With the launch of his very own label with fellow producer Randy Boyer this year its shaping up to be one that will put Darude back on the EDM radar, not that he ever went off it. We went to catch a few words...
It’s with great pleasure that we welcome back Finish electronic dance music artist Darude back into the i:Vibes interrogation room as a lot has gone off since we last chatted to him last summer. Just on the stroke of the New Year he launched his very own record label, in partnership with his long time friend Randy Boyer. They both know a thing or two about dance music and you might known them as being very fluent in trance producer there musical taste and style stretches far into other styles. Those styles will be highlighted by their very own label ‘Enmass Music’ as they look to unleash fresh new music from some of the scene’s hottest producers. They have a lot of exciting new tracks coming on the label this year, a few of which Darude talks about to us in this interview but others you will just have to wait.
The first release on the label is a track from Randy Boyer with the vocals of Cari Golden for the very euphoric ‘Fragile’. The next on the horizon will come from a new producer known as Paul Carson with his track ‘Midnight Train’. You can expect Darude and Randy Boyer to take the Enmass Music label on tour later this year and a lot more hot new releases as we head into the next few months. We last spoke to Darude during the middle of last year and with the new label and lots of things going off for the creator of ‘Sandstorm’ during 2011 we decided to catch up with him.
i:Vibes: It’s been quite a year 2010 for Darude and a lot has changed since we last had you on i:Vibes back in May. How would you say 2010 was for you?
Darude: 2010 was a great year, but a lot of hard work went into a lot of stuff. I did a little less touring and spent a little more time in the office and in the studio, prepared for our new label, EnMass Music, launch and for some new releases too + tried to spend some quality time with my family as well.
i:Vibes: From the past year you undertook a huge world tour which saw you visit Europe, Asia, India, America and North Africa. What was one of the most memorable gigs from last year?
Darude: I think my first time in Seoul, South Korea was probably the most memorable for many reasons, not the least because the club, Heaven, where I played was jam-packed and the crowd was so enthusiastic, that I was really blown away by that, and couldn’t possibly have had a better first time there.
i:Vibes: New Year saw you tear up the sounds system at The Last Supper club in Seattle, which was the launch date of your brand new label with Randy Boyer ‘EnMass Music’. How did the event go?
Darude: I love Seattle, I don’t remember ever having even a so-so night there, let alone a bad, one, and this one was definitely totally in its own category; the place was fuller than ever before, the vibe was amazing, and our new tracks worked like a charm, so I couldn’t be much happier about the night. Perfect label launch night and I got to spend it with my wife and dear friends, too!
i:Vibes: After being involved in the EMD scene for quite a few years why it was now you thought the time was right for your very own label?
Darude: Basically just now got around doing it… ;) Well, Randy and I have been talking about this and planning this, and preparing for it for quite some time, but all in all doing all the background stuff took a long time. I don’t know if we’re slow, or there’s just so much to do, haha. Of course, one of the reasons why now is a good time is that we feel that we have several great tracks in reserve, tracks which are worthy of a release under our own name, and we felt we didn’t want anyone else to get those tracks and artists.
i:Vibes: Just how hard is it setting up your own label on the EDM scene?
Darude: Technically setting up a label is not that hard, I mean, start counting, and I bet you can’t count as fast as new labels are formed… It’s the ability to stand out from the crowd that sets aside a great label from just a label, ie. there needs to be great music and great artists to start with.
i:Vibes: Who came up with the name ‘EnMass Music’ you or Randy?
Darude: Randy. The name comes from Randy Boyer's and late Eric Tadla's project name 'EnMass'. We decided to honour their work together, and of course above all Eric with keeping the name up, and hopefully building it to something even bigger. I unfortunately never got to meet him, but Randy has told me about him and their working together, and I’m proud to carry the name forward, and I hope Eric knows that he's remembered and loved!
i:Vibes: What musical direction will the EnMass Music label take as most fans will best know Darude and Randy Boyer for their pulsating trance?
