They say a picture is worth a thousand words. When we began this project, we knew that we needed a logo that told a story. We wanted to pay respect to the past and create something for the present, but keep our eye fixed firmly on the future.
The image that kept coming to us, like a refrain, was an image of a glowing orange eye, peering out like a gatekeeper. A watchful guardian and protector. The orange represents the sacral chakra, associated with pleasure, creativity, and sexuality.
Too often the Trance scene has dwelled on the past and on personalities. But, we aren’t looking to replicate what the Trance scene has become. For our logo, we chose the eye of a machine to evoke the future. To symbolize the music that brings us all together, the Iris of our Gatekeeper’s eye is made of waveforms. We celebrate the music and the technology that underlies this beautiful art form, not producers, not celebrity DJs.
Though we had an idea very early, it went through many iterations and considerable effort. Thanks to Katie Franke’s creative input, Christina Reagan’s critical eye, and Thomas Cairns’s patience and skill at putting it all together, we turned an idea into a reality.
It is no coincidence that an eye was also the logo of Eye Q records, one of the most influential early Trance labels. With our choice, we pay respect to the past, to the Frankfurt scene that gave birth to the Trance sound. We commit ourselves to building a movement that returns Trance to its original purpose. Trance has an incredible history, worthy of celebration, but too often ignored.
We will honor the past, but we will not live in it. For too long Trance has been boxed in by other people’s rules for what it is supposed to be. It’s not a BPM. It’s not effusive melodies. It is creative and innovative. Above all, it is hypnotic and entrancing. It is Underground.
