SINAN [Interview]

Sinan Abdel Moati, known professionally as SINAN, is a multi-talented musician and producer whose musical journey began at nine when he first strummed a guitar. Born and raised in Haifa, he spent his youth receiving classical music training at the Rubin Conservatory of Music, which laid the foundation for his exceptional guitar skills. As he grew older, Sinan's exposure to electronic music and technology ignited a passion for producing and composing, leading him to develop a unique style that blends his classical background with modern electronic elements.

SINAN's unique sound has garnered attention from local and international radios, DJs, and labels. His music has found a home on respected labels such as Magic Island Records, Cafe De Anatolia, and YOMO Records, among others.

As a performing artist, SINAN is known for constantly pushing conceptual frontiers and embracing new ideas and experiences. His live sets, such as those performed for Beatport Live, have further solidified his reputation as an exciting and innovative presence in the electronic music scene.

September marked SINAN's MIR MUSIC debut with a well received two track showcase 'Shwy Shwy'. Progressive Astronaut caught up with SINAN to learn more about his MIR MUSIC EP, his background, electronic music in the Berlin, DJing, and much more. Enjoy.

Hi SINAN, I hope all is well and thanks for speaking with us today, how has your year been so far?

Thank you for having me, it has been a very hard year due to the ongoing war. We are currently living in very uncertain times, there is no security, safety or peace of mind to do anything but Thankfully I'm still able to have the will and the belief that things will turn out to be alright and I will carry on regardless of the circumstances.

In terms of electronic music, was progressive house and melodic techno the styles you discovered first? And what was it about those styles that made you want to pursue it at the level you are now?

I remember discovering Trance, Techno and House music at a young age and grew up seeing how these musical styles developed into a mixture of styles. I think it's the pursuit of the euphoric feelings, positive energy, and the electronic sound.

For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you?

yes it is true that there is a phase of learning that never stops actually. I would say I'd like to learn and understand the philosophy and work ethics of others rather than emulating because originality is about creating your own idea and not emulating it, but for sure being inspired by others is something else and it's a great thing. I always try to learn from anything I could see, hear or read as long as I know how to have this knowledge to benefit me in the music I'm trying to make.

How did growing up in Israel affect your music taste and direction into becoming a DJ and producer?

I don't think growing up as a palestinian arab citizen of Israel has made an impact on my decision to become a producer or a DJ I came into production and DJing purely out of passion of making and playing music but of course I come from arabic and palestinian roots, influences and culture.

You’ve also lived in Berlin i believe, whereabouts are you now and how does the nightlife differ between the two countries?

Berlin has been a home for me for more than a few years now, I visit it a lot, especially before the pandemic. At that time the palestinian music scene in Haifa was thriving and the relationship with Berlin got stronger as opportunities started to happen which was a beautiful thing. Unfortunately the nightlife in Berlin and Haifa differ quite significantly. In Berlin you have much more options as an Artist to advance, there are more clubs, venues, labels, agencies and collectives which leads to much more opportunities. In Haifa it is still slowly progressing or even stuck and opportunities are getting fewer with time, especially in the current situation.

You’ve been a producer for close to two decades now, when you look back on those earlier years can you pinpoint pivotal moments to the success you’ve achieved today? Maybe a gig or two, or a release which really helped your propel career?

I can mention pivotal moments to my career such having successful releases such as my debut EP on YOMO Records 'The Tribe' which reached beatport top 100 and was supported by big artists such as 'Miss Monique' then later on the release of 'Moments' which was first signed on Cafe de Anatolia which also was curated and mixed by Roger Shah for 2019 Magic Island Compilation.

You have a new EP ‘Shwy Shwy’ out now via MIR MUSIC, please tell us about the release and what sort of vibe you were going for on the tracks?

"Shwy Shwy" means slowly slowly in Arabic, which is a common saying when things work out when they are taken slowly and somehow I was inspired to make a track that highlights this phrase and I was going for a fast beat, a bit dark but yet melodic and expressive.

Algorhythms is inspired by Dub Techno as I really like the sound of delays on chords, and plucked sounds as I was aiming more for the atmosphere. There isn't a clear melodic hook or phrase to the track; it's mostly sounds going in and out of each other. In general I wanted this EP to sound Big, energetic specially for the dancefloor.

Let our readers inside your studio for a moment, what is your current setup and what studio tools are featured heavily in your recent productions and more specifically on your ‘Shwy Shwy’ EP?

