Tripnotic

Tripnotic (real name Emil Hadji Panzov) is one of the hardest working promoters of quality sounds in Macedonia. He is convinced that music should only be divided in two main categories - good and bad and that the music genre categories were invented by the major labels in order to sell their products more easily. Guided by his strong belief that music is art and not a product, he is doing whatever it takes to promote fresh, innovative and challenging sounds.

Emil was among the first to play the new intriguing sounds on Macedonian commercial radio stations, securing their exposure to a mainstream audience. Feeling the need to present the sound properly in a club environment, he decided to form the promoter crew AFD and started organizing parties in 1997. When the initial club fanbase was formed, it was finally time to invite prominent guests from the world scene. Through the last decade, AFD alone and with other crews promoted hundreds of resident parties, ocassionally spiced with guestings by the likes of Junior Buzz (UK Rumble), DJ Vlad (Breakneck, Sokolov), Empress (Skunkrock), Aphrodite (Urban Takeover), Wildchild (Wildstyle), Dieselboy (Human), etc. That was a signal for other promoters to organize drumn'bass and breaks parties themselves and an oportunity for Tripnotic to get booked to play alongside more of the top spinners on the scene, including Ed 209 (Mainframe), Tim Garbutt (Utah Saints), Temper D (Renegade Hardware), Invaderz (Metalheadz), Vicious Circle (Renegade Hardware). He always tries to present as many flavours as possible in his sets, hoping that there will be something for everyone and new followers will be charmed by the infectious sounds. The good word spreads fast and Tripnotic (also known as DJ M-ILL) was invited to become a certified chart returning member of the worlds largest DJ association, DMC World.

Feeling it is not enough to spin records and wanting to express himself on a different level, Tripnotic started producing his own music. Maintaining his rule-breaking image, there are no genre restrictions applying to his production efforts. But whether it is a banging drumn'bass tune, a driving breakbeat anthem or a head nodding trip-hop experiment, the high production quality is the bonding factor and the artistic sign of his material. The first two albums were self-released through the mp3.com service in 1999 and 2001 and the online community helped attract more attention for Tripnotic's filmic sound. Around that time labels were asking to release some of his music. The song "Tripnofunk" was licensed for inclusion on Warner Bros.' best-selling DVD "The Matrix Revisited", "Revolution: Difficult" was included on Recycle's "Indieground Vol.1" compilation and "Moments B4" found its place on Third Ear's compilation "8". Tripnotic is also known for his remix work that sparks a different light on songs by some great musicians. His remix of "Don't Wake Me Up" by post-rock legends Cranes was released on their "Submarine" EP (Instinct Records USA) which ended up as number 24 on Billboard's maxi-single chart. Always up for artistically challenging colaborations, Tripnotic was involved in a few film projects, including "A Portrait for Vladimir" by Snezana Mladenovska and "Cherie" by Jason Wen.

As a continuation of his previous efforts, Emil started a new project called Filter in 2002. It began as a radio show and after two years transformed into a monthly magazine, followed by an electronic publication of the same name. In the beginning of 2007 we witnessed the birth of the label Filter, which will be an even stronger vehicle towards the final goal - domination of the good sounds.

DISCOGRAPHY

The Return EP (Filter, 2008)
Asylum EP (Filter, 2007)
Fresh Paint EP (Filter, 2007)
Music for the film "Cherie" directed by Jason Wen (2005)
Music for the film "A Portrait for Vladimir" directed by Snezana Mladenovska (2003)
Cranes - Don't Wake Me Up (Tripnotic Remix) (Submarine EP, Instinct Records, 2002)
Moments B4 (8 compilation, Third Ear, 2002)
Tripnofunk (The Matrix Revisited DVD, Warner Bros., 2001)
Revolution Difficult (Indieground Vol.1 compilation, Recycle, 2001)
Crossbreedings (selfreleased album, 2000)
Broken Aesthetics (selfreleased album, 1999)