Artist: Ace Ventura (Iboga) Interview by: Evgeny

01. Hello Yonatan! How are you?
Hello dear Evgy, im super thanx for asking....

02. Please introduce yourself briefly to those who are unfamiliar.
My name is Yoni Oshrat, I’m 30 years old, living in the lovely city of Ramat-Hasharon, in the center of Israel.

03. Let's go back to where it all began, how did you got involved in producing music?
i was actually on a rather cinematic path, studying cinema in school and serving in the video unit of the air force during my army service.after the army i worked in Post production, editing sound and Foley fx for television and cinema. But since early age, I’ve been bitten by the music bug,namely electronic music, so I’ve always craved to have a go at that as well. in the early nineties I was mostly into dance music (the likes of 2 unlimited,Ramirez and Chimo Bayo) and by the middle of that century i was already hooked on Goa Trance, going to parties and buying almost every new release. Those days (around 1994-1998) were actually the golden era of trance in Israel, with massive raves of thousands of people, Including the famous "karahana" festival @ Ganey-Huga.
At some point during that time, I met DJ Goblin, who was just beginning to build a studio. After having some wild parties and raves experiences together we decided to have a go at it ,and formed CHILDREN OF THE DOC. and Once we started to gig abroad,
I completely ditched the cinema career and focused only on music. after a few succesful releases,Goblin started another project called Psysex and released a very popular 12" vynil on krembo records,4 days of madness. That track was actually written with Dave Saragosi (Kailum) but after that release i joined the psysex project as well, which in short time became our main and only project. Under Psysex, We released tracks on lots of compilations and produced 3 albums, plus a remix album.

04. When was the Ace Ventura project born, and what was the main idea behind it?
The project was born in early 2005. I was getting fed up with full on music after many years in the scene, and was already listening to progressive since a few years, but never tried to write a prog track. When I finally tried, with a little push from one "perfect stranger", I came up with the track "cardiac arrest" which received great responses ,was purchased by iboga and released on the same stranger's compilation, SET:4. i was already halfway out of the psysex project, as i had little motivation to sit in the studio and write full on anymore. So after that track was released, and gained that kind of response, it was time for a fresh start. The idea behind the project was to write more spacey and atmospheric trance, while keeping it dancefloor friendly...

05. How did you come up with that name? Did the infamous pet detective have such a major influence on your life?
Unlike what most people think, the Jim Carrey movie was not the main idea behind the name. It’s a great film and I love it, but the truth is that VENTURA is actually my real last name, or more accurately my father's - He changed it to OSHRAT when he married my mother. So there is more to that name than the infamous pet detective.

06. You have just released a full length debut album, let's elaborate on that a bit, what should the people expect to find
in "Rebirth" and what is your main message in this release?
Rebirth is my debut album alone, and the first Ace Ventura album. Since my background is in Full-on, I tend to produce trance that is aimed more at the dancefloor than at home, so naturally the people should expect strong and pumping tunes,and useful DJ-Tools.
The main title says it all really, as i did have some kind of rebirth, after getting bored and tired from trance, and losing a bit of faith in the scene.

07. You have collaborated with a handful of respected progressive artists in making this album, what was it like?
The album features collaborations with Liquid Soul, Intelabeam and Lish. It was great actually, the flow was perfect with each one of them, Each producer has different methods of writing, editing and mixing, so i learned alot, and had great fun with the guys while working on each collaboration. I hope they did as well :)

08. Is there some artists you wish to collaborate with and didn't had the chance yet?
Of course, the list is way too long ,but first name which comes to mind would be FREq, as he was and still is a main influence on my progressive tracks.

09. There's a rumor spreading about you having an odd ritual whilst working on the album, it has been said that each time before coming into the studio
you would strip naked and perform an old tribal dance on your rooftop calling for the ancient muse of PsyBoomShankar, is it true?
im afraid i cannot confirm nor deny. Next question please!

