With every subsequent release, up-and-coming producer Rezident has cultivated the attention of fans and industry tastemakers alike. Following a handful of notable releases including the single ‘High Spirits’ and ‘Blurred Focus’ EP, Rezident returns with another scintillating addition to his burgeoning catalog. The latest offering is his powerful three-track ‘Chapters’ EP, which only further solidifies his place in the electronic music realm. DMCWORLD checks in with the main man…
You have just recently released your three-track ‘Chapters’ EP on Anjunadeep! Can you tell us a little bit about the creative process behind the EP?
While making the Chapters EP, I was diving into the live-aspect of music production and experimenting with Midi-Controllers & Synths. The tracks came together mostly in jam-sessions and that’s probably also why they are a bit more minimalistic and clubbier than my previous releases.
‘Chapters’ follows a handful of releases from earlier this year including you ‘Blurred Focus’ EP. How did the production between these two EP’s differ?
The original demos from the ‘Blurred Focus’ EP are about two years old already! In comparison to the ‘Chapters’ EP, I remember playing around with samples a lot – the bassline of ‘Blurred’ is a random sample I edited in Ableton’s sampler and ‘Focus’ features a chopped guitar-riff as the main lead-element together with lots of layered percussion-sounds.
Listen here : https://anjunadeep.ffm.to/chep.gcn
How do you hope ‘Chapters’ will resonate with listeners? Do you have a favorite track on the EP?
Actually, I’m curious about that too because the tracks are a bit different from my previous releases. If I had to pick my favorite, it would be the second track, ‘In Our Dreams’.
Why did you select the name Rezident for your project?
Once I started really diving into deep house, I decided to start over with a new name and came up with ‘Rezident’. It starts with an ‘R’ just like my (real) last name and also has some meaning in the DJ-world: A ‘resident-DJ’ is someone who plays regularly in a particular club.
We see that you recently moved to Berlin. How has your experience been so far in a city that has a vast appreciation for house and techno music?
I’m really enjoying it so far! There are lots of cool people to meet, things to do, and so much to draw inspiration from! At times, it can be a bit overwhelming though and I had to learn to stay at home sometimes to charge up some energy, even though there are cool events happening at all times. Well maybe except for now, since we’re getting a second corona-wave at the moment.
In just a few years you’ve amassed over 300,000 monthly Spotify listeners, an impressive feat for a producer your age. What advice would you give to other young producers that are trying to find their footing in the industry?
I think the most important thing is to express yourself! A lot of stuff is sounding the same nowadays, so I’d say do your thing and don’t try too much to sound like everyone else. That said, it absolutely helps to learn as much as you can about audio engineering and the music industry as a whole – just don’t get too caught up in the technical details.
Your remixes for DRAMA’s ‘Hold On’ and King Henry’s ‘Remember’ have also performed quite well on streaming platforms. What initially drew you to the originals and made you want to add your own flair?
It’s hard to say what exactly it is that makes me want to do a remix. If an original record is too close to my style, there’s nothing I can add and if it’s too different it might not make sense at all. For these two remixes, I had a couple of ideas right after hearing the records and I’m really happy I got the chance to work on them!
What do you believe are some of the pros and cons of all livestream events this year?
I think that live streaming will be very relevant in the future, so it’s great to see that everyone is getting into it and new platforms & collectives are growing. However, streaming alone can’t replace real-life events, I think everyone misses that. I’ve heard that a lot of underground DJ’s don’t really know what to do at the moment since everyone is doing free live streams right now – including big DJ names etc.
Are there any specific cities you would love to perform in once live events begin happening again?
Hard to say, it seems a bit surreal to even think about performing in specific cities right now. I just hope we can go back to normal next year!
Any upcoming projects or news that you can share with us at this time?
There will be a lot of new music, including original records with singers!One record I can already announce is an upcoming remix for Aluna scheduled for January 2021!
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