Get To Know – Daijan

 

I grew up all over the world during my childhood (5 years in England, 6 months in Berlin, 5 years in the UAE) before returning to Australia in my teen years.  This exposed me to many cultures and ways of life before experiencing Melbourne’s nightlife and consequently dance music in my adult life.  Melbourne has a great music scene, and definitely in my opinion is the New York of Australia. The 2000’s had a fantastic festival culture as well where my musical taste really expanded, as fantastic acts and artists were never hard to see.

 

 

I just love festivals – in my early 20s there was an abundance of large events with multiple stages on just about a monthly basis with a range of genres.  Nowadays, smaller, more boutique day parties are my poison of choice, mainly due to the fact that being a father limits my appetite to be out too late! But even with this specific criteria, there’s no shortage of good music to experience in Melbourne!

 

Where to start! ‘Hold You’ I’ve been sitting on for some time and submitted to Ear Porn about a year ago, and was just working away to find the right tracks to accompany them on an EP. I had two projects that I had thought were finished, but now with a goal in mind, I just about completely rewrote them to what they are today. ‘Never Enough’ was totally remoulded around Luke Coulson’s incredible vocals, and I think the bass melody is about the only surviving aspect of my original project, but that’s how these things happen sometimes!

 

I’m a massive Eric Prydz fanboy, and while my sound isn’t overly similar, he’s had a massive influence on my progressions and arrangements, particularly his Pryda works. I also love a bit of breakbeat, with Hybrid and Prodigy both playing a part in my musical journey. Of course, the thriving melodic house and techno scene (from Anjuna to Afterlife) has had a massive impact on my development.

 

I really aim to invoke a bit of emotion through my music – I don’t want to release anything mindless or monotone (at least that’s the aim). I love intimate chord progressions, touching melodies, and energetic rhythms, and hope that my music in various ways makes people feel something.

 

 

‘Never Enough’ is definitely my favourite. As I mentioned, my original project completely changed when I received Luke’s vocal arrangement and then the production took on a life of its own. While the track overall took two years for me to finish, the ‘remake’ took 2 weeks! It was just meant to be, and it definitely feels like the best track I have made to this point.

 

 

I think from both a musical and technical standpoint, my tracks have improved and are a lot less, for lack of a better term, amateur, and I think as an artist all you can really hope for is evolution and progression. Everything else is a by product of your commitment and determination to improve, and I feel my music is on the right trajectory.

 

 

Quite simply, becoming an artist at all! I started producing simply as a hobby, simply teaching myself and not releasing any music for about 10 years. Being 33 at the time, I really thought any chance to progress had passed me. I had no network, no knowledge of the music industry, and frankly, no idea on how to take those first few steps towards taking music seriously. Fast forward to now, and I’ve had releases with Mango Alley, Oddity and now Lauren Mia’s Ear Porn!  

 

 

Lauren and I have been connected for a few years now through a friend and local producer/mix engineer Eddy Barbour. Lauren gave me an opportunity to provide a remix for the label, and from that point I’ve had the goal of releasing with her support. She’s a pro and also an influence on me, not just musically but also as a mentor in the scene.

 

Music for me is an outlet, and I use that personal mentality to offer a similar avenue for my listeners to enjoy that same experience, whether through the release of flailing about to a club banger, or chilling out to more emotional iterations of my sound. Everyone’s destination is different, I’m just hoping I can provide some type of transportation.

 

I have two other releases scheduled in the coming months, each with incredibly talented vocalists in Run Rivers and Lauren L’Aimant respectively. I really don’t like to feel boxed into a particular sound, and these two releases are definitely different to anything I’ve released thus far!