INTERVIEW WITH HILSDON

Next up on the label we welcome Birmingham based Hilsdon. He is coming in with some deep and progressive heat with his new track 'Taken'. We sat down with him to ask him a few questions and get to know the man behind the absolute belter of a tune. 

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1.As a quick introduction for the readers, tell us a little bit about yourself:

Hey everyone! I'm Hilsdon, a 29 year old progressive house and melodic techno DJ and producer based in Birmingham, U.K.. I've DJ'd across the U.K. in the likes of Birmingham, London, Manchester and Lincoln, helping to spread and push the progressive/melodic sound within my sets and productions, as well as establishing my own brand of club nights through Orphic Events to create a community of progressive/melodic lovers in Birmingham. My focus has now shifted towards music production, drawing from influential labels like Sudbeat, UV, Balkan Connection, Siona Records and Lost & Found, to craft my own interpretation of progressive & melodic music.

2. Tell us how you got involved with the music scene? How did you eventually find your way into Music production and Djing?
It all started on the dancefloor of DC10 (Ibiza) for me, I knew in my heart that the start of my first trip to Ibiza didn't have the magic I had heard so much about, but once I stepped into DC10 on my third day, my eyes were fully opened to this amazing world of incredible music and I haven't looked back since - I'd actually say that life began at that point for me. I was always curious on how a DJ could take control of everything in a club, and once a close friend bought a set of DDJ-400's, he couldn't get me out of his house - that was all the impetus I needed to get my own set of decks and begin learning the craft in 2019. 
 
Once the pandemic started and the clubs closed, I had no other option than to continue learning everything I could about DJing and commit to starting my career in music. Where I'm from, there's no options available to progressive house/melodic techno, so I started my own club night, Orphic Events, with a close friend to allow me opportunities to grow my experience, build a community of likeminded individuals and bring through other up-and-coming talent.  
 
Alongside this, I realised that if I want to share great music with the world, I would need to create my own intepretation of progressive house/melodic techno to reach a wider audience than my home city. As a creative person, this naturally lead me into music production, pouring everything I can into learning and developing my own art over the last 2-3 years, contributing to the progressive/melodic scene.

3. Who are your main influences, who or what inspires you when creating music?  

My first love has to be Hot Since 82, the groove and vibe he creates on the dancefloor still has a major influence on me, especially the variety of music he plays. As my taste developed, I dove deeper and deeper into the progressive and melodic world, finding my biggest influences such as Dmitry Molosh, Guy J, Hernan Cattaneo, Franky Wah, Patrice Baumel, Dosem, Cristoph, Sasha and John Digweed - anything they touch is usually gold to me and everything I am I owe to their influence. 
 
The progression towards a more emotional style of music mostly stems from my childhood, I was surrounded by quality music because of my Mum, who's a huge house head, but I've always loved the trance classics she played around the house - the speakers were never off and never quiet!  
 
Since my childhood, I've always been taught that good music is layered, and that's my driving influence for my productions, not necessarily layers for the sake of layers, but always having movement in the background, whether that's pads or atmos shots, vocals, drum hits or synth stabs - something that can grab the listeners attention and help to evolve the track over time. This also lends itself to the style of tracks I like to create, I love dense mixes with a heavy yet groovy low end.


4. As a follow on from that, which newer and upcoming artists are you really feeling right now? Let the readers know about some underappreciated producers:

A good friend of mine is about to burst onto the scene and his productions are so solid, impactful and emotive, and that's Ben Elding - he's caught the attention of Franky Wah and is making his Ibiza debut at Franky's SHEN residence this summer! His tracks have a lush afro / progressive sound, utilizing impactful leads with a crazy amount of depth and emotional piano lines - Ben will blow up over the next year for sure.
 
Another producer I'm really digging is Redspace, he's been smashing out releases for a while now on renowned labels like Area Verde, Soundteller Records and my most recent favourite of his is on YOMO Records - long may it continue!

