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 We managed to catch up for a few words with one of the progressive scene's biggest rising talents. Danish producer and DJ Schodt’s love for electronic dance music for spans many years but only in the last few has his sound been unleashed...
One artist making waves on the progressive scene at the moment is the immensely talented Scandinavian producer Schodt. He hails from an area that is well know for its love for electronic dance music and has had its fair share of successful exports over the years. Schodt is better known as Henrik Schødt to his friends and family and although he has only been releasing music as Schodt since 2009 his love for dance music spans way back to the late 90’s. Although not wanting to be restricted by a particular genre his productions to date have edge into the progressive house pigeon hole drawing together influences from other styles to create a vibrant mixture. His music is relaxing, soulful and intelligently layered together to produce beatutful tracks like his last single ‘White Tiger’. A record he made with his now fiancée Aida Fenhel who has a great talent for song writer and the voice to put that writing into gorgeous sound. His releases suit the Silk Royal record label’s progressive style perfectly and ‘White Tiger’ is far from the last you will see of him on Silk, he also co-host their weekly podcast presenting the very best in electronic and progressive sounds. Well, enough of an introduction it’s about time you found out more about this exuberant Danish artist. Enter stage right, Schodt.
i:Vibes: It’s a pleasure to have your company on the i:Vibes pages Henrik. It’s the first time we’ve had the pleasure to interrogate. Your one of the freshest new artists on the progressive scene at the moment, how did you get into electronic dance music?
Schodt: Thanks for having me here!
Electronic dance music and me goes a long way back. I think it started out when I heard the early albums of BT called ESCM. Especially the track “Flaming June” caught my attention. Since then my heart has been al for melodic dance music, and in 2006 I entered the scene with my first release “Tokyo” under my previous “Riko” alias.
i:Vibes: What were your early musical influences?
Schodt: Oh where to start :) ? As I mentioned before, BT definitely was a huge inspiration – artists such as Daft Punk and british band Hybrid has definitely played a big part in my early inspiration as well.
I have a special admiration for artists who are able to blend organic instruments together with electronic elements to create a unique sound-scape. You might hear a bit of that inspiration in one of my more recent tracks “Cinematico” which is a full-blown breaks track in this style.
i:Vibes: Were there any particular moments in the past that gave you the inspiration to get into the line of work your in now?
Schodt: I get inspirations for my music very often, through daily life and the people around me. There isn't really one defining moment for it all, it just comes along life's way.
i:Vibes: Growing up on the Scandinavian shores of Denmark, it’s a place that has been home to quite a few electronic talents. What is the dance scene like in Denmark?
Schodt: If you are into tech-house, the dance-scene is great in Denmark – especially in Copenhagen there's a lot of things going on. Progressive-house is not the big thing here, although I'm sure that will change as soon as I finish work on my infernal progressive-house-taste-laser machine ;)
i:Vibes: Was there much dance music around when you were growing up or did you have to venture further a field to discover it?
Schodt: I had to venture further a field to discover it. Visiting Ibiza in 1999 definitely made an impression on me.
i:Vibes: Your first release is only as early as 2009 with ‘First Breath’ on Starlight. How did that early breakthrough release come about?
Schodt: It did well :) – after only 3 days it landed as #7 on the Beatport charts and stayed there for several weeks.
i:Vibes: You have been producing music since the late 90’s, why has it taken you so long to get to where you are at the moment with your productions?
Schodt: Age! My sound is constantly evolving, just as I am maturing. Where I am now is a result of many years of work and trial-and-error. Still today, I try to explore new genres and test myself out in new and unknown territory.
i:Vibes: Being one of the new guys on the progressive scene, what other producers have helped you find a path that you’re on right now?
Schodt: I owe a lot to Chris Reece, who belived in my music, and signed tracks such as “Tokyo Dawn”, “Sunstrike” and “Ignition” to his labels. Mango has been a musical sparring partner as well for a long time, which has been great.
i:Vibes: Are there any progressive stars that you look up to as inspirational figures for your music?
Schodt: There's a lot of talented guys out there who I consider inspirational figures – Deadmau5, Wolfgang Gartner, BT, Chris Reece and also classical composers such as Hans Zimmer and John Williams are huge inspirations too.
i:Vibes: You have signed up with rising progressive label Silk Royal Records who have been releasing some exceptional stuff over the past year and had your first release with them ‘You and Me’ early this year. How did you get into contact with Silk?
