Gazzo is the king of epic electro-pop remixes. His take on American Authors’ ‘Best Day Of My Life” proves that focusing on quality and originality never fails. Their are certain generalities to Gazzo’s remixes; atmospheric effects, deep drums, and well-panned pop melodies are all common, but always designed with the original in mind. “Best Day Of My Life (Gazzo Radio Edit)” applies these principles to the American Authors original, creating an one-of-a-kind musical experience.
Gazzo is clearly on the incline in 2014, we reached out and Gazzo and the dude was dope enough to talk some high points: The interview touches on past and future collaborations, musical development, influences, and more.
When remixing, what part of a track do you start with?
Usually I start with the intro/drums. Without a good base, you can find yourself trying to overcompensate with synths or other elements. Plus, a huge part of dance music is the “groove” and without dope drum work the song won’t thumb in the club. I also take a good amount of time shaping and manipulating my low end of the songs too. Good to have a subwoofer 😉
Your intro’s are particularly colorful and hypnotizing, what goes into achieving this distinct sound?
Well I usually start with drum work in the intro and any FX so once that base is built I move to the breaks/drop. After that, I take an vocal samples I like or any particular synths and really work them into the intro after formulating the rest of the song. I’m huge into impacts, reverb shots, white noise hits and tremolo panning with imaging to create some life/movement to mixes.
Your choice of songs to remix is beyond fantastic, how do you filter what you’ll choose next?
Usually it’s a combination of remix inquiries and just organic stumble-upon’s like my YLUV Remix, Gentlemen Hall Remix and more along those lines. There are also some particular ones that I had been wanting to do for a while but just never came around to something I liked (examples: Snow Patrol Remix, Telepopmusik Remix). I’ve always loved remixing indie acts because a lot of the sounds are so organic and almost imperfectly perfect. In other words, a lot of indie artists don’t use a ton of auto tune and the guitar work is always killer. Work Drugs had a lot of amazing instruments to work with when I put together the remix for them.
What were influential moments and turning points that helped develop your style?
I think it was partly just maturing as a producer and listener, and also the conscious effort to better my sound/combine what I love in other music. I like to take influences from everyone I listen to and inject them into my mixes. It also took a while to really create an arsenal of my own sounds, FX usage, kick drums and other samples that are sort of signature to my sound. With that being said, I’m constantly going through sample packs, preset packs, and really everything to find new sounds to tweak into my own. Another real turning point was going to Miami for Miami Music Week and Ultra around 4 years ago. Seeing where the industry and music was as well as hearing a lot of underground-esq stuff changed my perspective completely.
What strategies do to your implement to keep your music and brand fresh and cutting-edge?
I kind of dwelled into that before but it’s really just the eagerness to learn new techniques and find/build new sounds. Of course my tracks have their essence of the “Gazzo” sound but I’m producing all types of music through the week. From hip-hop to deep house, I love it all and that makes finding and incorporating new sounds into tracks easier.
You’ve worked with Cash Cash, how does creativity flow between Cash Cash and Gazzo? What are the similarities and differences between the two groups?
I’ve known those dudes since high school so we’re really comfortable with each other and exploring as well as pushing the boundaries with remixes. Combining our sounds is sort of easy because their zipper leads and melodic lines work extremely well with what I do in my leads. Alex and I also chat like 1-2 times a week in general to talk production and what we learned- stuff like that. I owe a lot of my strides to sitting in front of a Skype call with Alex just hammering things out until they sound good.
If Cash Cash and Gazzo were to tour together, who would you choose as supporting acts?
Definitely some of my producer/artist friends because it’s all about having a good time and helping each other out!
What daily habits do you practice to avoid artist burn-out/creativity blocks?
Honestly, I produce like all hours of the day. I guess the biggest thing is that I’m not producing the SAME genre or SAME sounds every single day. For instance, I’ll work on my hip hop/trap track until I hit a wall (or finish it) and then move onto my 120BPM straight deep track and so on. It keeps the creativity alive when I jump around like that. I also take breaks to like eat food, sleep… you know… normal humans things that I should probably do more of haha Otherwise I’m producing or just DJing in my studio because I absolutely love it!
Where do you realistically see yourself in a years time?
It’s really hard to say ya know. I’m just super appreciative of where I’m at and the opportunities that have come along. Great friends like Disco Fries, Cash Cash and many more have made the journey amazing. With that being said, I’m all about getting my music out to as many people as possible so that for the moment they listen, they can escape from any stress they have or problems in life. That’s what it’s all about. Music is a healer like that.
What is the key to growth and recognition as an up-and-coming DJ?
Ambition mixed with Determination mixed with Persistence mixed with being Absolutely Crazy. You have to put in the time, not just 9-5 but every single moment of every day. Never get comfortable and never settle. Always be critical of yourself and always take constructive criticism from your peers. With most things in life, the more you put in the more you get out of it. The industry is such a crazy place and there’s a ton of ups and downs. Keep grounded and surge through it! But above all else HAVE FUN WITH IT.
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This article was written by: Follow @ChadWRR
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