My setup is completely hybrid. I love both the worlds of analog and digital and I think the marriage between the two is unbeatable as many would agree. this EP was produced in combination with synthesizers such as prophet rev2 , moog minitaur, behringer model d, arturia minibrute 2s, drumbrute, roland tr8s, plugins such as arturia pigments, OB-E. of course there were recordings for this EP specially the main vocal of Shwy Shwy, the Darbuka fills as well as some guitar parts that were recorded for algorhythms and were manipulated afterwards. I care to have a good signal path for recording, starting from the mic's I choose and for this project I use AKG CL414 MK2 for the vocals and SM57 for the Darbuka, connected to wa73 mic pre /eq then to WA76 to have the dynamics into the RME converters. I'll also mention a bus compressor I'm using along the mixing process and that is the TK Audio BS1-S.

This is also your first release of 2024 with the year almost coming to a close, you were pretty prolific pre-pandemic so why the long absence between releases since 2020?

Actually I had many releases also post pandemic, least to mention my debut album 'Dark Adaptation' in 2021, and my Recent EP 'Meet Su'al' in collaboration with Bruno Cruz & Walaa Sbait in 2023. regardless of the fact that it has been challenging to make music after the pandemic due to the instabilities in our country.

Your first experience creating music was with guitar at a young age via the Rubin Conservatory of Music. How did that early foundation help you on your path to being an electronic music producer?

I learned how to play classical guitar and music theory at Rubin Conservatory, where I laid my foundations as a musican and being a musician always helps when becoming a producer of any genre, not just electronic.

This is your first appearance on MIR MUSIC, please tell us why the label is such a good home for your music?

It all started with a demo submission to a pool of labels on Proton as I was not sure which label would be the most fit to the music, especially when one of the tracks has arabic lyrics. As MIR showed interest in releasing it I figured out the history of the label and releases with Artists I like, for example "Ziger" & "D-formation", I felt the sound of this EP fits their style and concept but there was no involvement of the label in the creative process while I was working on the EP.

What is it about DJing, compared to producing your own music, that makes it interesting for you?

Producing music is an intimate process where artists usually spend their time alone in order for them to be able to create but DJing is the opposite of that, it's much more social and in DJing we have the ability to show our musical taste, its like you zoom out of your own music and try to see how it fits in the bigger picture with many other tracks in a set. that by itself could be a journey both for the DJ and the listener specially when playing good sets.

How much prep do you put into the sets you play, or are they spontaneous for the most part?

I do prep at most, I usually make a playlist for each set I play and I would just gather many tracks that I think could work together for a certain vibe but of course that could be changed within the set since I trust my library and how accessible I made it so I could pick anything easily. If I'm playing live then I would organize the samples I'd like to play for a specific gig, maybe having some sequences prepared beforehand or maybe not at all and I would play as I feel at the moment during a set.

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

When I have free time I like to do things like, reading books about things that interest me, maybe playing video games or just being with friends or hiking... I used to do that a lot when I had my Dog. In general I don't like to feel bored, I would do anything to occupy my mind with as as long as it is interesting and fun.

What’s something people do not know about you?

There would be a lot of things I guess, but I would say maybe people don't know that besides being an artist I'm also a System engineer and programmer, I've been in the tech industry for nearly 10 years now, and I currently work for Nvidia.

What TV series have you been enjoying recently and what are some of your all time favourites?

Sadly I haven't been watching anything lately for some time, but for sure some of my all time favorites would be 'Breaking Bad', 'Better Call Saul', 'Prison Break'.

What can we look forward to from you in 2025? Any releases or gigs you are looking forward to?

I'm working on a new EP that I will announce later on in 2025. I have a remix going on as well and last but not least would be a Single that I'm working on in collaboration with a special artist from the US , will share about it as well soon.

I really do hope war will be over at some point and we would be able to gather people again and play in our local venues but in general I'm aiming to play more in clubs abroad especially when label parties occur in Berlin.

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

I would say that playing music in front of people and a large crowd in particular gives a lot of understanding of what works for the most , which style and sounds most people seek. You can see easily the common ground which later on affects the way we produce if we want to make a popular track.

Looking back more on your gigs, what have been some of the most memorable ones for you and why?

In 2019 I was booked at two different parties on the same night, one was an opening set at Kabareet club in Haifa and the other was for a "PMX after party" in Ramallah, hosted by Sama' Abdulhadi and her collective Union. I remember how both sets were received in a great way and I remember the drive and energy to drive almost 2 hours straight in the night between Haifa and Ramallah, crossing Checkpoint just to play for my people on the other side and I remember them really having it, and enjoying my set and energy I came to give. It was really special.

What is a track that reminds you of your early days DJing and what event/club do you associate with it?

You Got the Love (Mark Knight remix), I just started DJing at that time when this track was released, I was part of a collective in Haifa called 'Cycle Faam'.

'Shwy Shwy' is available now via MIR MUSIC: https://tinyurl.com/yc4nc7wb