The producer making the world feel better this summer with his music
Interview : Dan Prince
Hey Alex welcome to DMCWORLD…where on the planet are you today?
“Hi Dan, I’m just chilling at my home in West Chiltington. Making some music and making the most of the sun while its about…”
Well well well, what a track you have brought us here with ‘Make Me Feel Better’, summer written all over it and what a sample. Please talk us through the history and sound of this lush track…
“Well I made the track back in February, and it was my first attempt at making this more chilled out style of House Music. I was making more Progressive/Electro House before. One of my favourite tracks’ is Chris Malinchak’s ‘So Good To Me’ and I wanted to make something with a similar vibe to that. So that influenced the sound of my track and of course the choice of sample, because he had sampled a Marvin Gaye track to such good effect.”
You hail from the tiny village of West Chiltington in West Sussex, a wee place famous for it’s vineyards! Take us back then to when you first discovered the strains of dance music for the first time…
“The first dance music I listened to was probably something like Eric Prydz – ‘Call on Me’, or Fredde Le Grand – ‘Put Your Hands Up For Detroit’, sometime around the mid 2000s. But I wasn’t really into it until pretty recently, firstly listening to a lot of 90s House from people like MK and then getting into the more chilled side of things after finding channels like the TheSoundYouNeed.”
When did the idea of becoming a producer first start forming in your head?
“I’ve studied music in some form or another pretty much my whole life at school, college and Uni, and I’ve played piano since I was very young. So I’ve always been around music and making it, but it had always been on the back burner until I decided to study it at Uni. And even then, I’ve only been producing actual tracks, as opposed to work for Uni etc, for just over two years now.”
Early producer heroes…?
“MK. The way he cuts up vocals is just insane, and some of his piano chords as well, love it. I’m a massive fan of Kygo and Thomas Jack. I love really melodic tracks, and the melodies they come up with are always spot on.”
The tune of course samples “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing” by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. Has the sound of Tamla Motown always been big in your life?
“I wouldn’t say it’s been big in my life. I can’t remember hearing any specific Motown tracks when I was growing up or anything like that. I just think that the style of vocals goes so well with the chilled house style of music.”
So if we came back to yours after the club, what is the Alex Adair Back To Mine 10 you’d spin us to mellow the mood…
“These are some of my favourite tracks I’ve picked to just chill out and relax to…
– Tom Odell – Another Love (Zwette Edit)
– Vance Joy – Riptide (FlicFlac Edit)
– Seinabo Sey – Younger (Kygo Remix)
– Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Atlas Hands (Thomas Jack Remix)
– Chris Malinchak – So Good To Me
– Wicked Games – Parra for Cuva [feat. Anna Naklab]
– Vario Volinski – Falling in Love
– Teenage Mutants & Purple Disco Machine – The Path
– Ornette – Crazy (Noze remix)
– Pablo Nouvelle – poison feat Tulliae
Has this success with the tune taken you by surprise, or did you know you were siting on a cracker?
“Completely by surprise. It’s the first track I’ve made that’s had any attention so it’s been a new experience for me. I definitely didn’t expect the response that the track’s received.”
Tell us about your studio set up…
“Literally just my Macbook, headphones, some half decent speakers and a Midi keyboard. It’s all you really need nowadays. Just a classic bedroom producer set up.”
What is the record that…
…always gets you on the dance floor?
“I’m gonna say The new Duke Dumont track, ‘Won’t Look Back’. First time I heard it I wasn’t sure about it, but I heard it in a club the other week and it went crazy. Massive club track.”
…you wish you’d have made?
“I’ve mentioned it once or twice now, it’s got to be Chris Malinchak – ‘So Good To Me’. The feel and the vibe of the track is beautiful, and the production is incredible as well.”
And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise?
“I’ve got a few remixes that I’ve been working on, some finished and still working on others. So hopefully you’ll be able to hear the work I’ve got finished really soon.”
https://www.facebook.com/AlexAdairOfficial
