Rising producer Pascal Dechmann makes his highly-anticipated return to the release radar with ‘Skin Deep’, the latest collaborative effort to come from the Luxembourg native and multifaceted, London-based pop sensation Sonna Rele. It directly follows their recent string of singles with one another, such as 2020’s ‘Your Eyes’, and 2021’s ‘Rise Up’ and ‘Jump’. DMCWORLD jump in for a worl exclusive…
How did your collaborations with renowned U.K. pop star Sonna Rele come to be?
I reached out to Sonna after she was recommended to me by a producer friend of mine. I sent her a demo and 2 weeks later she responded that she was interested in working with me, and since then we have collaborated on 6 tracks
What has it been like working with Sonna Rele on all of your recent singles, including your newest track ‘Skin Deep’?
It’s great, there is a symbiosis between the two of us. I write and produce the tracks and she knows exactly what to sing and how to bring her melody and style into the vocals, which brings a completely new flavour to my tracks.
What’s your favorite thing about nu-disco as a genre?
The groove, the bassline, and the point where you hear just the drums and bass, which makes it an airy, yet compact, sound. It is quite hard to describe as I play all the instruments on the tracks, but my main instrument is bass. The groove is really important to me. The songs don’t really need much, just the funky bass groove played live, and not from a sequencer.
Personally, what’s your favorite genre of electronic dance music to listen to in your free time?
I’m a big fan of EDM, and I love when they include real guitars — especially in the chorus. You really need a healthy mix of real live analog instruments and synths.
If you could perform your tracks with Sonna Rele at any festival or event around the world, where would it be and why?
Difficult to say, there are so many cool events… For me personally, it doesn’t have to be a big festival with a big audience. I’ve played a lot of gigs over the past 30 years, and honestly I prefer the smaller events where you are closer to people. I’ve been fortunate enough to be on stage in front of thousands of people, but I would rather play in a small club with a few hundred people where you can really get intimate musically.
How do you see your unique signature sound progressing over the next 5 years?
I don’t know what will happen and how things will progress over the next 5 years. I’m very impulsive and receptive to so many genres, so I’m constantly changing and evolving in my musicality — I’m a kind of a musical chameleon.
What’s been one of the most rewarding aspects of your career in music to-date?
Sonna and I have had over 1,200 radio airplays in Luxembourg and France in just a few months. This is pretty rewarding. Working with Sonna is definitely a rewarding aspect. And then the hundreds of gigs I’ve had the opportunity to play in my career.
Where and how do you find creative inspiration for your music?
I don’t really find inspiration in listening to other songs from other artists. I know I cannot reinvent music, however I can always hear music in my head. I just come up with hooklines, melodies, and riffs. It is all connected to my moods and emotions. So I find inspiration in everything that surrounds me in my life.
What’s your typical production process like when making new music?
I tend to work better at night when my family is sleeping. I’ll generally start with the chorus, because that’s the first thing that I can hear in my head and that I can immediately transpose to my computer. But I have to record it immediately, as soon as I have this melody in my mind. Being a musician who can play many instruments means I can lay this down quickly without having to look for loops or asking someone else to play it. Firstly, I start to record the main synths, then I add the drums and bass, and then guitars and all the rest. Then, once the vocals are recorded, I’ll rearrange the music so as to leave space for them not to be drowned out by the rest.
Are there any announcements you’d like to share, or plans to release new music in the coming months, that you’d want our readers to know about?
We wrote 10 songs together, so there are 6 more songs to come. We’ll release them step by step.
