Airsand & TuraniQa [Interview]

Well known Top 10 Melodic House & Techno & Indie Dance producers & International Dj DUO. More than 20-year career in the music industry. Owners of famous & popular Exx Muzik & Exx Underground Labels.

Their releases have been supported by: Tiesto, Black Coffee, Cris Lake, Rebuke, John Summit, Yotto, Vintage Culture, Paul Van Dyke, Fisher, Dom Dolla, Fideles, Gorgon City, Medusa, Argy, Spada, Nora En Pure, Gabriel & Dresden, Fat, R3HAB, Sevenn, Oliver Koletzki and many others.

Progressive Astronaut caught up with Airsand & TuraniQa to learn more about their recent releases, their background, studio process, DJing, and more. Enjoy.

Hi Guys, thanks for talking to us today. How are you and what was the last piece of music you listened to?

Hi, We are glad to be at your interview. We now live in Thailand on the island of Phuket – we attend performances by artists, for example, a set from Dj Fisher, who often plays our track Airsand, Davrin – "Ta Ta", Nina Kraviz, Moojo, Marco Carola, James Hype (recently met him in Malaysia) and many others. We are the owners of the labels Exx Muzik & Exx Underground and the rest of the time we spend a lot of time listening to new demos that are sent to us on the label and writing our own music.

Tell us which countries you have toured in your career

We each had our own long-term experience, and for the last 3 years we have been traveling together, if you tell the career story of each of us, this is a long list of countries: Ibiza 2022/2018/2017, Amsterdam, France, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Netherlands, Serbia, Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Beirut, Turkey, Dubai, Croatia etc.

How has your fall season been so far and how was your ADE experience this year?

It was a great season full of performances and discoveries, the trip to ADE was very productive, full of meetings and events. And the main event is the organization of the showcase of our label Exx Muzik in a famous place in Amsterdam - Escape Club with our residents from around the world, we hope to repeat next year)

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your production work and otherwise, please.

Since we travel a lot, our days are different) for example, now we are in Asia and most of the time we work on the beach) in the morning we go to the beach for exercise, swim in the sea, then have breakfast.

Our work on the label is always continuous 24/7, but on Saturday and Sunday we try to rest more and move important things to weekdays, if we perform on weekends, then there is no rest) We set aside 3 days a week for production, as practice shows – no more is needed. Here in Thailand, we have a lot of friends and performances, and working in a sunny climate affects productivity at work.

How did you guys meet and eventually start collaborating?

We've been doing music for a very long time, since childhood, and we've known each other for a long time too. It so happened that we met at a joint performance and realized that we have common goals, common tastes in music and style, high working capacity and we complement each other well, and of course the most important thing is love)

A successful partnership is generally based around balance and compromise; how do you manage these things within your production dynamic?

Oh this is a very interesting question) we know many duets who ended up working together without following these rules) at the beginning of our cooperation there were many stories that we follow now with a smile) in 3 years we have learned to listen to each other and distribute tasks, our age and life experience greatly help in this) and we have no disagreements in many ways, because tastes in music and style coincide.

Do you have different roles in the production process? And if so elaborate please.

Of course yes, Andrey works mostly entirely on production, and Julia listens to the final idea and shares her opinion. This is important, because hearing a track for the first time gives you the opportunity to evaluate it differently from the outside. And in the end, the final version of the track is born, which both like) Julia takes part in some tracks as a vocalist. She is fully working on the process from vocal recording to final vocal editing.

Looking back over your past releases, which ones would say were most impactful on your success today and why?

Many of our releases are successful in their own way. We write our releases in different sounds and styles. Our audience is very diverse, and as label owners we also see which releases are more bought by DJs, and which releases are more listened to on streaming platforms. Therefore, it is impossible to answer this question unequivocally – all our music finds its listener and every year we receive more and more support from the top leaders of the music industry.

In terms of the support you’ve gotten across your career, what has stood out the most?

We have a large number of fans of our music and we are very grateful and glad to receive the support of stars such as Tiesto, Black Coffee, Cris Lake, Rebuke, John Summit, Yotto, Vintage Culture, Paul Van Dyke, Fisher, Dom Dolla, Fideles, Gorgon City, Meduza, Argy, Spada, Nora En Pure, Gabriel & Dresden, Gordo, R3HAB, , Betoko, Sevenn, Oliver Koletzki and many others. First of all, this testifies to the quality of our music and helps to bring it to the listener even more.

You have a new single entitled ‘Rave Is The Future’ out now via your Exx Muzik imprint, tell us about the track, who has been playing it and how it showcases your current sound.

Our sound in the Airsand & TuraniQa project is melodic house techno and independence style. Rave Is The Future is a very successful release that lasted 9 months in the top 100 melodic house techno chart Beatport has a huge number of shazams and listeners in spotify

У вас вышел новый сингл под названием "Rave Is The Future" на вашем лейбле Exx Muzik, расскажите нам о треке, кто его исполнял и как он демонстрирует ваше текущее звучание.

Let our readers inside your studio, what is your current setup, and what tools are featured heavily in the writing of ‘Rave Is The Future’?

