Santiago Nino burst onto the trance/progressive not too long ago with some excellent productions of his own. The Colombian producer has already received massive support from the biggest DJs in the world, the likes of Tiesto and Armin Van Buuren canning some of his tunes. Definitely one to watch, Santiago promises much to the industry, and he kindly took some time off his busy schedule for an interview with UK Trance Alliance.
1) Santiago, You've made some excellent productions so far. Tell us, who/what gave you the inspiration, that made you want to produce ?
Well since I was 14 years I listened to electronic music. One day I was surfing in the internet listening to some Astral Projection and Mauro Picotto, and I was wondered, "How do they make those crazy sounds?" So I started looking for softwares and virtual synths on the internet, and began to play with the sounds and I quickly realized it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life here on out. I had a lot of passion for music, I still have my first ever production somewhere in a CD and everytime I listen to it, no matter how bad it sounds, you can still see a smile on my face.
2) Out of all your productions, there's definitely one that's your favourite, which you enjoyed producing the most. What do you think your best production is so far ?
Really difficult question, actually there’s a lot that I like, but I would say my 2 favorites are my remix of Hammer & Bennett - Language and this new track I signed to Baroque Records called Arpeggia, I enjoyed a lot creating them too.
3) You've only recently made your name in the industry, and have a long career ahead to look forward to. Ultimately, what is your goal, what would you like to achieve in your career ?
Same as everyone else I guess, I want to make more and more music, remixes, collaborations, albums. I want to give the world a different sound, something unique, vanguard stuff, and also would like to create my own label some day in the future. Music is my life, my goal is not to be famous or to have money. My goal is music, make great music and make people jump and smile on the dancefloor everytime.
4) How did you feel, the first time you heard one of your productions being played by one of the world's top DJs like Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren or Markus Schulz ?
Well actually the first time I heard a big DJ playing my music, it wasn't Armin, Tiesto, or Schulz, it was Mauro Picotto who played one of my tracks 2 years ago. Back then I was only into techno and hardtechno. I remember he played one of my old techno tracks called F-16. I listened it on a radio show, I believed it was Innercity or something, I was really excited and I couldn't believe my track was being played by such a big DJ in front of some many people. I felt really happy and it gave me so much inspiration to keep on working harder and make it happen again.
5) Every producer has their own style to their music, what would you say is the most typical feature in your productions/remixes ?
I would call it call it prog-trance with techno influences, or prog-tech-trance. I don’t like to make only 1 style, that is really boring. But I do respect artists making only 1 style as long they give unique and new sounds to the music industry .
6) Most of your productions have a distinct and recognizable harsh kicking bassline. How did you come up with that sound ?
I love hard kicks and long dark basslines, that’s what makes people scream and jump in the dancefloor. I think the idea was to give progressive house a new different harder sound, and I wanted people to recognize my style and sound with a particular instrument or beat, so I guess the bassline did it for me.
7) What software/hardware do you use for producing ?
Software:
Orion Platinum
Cubase SX
Ableton Live 4
Soundforge
Hardware:
2 M-Audio BX5 Studio Speakers
M-Audio Oxygen Midi Controller
8) How long do you normally take to produce a track, before you're completely satisfied with it ?
It depends on the inspiration, normally with good inspiration it takes 2 or 4 days, sometimes 1 week or even 2 weeks to finish.
9) There are many upcoming DJ and Producers here in UKTA. Do you have any tips and advice for them ?
Do not stop, Do not Take breaks, if you have the time, produce like a maniac. Believe in yourself, believe in what you're doing, always be open mind for constructive feedback, always experiment with new sounds, be patient. The answer is time and hard work.
10) If you had a chance to have a collaboration with any producer, who would it be ? Anyone in particular that you really want to work with for a production ?
Good question, actually there’s a lot I would like to work with, for example James Holden, Markus Schulz, Ozgur Can, Filterheadz to name a few, also some techno names like Marco Carola and Frank Biazzi. I'm really liking their stuff and I would be an honour to work with them.
11) Your new EP Big Risk EP will be out on Precinct Records soon. What was the main idea behind that, and can we expect different sounds and styles in the EP ?
The idea behind This EP was to make something different, actually it was a "Big Risk" for me. I combined strange electro sounds with hard and pounding techno beats, it also has a progressive touch, it was all an experiment and it came out really nice, very different from what I'm doing now, and I hope people will like it.
