It’s been exactly one hundred releases since Armada Trice first blasted itself onto the relentless world of Electronic Music. From progressive beasts such as Arston – ‘Light’ and MORTEN – ‘Himalaya’ to UMF Miami favourite Lost Frequencies – ‘Are You With Me’ (Dash Berlin Remix) and Roddy Reynaert’s melodic masterpiece ‘Further’, Armada Trice has laid down some very strong foundations to build on.
The celebratory one-hundredth release of the label is more than enough of a reason to dive into the past releases of the label; to make clear what this imprint is all about. And we’ve done just that by bombarding Onno and Freek – better known as the Armada Trice team – with a bunch of questions. Even though the unofficial inception of the label can be traced back to the summer of 2012 through spiritual predecessor Trice Recordings, the actual Armada Trice label first made its first appearance on October 13th, 2014. Here’s the story of their beloved imprint: Armada Trice…
Belarusian hotshot Arston had the honour of having his creation, ‘Circle Track’ feat. Jake Reese, pushed forward as the very first release of the imprint. The stir it caused was grand, to say the least. Right off the bat, a huge number of world-renowned DJs, producers, and radio show hosts such as Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, David Guetta, Max Vangeli, Alexander Popov included the mighty tune in their sets and/or shows.
We’ve just welcomed our 100th release! Couldn’t have done it without your continuous love and support! <3 @Armada pic.twitter.com/1rKJefWCWK
— Armada Trice (@ArmadaTrice) January 16, 2016
“The birth of Armada Trice was met with such enthusiasm and dedication that I can’t help but smile whenever I think back to that moment. Of course, the label already had its own dedicated fan base due to it being some sort of a second beginning for Trice Recordings. But still, I couldn’t help but feel a bit moved by the loyalty shown. Trice Recordings had a great run, with tunes from big artists such as Grum, Funkagenda, Matisse & Sadko, Audien, and Kryder. But it was time to rebrand the whole ‘Trice’ idea and that’s how Armada Trice came to be.”
And so it ensued… More and more established names tied themselves to the imprint with one or several creations, fuelling the rise of Armada Trice. Within the first thirty releases, Dash Berlin, Heatbeat, Jochen Miller, John Dahlbäck, and Marcus Schossow had joined the party, with a bunch of other high-flying artists added to the artist roster soon after. It, of course, led to a bunch of musical highlights, but it also paved the way for fans to recognize a certain sound as the one of Armada Trice.
“In short, the sound of Armada Trice is a mixture of hard-hitting dance floor smashes and the more delicate, radio-friendly vocal tracks. A strong and recognizable melody HAS to be at the core of the productions, otherwise it wouldn’t really be “Trice”. Apart from that, it’s not really about what genre it could get pigeonholed into. It’s about conveying a certain feel and the energy that comes with it. Armada Trice is about bringing waves of positivity into this world and that translates to the music we put out. The Trice sound could encompass Progressive House monsters, tunes reminiscing of the ‘Pryda’ sound, old-school House records, or even Trance. As long as it is good music and has a certain feel to it, it’s Trice.”
“The positivity also translates to the collaborations between artist and label. We try to convey our enthusiasm as often as we can, and the artists involved with Trice try to do the same. This creates a sort of momentum that drives any of us to give it our all. We’re surrounded with so much love and passion that all of the releases are fantastic dive into. Because of that, there’s not one record out there that we don’t enjoy working on.”
Through a bunch of Armada Trice highlights that include tracks such as Hook N Sling’s remix of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ultraviolence’, Dash Berlin and John Dahlbäck’s joint venture ‘Never Let You Go’, and Vigel’s carnage-inducing hard-hitter ‘SQRT’, we arrive at recent times to find APA – ‘Johnny’ as the one hundredth release of the label. The track has been a long-awaited and heavily requested Tomorrowland ID, and now it has finally hit the world.
“APA – ‘Johnny’ is a ‘real’ festival track. This one pounds like a beast and turns the dance floor inside out. There really isn’t any other way to celebrate such a milestone, and we are glad that such a powerful tune found its way to the imprint. What better way to blast ourselves into the next series of one hundred releases than by putting out a monster of a tune like this one!”
And that’s where this story ends and the next begins. This first impressive string of Armada Trice releases has generated more than enough momentum to build on for years, which is exactly what the Armada Trice team intends to do.
“The Trice tunes have already proven their worth on US radio and streaming services such as Spotify, but we feel that we can get even more out of it. If artists keep turning to us with their unrivaled bangers because they share the notion and feeling of Trice, the sky is the limit. Together with everyone that lives and breathes ‘Trice’, we get to grow even further and become even more of a top player in the Electronic Music game. Next up: signing another batch of world-class tunes and working together to ensure that they realize their potential and become full-fledged, worldwide hit singles!”
