Emanate (Emily & Nate) fell in love with the mystique of electronic music at an early age. Nathan Vain knew right away what his future passion held when he acquired his first turntables at the age of 17. Emily Fox took a different route starting her journey in the music scene as an organizer and promoter. This endeavor led to landing Nathan his first residency at a popular after hours spot back in 2001. A few years down the road and a desire for their success growing strong they moved to San Francisco together and started producing music as Emanate. From Techno, Tech House to Deep House you can expect a clever blend and balance of deep and edgy music.
We caught up with Emanate to talk about their current musical projects.
Electronic Groove: Hello to both and welcome to EG. How has the summer been so far?
Emanate: Hello Electronic Groove! It is an honor to chat with you. Our summer has been quite adventurous as we just got finished with a European tour and then went straight to Burning Man. Now we breath!
EG: You’ve been playing a lot of great gigs this year. Has any of them stood above the rest? And why?
Emanate: We have been blessed to make many great connections this year while traveling. It would be hard to name just one as a stand out event. We appreciate the experience to meet so many different people working hard to create parties and gatherings all over. Every event has been special for its own reasons. We commend the passion, faith and hard work that goes into this wild lifestyle.
“We are so grateful to be able to express our darker techno side with the label Second State”
EG: Can you give us a bit of history and how you guys met and began your musical journey?
Emanate: Well, we met many many moons ago, at a little house party. It was an instant connection. Emily had been a promoter from a young age, gathering people and hosting dance parties really, anywhere she could. Nathan had started DJing when he was 17 years old. Our worlds came together at a sort of crossroads and we began blending our talents and passions to create appreciation for community and music. Our initial production collaborations started after we moved to San Francisco together and purchased our first DAW ( Reason) and a bit of production gear. That is when Emanate was created. Emily had been in bands as a synth player and singer/songwriter before she decided to apply that passion towards DJing. Shortly after all of this, the natural evolution came and we created our own label Mioli Music.
EG: Production wise you just had a release on Second State. What can you tell us about how you guys work in the studio? Who does what and how do you get past any differences or creative walls?
Emanate: We are so grateful to be able to express our darker techno side with the label Second State. We have a few styles varying from dark driving, to melodic deep and on up to afro-deep house. In the studio we take turns at the helm as we are both pretty controlling and love the hands on experience. We rotate between Logic and Live for our DAW platforms, but with our Second State release ‘Again & Again’ we created this in Logic. It is actually a track we had started about 7 years ago and came back to recently implementing more drive with a new bassline and a few other drum elements. To get past creative blocks we just keep creating, rain or shine.
EG: Can you give the new producers out there some advice on how to approach a new track?
Emanate: Just create, the magic will come. Try not to get too caught up in thinking but rather feeling the journey and following the sound as it takes direction. Always hit record before you jam. There are infinite choices and direction. It’s true if you want your music to be played that a certain type of DJ friendly format is necessary however, play with the rules and create new ones. Most importantly, finish your work. Try not to get caught with 20 unfinished tracks, it will become discouraging.
EG: Are you working on any new material? Can you give us sneak peek?
Emanate: Yes! Thank you for asking. We do have a brand new EP just released on our own label imprint Mioli Music. ‘Furthermore’ is a 3 track melodic blend of techno/house. Here is a link!
EG: Moving to a different subject, how was Burning Man this year? Any particular story you could share with us?
Emanate: Burning Man was surprisingly restful for us this year as we were dealing with jetlag from our Euro tour. We camped alone which is very rare but was perfect for us as it helped rekindle our personal connection to each other. It’s always a fun trip performing on the playa, being a part of the fabric of this grand experiment of a festival. It is highly reflective and will challenge you as well as remind you of things once forgotten. We found it to be a very healing experience.
EG: What other events are you looking forward for the rest of the year?
Emanate: We are very excited and fortunate to be throwing a label party for Mioli Music at San Francisco’s famous Monarch Club on September 21st. We’ll be performing with Dixon when he comes through mid-October as well as our own label rooftop party in November at Hotel Via. We have a few travel dates coming up in the beginning of November and mid-December, notably, we plan to attend Art Basel in Miami this year 🙂
“Our latest incarnation ‘The Secret Party’ has been really well received and we are so grateful for that”
EG: Tell us about your favorite places to play out? What venue or city brings the best of Emanate?
Emanate: It’s really hard to claim just one but we can say we are very well received in Europe and South America. Those places very much feel like home.
EG: You guys also produce some events in your hometown. Tells us a bit about those. Who plays? What’s the concept? When is the next one?
Emanate: Our events in San Francisco range from club showcases to private underground gatherings. For the most part, our events are very grassroots with emphasis on up and coming talent. On occasion, we book bigger underground names such as Ruede Hagelstein, Stelios Vassiloudis, Tigerskin, and Brian Cid, to name a few. Our latest incarnation ‘The Secret Party’ has been really well received and we are so grateful for that. The concept for this is the lineup, location and attendees are all a mystery until the day of the event. You receive the location via text and then just show up to find out who is playing! Thankfully through years of hard work we have created community trust in our parties. Sometimes we have artists from out of town as a surprise but more importantly it is about the people and gathering itself, the vibe. The element of surprise creates a lot of excitement.
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