TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
Man With No NameMan With No Name is the production and performance alias of UK Goa and Psy-Trance producer Martin Freeland.  As Man With No Name, Freeland played a major role in shaping Goa Trance. He also released one of the first ever trance tracks ‘Way Out West.  Man With No Name has released three studio albums.
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Man With No Name Playlist

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'Teleport'
(Dragonfly Records 1994)
'Moment Of Truth'
(Concept In Dance 1996)

Early Years: 1988 to 1999

Martin Freeland started out releasing electronic dance music in the late eighties.  One of his early inspirations had been meeting the Pet Shop Boys while he was working at EMI and seeing how successful they became as ‘ordinary guys making electronic music’.

Freeland’s earliest releases were acid house and techno but with the track ‘Way Out West’ (Spiral Cut 1990) Freeland made what is widely recognized as one of the earliest trance tracks ever made.  Although by today’s standards its acid house origins are clear, in its day it was a revolutionary release that would serve as one of the foundation stones for the early years of the new emerging genre of trance music.

Throughout the early nineties Freeland honed his sound towards a sound which began to be refered to as Goa Trance.  He contributed to a number of releases by an early Goa Trance act called the Infinity Project but had his Goa Trance breakthrough in 1994 with the release of ‘Teleport / Sly-Ed’ (Dragonfly Records 1994).  'Teleport' almost instantly became a classic of Goa Trance, a blueprint for the evolution of the sound.  The mixture of fast tempo thumping kick drum, rasping bass riff, squelching acid lines and big dark lead line were classic Man With No Name and thrust Freeland into the trance mainstream. 

Legendary DJ and producer Paul Oakenfold licensed ‘Teleport’ and another classic Man With No Name track ‘Sugar Rush’ to his heavily Goa-influenced and seminal mix album ‘Perfecto Fluoro’ (Perfecto 1994).

Freeland released the debut Man With No Name studio album in 1996 ‘Moment Of Truth’ (Concept In Dance 1996) featuring tracks such as ‘Sugar Rush’, ‘Floor-Esssence’ and the down tempo classic ‘Azymuth’.

Almost inevitably Man With No Name signed to Oakenfold’s Perfecto label.  Although Feeland later reflected that he hadn’t been fully comfortable with signing to what he viewed as a ‘big mainstream label’ it was a relatively successful time for him.  Freeland released the second Man With No Name album on Perfecto ‘Earth Moving The Sun’ (Perfecto 1998) which featured the single ‘Vavoom!’ which charted in the UK charts.

 

'Axis Flip'
(Dragonfly Records 2003)
'Interstate Highway'
(Dragonfly Records 2003)
Sunset To Sunset Festival 2009

Later Years: 2000 to present


In 2000 Freeland left Perfecto and return to Dragonfly Records to release the mix album ‘Teleportation’ (Dragonfly Records 2000). 

Three years later he released the third, and to date latest, Man With No Name studio album ‘Interstate Highway’ (Dragonfly Records 2003).

Freeland continues to produce and makes semi-regular appearances at Psy-Trance festivals.

 

As Man With No Name Martin Freeland was one of the most influential figures in the early evolution of Goa and Psy-Trance.  He also made a pivotal contribution to the history of Trance music as a whole with the landmark single ‘Way Out West’.  During the mid-nineties Man With No Name productions stood out from the pack, with a quality and vision that helped raise the bar for trance producers of all styles.  Though hugely influential Freeland never achieved the fame and commercial success that his influence deserves.

Martin Freeland used to work at UK major record label EMI where he met the Pet Shop Boys who became an inspiration for him to pursue a career in electronic music.