AI Interview with Spinnage

I started music production in March 2022, when I bought the Ableton Push 2 controller. Even though I had Ableton Live before that, I didn’t know how to get started with music production, so it had been sitting unused. But after getting the Push 2, I watched every tutorial I could find on YouTube, and that helped me form an idea of how to approach my workflow, which is when I began making tracks.

From the very beginning, I was determined to make deep house music. I’ve been listening to deep house since the 1990s, and artists like Mr. Fingers have always been my idols. I believe the charm of deep house lies in the elegant harmony and solid rhythm, and that’s what I aim to create with my own tracks.

There are both seamless connections and gaps between the perspective of a listener and that of a creator. Since the 90s, I’ve listened to thousands of house tracks, and I’ve always judged them based on my own tastes, purchasing records and sounds accordingly. In music production, I do the same thing, judging sounds I create with synthesizers based on my personal preferences, so that part feels seamless. However, there’s still a big gap, as I often find it difficult to replicate the sounds I have in mind, or that I find appealing, with the equipment I have. A lot of my time is spent in dialogue with my own tastes, delving deeper into the sound I’m looking for.

So, the characteristic of Spinnage’s sound would probably be that it only features sounds I really like. Sweet-sounding synth pads, sharply cut hi-hats, and synth basses that are glossy and almost sparkling — I think these elements define the Spinnage sound.

Since I started producing music, I’ve been experimenting with my workflow, but now I often begin with chord progressions. Once I find a good progression, I build the rhythm around it and then work on the bassline. After that, it becomes a bit chaotic. I sometimes find myself going back to the chord progression and reworking things.

New equipment is a tool to help me get closer to the sound I envision, but it’s also a way to discover fresh sounds I never imagined. I’ll try the new gear on my tracks and carefully explore what emerges from it. Whether it brings me closer to my ideal or helps me discover something fresh, ultimately, new equipment serves as an opportunity to confront my own aesthetic sense.

Up until 2024, my goal was to release as much music as possible, so I dedicated myself to producing relentlessly. I was making about one track every four to five days, creating over 200 tracks in total, with a select few being picked up by label owners and released. One track that stands out for me is Remedy, which I released on OHMELYA Music. The remix by Demarkus Lewis was outstanding, and many of my DJ friends gave it great feedback. It’s definitely one of my personal favourites as well.

From 2025 onwards, I want to take a more deliberate approach, focusing on quality rather than quantity. Through this intense period of creating music, I’ve identified many areas for improvement—everything from the very first note of a track to the final mix. Moving forward, I want to tackle these challenges one by one and release music that reaches an even higher level of quality.

The music I create is largely built on simple loop structures, where quality is reflected in the details. Adding more sounds doesn’t automatically make a track better—in fact, it can push the music closer to white noise and break its balance. Because of that, I used to be cautious about layering too many elements. But now, I want to be braver in adding sounds while carefully shaping the details, so I can enhance the hypnotic quality that loops naturally create. Also, when it comes to chord progressions—where I usually begin my tracks—I still have a lot of magic to discover. I want to push the euphoric sensation that a truly magical loop can bring.

As for collaborations, I recently had my first-ever experience working with another artist—Robotnik3000 from Grenoble, France. It was fascinating to see how an outside perspective could introduce new details and make the music feel more three-dimensional. That collaboration resulted in the Coucou EP, which is set for release in April 2025. Moving forward, I definitely want to explore more collaborations like this.