Explore Andrew Rayel’s journey at Together Festival Thailand and discover the unique atmosphere he loves about the event.

We caught up with Andrew Rayel at Together Festival Thailand to talk about his return to Bangkok, the evolution of trance on the festival stage, and what makes Thai crowds stand out every time.

You were last here in Thailand in December for a club show, so how does it feel to be back but this time for Together Festival, a festival that you’re not a stranger to?

I’m not a stranger to this festival, I’ve played Together Festival a couple of times in the previous years and it’s definitely a different and bigger experience than playing in a club where its more intimate, you’re closer to the people and it’s just a different kind of set. With festivals, you’re given a 1 hour slot and you have to just give it your all song after song so it’s a different experience, you have to select the best of the best and give people that energy within that hour.

As you’ve mentioned that you definitely aren’t a stranger to Together Festival, so what makes performing at this festival special for you? If you had to pick just one thing.

Well, you know production is always insane and the energy of the people is always great, like when you bring Thai people together for a festival, it’s always that energy and always that vibe that you don’t really get everywhere in the world. I’m not saying there’s no energy at other festivals, but there’s something truly special about this place and this festival and everytime I’ve played it and even now when I’m about to play my set, I’m always excited to give my best, show people my new music, see their reactions and get inspired by them. 

How do you balance classic trance routes with newer festival sounds as there’s an overlapping of genres happening these days, so how do you go about balancing that?

I always try to keep some classic in my sets from tracks, to melodies, to motifs that people really know and it will bing back that nostalgia for them but you can’t do only that because you aren’t going to stay in one place and not move forward because you have to be current and in pace with modern sounds. So, that’s where that balance you were talking about comes in. You try to bring in some of the older tracks that people know from me, some of the older tracks of the genre that people expect me to play and also bring in some banging techno trance stuff or harder stuff at the end just so I can build the energy to a certain point that I want. That’s pretty much my thinking behind this whole process.

Would you say that we have the new generation of ravers coming in, when you try to build sounds so it also aligns with what this generation likes? 

 I don’t really think that way. I think about it more from the perspective of how to convert people into the sounds that I like, how I can show them that the music I play and make is great and is emotional along with being energetic and inspiring. How I can show them those elements so to do that, I use different tools such as appealing to them through the use of visuals then that converts them into liking the music or through using social media and posting something that is hype related, which then gives me a chance to bring them into the trance stuff that we all love. There are different ways, but what’s certain is that if you just focus on making music these days, the reality is you’re not going to go far so you need to use all these different tools to stay current but also to bring in the younger generation so they know about you better. 

You talk about evolution and to get people to fall in love with your sound, is there any collaboration that has helped you with that throughout your expansive career? 

I’ve done many collaborations with big guys like Armin Van Buuren and W&W and even recently with Giussepe Ottiavani, where we worked on the Find Your Harmony for the 450 Anthem, so we kind of went back to the roots and made a super uplifting trance anthem which still had a little bit of techno influence to it because of the kick was a bit more techno side. There’s always something to learn from other people and collaborations are a great time for that and everytime when you work with somebody in the studio, you can always see how he’s making the sounds and using the chords so there’s always creative stuff I’ve learned from all these people throughout all the years. I cannot compare what was more creative and what was not because at the end of the day the result is the most important and where this whole thing is going. I think we’ve released some great collaborations over the years and I think that’s the most important.