Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there?
I am currently based in between Brisbane and Byron Bay, my family home is in Byron and often go home to see my parents who own a farm there and help out. Both places for me have a unique place in music. There are some really good promoters who throw some spectacular parties at the moment – Sub Rosa in Brisbane has been a highlight recently bringing some really tasteful international acts like Patrice Baumel, Jeremy Olander, Pig & Dan, Undercatt just to name a few.
How did you first start playing music?
When I was 13 I had gone to Canada on a family trip and was heavily influenced by my cousins who at the time were holding events and listening to Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold, Armin Van Buuran and most of the big trance Dj’s back then. I came back from that trip a bit inspired and very interested by dance music as it was all very new to me.
I saved some money and bought some CDJ’s when I was about 14, I was still in high school but me and a few friends started all djing at these house parties which really shaped my sound, it was a great time as we would be all searching on blogs and sharing music with each other…we all have a few release’s under our belts now which is funny too. After about 2 years I became friends with some of the local promoters in Byron Bay and managed to sneak into some gigs in town in-which they put me on the line up and opened up the door so very thankful to those guys – Webber, Deegs & Dobbie thanks!.
Please tell us a little about where you grew up and how this impacted your music?
I grew up in 10 minute’s from Byron Bay so there wasn’t naturally a lot to do with friends as we were always so spaced away and not being able to drive then was an issue. I would spend most of my teen years just listening & collecting music but I guess living away from friends was also a blessing as I had a lot of spare time trying to learning to use music software after school.
What’s been happening recently?
I’ve been working in studio and finishing some more music, a bit darker and a more peak time techno so pretty keen to get that out and begin to play it out at gigs. I’m also beginning to lock in some shows locally which im looking forward to showcase a lot of unreleased material.
Your new 3 track EP ‘Sour Minds’ is out now, what influenced the sound and writing for this EP?
Fusions of sounds that I really like I guess. Most of the tracks have a progressive vibe and a nice groove underneath with a few afro percussive elements also. i really wanted to have some sort of vocal in every track to just use as an element and carry the track through which really tied the whole EP together. You can hear a bit of everything and I guess that’s me just listening to a bit of everything at the moment.
How did you go about writing Sour Minds?
Sour Minds I wrote over 2 days, I started with a simple drum rhythm and added in some atmospheric elements to get the main atmosphere going which is that main saw synth that you hear in the intro. I had recently just bought the Mini V synth plugin and was playing around with that a fair bit so tweaked some patches and came up with the main arpeggio/lead with a vocading LFO on it to give it a bit of movement.
After that I found some vocals that fitted the right vibe which I actually found on splice, yes Splice! Its an awesome platform and go to when I need to find an element just to get the idea’s flowing. The next day I kind of just refined the song structure and a quick mix down to get it ready to send away as a demo. It was the actually the last track I wrote and became the 1st on the EP
Where and when did you record/produce?
In my studio room at my 2 bedroom flat in Brisbane. I often find myself up in the mornings or late afternoons in the studio, its almost a routine for me to hop on in the early mornings for an hour or 3. I wrote the Sour Minds EP over the course of about 2 months early last year, although I had produced ‘The Thoughts, The Fears” about 2 years ago now I revisited that and changed it quite a bit.
What programs/equipment did you use to record/produce?
I wrote the whole EP on Ableton and used a range of VST plugins, I had actually used some old speakers from Pioneer to write & mix down roughly at the beginning of the year. I have recently just purchased some ADAM Audio S2V’s which are freaking awesome and really pin pointed the flaws in my 1st mix down for all three tracks.
Please tell us about your current recording/production setup, what you have in the arsenal and how you came about finding the equipment:
As mentioned I have a pretty simple space as im mostly in the box with Ableton, although I have just purchased some ADAM S2V’s which were an expensive purchase but 100% worth it, they have really given me a bit more depth/clarity and helped me refine my mix down’s at the pre-mastering stage.
I have been really loving the V Collection which has some awesome plugins modelled off some great vintage & modern synthesizers -They sound really organic even though they are digital thanks to the TAE modelling process. Besides that I have a Minilogue which I use often for random sounds like effects and background sounds in tracks.
I’m looking to purchase a DeepMind 12 & ASM Hydrasynth. I luckily have a really good friend who has just built a dream studio of his (little street studios). He has a lot gear which I am able to play with and I guess pick the synths that cater to my taste which is a bonus!. Its good to have his knowledge and bring that back into my studio which is always refreshing for creativity.
What do you have planned for Sour Minds?
I’ve got some shows coming up so I’m am really keen to play it out and see the reaction from people as I haven’t actually played it loud yet. I’ve had some really good feedback from other DJ’s who have played it out loud and they said it works really well, I guess all 3 tracks bring a different vibe to the floor.
What do you like to do away from music?
I play a lot of soccer and often am at the family farm which is kind of therapeutic for me to get away from the city. I also work for JBL in their consumer electronics side of the business as a rep which is awesome. It gives me great insight into fresh products, music, events and how that all correlates into business which is interesting to see.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
Listening to a range of everything really. I have been liking Henrik Schwarz, Guy J, Patrice Baumel, Adriatique & Tiefscwarz. Besides that everything on the Innervisions label has been really inspiring.
You’ve been receiving a lot of support from big names in the dance music scene like Eric Prydyz and the likes, how has the whole experience with these big artists been so far?
Eric Prydz has really been a inspiration to me from the beginning, just his simplicity with production in his music always astonishes me. For him to play one of my tracks in his BBC essential mix a couple of years back was a huge thing for me, I just wrote that track sitting in my bedroom studio and totally forgot about it until I heard it randomly. This for me gave me a bit of confidence to try new things in the studio and really dig deep into production.
What’s in store for 2020?
More music and more shows, I have been working on a lot of new material!.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
Kimchi Pork fried rice. Its always good to just hang out anywhere with friends really, personally my favourite is the lounge room when I have nothing on haha!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maniandyou
Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/manian
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/maniandyou
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