DJ? You use to play music from which artists? What is more important in your opinion: the technique or the music selection?

DETOX: This is a funny question actually that many people ask me all the time. You will be surprised to know that I am not a DJ, yes finally you discovered a label owner who doesn't DJ and is not really interested in doing so in the near future at least. I have never spent time on learning the secrets of being a DJ and the funny part is that many big promoters from Brazil, Mexico, Portugal and Yugoslavia have invited me on various events and festivals that I kindly had to reject to their big surprise. Maybe next year when I move to my new house I will start practicing on this matter too, if I was a DJ though I would certainly play music from artists like Silicon Sound, Deedrah, Orion, Dino Psaras and Juvenile and if possible I would like to stick some tracks from Vibrasphere, Ticon, Prometheus, Vatos Locos and Atmos in my sets, I dont know if this combination of music and bpm is possible but for sure I would give it a try. Concerning the last part of your question I believe that music selection is more important than the technique though both are essentials for being a good DJ.

fullonline: Tell us about your homepage: You think it's a good way to contact the fans and artists? I'm having trouble in accessing it, are you planning an update?

DETOX: Of course a homepage is one of the best ways to contact fans and artists but obviously I am a very lazy person that still hasn't sent all the information of my webpage to my also very lazy designer in order to finish this task and put everything online. I promise to do that before I leave for vacations to Italy and Sonica Festival in the first week of August.

fullonline: What other labels are releasing good music in your opinion these days?

DETOX: Ok lets see. On the full on side of things I think that Solstice is the best label in the world, I just cant wait for the new GBU and Synthetic albums to be released by the end of the year, Hommega Productions, Neurobiotic Records and Twisted are also very close, I also used to like the early releases of Spun Records but not anymore I guess. On the progressive side of things I always enjoy the compilations and albums coming out from the Digital Structures, Iboga and ZMA Records headquarters. Also last but not least I would like to mention the great effort of Avatar Records to release again great albums from the past from artists like Total Eclipse, Electric Universe, Cydonia and Orion, thumbs up for that to the israeli guys.

fullonline: What are the online stores selling psytrance music that you trust?

DETOX: So far I never had any problem with any of the big psytrance stores so I guess I trust all of them but if I had to choose just one then I guess this would be Saikosounds for the very friendly customer service that they provide to people. Greetings Rob :)

fullonline: What makes a good party? You think decoration is more important than the line up?

DETOX: Well if I had to put things in an order I guess it would look like this. Location, Line Up and Music, Sound System, People and then Decoration, this would be my choice as a party guest and this is also my choice as a party organizer because from my experience when you got a nice place for parties and a good line up then people will turn up anyway no matter the ticket price, the decoration or the other people that will be there, I dont mention the sound system because extra sound is always welcome. If a party can make it good on all sectors then that' s very welcome indeed but because being perfect in everything is difficult I give extra points to location and line up.

fullonline: What kind of music do you listen at home?

DETOX: I rarely listen to trance music at home for the last months. At the moment I am into early ambient and experimental stuff from Brian Eno, Tangerine Dreams, Namlook and Klaus Schulze. Also I am trying to get my hands to music from artists like Depeche Mode, Bjork, Jamiroquai, The Clash, Sting and even Bob Marley. By the way the new Gorillaz album is just amazing.

fullonline: What do you think people should do to make a better scene? Any visions about the future?

DETOX: I really dont have a clue how the future of psychedelic trance will look like but in order for people to make a better scene they should start studying how and when this scene begun, how it evolved and where it is today, in order to learn something you must study it from its beginning, then and only then you can change its future. Wow, I sound like Confucious or what?

fullonline: What is your favorite psychoactive molecule?

DETOX: Vodka with lemonade and nice looking women all around me.

fullonline: We all know that all kind of weird stuff happen at psychedelic gatherings. Can you tell us something different/funny that you saw or happened to you in a party?

DETOX: Well I once saw a guy throwing a huge bucket, I mean really huge more than 1 meter tall, full of cold water and ice to an other guy in order to wake him up. The sleepy guy woke up in terror from the temperature shock, took off his shirt and just fell asleep again while the other guy was shouting at him telling him to stop pretending that he was sleeping and that it was about time they leave the party and go back home.

fullonline: Any last comment, message and/or promotional link?

DETOX: I will have a medium well cheeseburger deluxe with french fries and a big coke. Thank you!

fullonline: Thank you!
Respect!