Feature: Dynacom [Interview]

Hailing from Buenos Aires, Dynacom has grown into one of his country’s top progressive house prospects. When not releasing on his own Auditen Music imprint he showcases his creations on like minded labels such as Balkan Connection, Droid9, ICONYC and Soundteller Records. With support already in from progressive music tastemaker Hernan Cattaneo, Dynacom now unveils his debut album 'The Land Where the Thoughts Are Distant'. We had a chance to catch up with the Argentinean artist just prior to the release. Enjoy!

Hi Exequiel, thanks for sitting with us today. Tell us where in the world you are and what your plans for the week are.

Hi guys, thank you for your interest. I am in the City of Buenos Aires, where I live, and the plans for the week are very limited, since here we are still in quarantine, so more plans are reduced to being at home, making music and watching some series and movies.

Tell us more about your story. How did you discover electronic music and what led you down the path of wanting to be a producer and Dj?

My first contact with electronic music was a set by Paul Oakenfold from 1999, when I was 13 years old from then on, I did not listen to more than electronic music, I was always closer to the trance sound of that time, Sasha, John Digweed, who made “Progressive trance” Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Armin van buuren, and many more, but I was always a little restless and interested in hearing new things, so one day I stumbled upon a Master Series by Hernan Cattaneo and started listening to many artists of the genre. Nick Muir, Guy J, Guy Matzur for naming you some others and as for what led me to want to be a dj / producer, when I was not old enough to go to the clubs to listen to music, I remember that in my house I recorded many cassettes from the radio and tried to sync them, I think it was born there a little then, the work of the dj always caught my attention, what happened behind the booth, whenever I went to a club I paid a lot of attention and was attracted by the techniques, the equipment, and how each dj managed to make the crowd dance , so I started to want to do my own sessions at home and shared them with friends, but it took some time until I was encouraged to share that in public. it was some time before I was encouraged to share that in public. After a time of making my dj sets, I began to feel the need to make my songs, I had that feeling of curiosity and passion, to know how to do it and that's how I started to learn little by little and try to capture everything I wanted, what I feel and think with my songs and my style, and here we are.

Tell us about your record/music collection, where do some of your early influences live? Or can you name five tracks that were influential in your musical development?

To tell you about my influences, I always listened a lot of music, I like to research and discover new things, I listened to many bands, but always with a common denominator, I always marvelled at the use of synthesizers or samplers, electronic sounds, I think that is the genesis of my musical taste, bands like Depeche Mode, Soda Stereo or Gustavo Cerati, are my first influences, outside of electronic music. Already in electronic music I would have to name Paul Oakenfold as a great influence to this day, I think that sounds that he used at that time, continue to have a great influence on me.

And to name you 5 tracks that have influenced me a lot, I will be very unfair to many, but I will tell you the first 5 that have set fire, especially in my first steps.

01 Paul Oakenfold - Tranceport (Album)
02 L.S.G - Netherworld
03 Bedrock - Heaven Scent
04 Universal Nation - Push
05 Sasha - Xpander

How did growing up and living in Argentina affect the music you make?

I think that living here affects 100% the music I make, especially in the present, As for growing up here, it has led me to discover and listen to new styles of music and dj's almost every week and I got a lot of it, Argentina has a unique electronic scene in South America and I would tell you worldwide, not only for its great clubs and festivals but for all the little ones
Underground clubs that exist here, today almost all over the country you have some electronic music club to go to and that is very good for our scene. Particularly in the music I do, having the number 1 reference of the genre, Hernan Cattaneo who is Argentine, that already marks a little how it affects what one does, and especially in the Progressive scene that we have here, there I would undoubtedly tell you that it is the largest in the world, I do not think there is another place where so many djs come from this sound and are heard as much as here, perhaps if they had grown up and lived in another place would be doing another genre currently.

How have you been dealing with COVID-19? Have your daily routines changed and are things normalizing where you are?

I have tried to take it calmly and cautiously, take all the necessary precautions, I think that to a greater or lesser extent this has affected us above all, as you ask me, in daily routines, the world has changed, we will see how much and how I think this is not over at all.

Here in Buenos Aires, we have been going from strict lockdown for almost 115 days and recently these days some new activities are starting to be allowed, we are also going through the worst moment since everything started, so we have to be careful and take good care of ourselves.

What is something you do now (regularly) that you did not before Covid-19?

Disinfect everything that enters in my house, enter and take off the shoes that I bring from the street, be aware of social distancing, I always carry with me a small bottle with disinfectant alcohol, to tell you some, those little things that you did not care about before and today they have become essential for everyone.

Once nightlife eventually resumes what kind of effect do you think this period in our history will have on the clubbing experience?

Well, clubs, festivals, events have been the first thing to close its doors, and it will surely be the last thing to resume, I think for all those who We enjoy going to a club, whether it's listening to music or playing music, this will be a very sad period, I don't remember another time where the music was off almost everywhere in the world. As for when everything resumes, until there is a cure for this virus it will be very different, clubs with fewer people, social distancing, the use of the chinstrap and many sanitary measures that we did not give much importance to before. I tell you a wish, I hope that all the clubs that have been affected especially here in South America, can reopen their doors since without clubs we have no culture, it would be very sad that some have to close their doors.

