Interviews
Interview | Questions & Answers With Dar.Ra
Dar.Ra has been referred to as a “Rock and Roll diamond in the rough” by the media. Currently, this talented British artist has his eyes on the U.S. market. He talks about this subject and much more in this exclusive interview. Scroll down and learn a bit more about him.
1 — First of all, does your artistic name have a special meaning?
My actual full name is Darragh, an Irish name.
Growing up in England with an Irish name was always a challenge as people could never say it properly or they would knock it because it was different from Jack or John, so I got a lot of stick at school and didn’t really fit in. It did me a favour as I found a friend in Music.
I ended up making it shorter to Dar.Ra to make it easier for people to get their heads around.
2 — At this moment, what stage are you in your music career?
An exciting stage of the journey. Making bigger and better-sounding recordings than ever before. Singing stronger, playing better and writing material that I hear in my head clearer.
I also have an amazing team around me from Harvey Summers who co-produces the releases, to HIP agency in NYC who help get the message out to the good people of America.
3 — We all know you have made a name for yourself in your homeland. Are you currently willing to expand your music into the American market?
America is where its at for most people with ambition. I have always looked at working in the States. I love the way Americans think. They always seem to see the bigger picture and are open to new ideas. That’s why its the biggest country on earth, it sees new ideas and runs with them. A lot of places do not think like that and do not support their homegrown talent, that’s why the biggest ideas find there way across the pond. Like the internet, television, fashion, music.
There has been a feedback loop from the US to the world. Like say Rock n Roll which is an American invention, which the Brits took on and re-shaped it and sold it back with a new package, which the UK did well for a few years. America has the biggest potential because of that openness to new ideas even the reshaping of their own ideas. As long as it carries on doing that it will always be the vanguard. God Bless America for that.
4 — How would you describe the lyrics of your new singles “Heart Shaped Pill” and “Night-Stepper” to someone who hasn’t listened to them yet?
“Heart Shaped Pill” is about redemption from excess. The main character has everything but is living with a hole in his soul, and is crying out for something or someone to show him the way to something more than sex, drugs, and whatever kind of vibe you drop.
“Night-Stepper” is basically about someone who only comes alive at night.
It’s based on the lifestyle of a musician, when you’re touring you sleep a lot of the days away and live your days at night. Its hard to switch to a normal routine when you have lived your life like that. When you get into a relationship with someone who has a day job, they think your from another planet cause your awake all night making music in the studio while they are crashed out. Then you’re saying goodbye when they leave for work in the morning. It’s hard to keep those relationships going when you’re wired up like that.
5 — Do you believe Rock music is still relevant despite the EDM boom in America?
As long as Rock Music can reinvent itself, with vibes like what we’re doing then yes I do believe it will remain relevant. The thing about Rock music is it can take many forms, its organic which means it will always sound fresh, unlike a lot of EDM which let’s be honest has a sell-by date. A live drummer can switch the feel change the tempo, accent the groove, whereas a 909 ain’t going anywhere other than the 4 on the floor.
You put on “Rubber Soul” by The Beatles or “My Generation” by The Who and it will sound fresh to anyone who turns it up loud and allows themselves to go beyond the need to fit in with what everyone else is saying is dope.
The same rule applies for EDM as it does Rock it has to reinvent itself and dare to go to other places otherwise it will eat itself.
6 — Are you interested in experimenting with different styles or genres in the future?
Always experimenting, that’s what we do at Kusha Deep Music which is my label. The sound I create for my releases at the moment is what we are calling Rock Step which is a mixture of Rock music and dance grooves.
I grew up in the Era where House music exploded in England but was aways into the Mod vibe. If you look at a band like the Small Faces they did the same kind of thing but mix guitars with classic RnB. In a track like “Night-Stepper” I was jamming a House music bassline with a distorted electric guitar and that’s how that track was born.
I will finish off this album which will comprise of the Three EPs and some extra remixes and then move on to something else. I am looking to make a more Ambient record with more space and less pace, something that just floats around in the air a bit. Like Sex After Cigarettes who are my favourite band at the moment. They featured on the Killing Eve soundtrack and just knocked me out when I heard them. I thought the singer was a girl, so it blew me away when I found out he was a guy with a beard.
7 — You have recently released two amazing music videos. Which one is your favourite?
That’s like asking a mother who is her favourite child.
I love them both for different reasons.
