Famous for his outward insights on the music industry, Tyson Illingworth, better known as tyDi, has made quite the mark in the electronic music scene. By signing to Armin Van Buuren’s coveted Armada label at just 17 years old, gaining honors as Australia’s native #1 DJ twice in a row, and picking up an IMDA for “Best Breakthrough DJ,” it’s safe to say that his views are well advocated. After playing an uplifting set at Euphoria Music & Camping Festival, we wanted to get back to the basics. “EDM,” dance music, electronic music – tomato tomäto – what does he think about all of this?
“I actually don’t hate that word (EDM), I love it. I like it because of the whole ambiguity aspect of it. Because in my sets, I play everything.”
Under the Armada umbrella, tyDi released his second artist album, Shooting Stars, which garnered major attention from the industry, including all of us at WhiteRaverRafting.com. The album is a rich composition of musical scores woven together by haunting vocals and poignant poetry versed in melodies. It took tyDi two years to craft such a masterpiece, and as I commended him, he excitedly clued me into the hard work it took to create his latest album, Redefined.
“Thank you. Wow. Wait for the new album, it’s coming out this year in September! It took even longer than Shooting Stars to make. It took me nearly three years to make this album.”
Elaborating on his creative process, he once said that he works around 200 songs to edit down into an album.
“Yeah, that’s how I write my albums. I write 200 songs, or you know, huge amounts of tracks, to nail it down to the best 20 to make the album. I usually start on the piano, playing out chords I’m thinking of. I used to write music on manuscript with a pencil, so I’d write out the notes manually. I scored for an orchestra, so I did that kind of stuff. These days, I sit down on a piano and play out the chords with the vocalist and brainstorm lyrics and concepts together.”
It was intriguing to learn that the vocalist had a major role in his creative process. Each tyDi song is a collaborative tale that comes to life through music.
“Before we even think of the lyrics, we say: “What is this song going to be about? Is it going to be a magic song or is it going to be an angry song?” We come up with an idea and then play on some words we like and build the story. Once we have the song written, I produce it. I do all of the song writing before I even consider the production or what the style is going to be. The main thing in my process is that I write a song before it’s produced. A lot of people go and make a beat first, but that’s not my thing. I like to actually sit down, play chords and a melody, then write the verse, bridge and chorus – and in setting a track up, I don’t know what the style is going to be. It could be dubstep, it could be house, it could be trance. But the vocalist and I write a song before we think about the production, and I like that because it means that with any one of my songs on my albums, you can break it down and play it on the guitar.”
Studying at the Queensland Conservatorium, as well as scoring for orchestras, tyDi has a refined palette of knowledge in the art of music. But where did he get his start?
“I used to be a drummer in a rock band, so I play drums well. And I play a bit of piano. I wouldn’t claim to be the best at it, but I do play some piano in my tracks. I love the sounds I use in my albums, especially Hotel Rooms. I used real strings. I worked with a string quartet, wrote everything for them, and brought them into the studio for live recording sessions.”
As the last question came to a close, he politely suggested moving rooms to cancel out the extra background noise. Documenting everything in a recording, I thanked him for taking the interview seriously and we shuffled to a quieter location. Once we situated ourselves in the serenity of peace and quiet, I pressed on about his lifelong dream: to score for cinematic soundtracks. He’s already made it by working with the Transformers team, but WhiteRaverRafting.com wondered what kind of movie he would like to score for if he had a free reign.
“I’d really love to write something for, it sounds lame, but movies like Twilight. Just movies that have that real emotional impact on their audience – and it’s not because of the kind of movie it is – but more just…well it is a little bit I guess. I feel like the kind of music I write is very emotional. I wouldn’t be good at scoring for a comedy – say a Rom Com – just wouldn’t be my thing. I wouldn’t know where to start. But in movies like Fifty Shades of Grey, or these new ones that are coming out where they have moments of beauty, where there’s a love scene or something that really hits you in the heart, you know, pulls the heart strings – those are the kind of more serious films that I would be the best at scoring for, and that’s what I’m really working towards.”
Although he can get quite serious discussing music, tyDi also has a humorous side and has remained humble despite his success. I noticed something earlier while he was performing and questioned him about it, generating a lighthearted chuckle from both of us.