Darude: It’s definitely going to be something along those lines, but alone with remix packages the scale is much bigger than “just trance”. Also, even though people might associate us with certain sounds, both of us have different sides even to our own productions, ranging from 128 bpm progressive this to 138 uplifting that, and with our collaborations with each other and with other future EMM artists I’m pretty sure that there’ll be a great selection of all kinds of EDM for different people’s tastes. One thing is for certain though: it’ll all have energy and emotion.
i:Vibes: The first release is already out on EnMass Music with a new track from Randy Boyer called ‘Fragile’ with the vocals of Cari Golden. How has the feedback been from the first release?
Darude: The feedback has been awesome! We have had confirmed plays and thumbs-ups by numerous big DJs like AvB, Andy Moor, Gareth Emery, Marcus Schössow, Mike Shiver, Judge Jules, Ernesto vs. Bastian, Solarstone etc etc… People love the vocals and the remix package with the 128 bpm proggy Boyan & Boyer Remix, 134 bpm Cerf & Mitiska Remix and the 137 bpm Jonas Hornblad Remix in addition to the Original Mix make it highly usable in several types of parties.
i:Vibes: What’s the next release in the pipeline for EnMass Music?
Darude: The next one is called ‘Midnight Train’ by Paul Corson with mixes by Darude, Randy Boyer, Weirdness and Boyan & Boyer at we this it will rock both serious dance floors and radio waves, even the rock stations, as the package also includes the original rock version! After ‘Midnight Train’, and after WMC we’re going to release something more progressive by Boyan & Boyer, but we can talk more about that later!
i:Vibes: With so much new talent out there producing electronic dance music at the moment what artists will set 2011 alight with their sound?
Darude: Randy Boyer, Weirdness, Boyan Angelov, K-System, Joonas Hahmo.
i:Vibes: What artists have you got signed up to EnMass Music and what can we expect from them?
Darude: Randy Boyer, Weirdness, Boyan Angelov at the moment, and some others we’re talking with and planning stuff with, but won’t reveal at this moment. Randy will be both making his own solo stuff, possibly with featuring artists, and collaborating at least with Boyan Angelov, probably with some other people as well, and remixing EMM releases.
The first Weirdness release on EMM will most likely take place in May and he’ll also remix many of the EMM releases. He’s a long-time co-conspirator of mine, he has performed live with me for ages as a VJ and he has remixed several of my latest releases like ‘Tell Me’, ‘In The Darkness’, ‘My Game’ and now the latest 2AM vs. Darude feat. Georgia Haege – ‘Crazy World’ and he’s also composed a track on my ‘Label This!’ album, ‘For Those I Love’. Weirdness’ sound is very melodic, very hooky, and with vocals borderline poppy sometimes, but can be more “serious” and very hard at times, too, with his instrumental uplifting trance side of production.
Boyan Angelov has been making these 128 bpm progressive trance-electro-house monsters, they just keep coming and coming! We’ll have hard time picking which one to go with first, but I think we can manage… ;) In addition to the upcoming B&B releases, Boyan will be remixing many of the EMM releases as well.
i:Vibes: What can we expect from Darude for this year, before the end of last you released your latest single with 2AM called ‘Crazy World’ that has plenty of Darude energy? What struck you about Georgia Haege’s vocals for this track?
Darude: I liked the bitter sweetness of the whole thing, like the music itself is very light, yet a little melodic and summer vibe, and the lyrics are kind of sad or at least not the happiest, like someone is stuck in a rut, thinking of what to do next, what to do in life etc. I’m not a lyrics guy really, but more so I listen to sounds and melodies, but somehow this production made me notice the “message” as well. Is it deep or not, that’s up to everyone listening to the song.
i:Vibes: Last time we spoke you were working on a new update for your epic classic ‘Sandstorm’. Can we expect a release if this in 2011?
Darude: Well, I’ve been working on a new update for the track the last several years, so you never know whether 2011 or 2021 will be THE year… ;) If or when something happens about it, I’m surely going to let EVERYONE know, not to worry!
i:Vibes: You said before you use the car for blasting out the new tunes, have you got any new Darude tracks pumping out of the stereo at the moment?
Darude: I’ve listened to several remixes that I’ve been working on, and also the ‘Midnight Train’ mixes that I made. The car-testing gives me a very different perspective sound wise and also when I’m driving, I’m forced to just listen and not able to tweak anything, just making mental notes! I love my car system, it’s not a huge license plate rattler, but it has great bass and crisp and clean sound for a factory installed car system. That’s one thing among others that Lexus has gotten right in their cars.
i:Vibes: Your regular radio show is something not many EDM fans may know about but why did you come up with the name ‘Salmiakki Session’ for it?
