TOMI KOKKI INTERVIEW

This week we welcome Tomi Kokki to the label and he's bringing some beautiful melodic and progressive breaks with him. We sat down and got to know the man behind ''The First Bird Song''

Pre Saves

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

I'm a 40+ year old "geezer" hailing from Helsinki, Finland. I'm nowadays making mostly breakbeat and trance, with an occasional progressive-house track here and there. I also DJ and play tracks 100% live as well.


2. Tell us how you got involved with the music scene? How did you eventually find your way into Music production and Djing?

I got into electronic music already back in the late 90s. Back then internet was still in its infancy and thus I often called these BBS's with out modem and just one day found out that there was a whole scene of music makers, using these programs called trackers and sharing their own creations on BBS's and people traded those tracks. Trackers were basically sample based sequencers and samplers. That and my growing interest in so called demoscene, where trackers were also used, drew me into making music myself. Few friends of mine got into the same thing at the same time and we also had an electronic music band as well back then.

The DJ-ing came way later. Basically I wanted a convenient way to play my own material live, which I had produced in a DAW. My arrangements were such that it pretty much made no sense to try to play those tracks truly live, so I learned how to mix them together. And eventually I started to play music from my favourite artists as well and really got into it.


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

The original artist influences for me were, and still are, Orbital, The Prodigy, The Crystal Method, Way Out West, Hybrid, Roni Size, Fatboy Slim and Paul Van Dyk. Oh, and Leftfield of course.

From a bit newer influences I gotta mention Scuba, Richie Blacker, Bicep, Because of Art, Disclosure and Der Dritte Raum.

Generally synth sounds inspire me a lot. They just do something in my brain that sparks the creativity.


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

From the "not necessarily household names, yet" category I've been digging lately a lot of SWIM, Stum, DJ Heartstring, Pretty Girl, Kettama, Narciss, EYNKA, just to name a few. There are just too many to remember, insane amount of great artists nowadays.


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

Just planning on making and releasing more tracks, both made by live-jamming and in a DAW. Also probably going to record and release few DJ sets. Not sure about gigs... maybe, we'll see.


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 guess my main goal is to just get my music heard by more people really. I know it sounds a bit boring answer, but it's just an awesome feeling when people all around the world hear (or see) your creation. I guess one goal would also be having more releases on dope labels.


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.

My creative process is pretty much always so, that I just start jamming with some synth, using some sound that inspires me. It doesn't matter, if it's a lead, bass, pluck, keys, an effect, whatever. Or, if it's a sound I made myself from a scratch or some preset. When it just clicks with me, I'll start to jam with it and when I hit something I like, then I'll record that and start to build around it.

I usually make all the main elements and then start to mute and unmute those elements in a DAW, just to get an idea of a possible  arrangement. When I'm happy with what I got there, then I'll start to properly arrange and produce the track. I usually make a "ballpark mix" quite early, so the track sounds okay already, when I'm arranging it. That just somehow inspires me more than having a really rough sounding mix till the end.

I'm a 50/50 hardware/software guy. Sometimes I might work only with software, sometimes with hardware, but most often both. Some of my favourite tools are:

Hardware: Novation Peak, ASM Hydrasynth, Erica Synths DB-01, Elektron Syntakt, Clavia Nord Drum 3P. Too many effects to mention... I'm a bit of an effect addict.

Software: Arturia Pigments & V Collection stuff, Kilohearts Phase Plant, U-he Diva (love and hate relationship with this one), d16 Punchbox. I mainly work in Cubase Pro, but I also use some Bitwig and Maschine here and there. Arturia FX Collection effects and Kilohearts effects are in a huge role, when it comes to effects.


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

My family, my guineapigs, gaming, watching old movies, running, skating and also my job.


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

My music is pretty much on all the platforms available: Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, you name it. My social media coverage is nowadays pretty slim. I used to be on many social media platforms, but eventually decided to mostly cut those away from my life. Out of those platforms I guess I'm nowadays only on Instagram and Youtube.