Feature: Dimuth K [Interview]

Hailing from Sri Lanka, Dimuth K has been at the heart of his country’s progressive music scene since first appearing in 2018. As one of the genre’s most highly touted talents, Dimuth’s combination of rhythm and musicality has led him to releases on Hernan Cattaneo’s Sudbeat Music and Nick Warren’s Hope Recordings. Now on the cusp of a new EP for Belgium's event brand EDGE, we catch up with Dimuth in this exclusive interview. Enjoy!

Hi Dimuth, thanks for joining us today, tell us what your plans for the week are?

Hey guys, thank you so much for having me! Currently enjoying the outdoors in Toronto. Making the most of the lovely summer here :)

Tell us about growing up and living in Sri Lanka, how has it affected your musical taste and the music you make?

I grew up in the heart of Colombo, which is Sri Lanka’s commercial capital and largest city. I would say my first and greatest influence when it came to music was my dad as he used to listen to a lot of 70’s and 80’s music. I believe this really shaped the inception of my musical journey. As I grew older, I met a lot of incredible artists from around my island home. I lived most of my life in Sri Lanka so everything I am today musically is because of the influence the country’s music scene had on me :)

The love for progressive house is incredibly strong in Sri Lanka, is there anything you would attribute that to?

Yes, the love for the genre is extremely legit. I remember from the time I began attending underground events in Sri Lanka, a lot of the local DJ’s played tracks with a progressive feel. I think it’s a genre that emanates a lot of emotion, love and happiness, hence it works really well on a dancefloor, bringing everyone together at any time of the day.

You’ve recently relocated to Toronto, Canada. Tell us why and how you’re enjoying living in a new country.

It's been about 10 months now since I made the move to Toronto. Both my wife and I had lived in Sri Lanka most of our lives and an opportunity opened up for us to make the move to Canada and we thought why not?! The transition has been so smooth and we really like it here so far. It's been a huge change in every possible sense but we are thoroughly enjoying the process :)

How has the move effected your inspiration in the studio?

It’s been very positive thus far. Life in general is very different for me here in many ways so that’s being channeled into my music. I’ve gradually been rebuilding my studio here too, quite excited to see how things will unfold along the way!

Can you name five tracks that were influential in your musical development?

That’s a tough one! If I had to pick the top 5 though, I believe the following tracks had a considerable impact on influencing my development at the start of my musical journey;

Michael Jackson – Black or White
Coldplay – Fix You
Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard - Now We Are Free
Armin van Buuren ft Gabriel & Dresden – Zocalo
Deadmau5 - Strobe

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?

I’ve predominantly been using Spotify. It’s the easiest and most organised platform to listen to music and discover new stuff too. It’s still not rolled out in certain countries though; I wasn’t able to use it while I was in Sri Lanka since it’s still not available there. If not for Spotify, Promo’s from labels have always given me access to some great music.

How have you been dealing with COVID-19? The impact it’s having on travelling DJs is hugely significant. What is something you do now (regularly) that you did not before COVID-19?

Well I work a 9-5 job in addition to making music. So lockdown during COVID meant I had the chance to get back in the studio and focus more on my music since at the peak of the pandemic everyone was asked to stay at home. I understand it’s a tough time for everyone, but I guess it is what it is and we have to all find our individual coping mechanisms. I believe it is the universe telling us to take a break from the usual rat race and I also think it was a good time to put things in perspective – give priority to spending more time with family and building self-awareness.

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

I think it will be a very different experience for the foreseeable future, at least until the pandemic has been brought completely under control. After that though, I think the parties will be rocking, and people will cherish and be grateful for their time way more than before :)

You have a new EP out on EDGE this week. Tell us a bit about the release and how you approached writing the ‘Aphelion’ track and the production process behind it.

Really excited about this EP as I wrote the three tracks in different times of my life. You will see it encompasses three different moods. Aphelion, the more dancefloor focused track was made in my studio back in Sri Lanka. My production process is never the same. Sometimes I start a track with a melody or just experiment until I find a lovely groove and that’s exactly how Aphelion started, with the groove. Once I get a good groove going, I would just improvise and experiment with some synths or look for more ideas that I could possibly contribute to make it sound more lively, energetic & uplifting since that was the direction I wanted to go with for this track :)

What made EDGE the right home for this project?

Edge is home to some really cool music. I am stoked to be a part of their catalogue. Eran has always supported my art and this release has been in the works for a long time now. We approached it in a very different way and it was really nice to experience that.

How much road testing or friend feedback is done before you’re ready to say a track is finished?

After I finish a track, I’ll always test it out on many different speakers – whatever I could get my hands on basically hehe. So I would go back and forth making tweaks until I am satisfied with the sound before I can say it's “ready”. It’s been a gradual process of trying to figure out when it’s actually done. So I would say it’s always been very different from track to track :)

What’s a piece of gear or software that always gets used when you’re writing a track?

Abelton Live! I use it for anything and everything sound related so that’s my go-to DAW. Gear wise I owned a Korg Minilogue, which I used a lot in my productions. Love to just jam over a beat with that one, this is when you really have fun tweaking knobs and playing around!

Looking back over your discography, what release or track holds the best memories for you and is there a correlation between that track and how successful you are today?

I think all my previous releases have had an impact on where I am today with my music. As for memories, my collab track “Kilimanjaro” with my dearest friend Berni Turletti always gives me goosebumps. Was amazing to see some crazy good vibes from dancefloors all over the world for that one!

I think for a lot of artists music allows you to write a sketch of your own personal universe in a way; your travels, life experiences etc. Is this something which is true for yourself? Where does inspiration come from?

Yes, it is most definitely like this for me as well. My surroundings and experiences have a massive impact on the music I make. I love telling stories through sound. I think it’s the best way to express yourself by channelling all your emotions and to mostly importantly be your true, authentic self :)

Apart from music, what makes you happiest?

Being outdoors exploring new places :)

What does the remainder of 2020 hold for you? Anything you can share with us?

I'm always working on new music so that’s definitely what I would be up to for the rest of the year! I have one more big release lined up following my release on EDGE, but more information about that later :)

'By the Anchor' is out now via EDGE: : https://bit.ly/3iHwCv2