Darude: Salmiakki is a very popular type of candy in Finland, and the whole Nordic area. It’s this black salty liquorice, and I love it in its various forms, and I like to eat it while mixing. Also, it fits my show description really well, it’s “salty and sweet” which means that my mixes have several different types of tracks, some darker, some lighter, some instrumental, some vocal track etc.
i:Vibes: We’ve heard two new EnMass Music tracks so far this year on your show, a track from Paul Corson called ’Midnight Train’ and of course the latest single from Randy. How did you discover Paul Corson and what can we expect from him musically?
Darude: I found Paul thru a mutual friend who recommended me taking a listen to Paul’s music. I fell in love with ‘Midnight Train’ and felt that it could be a great club record in addition to it being really catchy pop-rock record. The dance thing was all pretty new to Paul, so he just let me do what I wanted with the track (brave man! ;) and he got very excited about the genre. While the rock singer-songwriter stuff is more Paul’s own field, we’re most definitely going to do more work together in the future as well.
i:Vibes: Have you ever thought about doing a live edition of your Salmiakki Sessions?
Darude: Live like live on-air? I play a lot of the stuff that I play in Salmiakki Sessions in my live DJ sets, so I’m already basically playing Salmiakki Sessions live. If you meant live broadcast on a radio station, then yes, I’ve talked about doing a live broadcast with for instance ETN.fm, and we probably will make that happen at some point somewhere, but there are some things that make that a little less easy that you might think it is. First and foremost there is the track selection; at least half of what I play in a regular non-recorded or non-broadcasted live DJ set are tracks that are not out yet, and can’t be leaked yet, so for a live broadcast I’d need to leave all those out.
i:Vibes: On the subject of live, where can we expect Darude to be touching down over the next few months to tear up the clubs?
Darude: Right now I don’t have many dates in the calendar that I can talk about, as Randy and I are (ok, our booking agent is) planning an EnMass Music tour and the dates are not ready to be revealed yet. There’s a Denver show, 3rd Annual One Night Stand, on February 12th, and Vinyl Festival in Sarasota on April 9th
i:Vibes: Have you any particular events this year you’re looking forward to playing or ones you really would like to play?
Darude: The EnMass Music tour later this year in a city near you.
i:Vibes: Do you get much time to spend back home in your native Finland with all the touring you do and what is the electronic dance music scene like over there today?
Darude: I currently live most of the year in Atlanta in the US. I go to Finland usually at least for the summer to be with my family and friends, and to escape the scorching heat of Georgia. The scene in Finland is great, like it’s been for a long time already. There are lots of great DJs and producers (K-System, Joonas Hahmo, Heikki L, Super8 & Tab, Orkidea, Marcus Maison & Will Dragen, Chantola,…) and a lot of EDM-loving people who go out clubbing in great numbers. In general the radios also play a good bit of dance music again, which makes me happy.
i:Vibes: Who do you think may break out of Finland to be the next Darude in years to come?
Darude: Weirdness, K-System, Joonas Hahmo, Marcus Maison & Will Dragen.
i:Vibes: On the global scale what artist do you think we should be hearing a lot more off throughout this year?
Darude: Randy Boyer, Boyan & Boyer combo, Weirdness.
i:Vibes: Finally, if you could pick one track from the past year which really inspired you what would it be?
Darude: Rafael Frost – Flashback, Gareth Emery feat. Lucy Saunders – Sanctuary and Marcus Maison & Will Dragen – In The Horizon
i:Vibes: Many thanks for catching up with us Darude and the best of luck with EnMass Music for this year, we eagerly await the new releases.
Darude: No problem, keep your ears and eyes open for EMM world domination… ;)
ENMASS FIRST RELEASE: Randy Boyer Feat. Cari Golden - Fragile
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With the launch of his very own label with fellow producer Randy Boyer this year its shaping up to be one that will put Darude back on the EDM radar, not that he ever went off it. We went to catch a few words...
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