“Heart Shape Pill” is a search for some kind of meaning in someone’s life who has everything and nothing. It’s the pull to find something that makes your mind ask that eternal question what is this thing we call life really all about. Once you have everything and there is still a void inside you, eventually you have to go deeper into what we are here for. Once you start going deeper and looking at spirituality then the journey begins. The only real freedom in this life we will ever find is through a connection with a higher way of thinking. Going beyond just yourself and what you can have and rising into a place some call the divine. I read the Tibetan Book Of the Dead when I was 16 and it changed the way I looked at things. One of the things that stood out for me was the statement if you limit your material wants you limit your suffering. Basically the less you desire the freer you become. It kind of goes against human nature though and that’s why a lot of people can’t go there, they see having everything is the goal, and to tell them that all they become is slaves to material things makes a lot of humans think you’re mad.
8 — What do you want people to take away from your visuals?
It’s all about going on a journey with the music and films, I love concepts so every song works on a different theme that I think might say something about life as that’s what an artist should do is reflect what they see or hear and put it into some kind of context that might shine a light on a certain situation. I do think its best though to leave people to put their own spin on what its about and get whatever they can out of it. If whatever that makes someone feel something about what they see or hear or moves an emotion inside then its job done.
9 – Are you currently working on new music or planning upcoming live shows?
The Next EP titled ‘New Kinda Normal’ has just been mastered and we are planning some killer new films to go with the two lead tracks “The Beat” and “Diamonds In The Shadows”.
That should be out in Jan 2019 with the next EP in production now. Expect big epic tunes as you heard with ‘Dirty Lil Secrets’.
I am in a constant state of writing and if I’m not writing I’m thinking about what I’m going to write about.
10 — Finally, what’s the best moment you remember in your life as an artist?
Doing this interview with you of course.
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I had the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with VE/RA, an up-and-coming Techno musician, to talk about her recent popular single, “Love & Peace” in collaboration with The Rocketman. During the interview, she talks about the process of creating her unique and powerful sound, juggling her music career alongside other responsibilities, her aspirations as an artist in the long run, and various other topics.
1 — How did the idea of mixing elements of Rap and Techno come about in your new track “Love & Peace”?
The Rocketman and I, both being Techno artists, decided to create a track in our genre. However, we wanted to make it unique and distinct. Upon discovering a Rap vocal, we immediately started building music around it.
2 — What was your reaction to receiving support from industry heavyweights like Charlotte De Witte, Nicky Romero, and Maddix?
After finishing the track, we sent it to Charlotte de Witte. Over the weekend, while scrolling through my Instagram stories, I came across a post where she was playing “Love & Peace.” Overwhelmed with excitement, I immediately called The Rocketman. Getting support from Charlotte de Witte is a huge deal within the Techno scene. Soon after, Maddix also supported us multiple times, which was great since I’ve always enjoyed his productions. A little while later, I received a video of Nicky Romero playing our track on the main stage at EDC Mexico. It was surreal to see the huge audience react so positively to our track. In short, it was a very cool experience!
3 — Did you face any challenges in achieving the hard-hitting sound?
No, not really. The track was there within 5 hours. After finding the vocals, a hard-hitting kick, psy bass, acid line, and trance synth were built around it. The result was not overly complicated, as simplicity was key.
4 — What do you think sets “Love & Peace” apart from other Techno tracks?
“Love & Peace” is a highly accessible Techno track that appeals to a wide audience. While Nicky Romero and Avao are not necessarily Techno artists, they still play the genre. Additionally, the Rap vocal adds a unique touch to the whole sound.
5 — Can you share any details about your upcoming collaborations in 2023?
No, unfortunately, I can’t say anything about that this time.
6 — How do you balance your music production career with other commitments?
I still live at home with my parents, so my expenses are not that high. I do this on purpose, to put my full focus on my music career.
7 — What’s the most unforgettable experience you’ve had while performing on stage?
That was when I was playing at Dutchweek in Saalbach, Austria, on top of the mountain. My sister, father, and his girlfriend were with me. After finishing my performance, my father stood with tears in his eyes and said, “I’m so proud.” My sister also wrote me a message expressing her pride. The warmth and positive energy from both my family and fans always stay with me the longest.
8 — How has your music evolved since you first started producing?
I made a lot of strides in the field of producing. I took private lessons producing in Den Bosch, and took a lot of online courses, including those from Alex Stein, ANNA & Wehbba, Amazingblaze, and UMEK. I also took a course at the Herman Brood Academy and learned a lot from other producers.
9 — What are your long-term goals as an artist, and where do you see yourself in the future?
I would love to set up my own label and event. Besides that, I would love to travel the world and share my music with as many people as possible. There are too many events to list where I would love to play, but one of my biggest dreams is Tomorrowland, Awakenings, Ultra, Time Warp, EDC, and Soundstorm.
10 — Finally, is there something else you would like to share with your fans?