We are a huge fans of analog gear, but in this particular tune we just used our favorite software synths like Serum and Diva. Nothing fancy)

Let’s talk a bit about your labels Exx Muzik and Exx Underground. What led you to start the labels initially? And how do they differ in terms of sound?

Andrey had a lot of experience releasing releases on various labels such as Armada, Milk & Sugar Records, Sirup, No Definition Records, Tiger Records, Tactical, Records, Pornostar Comps, Deepalma and others. He has made strong tracks that are known all over the world, and launching his label is a new way of development and a new level, it gives you the opportunity to release more music and help other musicians. The label makes it possible to access statistics on a daily online basis, we see our audience and music sites, it helps to set up advertising campaigns correctly and see the impact of creativity in countries and numbers. The Exx Muzik label was created in the era of the popularity of House music. Now it's a label where we release Melodic House & Techno style. Later, when there was a lot of underground music and the demos sent by music producers did not fit the format of the Exx Muzik label, Andrey opened the Exx Underground label for the Indie Dance style. A year ago, we opened the third label Exx Boundless on which we publish melodic progressive house. In the near future we have plans to open a new label for organic house sound.

We’re in an age where content turns over quickly and attention spans are short; so how does this factor into how you run Exx Muzik and Exx Underground?

Indeed, it has become much more difficult now. We try to delegate tasks, we have a large team. And the artists themselves understand that content is very important now and they also make efforts for their own development, and we offer additional tools that can help them in advertising from releases. Now is the time for short shorts and the main task is to win the attention of the audience in a short time.

What advice do you have for artists hoping to get signed to Exx Muzik and Exx Underground?

You need to listen to the music that we publish) and do not deviate from the rules of creating a track structure. All experiments often lead to deviations from the rules, but we know well which track is interesting for the label in sales and streaming. Our experience is very extensive and there are few successful experiments that would be suitable for us to release tracks, sometimes if we hear a lot of potential, we can give advice on refinement, but this happens rarely, we have very little time for it.

Do you have any merchandise for your labels? Tell us about your plans for that?

We have long wanted to create a merch, but not a standard one, but a unique one and so that people can wear it in life, so now we are choosing a partner with whom we can make a good collaboration. We have no experience in clothing, but we have taste and style, we do not want to dive into a new business from scratch) we are interested in partnering with someone who is already successfully working in the market - now our main task is to translate our idea into merch qualitatively)

How would you describe your approach to DJing? And how do you function as a duo while DJing?

When we perform together, we discuss the playlist together, it always includes our tracks, as well as our exclusive material (unreleased tracks, our author's bootlegs, exclusive material from artists of our labels and musical colleagues). At some performances, Julia presents several of our vocal live tracks. It's always easier to work in a duet when one picks up the next track – the second one works with the audience. The audience is the most important people for us, so we can't leave them with our attention for a long time, we are artists – we are used to working as artists, having eye contact and exchanging energy, for us this is the most important thing during a DJ set.

Can you tell me a bit about how your work as a DJ has influenced your view of music, your way of listening to tracks, and also, your work as a producer?

Of course, this is one of the main components, DJ experience of more than 30 years helps to easily identify strong tracks that will work on different dance floors. We don't know any good producers who aren't DJs.

How much prep do you put into the tracks you choose to play?

Sometimes it depends on the mood, sometimes it can take a week, sometimes a couple of days, but every day our days are connected with music and every day we can hear a track that we save for future sets.

Current Top Five tracks in your sets

Airsand, TuraniQa – Rave Is The Future
Airsand, TuraniQa – 7 days
Airsand, TuraniQa – The Answer
Airsand, Davrin – Ta Ta
Andrey Exx, TuraniQa – Alone In The Dark

If you are not DJing, producing or socializing at clubs, where do we find you? And doing what?

At the moment we are relaxing on the beach and answering your questions) Recently returned from Malaysia. In general, we travel a lot and try to relax or explore new places) And the most favorite thing in Thailand is, of course, Thai massage.

What are some of your favourite TV series?

«Game of Thrones» (By the way, Andrey performed in Croatia at the castle where this series was filmed)
Recently we watched the series «Squid Game»
Also films - Shuttle Island, The Prestige
In general, we love comedies, fantasy and historical films

If you were not a DJ/Producer what do you think you’d be doing with your life?

Andrey cannot imagine his life without music, as he has been devoted to it since childhood. Yulia has extensive experience in working in various fields. She devoted 10 years of her life to work in tourism and the hotel business. She is a great specialist and has made a successful career - her activities have been related to sales, advertising and marketing.

What does 2024 hold for you in terms of releases and gigs? Anything you can share with us?

The year 2024 will be even more intense, we are preparing big releases in the styles of Afro house, melodic house and indie dance, and collaborations with musical colleagues are also planned. We always share all information about upcoming performances on our social networks, but we prefer not to share about big plans ahead, a bit of superstition)

'Alone in the Dark' is available now via Exx Muzik: https://exxmuzik.fanlink.to/aloneinthedark