|
Armin plays every single work he's done out of his shoulder, he's wrote
lyrics for Ferry Corsten, Blank & Jones and Armin van Buuren's songs.
He is behind some of the most hyped tunes. Can't put your finger on
the right person? His name is Raz Nitzan. Read on to find out more
about the master..
Oren: Who is Raz Nitzan? And why did it take so long until we found your identity?
A: Hmmm... Raz in Hebrew means a secret actually...
There's a whole world out there of writers and producers that not that
many people know about. You probably need to be a DJ and or want that
kind of exposure in order to be "famous". People like Geert Huinink,
Vincent de Moor & Rene & Gaston are brilliant beyond words and yet I
don't see that many forums or articles about them... I just do what I
do with no dj interest and no fame aspirations. I guess that can make
one less interesting for the public...
Oren: You collaborated with Armin under the Perpetuous Dreamer guise, can you tell us more about it? Most of us thought it's a single project
made by Armin only.
A: Technically speaking Perpetuous Dreamer is indeed an Armin project that is signed to my production company - Playground. At some point we
needed a vocal version for our first release "Future FunLand" and Adrian (Broekhuyse) and I wrote a song called "The sound of goodbye" that worked really well on that instrumental so I went to Armin's place. At that time he lived with his parents... a lovely house on the water... totally magical... I played him the record and I was so afraid
he wouldn't like it that I didn't even tell him that I was involved in the writing...
I remember Armin had goose-bumps and immediately said he loved it and wanted to deliver a new mix... He eventually produced astunning package of mixes for "The sound of goodbye" and the record did very well for us all. We went on to "Dust.wav" under pressure to deliver a follow up single and it actually did pretty well but at that
point our enthusiasm died... Since then we've been saying that we will do a new single but it just never happened... who knows. We did however work with Armin again on a little Disco tune "Fuel to fire" that was a top 20 hit in The Netherlands. It was a very different experience and great to do as well.
Oren: As being the A&R manager of Fundamental Recordings, can you describe it in a few words ?
A: Hard work ;-)
Fundamental is the baby of Ton Vermeulen, Auke van der Linden and
myself... We started it a little over a year ago and everybody simply
gives it his all. We love the music and our work. I do the A&R - pick
up the music for the label and during that period I must confess that I
have been very very fortunate to be working with a group of some
amazing producers that became my friends. It does take a lot of my time
though and the price is less production work for me sadly. Auke pretty
much does everything else and Ton does all the admin and management.
Oren: You are involved in producing Solid Globe these days.
'North Pole' was a big hit, and now the upcoming release 'Sahara' is getting massive support as well. What is the story behind this charming collaboration?
A: I've received a couple of tracks from a young dj producer called Yves le Verne and they had a few nice ideas but were far from being release quality material. I contacted an old friend of mine that I thought
would be a good remixer for the tracks - Nic Vegter and as we talked
about working together for years now I suggested we give it a try.
South Pole was our first Nickelson Night Remix. "North Pole" soon followed. We don't work a lot together as we are both busy doing our own things but when we do meet in the studio it's like magic. "Sahara" was an idea that Nic had with a fantastic young talented producer called Rene van Dijk. Since that Nic & I joined forces to actually
become Solid Globe and we've just finished two new remixes:
Nickelson's "Yin" and Aly & Fila's classic "Eye of Horus". I love
working with Nic. I've always been such a huge fan of his work past and present.
Oren: A Situation, Tour de Trance and Dark Matter are all other aliases from Raz Nitzan and they all have a unique dark and driving sound -
can we expect a new single from those projects? Will Perpetuous Dreamer - The Sound of Goodbye (Dark Matter Mix) ever see the light?
A: Hopefully the Dark matter remix will be on the Elles de Graaf album scheduled for later this summer. Finally. As for A Situation and TTT
I have to share the credits with my two partners Sjaak Sperwer and Adrian
Broekhuyse that co-wrote and co-produced them. To be honest as I said, while concentrating on my work with Fundamental I had far less time to produce and I simply did not produce that many records any more. Both Sjaak and Adrian are still working and doing their thing. Sjaak works again with Scumfrog on more House prog stuff and Adrian is doing some great work with Ferry Corsten, Don Diablo and of course a lot of vocals work that we write together.
Oren: Can you tell us all of the Raz Nitzan aliases and collaboration projects?
A: oh man... I don't even think I know it myself... Thank god for Discogs: The Music Factory, Heart Drive, Night & Day, Perpetuous Dreamer,
Speaking Sins, Solid Globe, TTT, A Situation... There are a few more I
guess but the world won't listen... I was also involved in "In Full Color" & Stuart - two Pop projects that've had two top forty hits each here in the Dutch top 40 but
probably won't appeal to trance audience... and of course the lovely Elles de Graaf and the vocals productions we did / do with Armin, Ferry, Don Diablo Blank & Jones and so many others...
Oren: How many years have you been producing?
How does it feel to release your own music on your own label?
A: Producing for six years now and it's quite hard sometimes to release your own music because there's no-one to challenge and A&R you - tell you what works and what doesn't. Other people's opinions can quite
often shed some light on the weaker points of your work and you need to find the right people around you that you can trust their objective criticism. Judgment and criticism can easily kill creativity so you really need to believe that it comes from love and a good clean supporter.
Oren: Raz also wrote lyrics for many great producers: Blank & Jones feat Elles - "Flaming June" and "The Mind of the Wonderful", Ferry Corsten- 'Whatever' and 'It's Time' both are featured on Corsten's album "Right of way". What inspires you when you write a new song? And please mention more songs written by you.
A: Well again I need to share the credits with Adrian because all the above mentioned tracks are done with him. We've written around a
hundred songs to this point highlighted I guess by all the above mentioned collaborations. As for inspiration - I don't look for it.. it kinda finds me. The less
I think the more I receive... The songs most of the time are simply writing themselves through me rather than by me... Any creative effort I make is as effortless as possible (funny terms, right?) with as little control as possible and it just flows out... The song is already there even before I touched it, I only need to spell it out for the people.
Oren: Many producers around the globe are sending you demos of their works all the time, what are the factors for a talented producer to have a chance in your opinion?
A: You write and produce because you love doing it. Not in order to release a record. Not to make money. Just because it's your way to
breathe. You won't stop doing it when you receive your first no. You won't stop producing after your tenth no. If you are asking me what I am looking for when I hear a new track I'd say something real, fresh and exciting. As the standards are so high these days on the production front I can imagine it's hard to get noticed or signed but I can assure you that we listen to every demo we receive and if you've worked from love then you don't care about what the label says. You enjoyed doing it anyway and that's what it is all about and what's important. Whatever will happen afterwards is a bonus.
Sadly so many people don't think of it that way though... They just want to get signed... wanna be famous... wanna have a release... when the real question is what can you bring to this world that's unique and that is your gift to the planet. Again it doesn't mean the world will listen but you in any case followed your passion.
Oren: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
A: more committed to happiness - mine and others I hope! Workwise - whatever comes I'm sure will be amazing... It's all about attitude and
I'm opening my thoughts and arms to any opportunities to take me wherever they want to.
Thanks for your time Raz! and keep up the great job!
|
![[i:Vibes]](i_pic/ivibes_new.jpg)
Frontpage
News
Reviews
Interviews
Party Reports
Artist Profiles
Label profiles
Diaries
What is...
Tutorials
Links
Radio-info
Forum
Chat
User Stats
Crew-info
i:Vibes Info
Related Links
Tell a friend