I want to thank my fans very much for all the support I have received. I get so much positive energy from them all the time. You can expect new tracks from me this year and I will be debuting at a lot of cool events. Keep an eye on my socials and hopefully, I will see you soon!
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©Jerry Sumit Suksawat
T@NE is a multi-talented artist who wears many hats – musician, saxophonist, composer, producer, rapper, vocalist, and director. His recent collaboration with Dronez resulted in an epic remix of a new track called “Autumn.”
In this interview, he shares his inspiration for the remix, how the collaboration with Dronez came about, what sets this remix apart from the original version, and much more…
1 — What inspired the decision to remix “Autumn”?
I felt the composition really lends itself to being remixed. I mean you can remix anything, so yeah it’s great to hear what someone else can do with the work. And, it’s a great way to collaborate with people and build each other’s brands.
2 — How did the collaboration with Dronez come about?
I was studying (and still studying) the genre Future Riddim and I was listening to a track Dronez released called “Quest;” I was thinking to myself, man Dronez is gonna rock a remix of “Autumn.” We should work together, let’s collaborate.
3 — What sets this remix apart from the original version?
One of the main things was to give Dronez the freedom to do whatever he wanted with the track. When discussing what to do, I said to Dronez, “go in and do your thing” and yeah he demolished it; Dronez absolutely rocked it.
4 — What kind of emotions do you hope to evoke in listeners through this remix?
You know, the beautiful thing about putting out work is that everybody can get something different out of it.
For me, it’s hey, just keep believing in yourself, keep believing in your dreams, and put in the hard work. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from my experiences it’s that not only do you have to be the hardest worker and smartest worker in the room, but you also have to be up working before everybody else. I try to set my alarm for 3:30 am/4:00 am because those extra hours of correct practice really add up in helping you to be prepared for when opportunities arise.
Whatever it is you do, your career, romantic relationships, or friendships, it’s about really trying to bring your A-game all the time, and that comes in the preparation and putting in the hard work. So yeah, keep working and always try and be a better version of yourself.
But, like I said what people get from our work, I really believe depends on the individual.
©Jerry Sumit Suksawat
5 — How did you go about selecting the beats and harmonies for “Autumn”?
For the original, I had been talking to my friend Be Steadwell about working on a song together, so I went to her place and we pretty much wrote the whole composition and lyrics in like three days, I remember working on a few chords when I got back to my place.
And for the remix, I sent Dronez some stems from the original; the vocals stems, guitar stems, keyboard stems and some synth and pad stems. Stems are exports of the individual tracks out of a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), that you can then import into your production/mixing session in another (same or different companies) DAW.
The vocals already had production on them (i.e. EQ, Compression, Reverb, Delay, Etc.) by my guy Johannes Raassina, and then Dronez added more of his own production to the vocals.
So yeah, once Dronez had the stems from the original, he used some of what Be and I composed, and then he came up with his own incredible composition.
6 — Can you elaborate on the concept that the lyrics convey?
Be Steadwell wrote the lyrics, I just remember her composing all these lyrics on the spot, I was thinking to myself this is incredible.
©Fishman Art 89
7 — The artwork looks very striking! What was the idea behind it?
Thank you, yeah the album artwork is by my guy Fishman Art 89, he’s amazing. Fishman has done a lot of our album covers, I love working with him.
This artwork is a variation of the original. The lady on the cover isn’t anyone in particular, that was just my idea that I had for the cover; usually, when I think of a song there’s also a visual that comes into my head that goes along with it. So I’ll sketch out the concept and send it to Fishman, then Fishman will send me a few of his sketches, and we’ll pick one and take it from there. But yeah, I really just let Fishman go in and do his thing.
8 — Do you have any plans for future collaborations?
I would love to collaborate with Dronez again, and whoever is down to collaborate. I love collaborating with people whether it’s for an original, remix, or anything else.
9 — Are you already working on your next release?
Yeah working on more music projects with my bandmates, and also working on my Nightwing script. I really believe I’m the guy to play Nightwing and direct the film. It’s coming along great, at the moment I have around 106 pages of script. I’m not gonna say too much about the script at the moment but I will say Batman/Bruce Wayne is in the screenplay and I’m writing those parts with Ben Affleck in mind. So yeah just working on that.
10 — How do you see your artistry evolving over the next 10 years?
Just taking it one day at a time, trying to make sure I put the correct hard work in and keep moving forward.
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Jordana Moon, who is a member of the musical duo Moon And Aries, talks about the new EP ‘Break The Matrix (Episode Three).’ This material draws inspiration from the idea of breaking away from the old world and building a new, healthier paradigm. Learn more via this exclusive interview.
