The 315th episode of our 12 Questions segment features producer The Florist.
1. How old are you, where are you living and how long have you been producing and Djing?
I am 30 years old and I live in Brooklyn, New York. I have been DJing for almost 10 years, producing for about 7 years. I got a late start to the scene as a whole, but I love it 🙂
2. Where do your musical roots lie, what are your first memories of electronic music and when did you know you wanted to pursue it seriously? Are there any particular productions or artists from the past that really made you think to yourself ‘this is what I want to do.”
I’ve always been around music my entire life. I owned and played saxophone for 10 years when I was a kid, then slowly moved on to different things. I always attended concerts of all styles as a kid. My first concert was actually a KISS concert in the 7th grade! My first experience with electronic music was at a late age. I was 20 years old and attended a Sasha Fundacion release party in Washington DC back in college. I haven’t looked back since. It’s easy for me to say that on this night I knew I had a deep connection with this music.
3. How difficult was learning to produce for you in the beginning? Did you take any Audio Engineering programs or production courses to help you out or are you pretty much self taught? And did anyone give any advice early on that really helped?
Learning to produce in the beginning was extremely difficult. I never had any mentors or friends who could help out. But it didn’t stop me from downloading all types of music software and messing around with all of it. Everything has been pretty much self taught over the years, which has only made the process slower. After a few years, a good friend of mine was starting to make music as well, and although different genres, all the same principles still apply. This helped a bunch in the more recent years.
4. What parts of the production process do you find the most difficult and what comes easiest for you? When you do hit a creative block what helps you through it?
The most difficult part of production is the creative side. You can’t have a track that is technically perfect but lacks ideas. This will just be another track that becomes boring and people will forget. What comes easiest for me is to always to lay down the groove first. Everything falls into place later for me.
When I hit a creative block, which happens quite a lot honestly, I always have to take a few days break from a track. I have tried taking a 1-2 day break, but it’s not enough. For me to really move forward again, I will need to stop working on it and thinking about it for an entire week. This is a big problem a lot of producers face, everyone has their own methods.
5. What’s a normal day like for you? Do you have a job outside of electronic music? And what do you like to do when you’re not working on music?
Because I was exposed and introduced to the electronic scene at such a late age, I already had started working a full-time job. I didn’t have intentions of doing music full time because at that point it was very late in my life to pursue something like that. Most people make this decision earlier on. At the moment I have a family flower business located in Manhattan. I work very hard in this industry and enjoy it a lot. When I get home from work, I always am spending time in the studio working on music. It took me years to figure out a proper balance on how to achieve both without burning out, and only recently have things started to click for me. When I am not working on music I enjoy going out with friends to great restaurants and great food 🙂
6. Apart from electronic music what other genres do you listen to and who are your favourite artists outside of electronic? and do these genres or artists have a direct effect on your own productions?
I listen to all different styles apart from electronic music, but some that stand out and I listened to quite a lot before my electronic years were groups like Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, The Knife, Bjork, Royksopp, Ladytron, Crystal Castles, amongst many others!
7. What was the first and last physical (CD, Vinyl, Cassette etc) piece of music you bought?
The first CD I ever purchased was Nirvana ‘Nevermind’ album. I was a huge Kurt Cobain fan as a kid. The last piece of music I have purchased would be John Digweed’s Re:Structured 🙂
8. Tell us something about yourself that might surprise people?
I use to be a very heavy computer gamer when I was younger. I was obsessed with Counter-Strike and took it seriously for 4 years!
9. Which producers in your opinion get consistently overlooked?
Producers like Few Nolder, Gabriel Ananda, Dominik Eulberg and dubspeeka.
10. Which producers consistently inspire you? And where else does your inspiration come from?
Producers that consistently inspire me are Guy J, Henry Saiz, Marc Romboy, Guy Gerber and many others. But there are so many good producers out there, always great music coming out every day!! My inspiration comes from the very simple things in life. We tend to take every day for granted, sometimes it’s important to slow things down, look around and take everything in. It’s times like this where I reminisce and express myself through the music.
11. There are countless producers out there trying to find their way and create their own unique sound, what advice do you have for them?
Stop trying to be something else or someone else. Stay true to yourself and use your ears. They are your most powerful instrument!
12. If the final DJ/live set of your career was next week what would your last track be?
Easy one! Gabriel Ananda – Let It In And Let It Out (Original Mix)
The Florist’s remix of Abity ‘Vinylmood’ is out now on Stellar Fountain, you can purchase the release: here