10. What was your main inspiration working on the album?
That’s hard to say, I guess i get my inspiration mostly from other music, movies and parties across the globe.
i doubt there was a main inspiration but as I’ve said before, I’m quite influenced by Aran Galahger, aka FREq.
other than him i recon Sensient, Liquid Soul and Phony Orphants all have some small influence-touches in the album somewhere :D

11. What can we expect in the near future from Ace Ventura after the album? anything in the pipeline?
I want to produce a few remixes to other artists, as I’ve been heavily remixed by others till now. Other than that,
I recently started an official project with Intelabeam. We've done 3 tracks in the past, under "Ace Ventura and intelabeam", but now we are focusing on a new name (to be announced soon) and an official project, which will be more clubby in nature but still progressive. In addition, i’ve started work on the sequel to the NEW ORDER compilation, which was released last year on HOMmega, and was really well received. Release date is planned for early next year.

12. You also have a side project "Schatsi" which already had a huge success with "Dead End", can you tells a bit more about that project and what can we expect in the future?
The schatsi project started as a rather freestyle electronica project. I’ve released a few breakbeat, chillout and downtempo tracks on labels such as Hadshot and Chillcode, but after the success of the "Dead end" track, the project became more electro-house oriented. I've dedicated all my time to the ace ventura project though and neglected schatsi for a bit, but hopefully now ill have more time for that as well. Other than new schatsi tunes in the near future, u can also expect a super slick minimal techno remix to Dead end,
by one of the scene's hottest names at the moment-Elegant universe....release details will follow soon.

13. Where do you see yourself in the future?
Well, my only hope is to be lucky enough to still make a living out of music, be it dance music or other...that’s about it.

14. What are your personal Highlights for events you played at this year? is there some place you wish to play at and still hadn't had the chance? Kazakhstan  maybe?
Iv'e had quite a busy festival season this year and had great fun in most of them, favorites would have to be: WONDERLAND in Germany - a great little festie, on its 11th year, which is located in the backyard of the organizer’s house, yet it consisted of up to 5,000 people. The vibe was one of the best I’ve stumbled upon in all of the European festivals. I played for almost 4 hours and could go on and on... Another great festie this year was SONICA, well organized and successful in almost every category.
One must mention UNIVERSERO PARALLELO, the new year’s beach festival of Brazil - Absolutely amazing location right on the beach, wonderful feeling of freedom and a very good lineup throughout the week-long event.
Last but not least was the recent TAZ festival in south Israel. I’ve played on the 1st day which had less people, but it still ranks, along with last year's edition, as the best stage for progressive trance. The third empire crowd is unmatched all over the world...a real pleasure to play for them.
Regarding places i hadn't played yet and want to, can't think of one really, but I’m not sure if Kazakhstan is one of them...:P

15. What do you like to do in your spare time away from the studio?
i like to browse the Aero-groove website, of course ;) other than that i enjoy watching movies, namely horror movies, and also television shows, such as southpark, family guy, lost etc. I’m quite a good player in Pro Evolution soccer, which takes a lot of my free nights. Unfortunately I’m also quite a net-addict and spend way too much time in the internet. But it use be to my advantage as well, be itself promotion, MySpace browsing or just porn.

16. What would be your advice to beginner music producers?
First of all make the music u feel like and not just the trendy stuff that goes around."Following your heart" is not just a cliché - worked great for me. When mixing a track for the first time, Reference to good-sounding tracks is very important. Load a track from a producer that sounds good onto your sequencer, and try your best to reach the same frequencies.
Having said that, Try to develop your own sound and style, so u can be distinguished from others. One of the most important factors though, if u want to succeed and gain recognition, is the promotion part. Don't rely on a label to promote you, do it yourself - it's very easy today thanx to free services such as Msn messenger or Skype, MySpace, Isratrance, and file hosting sites like yousendit or sendspace. Good luck!

Thanx alot yoni! And see you on the dancefloor!

Ace Ventura @ MySpace

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