Interviews | [Exclusive Interview] FreshNewTracks.com Sits Down With Razz
Posted by BIGLIFE on November 15, 2016
You might have heard of Marc Raziano (Razz) from his break out “Overthinking” single featuring Aviella. Or his “Break The Rules” remix that racked up over 1 million plays on Youtube. Or, you might even have heard his latest Blink 182 “What’s My Age” again remix. It’s that consistent quality output that made us want to sit down the NY based producer and rising DJ to learn more about his inspirations, sound, and plans for 2017. Hit the jump to read our exclusive interview with Razz below.
Interviews | Point Blank Takes Us Through A History Of House Music
Posted by VMan on September 27, 2016
There’s very few people who can actually deliver the true history of house music. Thankfully, Point Blank has filled this void by meeting up with James Wiltshire, who knows his stuff to say the least. Story-telling is a dying culture, but Wiltshire will make your mind filled with visuals and imagination with his detailed story starting all the way at the beginning.
If interested in part 2, Wiltshire then goes on to explain how to make house music here.
To learn more go to Point Blank’s homepage here: http://www.pointblankmusicschool.com/
Interviews | Shadow Child Shows Us How He Makes Hit Songs
Posted by VMan on September 12, 2016
Shadow Child is practically a house hold name in dance music. His remix of “Hotter Than Hell” is a staple in mid 2010’s sounds that we’ve all come to love. The solo DJ/Producer has teamed up with Point Blank to give fans and producers an extremely detailed look as to how he formed the track “Dua Lipa – Hotter Then Hell (Shadow Child Remix)”. The British voice guiding you through the experience isn’t half-bad on it’s own. Why are their voices so good?
Anyway, go to http://www.pointblankmusicschool.com/ to find more collaborations they’ve done with big artists, lessons, creative bits, and more. Point Blank has a large audience it feeds to, including 200K subscriber following on YouTube, 2016 has had Point Blank expanding on good things more so, keep your eyes peeled on what they will be doing next.
Exclusive, Interviews | Husman & Carl Nunes Team Up With Matthew Steeper For “Out Of My Mind” + Exclusive Interview
Posted by VMan on August 24, 2016
How did the collaboration come about?
Husman: At first we started a whole different track together, where we kept sending parts of the song, and Carl came up with a great idea for the break of the song, which I added vocal chops too. After getting the great vocal from Matthew Steeper we didn’t go for those vocal chops anymore and I made what’s now the main drop.
Carl Nunes: Husman heard one of my tracks “Live Forever” about 2 years ago now and got in contact with me over twitter saying he really liked the track and the way I chopped up the vocals. We always said we would like to do a collab together but were both always working on different projects. One day I made a basic track and sent it over to Husman and he really liked it then it all went from there! So happy we could finally get to work together and super excited for this release!
Matthew Steeper: Armada reached out to me back in the spring to write a vocal for the Carl Nunes & Husman collab. I really loved the melodic inspiration of the track and so it came about quite quickly on my end. I sent them back a recorded demo a few days later.
What’s the meaning of “Out Of My Mind”?
H: Out of my mind is about losing someone which you hold very dear, but never forgetting them.
CN: I think that is best left to the writer 😉
MS: There are several levels to the song. I always want to write from my own experience but retain a level of ambiguity so the listener can apply it to their own life in their own way. The simple meaning of the song is that its about someone who you’ve had a meaningful relationship with, but for whatever reason is no longer in your life. While the person is physically gone, you will always remember them and certain things will always remind you of them. Hence while the person is “out of sight” they are “never out of mind”.
In a sense, the memory and feelings that exist of that person brighten up the sadness of this person’s absence. Its a bitter-sweet song. When it is impossible for you two to be together, you find that you can in the memory you hold in your mind. While I personally wrote this in the context of a past relationship that’s ended now, the story also connects to the pain of losing a loved one “fade into the light”. In this sense, the song really embodies the complete passage of life — processing new circumstances in the face of relational loss. There are some people in life that no matter how much time passes, our minds will never let go.