12) What are your plans for the future, anything in store for us fans that you can tell us about ? Any new productions, collaborations or remixes ?
You can expect a lot in the next few months, remixes and original projects will be out very soon. I'm currently working on some remixes and collaborations with great djs and producers Hydroid & Shawn mitiska. I'm also working on my own tracks at the moment, some energetic hard-prog-trance stuff. Some nice collaborations with Itay Steinberg a.k.a Hydroid, who has been a good friend and an excellent inspiration for me this year will be out soon.
13) Do you have any plans to produce other styles of music under a different alias ?
Yes of course. I'm thinking Arpeggia will be my alias for deep melodic stuff in the future, but I think Santiago Nino - my own name - is always going to be around.
14) You've been very busy so far, producing a lot. Do you have any plans to DJ as well ? Maybe have your own radio show, like most DJs do now ?
I'm more focused on producing right now, but I'm buying new turntables soon, so I think I will be DJing more in the next months. I have a radio show every month on ETN.fm, called Nighttribe Sessions, and I'm already getting booking offers for international gigs. Nothing big, but it’s a start.
15) Who are your current biggest influences in the industry ? Which DJ / Producer do you rate highly ?
There are a lot of artists that I'm really enjoying lately, producers such as Hydroid, Mike Foyle, 4Mal, Andy Moor, Ozgur Can, Markus Schulz, Perry O'Neil and Max Graham. But I would say my vote goes to Hydroid, he is making really impressive music lately. I was into techno before so I think Mauro Picotto is a big influence and all the Italian techno crew back in 2002 and 2003. I think my favorite DJs at moment would be Greg Benz, Markus Schulz, Furry Nipples and Armin Van Buuren.
16) There's been quite a number of great releases recently, what are you current favourites ?
Difficult question, there are so many good tunes I'm liking at the moment. I think my current favorites are Max Graham – I Know You're Gone, Andy Moor – Halcyon and the remix Hydroid did for Luminary - My World. You will have a chance to listen to my favourite tracks on Nightribes Sessions radio show on ETN.
17) Tell us a little about yourself. Are you still studying, or working besides producing ?
I'm not studying at the moment, I finished school last year and I will take this year off, only for musical projects. I'm thinking of going to college next year.
18) This may be a rather personal question, but it has come to our knowledge that you no longer live in Colombia, which was the country you were born in. Would mind telling us why you left Colombia ?
I was born in Bogota – Colombia but I moved to Guatemala Center America 3 years ago. Been living here since, but I go to Colombia a lot. I love my country, I love my people.
19) It is rare that someone from Latin America is making such impact on the trance and progressive scene. Most producers are from Europe and the US, and a number from other parts of the world, but there aren't many in this genre that originate from Latin America. What do you have to say about this ? How did you discover trance/progressive
I'm really proud to be one of the few Latin America talents, but believe me there’s a lot of talent in South America, and Central America. Latin people love electronic music and I'm sure in the future there will be more and more new producers and DJs. The scene is not as big here but trust me, we know electronic music and it’s growing very fast every year. It wasn't so hard for me to discover it, but it's really hard to be known or grow as a DJ or producer here, but I'm positive everything will change with time.
20) Other than Electronic Dance Music, what other genres of music do you listen to ?
I love Rock music, Soft Rock stuff, Spanish music, ambient music, 80’s and 70’s music, salsa , merengue all that stuff. Believe it or not I was a heavy metal and punk fan when I was a kid. I even played drums in a band with some friends in the past and but I was’nt very good at it. But I love all music in general, actually I hate cheese music, but I'm very open minded.
21) Producing aside, what else do you do, hobbies and interests ?
I love to chill out with my friends, hang out with my girlfriend, go to bars, drink, I like to joke a lot and have a good time. I love to go to the movies. I admit I have a problem with smoking cigarettes, I really need to stop smoking, its actually becoming a hobby for me. I also love to go to the beach , and well I love to play basketball and listening to music all day.
21) Last but not least, do you have any last words to your fans here at UKTA ?
I just want to say thanks to all the people who support my music on this awesome forum, I always check the site to see what’s new to see what’s up, and well I hope you guys will enjoy my future productions and all the best.
Thanks again Santiago for your time, and good luck. No doubt you'll have a long and successful career ahead.
For any requests like Remixes / sets / questions regarding Hydroid / Santiago Nino please contact:
avi@1strelease.com
neatly@1strelease.com
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Interviewed By : Blinque