Artist – EverLight
Sometimes there is an artists that just kicks down the door…
…and yells “I am here and I am not going anywhere”. Many people wish they can do this, it is not easy and it doesn’t happen very often. But when it does happens, it’s because the talent cannot be denied. EverLight just might be that next artists to be able to kick down the trance door and make his presence known. His refreshing sound, dedication to his craft and absolute bangers have put him in a place that the biggest names and labels as well as the boutique and underground names want to play his music.
As the music world wakes up, it will be interesting to see where EverLight fits in with touring. I for one cannot wait to see him live, and hopefully he can give the new breath that the tech-trance world needs.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to sit with me today. How have you been getting by the last 18 months? What are you looking forward to the most now that most of this is behind us?
The last 18 months have been positively transformative. I’ve been very fortunate in that regard. At the beginning of lockdown, I lost my office job due to COVID, which was the final kick I needed to go full-time self-employed.
Now I earn a living from a mixture of music production services (like mastering, making sample packs and stuff), video editing, graphic design and the like, working a few long-term contracts and stuff which have guaranteed stability. Not only have I been able to secure an income from doing something I love, but the flexibility has proved vital to my creative output. And has seen a HUGE uplift in my productivity. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
Now that we’re out of the worst of it and starting to get on with things. I’m looking forward to really enjoying the additional flexibility I have with my life now. Planning tours and gigging most weekends will be a lot easier now that I can work from anywhere.
Your debut artist album, Light Speed has been getting praise from some heavy weights in the scene, producers, DJs, and not to mention fans everywhere. Why did you decide to release an album now? What was your biggest surprise since its release?
With all the new found time I had in between doing projects for clients, and being able to pick up music production when I wanted, opposed to having to wait until when I got home from work. I was in a much more creative mood overall. So, whenever I had some down time, I could jump on to Ableton and get an idea down quickly and come back to it later.
The knock-on effect that had was, I was producing music far quicker then I was ever going to be able to release it. I go through these manic stages of making one or even two tracks a week, and these stretches can sometimes go on for months. This one in particular just didn’t seem to end. All this music that I was producing couldn’t be released quickly enough as singles. I don’t want to be giving out these tracks to just any old record label and I don’t want to be over saturating the market with EverLight releases.
One of the things the album allows me to do is bundle in more experiments from different genres along with the sounds that people more typically know me for, and potentially educate some people. It establishes a foundation then to potentially produce in a different direction or to do things a little bit differently on single releases in the future.
The biggest surprise to me about the album reception was how well received the productions outside of my normal tech sound were. Not only did people appreciate the variety, but they loved both CD’s equally. Which I think is the best critical reception I could’ve asked for.
You mentioned that some of your idols, have given you praise. Who are your idols and why?
I’m very lucky that I’m in constant communication with my idols. People like Activa, Greg Downey and John Askew, I respect because they not only have a sound which I love, but they share a philosophy on music production, marketing, and DJing which is similar to my own. These guys are people who respect the underground scene. Who aren’t in it for world fame, but to make a living doing something they love, and have an unwavering dedication to their ideology and methodology.
You recently released a collab with Ed Lynam – Mamba on FSOE. First of all congrats on the release. What does Mamba mean to you? And how did this collab come about?
Ed and I have been friends for a while, and have produced another collaboration on my album called Plastic People too. We had actually gone ahead and produced this collaboration remotely via zoom sessions during the peak of the pandemic. Which is remarkable really and just goes to show how a passion for music production can keep people together.
For the track itself; we’re both passionate about the more techno-focused tech trance which we and many others refer to as “techno-trance”. We wanted to take that sound and add a Summer vibe to it. So the track ended up being a combination of techno inspirations and Latin carnival style influences.
You have been back in front of a live crowd in recent weeks. How did it feel to play live again? What did you miss the most? What did you miss the least? And why?
The main thing I missed was the people. My first gig back was here in my own town of Birmingham, UK. So not only did it feel like a return to DJing, but I got to catch up with so many people and didn’t realize just how much I had missed the social aspects.
Things are different now though. I’ve grown a lot in lockdown and people have paid attention. It feels less like returning to normal and more like the first steps on a new journey. That said, I did have a few technical issues with my first gig back, and I certainly didn’t miss those heart-pounding moments!
You have a refreshing breath to the tech-trance sound and genre. What do you do so you don’t sound cookie cutter or generic? Many critics of tech-trance these days complain about everything sounding the same. What are your thoughts about that? And what do you think needs to change?
A lot of producers see the success of others and they emulate or copy. But to really get ahead of the curve you have to construct your own sound. And the key to that – the key to being creative in any genre at all – is abstraction. That is to look at the overall ‘sound’ of a genre and apply unique ideas which still fit the mold. To come up with a different answer to the same questions.
Music production is just a huge string of problems to solve – questions to answer. Questions like “how do I get my kick drum sounding energetic” or “how can I get this lead to sound huge”. If you can analyze a piece of music and break it down into the answers the original producer used, you can explore alternate solutions to the original problems. This is an abstraction, rather than dealing with specifics you’re dealing with larger ideas.
Basically, it’s easier now more than ever to make boring music, but making good music is just as hard as it always was. The result is a flooding of extremely samey and generic music across everywhere. There is no changing this, nor would I want to as I believe everyone should have the chance to try and produce music. The tools we use to discover the true talent, and the platforms on which they are celebrated, could make it easier for such artists to get the limelight they deserve. As it stands, the popular platforms such as Facebook, Spotify, Instagram et al have little quality control, and only serve as good platforms for the most noisy of us, and not necessarily the most talented.
Finally, if you could only live by one motto, what would it be?
“Create to inspire, inspire to create”