“Oh (laughs) every show, I don’t wear shoes when I play. When I was 19, I had a show in Holland and it was to 20,000 people. Here I was, this 19-year-old kid, really nervous and never having played to that many people. I was used to playing to 1,000 people back then. So I had this show and I was freaking out, shaking, and my manager at the time said “Why don’t you take your shoes off?” I thought that was really dumb, but he goes “Just try it.” Took my shoes off, and for some reason, I felt really comfortable. I felt at home and since then, I’ve always done it. It’s kind of like, you’re on stage, you’re jumping around…it may only be 2 hours or so, but I like to feel like home in my own living room. Even though I know there’s a crowd in front of me, in my mind, I like to feel like I’m just having fun, as if I’m part of the party. And taking off my shoes helps with that. I feel comfortable and chill, you know? Yeah, that’s my thing. It makes it less formal.”
Originating from Australia, tyDi has since then traveled to every corner of the globe spinning at various venues, festivals, and special events. Now residing in Los Angeles, California half a world a way, I wondered if his move had changed or influenced his sound.
“No, not really. It hasn’t affected my style or my sounds. I’ve been playing in America for four years, but now I live in L.A. It was just more convenient. I like to think that I stay true to what my sound is. I feel like my fans might call me a sell out because I used to make a lot of trance music, and now I do a bit of everything. Like the last track I did with Dia Frampton, she was the runner-up on The Voice, was sort of indie-folk-cross-dance – and a few people gave me a bit of shit about it.”
The “reactions” tyDi may have been referring to, were people claiming “Stay” ft. Dia Frampton was reminiscent of AVICII’s “Wake Me Up.” As I stated this, his body shifted and his eyes became fixated. Surprisingly, there was no hostility in his voice and he even defended fellow producer AVICII.
“But it doesn’t matter, people can go “Oh you kind of sound like AVICII,” as if that’s an insult. AVICII wrote one of the biggest tracks in dance music of ALL TIME. If people want to compare it to that, then FUCK YEAH! That’s not an insult. Do you know why? Because I love AVICII. I legitimately think he’s a great producer, a great song writer. If people want to compare some of my songs to his, I’m fine with that. If they compared me to Britney Spears, I’d be a bit offended. But when people are comparing me to artists that I admire, that’s fine. And to everyone that says “Oh you’ve sold out,” the definition of a sell out is to make a song that you don’t like for the sole purpose of making money. Every song I’ve ever written, I truly love. I only make songs I like, so if I make a song that’s indie folk, it’s because I wanted to do that. If I make a song that’s more orchestral, a whole album of orchestral music, it’s because it was something I wanted to create. I didn’t think that would fly, I didn’t think it would sell, but it did well and I did it because I wanted to do it. So as long as I’m proud of my work, then no one can call me a sell out honestly. I just change-up the style as much as I can and go with what I feel like doing at the time.”
Lastly, tyDi isn’t just a talented musician but a philanthropist at heart. “Glow in the Dark” ft. the gifted vocalist Kerli, is a voice for a wide spectrum of challenging issues including discrimination, inequality, bullying, social pressures, and self harm. He was directly involved in the NOH8 campaign by participating in the iconic photo shoot with the symbolic duct tape, and being the official DJ for the NOH8 Campaign 4th Anniversary Celebration.
“It’s about equality. Kerli and I have similar views on life in general, and she’s very much for equality and moving forward. Progression in this world. No more stupidity. I can’t believe it’s 2014 and we have racists, homophobes, and sexists. It’s primitive. Not enough people are speaking out about it. I’m a straight guy and I love girls, but I can’t understand people who have hate towards someone who has a certain lifestyle that doesn’t hurt other people. If you choose a way of life that does not hurt anyone else, and it doesn’t negatively impact others, then you should be entitled to that. I’m all for equality and people just living their life and being tolerant of others. Kerli and I shared the same view on this. When we wrote “Glow in the Dark,” we decided to make a song about shining through the dark even when things go wrong. It was really about no matter how bad things get, to help one another out. And the whole idea of the music video was that it goes full circle. One person gets a bit of hope, and it passes onto somebody else and then the whole clip goes around to the end where it’s this big cycle. We felt like doing it, we were passionate about it, and we reached out to the NOH8 Campaign.”
Ending on a very inspirational and positive note, I leave you with his song, “The Prestige.” It is a healthy balance of trance, progressive house, profound female vocals and even some strings. WhiteRaverRafting.com would like to thank Alex, Euphoria Music & Camping Festival, Chad, Chris, Mitch and of course tyDi, for allowing us to conduct this interview.
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