What’s been on repeat in your headphones recently?
H: Definitely the new Chainsmokers Feat. Halsey! And also the new single by Charlie Puth – We Don’t Talk Anymore and almost all new Justin Bieber records.
CN: I listen to a mixture of music, depending on my mood but an artist I always find myself going back to is Washed out! Pretty different to what I produce but it really chills me out.
MS: Between creating music full time and having most of my friends doing the same sending me their new stuff, I don’t have much extra time to really be a listener. If I do need a moment to get away and chill though, I often play some Jon Hopkins. I also really enjoy old school melodic trance. As far as mainstream stuff, I got the chance to work with Mike Williams in Amsterdam recently at a Spinnin’ writing camp. I admit I really enjoy his new bouncy style of EDM. The kid is the next Martin Garrix!
If you could collaboration with anyone, who and why?
H: My dream collaboration would be with Hans Zimmer, he’s music wise my biggest inspiration.
CN: I would really like to collaborate with Porter Robinson, His music is so original, he really has his own style and doesn’t follow other trends on top of that his production is insanely good!
MS: I really am so blessed to be able to work with many of my former “dream artists”, and so the dream-collab genie lamp has been collecting a little bit of dust lately. But of course there are still so many legends I’d love to work with. As a writer I’ve always had my eyes on Armin and Above and Beyond. Before EDM exists as it does now, I was creating trance music. As a vocalist I’d like to do another more radio friendly crossover song, perhaps with Calvin Harris?
Interviews | Meet One Of LA’s Hottest Progressive House DJs: Varun
Posted by VMan on July 22, 2016
Varun is one of LA’s quickest rising progressive house artists. If you are thinking this is Above and Beyond, think again. This dude goes hard and his releases speak for themselves, delivering heavy-hitting tracks with strong melodies. We go to dive into Varun’s life as a DJ/producer in our up-close and exclusive interview with Varun.
Where do you think the direction of progressive house is heading?
Varun: It’s tough to say. I love Progressive House but the scene is definitely changing. There are a lot of new styles of music that are coming out and people are loving it. The biggest shift I’ve seen are these more percussive and noise driven drops (almost seeming a bit random at times). Some of it is a bit much for me but some of it is executed pretty damn well.
Interviews | Bricks Break’s Down His House Roots, Timing, Future Plans & More In Exclusive Interview
Posted by VMan on July 19, 2016
Bricks has a classic LA story but with some genuine depth to it that’s just likeable, frankly. In this FNT interview, Bricks breaks down where his house roots came from, why he makes what he does (which is fluid dark hip-hop-influenced house that totally suites 2016, check out previous posts on our site), and so much more. Read all the details here.
How would you describe your style?
Brian: I’d describe it as a collection of all the styles that have influenced me through out my life. It’s combination of House, Miami Bass and Hip Hop. I add the groove of house to the raw 808 miami bass sound, then work in some vocal chopping and analog 80’s synths, and out comes up the Bricks sound.
Interviews | Hairitage Talk House, Dreams, & More In First-Ever Interview
Posted by VMan on June 21, 2016
Hairitage has been making boss moves lately. He’s landed tracks on Ultra Records, CR2 Records, XXL Audiophile, and many more. Yet, he’s somewhat unknown even though his house jams are on point. Hairitage sat down with us for his first interview where we go deep, read more below.
Who are your biggest house influences that have helped you find your style?
Aaron: Listening to Tchami, some newer Vato Gonzalez, Flume, Friend Within, and some older Chainsmokers tracks were probably my biggest influences for ideas and how I wanted to make this particular song sound.
Who would you love to work with?
Aaron: I’d love to work with anyone mentioned above, Illenium, NGHTMRE, Yntendo, Jauz, Tom Budin, or Loge21. Any of them would pretty much be life made!