Electronic Groove: Hello Nick, thanks for your time to chat with us. How 2016 has been so far?
Nick Stoynoff: Hey, thanks very much for having me! I’ve been slowly regaining some traction in the production world, and recently have been setting up a few gigs. I had been fairly steady with my production output from 2008-2013, then I stepped away from music for personal reasons. I really needed to reevaluate my interest and passion for music. 2014 and 2015 were two really tough years for me, personally. I was on the verge of selling all of my gear and giving up on music entirely; I didn’t want anything to do with it. The plan was the find work in a totally unrelated field, put the music in my past, and never look back.
Serendipity struck – a second wind hit me when I randomly ended up at a friend’s apartment last summer. I had nowhere to stay at the time and he and his roommates were subletting a room, so I decided to jump on the opportunity. The great thing was that it was across the street from the studio I was engineering at the time. Incidentally, I became the 3rd member in their production group, Moodstabilizer, which you’ll be hearing more of in the near future. Thus started the relationship with the group’s founders, Snad and Tha Fiend. That being said, 2016 is looking much more positive!
Electronic Groove: How did you get involved with Electronic music?
Nick Stoynoff: Listening to Paul Oakenfold around 98′-99′, Sasha and the Global Underground, the usual suspects.
Electronic Groove: Speaking in musical terms and understanding you are Global Underground fan, how has this series influenced you as an artist?
“There was something classy, melodic, dark and emotive about each and every track”
Nick Stoynoff: Yeah, no doubt Global Underground and its label has had a monumental impact on my musical aspirations. There was just something unique and it carried a sort of myth to it as well. The exotic locations, class selectors, and tangible product with amazing liner note and artwork made it a very holistic and memorable experience. You could get lost in each of those albums and feel like you knew everything about the dj, the club, the location, and producers behind it. That ‘progressive’ sound was also very influential on my productions. There was something classy, melodic, dark and emotive about each and every track. Forward thinking and nostalgic, yet unprecedented. The whole thing has certainly played a pivotal role in my music and interest in electronic music as a whole.
Electronic Groove: We can feel a little bit of that in your recent mix you did for Electronic Groove. Where was it recorded and what was the inspiration?
Nick Stoynoff: Defintely, the inspiration was to find music that I could identify with and material that reminded me of why I fell in love with a particular sound. The mix itself was done as a hybrid between an Ableton Live setup and a single turntable, which was kind of a bitch to setup but it worked in the end.
Electronic Groove: You have had produced great tracks on different labels like Proton Music or Clinique Recordings; your latest release “Run Things” on Afterglow Records has been doing some noise on the charts. What is the regular process you apply to produce them?
Nick Stoynoff: Thanks! Typically, I start from a blank canvas …no real template or go to setup. I have always enjoyed starting each tune from scratch and doing something different each time around. Sometimes I’ll write a simple chord structure in, print hardware through fx, and other times I’ll start in the box with grooves/percussion. All depends on the mood and what I am after. However, I never set time aside to write music, I do it when I am in the mood.
Electronic Groove: Talking about the present, what are you currently working at?
Nick Stoynoff: Currently wrapping up an EP with my buddy Danny Oliveira that we just signed over to Alola Records, Omid 16b’s label [I used our track ‘Three’ in the mix]. Also finishing a new Moodstabalizer EP. Additionally, I recently ran a remix competition for a track I gave away for free last year. I’ll be releasing a slight reworking of the original with the winning remix as a limited vinyl run. Furthermore, I have a September gig overseas in the UK that I am looking forward to playing.
Electronic Groove: You have recently warmed up to big names like Hernan Cattaneo and Matthew Dekay. Who do you consider your most important influencers in your musical career?
Nick Stoynoff: Guys like Hernan Catteneo, Nick Warren, Sasha and John Digweed, and Dave Seaman have definitely been a big influence. That not withstanding, I have also had many other sources of musical inspiration ranging from Royksopp, to Zero 7, to stuff on Bluenote Recordings, and Steely Dan. I am pretty open minded musically, and have always made a point to listen to a variety of material on a variety of formats.
Electronic Groove: What’s in the pipeline in the near future for Nick Stoynoff?
Nick Stoynoff: More productions and singles. Thinking about launching a podcast soon, something I can work on within my own schedule and timeline instead of doing the monthly radio show, which I did for a few years.
Electronic Groove: In terms of gigs, any particular date you are looking for?
Nick Stoynoff: As of now I am really excited to be heading to the UK to be playing a gig first week of September at a night called Terminal in Bournemouth. Should be fun:)
