A Sit Down With DJ Noah Neiman

Noah Neiman, an American Pop/EDM crossover DJ/Producer have started to receive attention through Spotify’s “ElectroNOW”, “Fresh Electronic” and Hardwell’s “House Party”. Noah Neiman’s recent release “Make It So Good” has topped over 2 million plays and is now officially receiving support from the legend himself Hardwell, W&W, Don Diablo, Nicky Romero and many more.

He is an inspirational character, well aquainted with Enhanced fans thanks to a host of diverse, unique and infectious melodic productions.

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When and how did you decide to become a DJ?

I’m not sure when I decided I wanted to become a DJ, but actually it all started between 2002 and 2003 when I bought my first pair of turntables. A couple of Numark TTX1’s and a two-channel mixer.

What made you decide to start a radio show?

Well, I’ve had one for a few years called The Rush, which was hosted on several .fm internet stations including Diesel, JR and the Department of Dance. When a slot opened on DI though, I couldn’t pass them up for the opportunity. They have a rather large listenership and I’m always looking to expand my own, so I took them up on it and they gave me a 12 noon Eastern US spot, which is great! Not a whole lot has changed about the show though. It’s still a multi-genre EDM show, but I felt like it needed a bit of rebranding and since Radiofire was one of my most successful singles, I thought I’d pay homage to it.

How was your passion for music born?

My parents enrolled me at a piano course when I was four years old and later in school years. I also learned to play the trombone and the violin well. So, since I remember, I’ve always had the music inside my life.

Who is your ultimate inspiration in the music scene and who would you love to collab with one day?

I don’t know that I have an “ultimate” inspiration. People like the guys from Cash Cash, Tritonal, Skrillex and Morgan Page are all very inspiring acts to me, but I can’t say I could pick just one. As for who I’d want to collab with, it would have to be Jack Black from Tenacious D. Obviously I don’t know him personally, or what he’s like in real life, but if he’s anything like his comedic movie personas, I mean, I’m not absolutely sure that I’d learn a lot or anything, but I think it would be a hell of a lot of fun!

What motivated you to write “Make It So Good” and how did you come up with the sound?

Well, I found the vocal for Make It So Good in a sample pack, and it just sounded so happy and fun, so I really wanted to make a positive sounding song with it. I also just did a track with Anna Yvette called ‘Toldja So’ which was released on Hardwell’s record label. That one had a really playful vibe to it, so I took some of the sounds from Toldja So and started messing with the chords under the vocal sample of M.I.S.G. and ended up with the what you hear now.

Are there any artists in particular you would love to collab?

I’d really like to work with R3hab. He’s been doing some incredible things in the future bass and trap game. A dream collab though, would be to work with PSY. He probably doesn’t even know who I am, but I think it would be a lot of fun to do a track with him.

What’s your most memorable performance?

The whole tour with Tritonal was, and will always be, memorable. Playing at Stubbs here in Austin was amazing. Bands like Metallica or Willie Nelson have played there, so to be on the same stage that has been graced by legends like those guys is really something. There was one night I played in Washington DC though. The first and only time I’ve been there. I went on right before Lange. This was back in 2011, I think. Back when I was working on music for his label, Lange Recordings. Anyways, it was a relatively small club called Lima, but what was so memorable about the night was that everyone was there to get down. There wasn’t a single person in the club that was having a bad time. At least not from what I saw.

What are the positives and negatives of having a following like the Trance Family?

Well, obviously they’re a passionate lot. I think a big positive is that when they love something, they really let you know it. But, that might also be partly negative too, because when they don’t love something, they REALLY let you know it! In addition to being passionate, they’re also quite the vocal lot. But I like that. Having the instant feedback is nice, whether it’s good or bad, because I like engaging with fans on my Facebook page or on YouTube or wherever. I really like knowing that there is a worldwide crowd of people that loves Trance, though. I grew up in a time and place where everyone hated dance music. Back then, anything with synths and a four on the floor kick drum was called “techno,” and the resounding opinion was that “techno sucks.” With the internet and the Trancefamily, my passion for writing the kind of music I do now seems validated, and that feels awesome.

 

“The music industry is so fickle and so exclusive, you’d have a hard time because there are already too many people trying to do the same thing you’re doing.”

 

Do you think the trance community should follow in the same pursuit?

I feel that there might be a Trance renaissance very soon. People always want something new. The next sound. So having all these sub-genres of Trance is great because it gives people a larger variety of music to listen to. I think there’s definitely a place for all of them, but unfortunately, I don’t feel that all of them can cross over into the kind of popularity today’s modern house music has, and officially dividing them might marginalize a few of the sub-genres. I wouldn’t want that. So no, I don’t think the different Trance styles should be categorically removed from one another.

What interests you about hardstyle?

It’s sort of a secret love of mine. I think it’s the speed and the soaring synths. I don’t particularly like it all, but the melodic stuff is great. Frontliner is an amazing producer. I’ve been listening to his track “Weekend Warriors” for months! I’ve got some projects I’m working on that have a bit of hardstyle in them. I may even end up writing a full hardstyle track soon.

You’re impressively a doctor by day, and DJ by night. How do you balance the two?

In all honesty, they both lend to each other well. While being a musician gets the creative side of my brain working, being an optometrist in Texas means I’m treating not only visual needs (glasses or contacts), but medical needs as well. So it’s both a mathematically and scientifically intensive job and gets the analytical side of my brain working. Happily, I work for a great corporation here in the central Texas area and am in my clinic Monday through Friday. The vast majority of clubbing takes place on Friday and Saturday night, so neither job interferes with the other unless there’s a Thursday date. On those days, I will sometimes take the following Friday off, but that doesn’t happen very often at all. As far as production goes, that’s not necessarily something that I need time off from work for, since I can just work when I’m home or even sometimes between patients, on my laptop. I see roughly 20-30 patients a day, so getting a lot of time to work on music while I’m at the clinic is difficult, but I’ve devised strategies in my production technique that allow me to write very quickly.

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