1 — What was the inspiration behind the concept for your new EP, ‘Break the Matrix (Episode Three)’?
Hello! This is Jordana Moon speaking with you today. Thanks so much for your time and inquiry about our latest “Moon And Aries: Break The Matrix Episode 3”
That’s definitely a loaded question that leans into a loaded answer, but I’ll do my best to give the cliff notes. Tom (Aries ) and I have a deep fascination with how reality works in this realm or matrix. Concepts of laws of physics, the law of attraction, laws of nature… things like that. Exploring the illusion, the limitations, the potentials, the infinite perspectives of truth …the ultimate truth. Why we are here? Who are we now and where are we going. These are the questions we explore in the full trilogy of “Break The Matrix”. Basically, challenging and breaking free from the old World to help create a new, healthier, paradigm.
2 — How would you describe the creative process of this project?
Tom and I talk about the concept of each song for a few months before Tom begins his initial ideas for the composition. We flush out the idea, see how it’s resonating through our lives, and then Tom captures the essence of our thoughts and feelings and puts them into his incredible compositions. So, we talk about each song individually and explore the concept of the album in full, simultaneously. We sort of live the concepts during the making of each song. Then I write the lyrics once the composition is near to complete, and it unfolds from there.
3 — What was your favorite song to work on from the EP and why?
Illumination Society. Tom and I love this concept a lot. It’s like, the whole trilogy leads up to this song. It’s a song about winning! The instrumental is so dynamic and I loved writing the lyrics in sort of a rap song type of way! This song has become our calling card.
4 — Is there a formula to create such futuristic sounds?
Yes and no. I feel like if you are in a state of creative channeling, almost like meditation, you’ll become a very clear channel of what the World possibly needs to hear. Indie music has the potential to be at the very tip of the music industry because we don’t need to play by the same trending rules. So, we have creative freedom. But from the conception of a song to its release, is usually a 9-month period for us. So, we need to always be hanging in the future and bringing that into the now in order to be at the forefront of the industry. Like the musical Marty McFly!
But, on the flip side, we are just doing what comes naturally to us. Some people think our sound is very nostalgic! Some think it’s current. Some think it’s futuristic because of the Sci-Fi type of concept. Tom and I are just acting on impulse and intuition. Creating the music, we want to hear.
5 — Did you face any challenges while working on this material?
This project was actually pretty smooth. We just had finished writing a 9-song album and a 5-song EP and we worked out a lot of kinks with those songs. Sometimes my lyrics are not in full alignment with my emotions if that makes sense. So, I have to get all of me to surrender to the song so that my vocal performance is on par with Tom’s instrumentals and my lyrics. My voice has to really sell the song. And I’m not going to lie, sometimes it takes me 8 to 10hrs to record a song, especially if I need to transmit a deep level of vulnerability.
6 — How does ‘Break the Matrix (Episode Three)’ differ from your previous works?
It’s definitely the episode with the most energetic songs. All dance floor vibes, a little more playful, a little more fun.
7 — What is your message to your listeners with your latest release?
Honestly, we just try to create music that activates and puts people into a higher state as they listen. If you feel better during and after, that means the most to us. If you’ve had a few existential moments, even better 🙏🙌
8 — Can you talk about the music video for your recent single “From Another Dimension”?
The music video was created by our friend Lissete Real from Ecuador. She’s actually made around 10 of our videos, I believe. We love animation and simple videos that don’t overcomplicate the song’s meaning. This video highlights a lone astronaut who is both on land and in water. Now, it doesn’t exactly go into which planet he’s on, but water is consciousness and rebirth… so he’s on his existential journey of self-discovery, no matter which dimension he’s in. There are infinite versions of ourselves, and you could say there is a version of ourselves “watching and waiting” as we look upon the version of ourselves that is exploring and discovering.
9 — As a duo, how has your collaboration evolved throughout the years?
Tom and I have now known each other for 3 years! But have still not met in person! We are 9 hrs apart lol We will be meeting in person soon tho. And as we get to know each other better, our music becomes more cohesive. Even tho we clicked right off the bat, like anything, you grow and evolve and naturally get better if that’s what you desire. So now when we go to work on a song, our vision, and our truth is much more aligned.
10 — What can we expect from Moon And Aries in the upcoming months?
We will be re-releasing all 3 episodes as one full concept album. That will happen very soon! And after that, more music, and new concepts. We’ve got a lot we are working on right now. And we also have big plans (currently a secret) but that also revolve around meeting in person and performing live on stage together. So, stay tuned for those updates!! Thanks so much for chatting, it’s been a pleasure.