Your first album ‘The Land Where The Thoughts Are Distant’ was recently released on your Auditen Music imprint. Tell us how it began to take shape? Was there an initial goal of writing an album from the beginning or did this happen organically in a way?

The idea of the album has been with me forever, I grew up listening to records, compiled in set format, since I started to make my music , I was always clear that at some point I was going to do it. I don't think there is a single trigger, I always thought the album as a story, the album would not have sense in listening separately, I didn't think of it as single tracks, but each one is a piece of the same story. But I think it all started to take shape when I made the track that gives the album name : "The Land Where The Thoughts Are Distant" at the time when I was doing it, I thought, this would be great for my album.

There is a broad range of material on the album from downtempo and deeper house all the way through to progressive house. There is a unique blend of nostalgic, emotional and energetic themes throughout the LP. Tell us what studio tools featured heavily on the release.

For this album I didn't use any kind of hardware, just a Novation midi to make the midis and notes for the piano, bass and harmonies. I use the omnisphere which is a vst a lot with an incredible depth of textures, pads and melodic sounds, I also used the diva for the bass line, the dune 3 and the hive, I think that these virtual instruments have been a common denominator throughout the process, among others.

How did you end up with the final track selection and how did you go about cutting stuff out? There must be a point where it becomes quite difficult letting go of certain pieces?

As I told you above, I thought the album in a way that all the tracks fit together and tell a story, from that point of view, It was much easier for me to know which tracks i wanted to choose and which ones represented that story that I wanted to tell. Of course I have some tracks left out and the choice is sometimes difficult, a single track is a part of me and sometimes it’s difficult to have that objectivity to say yes and no, but I was very clear about what I wanted to capture on the album.

How difficult was it deciding on the flow from a listener’s perspective?

I think that is the most difficult part, because as you know, the music is subjective, what you may like, maybe not another, so doing the exercise of putting yourself in the listener's perspective is very difficult, I put myself in that place, in what I would like to hear on an album, and try to be as faithful to my influences, to my tastes, but as I always told you from my perspective.

I would guess the writing of the album was a long process. Now that it’s done and out, what are your thoughts reflecting back on the process?

This has been a long process, since I started with the idea and writing it until it was published, 3 years have passed. I was surprised in the process, I would tell you that it is something that has given a lot of satisfaction, where I felt very comfortable, think of something more global than an EP where you make 2 or 3 tracks or a remix, imagine the album cover, the number of tracks, how is that story that you want to tell, how to fit all the pieces, let things flow, honestly it is something that I am very passionate about and I think it is something that I will be immersed in again very soon.

How would you feel about these tracks being remixed? And will they be?

I had not thought about that, but always listening to another approach to a track that you have made I like, and it contributes a lot. This time these tracks will not be remixed, simply because I think this story should be told like this.

What made your own label the right home for this album?

Well it was a decision that came naturally, when I had all the tracks ready for the album and i was sure i had finished it, I had some options to send it to, but deep inside I felt that it had to be Auditen, it is my home and what better place to publish my first album, I feel great happiness and pride that it is so.

Describe how satisfying it is to see a dance floor unite to something you’ve written.

I think it is one of the most beautiful sensations that a producer can feel, you spend hours days, months, making a song, and imagining the moment where you share it on a track, materialize that moment and see that people feel so connected and in tune with that creation, I don't think there is a greater satisfaction than that.

The industry and how fans discover new music has changed dramatically in the last 10 years or so. How do you discover new music nowadays?

It’s true it has changed a lot, today I use a lot of Youtube and Soundcloud to discover new music, maybe I listening a set by some DJ and I discover some artist, I start to follow their catalog and discover a lot of new music and artist’s. Sometimes a friend recommends me to listen to something too.

Is there a movie you would have loved to have produced the soundtrack for? And if so why?

Absolutely, without any doubt I would tell you some some Batman movies under the Christopher Nolan's ambience. Since i was a boy, I was always caught by comics, that dark and nostalgic tint that leads a millionaire man to be a vigilante in search of revenge, and I think he could make a good soundtrack with my sound. Maybe also a movie that has to do with space, but I used that theme in the album.

Current five favorite tracks?

01 Cornucopia - Orion [Microcastle]

02 Ben Böhmer - Breathing (Dominik Eulberg Remix) [Anjunadeep]

03 Roy Rosenfeld - What Happened To Me [Rumors]

04 Niceshot - Mystery Dancer [Auditen Music]

05 Fernando Olaya - Caravan [Auditen Music]

What can we expect from you for the rest of the year? Any releases or special dates you can tell us about?

As for future releases, just a couple of remixes that will come out more at the end of the year,I'll also try to accommodate the calendar to be able to dedicate, along with the label, all our time to the album, which is also my first studio album and is something very special for me. I had planned this year with some special dates to present the album that have been truncated with the pandemic, so like most of us I’m waiting for everything to return to normal to do what we like again.

Thank you very much for having me here, kinds regards.

'The Land Where the Thoughts Are Distant' is out now via Auditen Music: https://bit.ly/3gjDf6g