VIRTUS //
WESKA
IF YOU'VE BEEN AT A TECHNO EVENT ANYWHERE ACROSS THE PLANET IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, CHANCES ARE YOU'VE HAD THE MASSIVE SOUNDS OF WESKA RUMBLING THROUGH YOU. WITH PAST RELEASES ON DRUMCODE & FILTH ON ACID, WESKA IS NO STRANGER TO THE WAYS OF THIS INDUSTRY BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WANT MORE CONTROL OVER YOUR MUSIC, LESS WAITING TIME AND A PLATFORM TO CALL YOUR OWN? WESKA HAS THE ANSWERS...
Hey Cody, thanks for taking the time to speak with us at Virtus, where in the world are you right now?
No problem guys, thanks for having me. Right now, I’m in Berlin, Germany.
How has life been in lockdown at Weska HQ? Is it an obvious statement to say you are missing doing what you’re best at in the club?
Of course, definitely miss playing and feeling the energy from the people. It’s also weird to make tracks and release them without actually hearing them out of a big sound system. That’s been a weird one for me. Right now, we all need to be safe and keep our distance, so we can enjoy going to clubs again, hopefully sooner than later.
Back in 2019 you decided to self- release your new music without a label, what was the reason behind that and do you think it is a good way forward considering all of the different global streaming services that help to spread music rapidly?
Self-releasing was just a way for me to release my music with a lot more control - I can pick what I want to release and when. Having this musical freedom has been a game changer for me and I’m definitely going to continue to release this way in the future, especially considering how touring at the moment is non-existent.
Does it feel rewarding knowing you can release music instantly without having to wait potentially months & months for a label to listen, test & prepare a release of yours on their platform?
Exactly, but it’s also a bit weird right now releasing music that you haven’t “tested” on a crowd or in a club. Sometimes a track will sound great but when you play it out and loud and in the club environment things jump out at you. Maybe the synths need to be a bit more forward to give it the effect you are going for, or on a big club system the clap is just a bit too loud, it’s the little things. I think tracks always become more ‘alive’ when played in a club, of course, but usually you can tell if it’s going to work or not when you make it. Ha Ha
Can you tell us about how you became interested in electronic music, specifically techno?
I’ve been into electronic music since my early teens, listening to Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers, and then discovering Deadmau5, and Eric Prydz, later Boys Noize, Erol Alkan, Justice, etc. It just kept going deeper down the ladder until I was like wow… what’s this. I’ve always thought of techno as “club music” in simple terms, the groove, the repetitiveness etc. I heard it for the first time when I was really young, and I just called it club music, only to discover the actual genre of techno many years later.
Was producing your own music a natural progression from collection others’ and mixing?
For sure. I had been DJing for a few years and I had the urge to create and make my own sound, based off of what I was buying and listening to. It was really natural for me to learn to produce.
Your latest ‘Fifth Wave’ outing is 3 blistering tracks that each have their own space to do damage at different times & occasions, do you always intend to create a release that has variety before you sit down and start writing?
Thanks! Happy you guys are feeling it. I usually just make whatever I’m feeling at the moment. I think your tracks naturally fit and work together somehow, as they’re all your ideas from your creative world. This being said though, I’m always trying to do new things. I have a very basic template when I start a track, with no sounds pre-loaded or saved in the project, so whenever I make something I have a complete empty canvas. This EP was made over the course of 2 years actually. ‘Fatal Fields’ is from 2 summers ago which I re-did for this release, ‘Love Arcade’ is from 2019 and ‘Spiritus’ is the one I did this year, and the most recent from the start of 2020.
As a DJ, what other artists are you really feeling at the moment?
Hmmm, that’s tough. Cristoph is always making that nice tech prog style Deas is one of my fav techno guys for sure right now, him and Wehbba. I’ve been really loving Dosem’s stuff too.
Sitting for hours and hours writing music can take its toll, what does Weska enjoy away from the life of music?
I really love being active, outside biking and skateboarding whenever possible. I also like training, keeps me focused and committed. Some video games here and there for the rainy days. I try to do music as much as possible though.
If you could give one piece of advice to anyone starting out a career as a DJ/Producer, what would it be?
Don’t give up and go for it, it’s not easy but it’s so fun. Educate yourself a much as possible on the fundamental stuff but break all of the rules with the creative stuff. And don’t listen to everyone, just make what you feel and what you love.
Weska’s latest releasee ‘Fifth Wave’ is available to buy now
https://www.beatport.com/release/fifth-wave/2995111
FULL EP: https://soundcloud.com/iamweska/sets/weska-fifth-wave-1
https://soundcloud.com/iamweska