Dear #DJDIARY,
It takes commitment, passion and an unrelenting nature to go from DJ rookie to pro.
And it often occurs when BBC Radio 1 host, Pete Tong, premiers your song.
This is what happened to Australian producer and DJ, John Walden, almost two years ago when Pete Tong played the youngsters song on BBC Radio 1.
This is #DJDIARYENTRY/17
Since the age of 12, Walden has been hooked on making music.
A school excursion to the local technology museum would ignite Walden’s passion for music after a demonstration of the audio workstation software AcidPro was given.
From that day on, Walden began to experiment with sounds. He dabbled in techno, a little jazz and soon found his element was in dance music.
Walden says making a career out of producing music “hit reality” when Pete Tong played his track ‘Brightness’.
From there, the Sydney-based artist gained support from world class acts Afrojack, Roger Sanchez, Tiesto and Tommy Trash just to name a few.
Walden describes, “Playing at Ultra and touring around USA and Canada and playing gigs with people like Rehab, Showtek, Morgan Page and Project 46,” as surreal.
He says he has been given a fair amount of advice:
“The most important advice... is be yourself and be your own sound. Don't get caught up in what everyone else is doing,” Walden says.
“Do what feels right, but also be open minded to new ideas and opinions and most importantly surround yourself with people that you like, trust, and who will believe in your ideas and do right by you.”
Studio time sees Walden begin “with the main theme, whether it be the groove or the melody" for a song.
"Then I build the sounds and the arrangement from there,” Walden says.
After hitting a downer at the end of last year due to “a bit of a writer's block,” Walden reverted back to the house music that originally gained his interest.
“All the stuff from early 2000s to 2009 and 2010...Music back then was much groovier and had a different vibe,” Walden smiles.
This is the sound that Walden accredits his love for dance music to. And it sparked a change in his sound.
“I really felt the need for a change in my sound and to go back to those good feeling, groove based records,” Walden admits.
With 2014 whining up, Walden says he has “lots of studio time and lots of music” planned for the rest of the year.
#DJDIARY Questions:
Q: If you could sit in on any other producers studio time, who would it be and why?
Walden: Eric Prydz , Axwell or Dubvision. I LOVE their sound, it's very unique and it would be a dream come true to work (or see them work) properly with them in the studio.
Photo source: MY Media Sydney