We got the chance to sit and chat with extremely talented DJ and Producer Deep Chills at the Elements Music and Arts Festival, where he played as the opening act for one of the stages.
I found out about Milan native Deep Chills when I was looking up the acts who would be performing on the day of the Elements Festival, which took place in Brooklyn this past Saturday. As a lover of music, attendee of the festival and writer for The Knockturnal, I felt like it was my duty to be familiar with the sounds to be expected. As soon as I played the first seconds of his songs, I fell in love with his sound. I remember the first time I heard “Firestone” by Kygo I had to stop everything that I was doing and give my full and undivided attention to this song. The same thing happened when I listened to his song “Waikiki”, his top song on itunes. I then proceeded to listen to his singles, and when I was done with that, had to go on soundcloud to hear more of his remixes. He was able to remind me of the reasons why I fell in love with Kygo’s first releases with the sounds he uses in his tunes.
I was very surprised because normally when I listen to a producer’s songlist there tends to be some songs that I do not enjoy much but that wasn’t the case with Deep Chills. Every song I heard was really good and just top quality.
What was even more pleasurable to see was how friendly, humble and welcoming Deep Chills is. We are talking about a guy who was born in 1996 but has a very special gift and such an already developed talent for music.
Here’s an interview we did with him where you can find out more about his background, his process and what’s to come.
When did you start DJaying?
I started three years ago, it was summer 2013 and I have been producing since I was 13. I never did something serious, I was always producing just for fun. Out of nowhere, three years ago, I decided to really put effort in the productions. I decided to begin this project called Deep Chills, which is basically inspired by people like early Kygo that came out in 2013, and an Austrian duo who used to make summer house stuff, it was super good at the time. This sound has been out for almost four years, maybe more. People are starting to get a bit bored, I mean, they want to hear new stuff, and that’s what I want to do now. I’m at the point where the music that I produce is a bit different from the music that I play in my sets. I am trying to merge the two things, DJing and producing. I want to be able to produce tracks that I can use constantly in my DJ sets, because whenever I have to play, I play more techy stuff, more deep house, people want to dance, not hear Kygo. It has a cool sound of course but, that’s what I’m trying to do. It’s not easy because all of the people that have been following me on soundcloud or facebook, spotify, etc, they still like the old sound, the early melodic deep house, or if you wanna call it tropical house (even though I hate calling it that, don’t ask me why). They are still really in love with the old sound, so I have to very slowly stir into a more club oriented direction. Of course, I will still make radio friendly songs because that’s what people want and what promoters want. If you don’t have a big song in the charts, then you are basically not gonna tour or get a lot of gigs. So yeah, this is slowly what I’m trying to do because I don’t want to lose my fans.
How did you get involved in the music business?
It basically all started on soundcloud, I made a profile, started uploading my own originals that were released as a free download so people could enjoy for free and then I started doing some bootlegs. I took acapellas of somewhat popular songs and I would basically do an unofficial remix since I did not have the copyrights. Back then, soundcloud wasn’t too strict about copyright so you could still do that and get away with it without having a copyright strike. The bootleg I did on Flaws by Bastille went viral, I got almost one million plays in two weeks. That remix started everything, I got contacted by my management. My problem has always been that I did a lot of remixes and even now I don’t have a lot of originals out.
What are you working on now?
All of my releases have been pushes back for various reasons but next week, a remix that I did should be released next week [“Liebe zur Musik” now available on soundcloud], it was supposed to be released by the beginning of July. Then after that we’ll release the remix EP for my single “Blinded”, we have four remixes and I’m looking forward to release that because with the remix EP we are also going to release the music video that was shot for “Blinded”. That was shot during Miami Music Week in March and we have really dope footage. I’m already working on the follow up for “Blinded”, a new original, because that song is already 3-4 months old and we need a new one as soon as possible. I need to keep the flow going. Now that “Blinded” has reached the peak, I think that with the video and the remix EP it’ll make it better. Maybe two months after that will be a wise time to put out a new original. I am also working on other remixes but my focus right now is on the original.
How long does it take you to prepare for a set like this?
What I do before a set is, I have all my songs in my computer, like once every month I update my collection of songs, I just download new music, listen to the promos and right before a set, I make a rough selection of what I would like to play, like let’s say 40-50 songs. I can’t always play those songs because it’s all about reading the crowd. Maybe I know the song that I want to start with and the song that I want to close with but in the middle it’s all about reading the crowd and feeling it, that’s what DJs is about.
Do you plan to move into the american industry?
What I think about the american industry is that, it’s great of course but coming from Europe, the american agencies don’t want undeveloped artists that come from outside. First I need to get bigger in Europe, at least have radio songs on the charts. I now have a couple of songs of the radio but I need a strong original. Then I think I will automatically come to the american agencies. Of course, the plan is to also develop myself in the USA. I already have a couple of remixes on Ultra Music such as my remix of OMI, but they are just remixes, you need to have a strong original to tour.
Who would you like to collaborate in the future?
I have to think about this… Well, I really really like indie artists, like Milky Chance would be great. I am actually working with Universals in Germany and I could have the possibility of working with the artists of Milky Chance. I don’t want a pop vocalist, I want more of an indie pop artist, so Milky Chance for vocals would be amazing. As a producer, I like the sound of EDX and Nora En Pure but they’re another genre, more clubby stuff. Right now EDX is one of my favorite producers so I would like a collaboration with him.
Don’t forget to check out his soundcloud. He will make a great addition to your playlist without a doubt!
https://soundcloud.com/deep-chills
