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The Thrillseekers
The Thrillseekers in 2010
The Thrillseekers in 2010
Background information
Birth nameSteve Helstrip
Also known asEn Motion, Insigma, Rapid Eye, Morpheus and Hydra
Born (1973-10-21) 21 October 1973 (age 50)
York, England
GenresTrance
Occupation(s)DJ, record producer
Instrument(s)Synthesizer, drum machine
Years active1999–present
LabelsAdjusted Music, Neo, ATCR, Vandit, Positiva, FSOE
Websitewww.thethrillseekers.co.uk

Steve Helstrip, known by the stage name The Thrillseekers, is an English DJ and record producer. His debut single was "Synaesthesia", released in 1999.

Helstrip has worked under the guises of En Motion, Insigma, Rapid Eye and Hydra. He also works in remixing, having remixed work by Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Timo Maas, Sonique, Chicane, Blank & Jones, and Seb Fontaine. He owns his own record label, 'Adjusted Music'.

Career

Helstrip started out making trance music while working for the computer games developer Manic Media.[1] Whilst living in Chipping Norton, on the Oxfordshire border, he recorded "Synaesthesia" with a home studio.[1][2] When released by Neo Records in 1999, the single sold over 12,000 copies on its initial release and was heavily supported by musicians including Paul van Dyk and Paul Oakenfold.[1][3] Besides the original instrumental version, Helstrip released in 2000 a club version with vocals written and performed by Sheryl Deane. This version, known as "Synaesthesia (Fly Away)", peaked at #28 in the UK Singles Chart and was featured in the 2001 film The 51st State.[4] The follow-up single was "Dreaming of You", which was released on Data Records in July 2002.[5]

Helstrip is a DJ and has performed at Ministry of Sound, Creamfields, Godskitchen and Gatecrasher. In 2004, The Thrillseekers entered DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJs poll, before going on to break into the top 50 (landing at no. 45) in 2006.

Following the collapse of Neo Records, Helstrip took charge of his catalogue by launching his own label Adjusted Music. With demand for re-releases of "Synaesthesia" and "Affinity" (which originally came out under his Hydra moniker), both tracks were brought back out in 2004. As well as releasing his own records, Helstrip also sought out fresh talent for Adjusted. He signed the club hits "Safe to Dream" by the Russian act, Evolve, and "Alone Again" by the transatlantic duo Deep Voices. His remix of the former was followed by the "By Your Side" release. The track was championed by Paul van Dyk and Pete Tong.

Artist collaborations have played an important part in Helstrip's production career. Immediately following the success of "Synaesthesia", Helstrip went on to launch a new moniker for the Ministry of Sound subsidiary, Incentive. En-Motion was born with "Truth" in 2000, and "Getting Away with It" followed in 2002. In the adjoining years he also formed collaborations with Andy "Pulser" Perring as Insigma and with Tim Stark under the name Rapid Eye.

In late 2005, The Thrillseekers released the mix album, Nightmusic Volume 1. Volume 2 appeared in 2007. This led to a five-month world tour of Thrillseekers.

A week before the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Helstrip was on a week-long tour in Japan. Shortly after the earthquake, Helstrip produced a track called "Song for Sendai" released on 8 April 2011. The song was available exclusively through Beatport, and it was announced that all proceeds from the track would be donated to the Japanese Red Cross. The track was played on Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance, Above & Beyond's Trance Around the World, and many other trance radio shows.[citation needed]

On 25 July 2016 Future Sound of Egypt released "Amber", the first single from Hydra since Affinity (2003).[6] It reached 1# on Beatport Trance and 27# on Beatport Main. Amber is the first single from his debut album Escape, which was released on 2 December 2016 through the same label.[7]

Helstrip worked from 2017 to 2019 on an album project titled "Altered State" under his Hydra alias. The project was launched with AmplifydMusic which created a large interactive following via social media and support of Helstrip's production work. The album "Hydra – Altered State" would be released on 13 December 2019. Publication magazine Mixmag quoted Steve Helstrip "Setting the bar ridiculously high ... 9/10"

Discography

Studio albums

Hydra – Altered State – Disc 1

Hydra – Altered State – Disc 2

DJ Mixes

Singles

As The Thrillseekers:

As Rapid Eye:

As Insigma:

As En-Motion:

As Hydra:

As Morpheus:

Remixes

As The Thrillseekers:

As En-Motion:

As Rapid Eye:

References

  1. ^ a b c The DJ list. "The Thrillseekers". The DJ list. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  2. ^ Slipper, Daniel. "The Thrillseekers Interview". davepearce.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  3. ^ "The Thrillseekers". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  4. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 559. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. ^ Raven (9 May 2002). "Interview: Steve Helstrip (The Thrillseekers)". Groovanauts. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  6. ^ Hernandez, Cristina (9 August 2016). "The Thrillseekers captures classic trance's magic with 'Amber' under alter ego Hydra". Dancing Astronaut. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  7. ^ Dias, Alexander (25 November 2016). "The Thrillseekers Is Finally Ready to Escape". Insomniac. Retrieved 6 December 2016.

External links

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