They are one of trance music’s biggest acts, but makes them unique is that the music they play and create is done completely live. Together for the better part of two decades the Hilight Tribe is down in Goa to play at the Hilltop Festival. Guitarist and percussion Gregory Ruze talks about the band's roots and their ideals
TGlife: You guys play music live, when other creators of music in your genre use technology, how did that idea come about?
Gregory Ruze: Yes, others make their music with a computer. We have percussionists, guitarists, a bassist, and we play live trance, organic trance. Of course, we use effects, how Pink Floyd used to do, but our music is completely live. It started in the early 90s, when our friend Jean Marc Landau, who created our label Kosmik Hoboes, gathered us together and took us to Ibiza in Spain. This was around 1994-95. We met a lot of people in the electronic scene there. He told us, “I have a vision. Play this music live!” We were all musicians, so we worked on ideas and on music. Our first album was released in 1999. Bit by bit, we work to make everybody dance.
TGL: What were all of you guys doing before you formed Hilight Tribe?
GR: We were all part of different bands. I played in a jazz funk band, another was in a psychedelic rock band, while someone else worked with electronic music. We had to unlearn all that when we started making trance.
TGL: Why was that? Couldn’t you use forms and styles and incorporate them into trance?
GR: Not really. It’s a very interesting process. Of course, we would not be able to play this music if we did not know jazz, rock and other genres. We listened to all styles, but we had to actually study electronic music, which we did when we were in Ibiza.
TGL: Is commercial EDM eating into the space that psy trance and other trance forms occupy?
GR: Psy trance, especially, always has been an underground movement. So there is no real effect and danger from house music and other electronic music.
TGL: Trance has been that form of music that was mostly instrumental, but you have brought in lyrics and chants. Did that get appreciated?
GR: Trance is not really a style that can have lyrics. We experimented with lyrics when we created a song called Free Tibet. We took chants of the monks and recorded it in Dharamsala. The repetitive chant is like trance itself. We then created another track for Shankara using divinity and mantras, which was well appreciated, especially in India. See, people forget that music comes from tribal sounds. We are building that bridge with the roots. You always need to understand where you come from, to know where you are.
TGL: Goa has always been a large part of your musical journey and you have a massive following here. How important is Goa to you?
GR: Goa is an amazing mix of cultures, from the mix of Indian and Portuguese culture, to people from all across the world gathering here. In Goa, people unite as one on the dancefloor. When we play our music, we see the reaction of the people. They smile and enjoy it. We are here to bring love, hope and happiness through music. Ours is a message of unity and Goa is an important place for that electronic music culture.
