On being signed to Martin Garrix’s STMPD RCRDS, Eauxmar said, “It feels pretty cool to be signed to Garrix’s label. Especially because they all fully support me on a creative level, even though you wouldn’t think of my music when you think about STMPD RCRDS. They give me all the freedom to make whatever kind of tracks I like. It’s also amazing that I gain a lot of exposure because of the label and I’m very thankful for that.”
Regarding his track “Sundown,” he said, “It started out like any other track I make. I almost always start my songs from scratch. That way I always push myself to be super unique and creative, instead of copying the same formula. I wanted to make a down-tempo track, yet keeping high energy levels throughout the track. From there I started figuring out what kind of textures I would want in the track since I always try to picture certain textures in my head and then translate them into sound.”
“From there I actually started doing the sound design and coming up with the main melody which was flowing freely between the drums to create this lazy kind of groove,” he said. “After that, the whole song was pretty much standing, but I felt like it needed a proper vocal. So, I sent out the instrumental to a few singer/songwriters. A team in Sweden killed it and were super quick as well. Then, the track was pretty much done.”
On his musical inspirations, he said, “My music is mainly inspired by certain vibes I catch all around the world. Not necessarily stories, as some would maybe think. I’m just 19, so I don’t have super inspiring stories yet. But the vibes are very important to me because I always get certain feelings from places I go and try to translate that into sound.”
“My music is basically about (trying) to translate certain feelings,” he said. “Besides that, I get a lot of inspiration from all kind of different genres from indie to the old-school boom-bap hip-hop and I try to implement certain techniques from those genres into my music”
When asked what he loves most about electronic dance music, he said, “To be honest I always try to think outside genres, because I notice that a lot of young producers limit their creativity by placing themselves in these categories. But the thing I love most about EDM is the number of possibilities you have on your laptop and the portability of music. I can literally make music anywhere, as long as I have my laptop with me.”
Digital transformation of electronic dance music
On the impact of technology on electronic dance music, he said, “I think all these new technologies could really benefit music because your music can reach new audiences that you couldn’t reach as easy as before. But on the other hand, I feel like streaming services have a lot of power because they control which songs end up in certain playlists and they can make deals with certain artists and blowing up their songs and making them ‘industry plants’.”
He continued, “I feel like there is this trend happening, which music critic Anthony Fantano already pointed out, and it’s so-called ‘playlistification’ of music. This means that a lot of artists tweak their songs so much to enter as many playlists as possible.”
“This phenomenon can lead to bland formula music that always reaches a very broad audience. But as long as you use technology in the right way for you, I’m all for it,’ he said.
Regarding his use of technology in his daily routine as an electronic musician, he said, “Technology plays a big role in my daily routine as a musician. Although I tend not to look too much at my streaming numbers, it is quite useful to see where your fans are located in and which songs work better and which don’t.”
He continued, “This way you can easily start planning tours around the world. Without the modern technology of social media, I wouldn’t be in this position I am in now. I learned a lot of producing techniques on YouTube for example. Also, I feel like new technologies in musical equipment is such a boost for your creativity, which is always key.”
On his dream female collaboration choices, Eauxmar said, “The female producers I would love to work with are probably SOPHIE, Rezz and Anna Lunoe. They all are super talented and definitely deserve more recognition. If I had to choose a female vocalist then I would probably choose either AlunaGeorge or Kucka. They both have really cool and unique sounding vocals.”
For his fans, he concluded about “Sundown,” “First of all, I want to thank each and everyone that listened to it. You guys are making me so happy. Besides that, I want to say that this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