Schodt: Jacob Henry, who is the label manager of Silk Royal contacted me to do a remix of Dezza's track, “Xafilah”. I quickly recognized the superb label-management as well as the very clear profile of the label, and soon after I signed “You and Me” to the label.
i:Vibes: How highly do you rate Silk as a label?
Schodt: I consider Silk to be one of the leading label-families at the moment in the EDM scene.
Their catalogue is phenomenal with a recognizable style, and extremely high production value and some of the bests artists at the moment doing work for them.
i:Vibes: ‘You & Me’ has a very deep and inviting melody that catches your attention. The strings that flow along with them are exceptional. How does putting a track like that come together?
Schodt: Thank you so much. “You & Me” is definitely one of my most emotional tracks to date. There were a lot of things going on in my life at that time, and this was the result of it. It's dedicated to my fiancee by the way :)
i:Vibes: Being in the middle of the progressive boundaries of house and trance, is there any other direction for the Schodt style you may venture into in the future?
Schodt: Definitely keep an eye out for a couple of full blown breaks tracks in the near future, in the style of “Cinematico”. Also I will be pushing the progressive/trance line a bit more, with an upcoming track named “Fly Into The Night” which will be out later this year.
i:Vibes: Your brand new single ‘White Tiger’ has just been released on Silk and features the vocals of your now fiancee ‘Aida Fenhel’. I hear that you two only met while putting a track together?
Schodt: Yeah that's true :) ! Aida and me had worked on a couple of tracks before we made “White Tiger”, and while being in Kiev, finishing up the track, we soon realised that our interest wasen't only in the music we made together, but also in each other. You could say that “White Tiger” is the reason we're together :)
i:Vibes: What caught your attention about Aida’s voice that made you want to put it in a track of yours?
Schodt: Aida has a very rare and unique ethnic sound to her voice, a quality I love – and she's also a brilliant song-writer.
i:Vibes: I would say that ‘White Tiger’ is your best production to date; it’s a track that really puts you in a relaxed and dreamy state of mind. How do you rate it alongside your earlier productions?
Schodt: Thank you :) - I definitely rate White Tiger as one of my favourite productions – not only because of it's sound-value, but also because of the story that's behind it.
i:Vibes: One of your previous tracks just got featured on ATB’s latest compilation ‘Sunset Beach DJ Sessions’, quite fitting for your style. It must be a great honour to have someone like ATB toast your music over a compilation?
Schodt: I feel very honoured that ATB choose this track, and a very nice indicator that there still is a market for bad-ass breaks music ;)
i:Vibes: As one of the main artists on the Silk label you also co-host their very own Silk Royal Showcase every month. What can we expect from the showcase?
Schodt: More of the Schodt sound, more melodic progressive house and cool guest-mixes from some of the top-progressive DJs.
i:Vibes: Do you find it more rewarding putting together a smooth DJ mix or producing tracks?
Schodt: I love to do both. I like the intensity of DJ'ing and getting a response immediately, as well as I like to get in that “Zen-state” I am in when I am composing music. The feeling of creating something unique – something that's your own, really takes the cake for me though, so I'd say the most rewarding thing for me is to produce a track.
i:Vibes: If you could define the sound of Schodt, how would you put it into words?
Schodt: I try not to limit my self to one genre, so I like to think about it as sonic harmonicness.
i:Vibes: What have been some of your personal favourite records over the course of this year?
Schodt: Chicane's “Middledistancerunner” and Luiz B.'s remix of Matt Darey and Ashley Tomberlin's “Lost At Sea”.
i:Vibes: What’s next for Schodt?
Schodt: A cup of tea and home-made sushi :)
We like to round off our interviews here with what we call the i:Vibes quick five:
i:Vibes: Your most treasured childhood toy?
Schodt: My blue playground-shovel – with that I could dig my way to new worlds, or build the coolest sandcastles known to mankind ;)
i:Vibes: What is one of your all time favourite albums?
Schodt: ESCM by BT.
i:Vibes: Mac or PC?
Schodt: Mac
i:Vibes: What is your favourite sport?
Schodt: Moto GP
i:Vibes: Where are you right now?
Schodt: At home, enjoying a cup of tea.
i:Vibes: Many thanks for taking the time out to speak to us here over at i:Vibes, we certainly like taking the time out to listen to your outstanding productions and look forward to the next. All the best for the rest of the year!
Schodt: Thank you for having me here.
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