5 Minutes With… Christian Nielsen

christian nielsen press pic

Christian Nielsen is a Danish DJ/Producer who has been really making a name for himself over the last 18months. With releases soon coming on such respected imprints like Noir, Play Label and Suara, we grabbed 5 with the man to find out what’s what…

How are you, whats keeping you busy right now? What are you working on?

Hi EQTV, I’m doing well, thanks for having me. Well life itself is keeping me busy to be honest. My family, my music, my day job, you name it. That said, I truly do believe that being busy means that you are going somewhere, moving forward. And moving forward is progress. Always be busy busy busy.

We don’t hear of many Danish house producers, labels, parties – how did you get into this music? Did you go to clubs and see Djs or was it more older friends or the internet?

Well I totally understand why you don’t hear that much about Copenhagen. The scene for electronic music in Denmark is really small and only small amounts of talent actually get attention. If you want to be seen and heard in this business it takes a deal of patience and ALOT of hardwork, years and years of it. Networking, getting out there, producing finding yourself. It’s a process. You already know danish talents like Kölsch and Noir, but trust me, there is a lot more talent here..

Well I got into house music at a rather old age. I already knew guys like Basement Jaxx and Cassius but I never really digged deeper than that to begin with. It was only later on when I was DJing at a small bar in Copenhagen, a friend played some old school Kerri Chandler, that I started listening to house. I started going out to house-clubs in Copenhagen meeting other DJs, which was cool and inspiring, but it was the internet that really gave me the platform to get started. I remember seeing all the house music documentaries on YouTube and thinking: WHERE HAS THIS MUSIC BEEN ALL MY LIFE!

Then I started watching loads of videos of DJs in Berlin, London and Ibiza and I was sold.

What is the scene like there? Any good people or parties we should know about? Do you have a foot in at home, still?

As mentioned before Copenhagen has loads of talent and amazing people working to make the scene better.  You have clubs like Culture Box, KB18 and Jolene that do amazing work for the scene, but the problem is that the local media has no clue what is going on. The clubs book great names, but it’s mostly the same group of people coming to the shows. Club culture is not a part of pop culture the same way as in London or Berlin, so it’s hard to fill clubs with underground music. It’s a real damn shame.

Tell us about your latest for Stereo – how did you hook with that label? What’s it like working with them?

So I had a bit of contact with Chus, since they had been supporting my releases. One day they asked me to do a mix for their podcast show and while doing the mix at home I was also working on a few tracks on the side. So I gave them the mix-tape and a bit after I sent them these demos that I had been working on. It was pretty cool ’cause I think it took them about an hour or two to respond that they wanted them.

It’s been really awesome working with Stereo. When I sign a release to a label I like being as involved as possible, and they were very kind to let me exactly do that. They were very nice and professional to work with and I definitely hope that we can work with each other again some time.

And did you make the tune just for them and tailor it to their sound, or do you just make music and decide where it will go later?

I never tailor music for a label. I can’t, it’s not possible. When I start making a track I never know what the outcome will be, things just kind of happen in a flow. I feel, as an artist, the music you create is a reflection of who you are and how you feel at one particular exact moment in your life. It feels natural for me to just create and not to think about where it will take me or who will be into it. Yeah so it gets decided after the music is made.

Are you a hardware or software man, and what are some of your favourite tools in the studio? Do you use the same kit on every tune?

I wish I had more time to get my hands dirty with some analog gear, but for the time being, it’s all soft synths and sampling. At least until I get my studio up and running. :)  The plug-in I use the most would be the Chris Lord-Alge series from WAVES. I use these plugins on almost everything except the master channel.

How long did it take you to find your own sound, to get comfy with your gear, to make the music you wanted to? Maybe you are still learning?

Great question! Well I feel that music production for me is a learning process, where every time I start a new track I’ll try something new. Maybe a new sound, new plugin or whatever is at hand. But in general I try to keep things as simple as I can, so I always can start a new track pretty fast.

Do you make music to fit in your own DJ sets, or on a certain floor, or are DJing and studio separate?

My focus is always to create a track that I would play in my own DJ-sets 100%. I started as a DJ, so for me, I live for the dancefloor and I love to see my tracks do well on the floor, regardless if it is me playing it or someone else. I still get super excited every time I see one of my tracks played by other DJs, it really is the best feeling in the world and I love getting that support.

What else have you personally got coming up/are you looking forward to?

I have an EP coming out the 24th of June on Noir Music called “Over And Over” EP

After that I have a single called “Beginning To End” coming out on Play It Down with a remix from the legend Junior Sanchez.

And later this year I have a track called “Got To Move” coming out on Suara.

There is more stuff coming, but nothing I can confirm yet. Hey, maybe an album start 2017… who knows!

How do you like to relax away from music when you need a break? How do you like to spend your own money?

Relax? Never heard of the word… Haha, just kidding! The best way for me to relax is chilling with my girlfriend, watching a movie, some nachos and cold canned coke, nothing beats that! Money wise, I’m not a big spender. I tend to use all my money pretty quick, but mostly on sodas, red bull and candy. Where I really spend most of my money is on Beatport and Traxsource and occasionally on vinyl. True story – Even though I get promos from labels, I still like paying for it. It can seem like a waste of money I guess, but for me I feel that it’s my way of still showing the artists and labels my respect and support and keeping the business alive.

Christian’s ‘Over and Over’ is out on Noir on the 24th June

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