My Interview with Phynn
Phynn, also known as Finne Jager originates from Utrecht, The Netherlands. He has been releasing quality trance music since 2003, and his talent was eventually recognized by Tiesto’s label Black Hole Recordings. His debut artist album "Metamorphosis” is due to be released on November 8th, 2008.
Earlier in October you released a single featuring vocalist Tiff Lacey entitled "Try again". Can you tell us how your collaboration with her came about?
I produced the music for Try Again two months prior to the collaboration, but noticed there was something missing. I eventually contacted Tiff about 2 weeks before the deadline of the album, because I wanted her vocals for the track. She recorded the vocals and sent them to me a week later, which gave me one week to mix them and I managed to make the deadline. I was a very last-minute job but I think it turned out very good.
What kind of vibe could your listeners expect from your latest album "Metamorphosis”?
For Metamorphosis my goal was not to make a predictable trance album, but rather an album that has trance but also tracks that have a mixture of trance and progressive-electro at the same time. I think it’s important for a producer to experiment with new sounds and to stimulate new ideas, instead of sticking to the same sounds sets for years and get bored with what you do. I believe that if you don’t experiment then you will never grow as an artist. It is important though not to get lost in experimenting, but rather using the new ideas to perfect your signature sound, which is what I plan to do in the near future. When you listen to Metamorphosis you can distinguish the typical Phynn trance sound, mixed with progressive elements.
Is there any particular reason why you chose that title for your new album?
‘Metamorphosis’ took almost two years to complete. In those two years I’ve changed a lot, changes in my personal life but also in my attitudes and my views. This is why I chose ‘Metamorphosis’ as a title; “A partial or complete change of character, behavior and appearance”.
Considering the length of your career in the music industry, and the numerous well known artist that you have worked with; what would you say is the biggest difference between the way Electronic Dance Music is today as opposed to the era of the 90’s?
I think nowadays a lot of artists are very scared to go outside their comfort zone. Everybody wants to sound ‘cool’ and ‘credible’ and work to a certain formula, but when you produce music with that in the back of your head before you even begin, you limit your own creativity. I personally notice that back in the day, the melodies in EDM tracks were so catchy and original, it seemed as if there were less ‘rules’ back then. But if you would produce some of those melodies in this day and age, you would be flamed for being cheesy. I think that gives us something to think about.
In your opinion which aspect do you feel is more crucial to becoming a better producer, creative ideas, or putting emotion into your music?
It’s a mixture of both. Of course music is about emotion, and a feeling that you want to communicate to people with your music. But it’s also important to be innovative with sounds, and to keep music evolving over time.
Where do you get your inspiration to create music?
That could be anything. For example good movie with a great music score, or maybe a state of mind that I’m in at a certain time. I sometimes also get inspiration after listening to good music from other artists.
I see that your tour spans across some parts of Asia, and Europe; are there any plans for you to perform in the US or South America?
This year summer I’ve performed in Los Angeles three times, as well as in Las Vegas, Chicago and Mexico. I really enjoyed those shows so I’m working on another tour in the US/Latin America region. I’m setting up 2 more album tour dates in January, one in Los Angeles and one in Las Vegas. Check www.phynn.com for the actual dates soon.
How long were you producing until you created a track worthy of release?
It took me about a year and a half of learning before I managed to produce my first released record.
In what ways did your life change after you were signed to Black Hole Recordings?
I started getting gig-requests from different countries, and that gave me the opportunity to travel a lot and to see more of the world, and I think that this gave me a lot more insight about people and global cultures.
What was the most difficult issue that you have overcome since you emerged in the scene?
Whether to work on music full-time or to focus on school, and a different career. I tried different schools over a few years time, but I couldn’t help but regard a lot of school-time as ‘wasted time that I could have used to work on music’, especially when I thought that certain subjects in school were useless for the future I had in mind for myself. Eventually I just decided to go for music and see where it would take me.
Can you tell us a bit about your music equipment, and software?
I use a Quad Core PC with a MOTU Ultralite audio interface. I use Cubase 4 for sequencing. My favorite software synths are Spectrasonics ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘Trilogy’, and the Korg Legacy plugin. My main hardware is an Access Virus C synthesizer and an M-Audio Axiom-61 MIDI keyboard.
Technology is always advancing. How often do you feel is an appropriate length of time to upgrade your equipment in order to keep up with the latest standards?
I try to always be on the lookout for new software/hardware, and I think it’s good to invest in new studio equipment every 2-3 years to keep up with new technology.
You fans are reading…is there anything else you would like to mention to them that we haven’t already covered?
Thanks for reading this interview, please check out my music at www.phynn.com or www.myspace.com/djphynn and I hope to see you on a dance floor somewhere in the world soon!
- Interview by Zaneta aka Euphoria [TranceSound.net]
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Electronic Night Life
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