Nick Bracegirdle isn’t another Johnny-come-lately DJ who capitalized on the mad club scene of Ibiza. No, he’s a trained multi-instrumentalist who’s been visiting the Spanish party island for years and, instead of becoming another traditional musician affronted by the DJ and dance culture of the Balearic Islands, he embraced it and found his muse as Chicane.

Euphoric, heady melodies and tight dance beats reign on the island and that’s what you’ll find on Chicane’s debut album Behind the Sun (Xtravaganza/Columbia). Curiously, his collaboration with Canadian pop star Bryan Adams – the lilting, trance-leaning "Don’t Give Up" – became a No. 1 smash in England (it’s his first Stateside single) and the swirling "Saltwater" featuring Clannad’s Maire Brennan reached the U.K. Top 10. Recently, Chicane was named "Best Trance Act" at Euro award show Dancestar 2000, besting Timo Maas, Paul van Dyk, Sash and Underworld. Will Chicane carry trance to the American charts? On a recent trip to New York, Bracegirdle connected with DJ Times.

DJ Times: How did you get involved in music?

Bracegirdle: I was one of these kids in school who had dyslexia. So I became very much on the courageous tip since I was good at art and not so much at math. I had a very musical family and was put through guitar and piano lessons, but it was more of a chore at that age. I did the art college thing with a degree in design. I think being an artist and a musician are from the same bed of creativity.

DJ Times: What was the first thing you did that you felt good about?

Bracegirdle: I was working as a designer in Trafalgar Square and lived outside London, so I was commuting. That did my head in really badly and I was unhappy. So I sat down with my parents and said I’m just not happy with this job. I had made a decision that I would rather be poor and happy, rather than getting by and just not enjoying life. So I asked them to support me for a month, so I could have a real crack at this music thing. I sent off so many demo tapes and didn’t get anywhere – no replies. Then I got into the dance thing, which had this underground culture where you could make your own record. You could press it up and market it yourself, take it to the right clubs and radio. So that’s what I did. I recorded what I thought was my best work, a single called "Disco Citizens" and it just went mad. It went Top 40. To me that was my finest hour because that’s when it stopped being a dream and became a reality.

DJ Times: Did you get into the London club scene?

Bracegirdle: Yeah, I went to a lot of clubs, but I was totally naïve and ignorant of the whole drug culture that was going on. But I knew this was the future of where my music was going, so I worked with as many people as possible.

DJ Times: What records or DJs influenced you during that time?

Bracegirdle: There was a group called N-Joi that had a single called "Anthem." There was a group called the Bassheads with a single called "Is There Anybody Out There?" The early records were incorporating quite a bit of melody and euphoric key changes. The first house records were made by DJs who weren’t really musicians particularly and they didn’t have much of a tune. But when I started hearing melodies and key changes, I could see how it could work for me.

DJ Times: How did you hook up with Bryan Adams?

Bracegirdle: He rang up out of the blue. My gear and my studio are actually at my mum’s house. My mum, who’s now my full-time manager, answered the phone and was like "Bryan who? Sorry we don’t know who you are? What do you do?" We get nutters ringing up all the time, so she thought he was a journalist or something. So she took his number and said I would call back. So she said, "Someone called Bryan rang for you." I was like, "Who?" She said, "Bryan Adams." And I thought for a moment and said, "You mean the Bryan Adams?" It was very funny and he’s never let us forget that. He’s a lovely guy. I’ve known him for a couple of years now and we get on really well. He’s mad as a hatter, of course. Both he and I don’t have any of this rock-n-roll, pop star ego thing going on. He’s pretty ordinary. On "Don’t Give Up," he wrote most of the lyrics and I worked on the melodies. And he sings it, of course.

DJ Times: Do you plan to do more vocal things like that?

Bracegirdle: The next couple of singles are actually downtempo songs for me. They’re dance-influenced tracks, but they’re songs. It’s a bit bizarre for me to be writing songs. I’ve also started work on Bryan’s new album. I’m producing half of the album.

DJ Times: Everyone refers to your music as Ibizan or Balearic. How does the place influence your music?

Bracegirdle: There are always strong correlations between my music and Ibiza. I was taken there on holiday as a child. This was way before dance culture. A lot of my tracks try to capture the essence and atmosphere of summer. I also use a lot of guitar. When I’m writing music, I will think of a place in memory and have a visual reference in my mind. Ibiza is about escapism, a little bit of magic. Everyone goes there for summer holidays. The clubs are beautiful. Balearic/Ibiza anthems are very euphoric. In Ibiza, there is a classic place called Café Del Mar where the ultimate chill-out DJs like José Padilla play. Six or seven years ago it was the place to be when the sun was setting. It was where you began your evening. There have been several huge compilations from Café Del Mar that achieved cult status. Some of my earlier tracks like "Offshore" were played there.

DJ Times: Are you putting together a band?

Bracegirdle: In the studio it’s mostly me, but on the road I’ve got a whole band now. It’s important to show that we can take dance music live. Dance music live is one of those things that’s been done so badly. A guy will stand behind a keyboard with a DAT machine and a couple of dancers. That really isn’t what we do. On keyboards are myself and my programmer Tom ["Tomski" Jank- iewicz], and between us we have eight to10 keyboards, samplers and mixing desks. Then I’ve got bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, flute players, percussion. Bryan Adams comes out and sings with me, along with a female vocalist, Justine. Then we have a huge visual thing because of my background in design. We’ve got projection screens behind us showing images of Ibiza. We have a club set and a gig set that incorporates the more downtempo material. We’ve been getting a great response.

DJ Times: What kind of venues are you doing?

Bracegirdle: We’ve had 20 dates so far in England at big places like Glastonbury and Creamfields. I [did] a big party for the Billboard conference in New York and we have dates in L.A., Toronto and Chicago. Then I’m off to Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. We’ve become a big touring band. I think the live thing is important to break the music in America, but unfortunately I can’t be in the studio writing. I’m supposed to work with Vangelis later this year and I’m not sure if I will have time.

DJ Times: Do you have a favorite keyboard?

Bracegirdle: Probably the most used keyboard I have would be a piece of kit called the Nord Lead made by Clavia. But the main workhorses in the studio are samplers. I use Roland S750 and S760. I use them as instruments and have huge sound libraries.

DJ Times: Where does your current album fit?

Bracegirdle: It fits in several places because it can be danced to and listened to as well. It’s got a few flavors to it. I wanted to try some new things – more songs and downtempo stuff along with the more traditional dance flavor. The Chicane thing is me as an artist, but I’ve also become quite a producer now. When you’re a producer, you’re a musical sponge. I’ll do what I want to do anyway, but within that I want to focus on what is current. In my brain, I sift through what’s going to be cool and what’s going to have longevity. It gets stirred up and spun around in my head, so it comes out a certain way so it will be fashionable to a certain degree. But the melody is just me.