The Thrillseekers

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The Thrillseekers (born Steve Helstrip) is the name of an English trance DJ, producer and remixer.^[1] He has been at the forefront of the trance genre since the release in 1998 of his critically acclaimed track, Synaesthesia. He has also worked under the guises of En Motion, Insigma, Rapid Eye, and Hydra. He is also prominent for his work in remixing, having remixed work by, among others, Tiësto, Ferry Corsten, Timo Maas, Sonique, Chicane, Blank & Jones, and Seb Fontaine. He owns his own record label, Adjusted Music.

Biography

From his first single 'Synaesthesia', through to the club anthems 'Dreaming of You', ‘NewLife’ and 'By Your Side', Steve Helstrip has been behind some of the most emotive, evocative electronic music, ever released. He has worked with pioneers like Trevor Horn, shared co-production credits with Chicane and co-wrote on Ferry Corsten’s Grammy award nominated ‘Right of Way’ album. He has remixed Tiësto and Armin, amongst many others, and reworked Sonique’s ‘Feels So Good’ into a worldwide No. 1 record.

Steve is now as well known as a DJ as he is a producer; having quickly risen through the ranks, captivating crowds the world over with his tough, cutting-edge sets. The Ministry, Gallery, PaSSion and Gatecrasher have all born witness to his fluid mixing, unique style and kinetic, energetic performances. His spinning career took off with such speed, in fact, that just 12 months after he first put needle to vinyl, he found himself invited to play at Paul van Dyk’s Birthday party! 2004 saw The Thrillseekers crack DJ Mag's Top 100 DJ's chart for the first time. Taking his sound to every corner of the globe, Steve went on to cement his reputation in 2006 and 2007, landing at positions 45 & 52 respectively.

The Thrillseekers story started back in 1999, where, with a relatively basic home studio Steve constructed the trance milestone that is ‘Synaesthesia’. Signed and released by Neo Records in 1999, at the height of the trance explosion, it has gone on to sell over 1,000,000 copies, across its numerous, repeated worldwide releases.

Following the collapse of Neo Records in 2003, Steve took charge of his catalogue by launching his own label Adjusted Music. With demand high for the re-releases of 'Synaesthesia' and ‘Affinity’ (which was originally came out under his Hydra moniker), both tracks were brought back out in 2004, to a huge response. As well as releasing his own records, Steve’s also sought out fresh talent for Adjusted. He signed the club hits ‘Safe to Dream’ by Russian act Evolve and ‘Alone Again’ by transatlantic duo Deep Voices. His remix of the former showcased a new housier sound, one which was fully realised with his ‘By Your Side’ release. The track was championed by Paul van Dyk and Pete Tong, being marked up, quite simply, as “Brilliant” by the latter, after he played it on Radio 1.

Artist collaborations have played an important part in Steve’s production career. Immediately following the success of ‘Synaesthesia’ Steve went on to launch a new moniker for M.O.S. subsidiary, Incentive. En-Motion was born with ‘Truth’ in 2000 and ‘Getting Away with It’ following in 2002. In the adjoining years he also pushed forward, partnering collaborations with Andy ‘Pulser’ Perring as Insigma (‘Insigma’/’Open Our Eyes’/’Avalon’) and with ATCR owner Tim Stark under the name Rapid Eye ('Never Going Back'/"Circa-Forever"/"Stealing Beauty"/'Santa Cruz'/'Absolut').

In late 2005 The Thrillseekers moved into compilation territory, with the release of ‘Night Music Vol 1’. The CD and 30 date world tour that followed it was an instant smash, expanding the fanbase further and generating Stateside and Russian releases of the comp. Early summer 2007 saw the much-anticipated follow-up hit the stores. ‘NM Volume 2’ again encompassed a world tour (expanded to 40 dates over 5 months) and gained additional territorial releases in China, Taiwan & The Philippines.

Discography

Albums

• Nightmusic Volume 1 (2006)
• Nightmusic Volume 2 (2007)
• Nightmusic Volume 3 (2008)

Singles

As The Thrillseekers:

• 1999 'Synaesthesia' [Neo]
• 1999 'Castaway' [Neo]
• 1999 '36 weeks' [Neo]
• 2002 'Dreaming of You' [MOS]
• 2002 'Escape' [Adjusted]
• 2004 'NewLife' [Adjusted]
• 2004 'Synaesthesia 2004' [Adjusted]
• 2005 'By Your Side' [Adjusted]
• 2005 'Sublime' [Tsunami] with Ferry Corsten
• 2007 'Waiting Here For You' [Adjusted] featuring Aruna
• 2008 'The Last Time' [Adjusted] featuring Fisher
• 2008 'City Of Angels' [Adjusted]

As Rapid Eye:

