Contributing Writer
Stephan Bazbaz’s has 10 years in the game and whenever you hear his productions, this experience in the studio shines out. His recent release on Cyclic Records had everyone in the MI4L tapping their feet, so we sat down with the artist to find out more about his production style, his residency in Israel, and his plans for 2018…
How are you, what’s good and bad in your world right now?
The good thing is that I have a great studio and a lot of free time to be in it. The bad is that I’m not Sven Vath yet…)
You studied at S.A.E Institute in Byron Bay Australia, right? What did you learn there? Was it vital to you becoming the producer you are?
Yeah Byron was the best time of my life, I studied sound engineering from scratch, we did a lot of live recordings there and worked on big mixing desks, but when we did the EMP course on Logic Pro I got hooked and just never stopped producing since.
Is it important to know the rules in order to break them and be creative in the studio do you think?
I don’t think there are rules at the start but it’s important to get you head around your studio, especially if working with much hardware. Creativity can come from different thing in my life so it’s good to be ready for it .
You have been resident at some key clubs in Israel. What is the role of the resident DJ? How do you like it vs being a headliner?
The resident dj is in a way a host in the party. Being resident got me very close to the crowd, and I got to make a lot of new friends like this. In the music aspect the resident dj defines the direction of the sound in the party. I guess for me it’s not about the headline or residency it’s just the vibe that a certain party creates that makes it rememberable.
Tell us about your new ‘Yeshoti’ EP – what inspired it, what influenced it?
The EP itself is combined from 3 different times and locations in the world, with different people and weather, and you can really hear it on the variety of the tracks.
One of the tracks “Yeshoti” was the first track from our new studio outside our homes and we were so excited for the new set up so we just tried all the machines and everything worked in a very creative way so that really influenced us 🙂
It features two collaborations – why do you like working with others? And why those people?
Asael Weiss has been my studio partner for the last few years. Our new studio is very comfortable for jam sessions so we just try to explore our hardware and have fun in the studio and when a good track comes out of it it’s timeless.
I love working with other people, our studio is in the middle of town so a lot of people come and go all the time so you can get really creative with styles like this. Alexkid has been a big influence on me and luckily we crossed ways and connected straight away so it was a great experience.
You have been in the game ten years now, what is your proudest moment and why?
I just had a 3 week tour in Australia and it was the peek of my career as an artist. The parties, the people & the vibe were above all expectations. I had good connections with everyone there and I was appreciated as an artist like I was never before..
And what are the most important lessons you have learnt? What have been the biggest challenges?
The most important lesson I’ve learnt is to be dedicated to studio work and spend most of my time making music. This is a pure way for me to present myself to the world and what brings me calm and focus. The biggest challenge for me is to have enough peace of mind & inspiration so I can focus on making good music.
Where do you start on a track? What is the most important part of it for you?
I usually start with a basic groove, some percussive sounds and bass. Then I just let the sequencers and synths talk to each other until I’m happy. It is important for me not to use to many sounds but to give every sound a movement throughout long recording takes so it’s simple but interesting at once.
What are you working on next?
I’m working on a few different projects at the moment with local artists such as Sean Doron, Alek Lee, Dot, Naduve & More. Some are 4 on the floor and some are more breaks and experimental. I am also building and shaping the next releases of my own vinyl imprint No Waves, which we have a very exciting year ahead in terms of releases. And above all maintaining the studio and improving the sound as much as I can.
Stephan’s ‘Yeshoti’ is out now on Cyclic Records
Grab it here – https://www.beatport.com/release/yeshoti/2261908