Interview: 5 Minutes with Tez Cadey
Tez Cadey is a French/American producer and DJ that creates an assortment of melodic and proudly authentic music. Earlier in his musical career, his single ‘Seve’ reached upwards of 800M streams worldwide and has been certified 16x diamond internationally. In an electro-pop style, the French DJ & producer Tez Cadey makes the whole planet dance and he is back with a brand new track, ‘Modular 3’.
‘Modular 3’ is a club-oriented killer weapon with thick underlying tb303 bass stabs and a drone-like melody which unwinds throughout the song. Five years after his first success with songs like ‘Seve’ and ‘Walls’, the producer is determined to make a new stand in the EDM world. This song is the perfect example of an upcoming year of dance and creativity.
Enjoy ‘Modular 3’ below and read on to get to know the young prince of electro!
Set the tone for us. Why the arts?
It started out pretty naturally. I just loved making my own music. It felt crazy as a kid to spend some time clicking on the family laptop and have your own track on itunes. It still does feel a bit mad to be honest. I’d been playing the piano and the guitar up until my teen years but it’s really creating my own material that sparked the magic for me.
Was there a specific moment in your life where you thought, “this is what I want to do”?
Not really. I didn’t allow myself to think it was possible to make a living doing this. Because it’s a really tough business and I just did it as a hobby for many years. It got to a point where I actually did end up making a living out of it. And so it was more like “okay this is what I’m doing now”.
What gets your creative juices flowing?
Relaxing, letting go. Imaging myself outside of the studio, living in someone else’s shoes and experiencing life in a different way
Which comes first when you’re producing – the sound or the idea?
It’s usually the sound. I have almost no idea where I’m going when I start a song. So I play around with sounds and textures I like until I get an idea. Most of the time the ideas aren’t that good but I like that randomness, it’s exciting. It feels like winning the lottery when you get a really good feeling about a track you just started. Months can literally go by without it.
Does your material feature any collaborations?
I had a hard time starting out with collaborations. I didn’t have the maturity to open myself up to others. I really liked the idea of doing everything from the creating to producing to mixing and mastering. With time I find it very inspiring and I enjoy working more and more with other artists. I guess it’s something that gets better with age.
Take us through your collection of gear, tech or software that accompanies your creative expression.
My first piece of hardware was a juno 106. I have since then had a bunch more but strangely enough I almost never use them. I think I’ve stayed hooked on making music on a laptop with headphones on. It feels even better when you make an expensive sounding record with headphones and basic plugins than in the expensive studio.
What techniques do you experiment with to get your original sound?
I’m not a big technician. I layer a lot. Drums, effects, synths, guitars, vocals. I think what I enjoy the most is giving a live feeling to very synthetic sounds and experimenting around that.
How have you refined your craft since you entered the industry?
The more you work at something the better you get it’s as simple as that.
Any side projects you’re working on?
I just started a house side-project called Finding Lucas. I’ve also been producing for other artists such as Gina Livia and looking forward to producing for more. It’s very liberating
Tell us about the chemistry you have with your fans on stage.
I have very open minded fans and they always support me in the kindest way and follow me through the musical explorations in my sets. There is that part of magic when on stage and it’s hard to describe. When you are perfectly in phase with the public and the music you get this incredible feeling. Like being hit by waves of energy and love.
What do you keep close by while you’re playing a set?
Not a very exciting answer here but a water bottle. I can’t see myself DJing for two hours without one. Beer works too
What’s on your current playlist?
A bit of everything. I’m going through a pop period right now so Kendrick, Dua Lipa, Calvin Harris, Kevin Parker. And always some Mac DeMarco, Supertramp, Soulwax and MGMT on the side.
Breakdown the news for us: what can we expect from you this year?
I’ll be releasing some new singles throughout the summer. I’m really happy with what has been coming out of the studio lately. It feels like I haven’t been this creative in a while, it’s great.
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