Artist Interview: DJ & Producer SIBYLION
1. Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of?
Well, my latest track "Fragile" in collaboration with Amanda Darling. At the moment, there's no project I could be prouder of. I'm proud of it because, besides achieving excellent results on the Beatport charts, reaching the top positions in the Trance charts and especially the sixteenth position in the Global Beatport chart, this project allowed me to collaborate with a professionally impeccable person. With Amanda, we both managed, through this track, to channel a negative moment that we were both experiencing even though we were in different parts of the world, into a record that brought us a lot of satisfaction.
2. What's the biggest misconception about DJing?
In my opinion, the biggest misconception about DJing is believing that this is an easy way to achieve fame and success, and because of this, ending up not following one's own artistic line in DJing and not adding anything original to it. I've seen many people copying the style of other DJs, doing all the same things that others do, and worse, changing their style chameleonically according to trends. DJs should never forget that they're not people turned into streaming platforms; DJs must always convey themselves in what they do.
3. How would you describe your style?
If I have to describe my style according to a canonical definition, I would call it Progressive Trance, but this definition risks being too narrow for me because of the concept expressed in the previous question. I prefer to define it as "a progression between musical hypnosis and the construction of emotions :)"
4. What type of music do you usually DJ?
Closely related to what I've already indicated, I play everything from Progressive and Melodic Techno to Uplifting and Epic Trance, blending in moments of Hard Trance and PsyTrance when appropriate. Anything that can help me cover the entire spectrum of emotions that lead the listener into a state of musical "ecstasy."
5. Analog or digital and why?
I like to define my approach to this point as "politically correct" :) I don't firmly align with either side. Digital is definitely the future, so I use it more often, but never surpassing a crucial limit: digital is an aid, not a replacement for the experience, technical knowledge, and discernment that resides in the mind of a DJ and a producer. This is where analog comes in, both as a physical approach to mixing and producing (e.g. beat matching VS sync), and sometimes as equipment to use. The sound of a guitar on the right valve amplifier can never be matched by the best VST.
6. What do you like most about DJing?
The emotions. Yes, perhaps this word recurs most frequently in my responses, but what could be more beautiful than feeling the music flow within you and pass on to the audience listening to you? Seeing people dance through it and letting it flow back into you. That's how my passion was born, from how the music from cassette tapes entered within me.
7. How long have you been DJing?
This question is interesting to me because it counts my initial approach to DJing through HipHop music (I've heard dozens of Trance DJs have taken the same path), which happened when I was just fourteen years old... So yes, if we count that beginning and exclude one or two sabbatical years (for desire or necessity), I start to feel old when I say that I've been DJing for almost 20 years.. :)
8. What's your typical work process?
Both as a DJ and as a producer, I usually use the same approach, dividing the work into two subprocesses:
1- Creative process: a brainstorm of melodies or tracks that flow depending on what my instinct dictates at that moment.
2- Organizational process: correction/elimination of flaws, errors, or incompatible tracks, structural division of musical constructs (or phases of the mix), editing, and technical mixing.
9. Tell us about your studio setup.
Also this is an interesting question for me because over the years, I've acquired various qualifications and specializations as a sound engineer, and I also owned my own recording studio for 7 years. At the moment, my small home studio consists of a Denon Prime 4+, a very powerful Windows PC that I use for productions and recordings (not bothering you with a "datasheet" for it), a Focusrite Scarlett Solo, a Rode NT1-A microphone, and two JBL 305P MkII monitors. But I can't wait to go back to my old and dear RME Fireface 800 + KRK VXT8 monitors in addition to what I mentioned.
10. Can you share one DJ tip?
Allow me to share a "philosophical" tip on DJing rather than a technical one (you know by now that I like to differentiate). Study from the best, observe what their hands do and then think about what from their minds and instincts led them to a certain musical movement, exactly when they did it. Feel the vibrations of the music and those of the audience, tame them and let yourself be tamed. DJing is a give and take in terms of the emotions of the moment.
11. What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
Finally an easy question, haha! Absolutely, I can't fail to mention figures like Andrew Rayel, Gareth Emery, Aly & Fila, Bryan Kearney, Cosmic Gate (and many others, actually, but I'll avoid a long list) in the current Trance and Progressive scene, while in the past, NU NRG, Robert Miles, Marino Stephano (and again, many others). Also, I want to mention music genres that apparently have nothing to do with Trance but continue to inspire me emotionally, such as Gothic Metal, from which Armin Van Buuren skillfully borrowed Sharon Den Adel for his "In And Out of Love" or Cinematic Music.
Follow Sibylion and grab his entire catalog from top labels in trance including Ablazing Deep, Progressive Vibes Music, High Emotions Recordings, High Reshive and catch his trance DJ series "From Soul to Stave." Let's go!
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