His track ‘Something Good’ crowned “Essential Tune” was added to the BBC Radio 1 playlist, reaching track of the day status. He’s made a name for himself supporting both David Guetta and Alan Walker in Switzerland, while his own monthly radio show “Good Vibrations” has gained several million streams on Soundcloud. Now, Nicolas Haelg is back with his new track “Fight For Your Love“ with Sam Halabi and featuring vocals from the stunning singer Ezee. We asked Nicolas to tell us more about his hot new track, his background, and future plans. Here’s what he told us.
RR: Could you begin by telling us how you started out with music?
Nicolas: Hey guys, Thanks for having me.
Well, I was learning the piano as a little boy. Back then, the music I played was rather more classical than dance music. While I liked the sound and liked to play around with it, I never really enjoyed being stuck playing classical music. So, I started producing music at the age of 13. Back then, I won a voucher in school for an electronics store. The voucher was not worth a lot, so pretty much the only software I could buy with it was the “Magic Music Maker 2004.” It was a pretty simple software program to play around with samples and to create some kind of music. It pretty much started all from there. With time I got myself into midi-keyboards, synthesizers, plugins, better software an all that stuff.
RR: Did you always know you wanted to be in music or did you have other plans as you were growing up?
Nicolas: To be honest, that just completely evolved. I never really thought I could make a living from my music. Especially here in Switzerland, where the market is quite limited and living expenses are quite high. So, no, I didn’t plan to end up in the music industry. I’m even more happy with the decision I made a few years back to focus fully on music and not pursue a “regular” job.
RR: You’ve recently released your latest single “Fight For Your Love.” Tell us about the inspiration and production behind the track.
Nicolas: Well, I have played guitar and piano for many years. Therefore most of my tracks involve somehow these two elements. When Sam Halabi and I came up with the instrumental idea we
came across German singer EZEE. We connected and I skyped a few times with her. During the Skype call, EZEE and I realized that we were on the same level. She has a fantastic voice and we
got along well instantly. I sent her the instrumental and she sang the first version of Fight For Your Love. The workflow was pretty amazing. I feedbacked her a couple of times, she changed it
accordingly and we had the final Vocals for the instrumental ready. It overall took around 4-5 months.
RR: Are you satisfied with how the track turned out in the end?
Nicolas: “Fight For Your Love” is pretty much a very uplifting good mood song. The overall reaction has been very positive and I am very happy with the final result. It’s a perfect song for the summer season coming.
RR: Do get nervous before a show?
Nicolas: Well, I guess nervous is the wrong word. I’d rather say excited. I have been tremendously nervous during my first sh ows a few years back from now. But this nervousness changed to a positive excitement, especially after that many shows and I can enjoy it now even more when playing music in front of the crowd.
RR: What has been your favorite show/festival to perform at?
Nicolas: Tricky one, there has been so many good moments and good festivals. The best is always to catch up with all DJ friends that you run into at a festival, so there have been plenty of these good moments at festivals, for example, in Germany. The most special gig might be the one in Norway or where I performed on a very small island last year or NYE in Egypt somewhere in the desert, far away from the big cities.
RR: What DJs and producers do you admire the most and why?
Nicolas: Since my musical influence comes strongly from the hip-hop and rap scene, I was influenced a lot by hip-hop and r&b music and not necessarily by other electronic artists. The first two CD’s I bought were The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem and The Chronic back in 2001. There are DJs and producers that are fantastic in the way they DJ or in the way they produce
specific sounds, however, I do not necessarily admire them, but rather respect them. In the end, I think I get inspired by everything that I perceive as being a cool sound. It doesn’t matter whether it comes from hip-hop, house, drum n’ bass and so on.
RR: We’re slowly approaching summer. What are your plans for the upcoming months?
Nicolas: There will be a couple of new remixes coming soon. One for a German band, one for a Swiss band. Furthermore, I am already working on my next single which I am close to finishing. Also, a few more collaborations with very talented artists are in discussions at the moment. And obviously, I am also looking forward to the festival season to meet all fantastic people and catch up with my DJ Friends 🙂
We thank Nicolas for taking the time to talk to us and we’re eagerly looking forward to more music from him soon!
Connect with Nicolas Haelg:
https://www.facebook.com/nicolashaelgmusic
https://twitter.com/NicolasHaelg
https://soundcloud.com/nicolashaelg
https://www.instagram.com/nicolashaelg
https://play.spotify.com/artist/0nwid3SFCGyXxnllTHzHPd
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