FACES Podcast 02 w/ dani soto

We are glad to introduce you to our second Face in our podcast series, Valencia based dj and producer Dani Soto.

He was one of our discoveries during the lockdown as we met him in a music production masterclass he was giving through Millenia Estudios.

Being only 24 years old, he has been involved into electronic music since he was a teenager and that gives him the confidence to set in motion several music proposals.

Get to know a little more about him in this interview and go find his 2 hours techno trip on our Soundcloud page.

As we always like to start from the beginning… what’s your first memory with electronic music?

First memories that come to my mind right now go back to 2004-2005. When I was living in Santander I used to spend the days with my grandma and then my dad would pick me up to go home. He used to play this radio station in his car, it was called Radio Mix, and they would broadcast dj mixes at midnight. I loved the feeling this music was giving me on the road. Back then it was trance, eurodance and vocal stuff from that time.

And how did you get into DJing?

I’ve always been a restlessness boy and very curious about stuff. So I think I was 14 when I downloaded a cracked version of Virtual DJ and started playing on my own with the mouse. My friends were playing to World of Warcraft and I was playing that, all good. Later I got a small dj controller and after some practice I switched to a 4-channel one. In the beginning it was just to play at friends parties, but then virus got me and I wanted to play everywhere!

Do you remember your first gig in front of a crowd of strangers?

I do! I used to play handball, and every year we would do a little gathering by the end of the season with all the club members and family. So I brought all my stuff to play there but it was a complete disaster, we couldn’t get the right soundsystem and I ended up playing like 10 minutes or so haha but that wasn’t a proper party. The first serious gig I had was in 2015, after some time playing in small pubs between Santander and Valladolid, a group friends organised a party in a super big club in Santander and invited me to do the warm up. It was my first time playing with the CDJ2000, I wasn’t used to play with this kind of (big) soundsystem and I didn’t do my best, but all my friends were there and we had a good time.

And did you have more opportunities to play at any place around before coming to Valencia?

Yes, not so long after, I had the chance to play at Sala Sonora (Bilbao). They were scheduling young local djs on Friday’s night. I recorded a dj set for them, they liked it and invited me to play. By then Sonora just had won an award as the best club in Spain. So it was a great experience and I got to do around ten different dates there.

Let’s move to the music production side… how and when did you start getting interested into this world?

When I graduated as a sound technician in Valladolid, I studied a music production course there too. But it was a basic one, just to have a first glimpse on how a DAW software works. As I told you, I’ve always been curious so I didn’t want to leave it there. I was in contact with Pablo (by then Averno, now Finalversion3) and he suggested me to come and study the music production degree at Millenia Estudios in Valencia. I managed to convince a friend to join me and we moved together to Valencia in 2017.

Would you recommend studying somewhere like Millenia rather than trying to learn on your own?

Definitely. Of course you can study on your own, but it’s gonna take you way longer to get to the right place. There’s a lot of free info on the net, which is really helpful, but you can also get infoxicated and lose your focus. So be aware of that if you choose the self-taught way.

The good thing about Millenia is that they bring a wide range of music professionals to do masterclasses and you can learn different ways of doing stuff and little by little incorporate some of those skills to your workflow.

How has been your experience in Valencia so far?

Crazy! I remember the first time we got here. We went to the Millenia introductory day, and then Pablo (Finalversion3) invited us to Club Gordo the day after, and from there we ended up in a random after-hours in a studio in the city center… Quite a good welcome. Valencia has notoriously affected my music. I was living three minutes away from Gordo and I was there quite often. I couldn’t find that kind of music when I was in Santander or Valladolid so these first years have been so exciting.

That was also the first place where I had the opportunity to play here in Valencia. Later, I met other guys with the same interests and we got together as a collective - Sons - to organise parties. Then, a virus came and ruined it all haha but we’re still active making music.

Who were your bigger influences when you started producing and who are them now?

Tale of Us and Stephan Bodzin, specially when he released his album Powers of Ten, they really got me into their vibe during my first steps producing. I was having fun playing tech-house but then I discovered those crazy melodies and climax moments this music would make me feel and I started experimenting myself with deep house and afro rythms. From there, I’ve transitioned to a more obscure, deep, atmospheric kind of techno. To name a few artists: Oscar Mulero, Viels, Oxygeno, Norbak, Temudo, Lewis Fautzi, Reeko…

But I’ve always liked many different styles so that’s why I try to express them all through different pseudonyms.

Can we ask a little bit more about those other projects?

In addition to Dani Soto I’m also working on two other projects, but I can only let you know about one which is already in motion, the second one is still on progress and I’d prefer to keep it secret.

Mecánica Celeste is the one you can already check online. Together with my friend Fes Bondat, we’re making music with a big influence from the 2000’s trance and euro dance in the melodic side but mixed with techno rhythms.

Cool! All the best with those projects too. Now going back to Dani Soto’s sound… If you had to make a track with just 5 instruments, which would them be?

-Kick

-Bass

-Hi-Hats, and more specifically those set to 1/16 notes, so you can play with the kick and the bass and they would keep the track rolling.

-Pad, but like a main instrument, giving the right atmosphere and coherence to the track.

-Acid sounds. I love acid and I’m also a big fan of guys like Boston 168 so there’s always some acid on my tracks.

Nice… I think people can already have a taste of who you are musically. If not, go play the mix on our SoundCloud! hehe Thank you Dani. It was a pleasure having you on this podcast.

The pleasure was mine, hope to see you soon in Valencia. Love for the Crew!

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