5. What have you got in store musically for the rest of the year?

I've got a track coming out in July on Freegrant Music's sub-label Big Toys Production called 'Mesmerise', which is a much darker melodic techno banger that's been getting a lot of love recently - a DJ friend of mine played it at Warm Up's recent bunker rave in London and the crowd reaction was unreal! I'm currently in talks with another label about a track, 'Vanguard', that I produced at the back end of last year, as well as a well respected deep progressive house label about releasing on them at some point this year, but can't give away too much yet unfortunately! 
 
As I've focused much more on production in 2024, it's gone a bit quiet on the gig front but I do have a day-rave booked in for June which should be announced in the next week or so, as well as potential gigs down at E1 London over the summer, all of which I'm absolutely buzzing for!

6. What aspirations do you have? You got any goals you want to try and reach? These can be music goals or life goals in general.

I try not to have too many goals when it comes to music as I believe that's when you lose objectivity, authenticity and the love of the music, but I do have high aspirations of where I'd love to get to - the main one being a full-time DJ/producer, enabling me to earn a living away from my day job. I dream about one day playing at Pacha, Ibiza, and I have a poster of the club in my studio to be a constant reminder of where I'd love to be and what I'm working towards - as I mentioned earlier, my first love of DJing was Hot Since 82 and when I saw him play in Pacha, the dream was born. I also have a list of labels I'd love to release on one day such as Sudbeat Music, Proton Music, Area Verde, onedotsixtwo, Anjunadeep, SHEN Recordings and many more.


7. You are a new comer to the label but we love what you sent in! Tell us a little bit about your production process? Favourite synths, plugins, techniques etc.

Something that stuck with me while learning production was all about having a vision for the vibe, mood and tone of the track, and then working towards that immediately, which becomes your foundation. I usually start by loading up Kontakt or Omnisphere and messing around with their sound engines, testing pads and atmospheres to set the right tone and vibe. After nailing the vibe, I then get to work on the low end, followed by some basic drums, then the synths and melodies, before filling out the drums more. You can't build a house without a solid foundation, so I spend a lot of time to get the low end and pads right to ensure my track has the key elements ready to make a banger - I especially focus on creating for a club environment, so I'm always asking 'how would this work in a club?'. 
 
My favourite synths have to be the Kontakt engines and Omnisphere for the crazy, amazing pads, as well as Serum and Diva - Serum cause of it's simple intuitive UI and Diva for that warm analog sound. A couple really slept on plug-in's are Ableton's overdrive and vocoder, I love using these on my shakers and 16th hats to create separation and presence in the mix, as well as using LFO's to modulate parameters over time to create additional movement in the groove. I'm really loving resampling elements of my track with huge reverb and delays to create massive atmosphere shots that can carry the track or form your transitions - if the sounds already fit really well, why not manipulate them to create something new that will tonally fit into the mix? Another plug-in I'm really loving right now is Sugar, a multiband saturation tool that can separate the saturation level on different bands as well as the mid-side stereo - this plug-in brings bass and synths to life and give them such presence in the mix.


8. Apart from music, what else makes you happy?

I'm very family oriented, so making sure I regularly spend time with my loved ones is paramount to me staying sane in this connected yet disconnected world - this usually comes in the form of a Sunday roast dinner, can't get enough! I also love going to the gym and have done since I was 18 years old, mostly because of the mental benefits this brings into other aspects of my life, as well as the physical benefits. On top of that, making sure there's always plans in the diary to get away to another country (preferably sunny) or getting over to our family spot in Wales is really important to help me get a break away from the fast-paced city life most of us tend to live - this usually helps me come back to the studio refreshed, energised and inspired. 
Whenever time allows, I love getting out to do activities with friends, this could be something as simple as going for a coffee/beer, or a more hands on activity. I think it's really important to have variety in life to make sure that the weeks don't merge into the same cycle of routine, to help break it up. 


9.  Tell People where they can find you online...

I'm mostly active over on my Instagram '@hilsdondj' if anyone would like to keep up to date on my journey, or to reach out and connect! I'm always open to meet likeminded people who share the love of music, particularly in the prog/melodic space. My Soundcloud is the next best place to head over to, '@hilsdonuk', where I post mixes/latest releases - it's a great place to discover new tracks or to get lost in one of my sets.

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