• 1999 "Alderaan" [ATCR]
• 1999 "H.E.I.G.H.T.S." [ATCR]
• 2000 "Never Going Back" [ATCR]
• 2002 "Circa Forever" [ATCR]
• 2003 "Stealing Beauty" [ATCR]
• 2004 "Santa Cruz" [ATCR]
• 2004 "Absolut" [ATCR]
• 2008 "Circa Forever - 2008 Remixes" [ATCR]

As Insigma:

• 2000 "Insigma/Evolution" [ATCR]
• 2000 "Open our Eyes" [ATCR]
• 2003 "Avalon" [ATCR]

As En-Motion:

• 2000 'Truth" [IDJ]
• 2002 "Getting Away With It" [Incentive]
• 2002 "Getting Away With It (Don't Be Afraid)" [Incentive]

As Hydra:

• 2003 "Affinity" [Discover]

As Morpheus:

• 2003 'Signs/Magnetica' [Captivating Sounds]

Remixes

As The Thrillseekers:

• 1999 Free Radical - "Unity Theme" [ATCR]
• 1999 Force Majeure - "Redemption" [Additive Three]
• 1999 Rapid Eye - "Alderaan" (as Thrillseekers v. Rapid Eye) [ATCR]
• 1999 Alice Deejay - "Back In My Life" [Positiva]
• 1999 Silhouette - "Cant Wait To Find Love" [Neo]
• 1999 Cequenza - "Cequenza" (as Rapid Eye v. Thrillseekers) [Spot On]
• 1999 Compulsive - "Movin'" [Amato International]
• 1999 Digitale - "New York Doll" [Y2K]
• 1999 Chicane - "Saltwater (Ambient Mix)" [Xtravaganza]
• 1999 Taskforce - "Touch Me" [Y2K]
• 2000 Blank & Jones - "Beyond Time" [Gang Go]
• 2000 Rhythm of Life - "You Put Me In Heaven With Your Touch" [Xtravaganza]
• 2000 Ascension - "Someone" [Code Blue]
• 2000 Chicane - "Autumn Tactics" [Xtravaganza]
• 2000 Tiesto & Armin van Buuren pres. Alibi - "Eternity" [Vandit/Armind]
• 2001 Vincent de Moor - "Fly Away" [Virgin]
• 2001 Orinoko - "Island" [Positiva]
• 2002 En Motion - "Getting Away With It (Instrumental Mix)" [Incentive]
• 2002 Chicane - "Saltwater 2002 (House Mix)" [Xtravaganza]
• 2002 Matt Schwartz pres. Sholan - "Can You Feel (What I'm Going Thru)" [Ministry of Sound]
• 2003 Jan Johnston - "Calling Your Name" [Platipus]
• 2003 Alizee - "A Countre Courant" [Universal]
• 2003 Alizee - "J'en Ai Marre" (as Soft Skin) [Universal]
• 2003 Hydra - "Affinity" [Discover]
• 2004 Usual Aspect - "Mr Blue" [Motion Recordings]
• 2004 Ferry Corsten - "Sweet Sorrow" [Tsunami]
• 2004 Rapid Eye - "Circa Forever" (Ambient Mix) [ATCR]
• 2004 8 Wonders - "The Morning After" [Somatic Sense]
• 2004 Witness of Wonder - "Emotions in Motion" [ATCR]
• 2004 Evolve - "Safe To Dream" [Adjusted]
• 2004 Reflekt feat Delline Bass - "Need To Feel Loved" [Positiva]
• 2005 Pulser - "Square One" [ATCR]
• 2005 Lange ft. Kirsty Hawkshaw - "Sincere for You" (re-released 2008) [Adjusted]
• 2005 Ferry Corsten vs. The Thrillseekers - "Sublime" [Tsunami]
• 2009 Solarstone ft. Elizabeth Fields - "Part of Me" [Solaris]
• 2009 Chicane - "Poppiholla" [Armada]

As En-Motion:

• 1998 York - "Farewell To The Moon" [Positiva]
• 1998 Aurora - "Hear You Calling" [Additive]
• 1999 The Thrillseekers - "Synaesthesia" [Neo]
• 1999 Starparty "I'm In Love" [Incentive]
• 2000 Sonique - "It Feels So Good" [Serious]
• 2000 Free Radical - "Surreal" [ATCR]
• 2004 The Thrillseekers - "Synaesthesia 2004" (Re-edit) [Adjusted]

As Rapid Eye:

• 1999 Cequenza - "Cequenza [Spot On]
• 1999 Compulsive - "Movin" [Spot On]
• 2000 Timo Maas - "Der Sheiber" [Perfecto]
• 2000 Blank & Jones - "The Nightfly" [Gang Go]
• 2000 Gee Motion - "Blue Angel" [Perfecto]
• 2002 Rapid Eye - "Circa Forever" [ATCR]
• 2004 Rapid Eye - "Absolut" [ATCR]

References

External links

• thethrillseekers.co.uk, Helstrip's homepage
• Adjusted Music, record label owned by Helstrip
• Steve Helstrip's Twitter