INTERVIEW: Tensnake- Armada Record Box

The life of a touring big room club DJ has somewhat altered over the past year. However, this hasn’t stopped the creativity of the artists we love, with many releasing E.Ps, albums, merch and sample packs to continue to connect to their fans. 

We caught up with Tensnake, who has been keeping up the momentum throughout the midst of lockdown, releasing an album and video series, we spoke about how the pandemic has had an affect on his creativity. 

How’s your year been? How’ve you been finding everything?

Pretty bizarre, I guess it’s the same for most people in the industry. It’s been a crazy year to be honest, a new album and everything. 

We wanted to catch up with you about how you’ve kept up the momentum of being creative within this period. You’ve released a new album and trilogy of music videos, as a musician how have you found that process with creating music - how has it affected you and has it changed? 

There were different stages, in the beginning there was a shock more or less. Then I became aware that I needed some income. In the beginning I was pretty sure that gigs wouldn't happen this year. I was in a lucky position that I had the album coming anyway and I got quite a few remix enquiries. I was lucky really this year - I kept myself busy producing. In the end when I got used to the whole situation and I realised I would be fine financially and it would work out. I felt weirdly creative actually. 

I made quite a lot of music in the last month. Of course it’s a sh*tty situation for so many people but I see something positive in there, also people have maybe reconsidered their life. It’s a rare chance where everything stops and you get to think. 

It’s been a time for people to really take stock and figure out what is important. We know the summer as a DJ is a super important time, as well as the winter season leading up to the New Year.  As a DJ that's a really key way that you connect with your fans, how do you feel you have stayed connected to your audience throughout this time?

I haven’t had too many streaming sessions, I’ve mainly stayed connected through social media - DM’s on Instagram, I got tonnes of messages and voice notes on the album. That was nice but it does feel very disconnected. There’s no direct response or natural feedback from seeing people dance to the music. It’s very different. 

Do you think that had an effect on your creativity personally when releasing your new album? Do you feel your audience was a lot more receptive to your music and more tapped in to when everything was coming out as they were at home anticipating it? 

The good thing about the album is that it's more song focussed. When I DJ it's very different, I wouldn't necessarily DJ many of the songs on the album. But of course the label Armada did plenty of remixes that I would definitely play in my sets.  I  think it was lucky timing that people can listen to at home. 

You said earlier that the album was already in the works and it was already due to come out. Do you think you would have created a big body of work during the pandemic if this wasn’t the case? 

Yes, I think so because I really enjoy making music and writing music in the studio. Whilst you are touring, there's really not much time left, the weekends are gone, then you need Monday to recover and on Thursday, Friday it starts again! There's really not much time to get into the mood of producing. So yes, definitely. And also I think it's affecting the music that I'm working on. It's much quieter, there aren't loads of bangers, it's more at home listening stuff. It had a huge impact on my creative output.

There is a lot of conversation at the moment on the future of clubbing and club culture. There’s been a lot of iconic and institutional venues close. What do you think the future of clubbing is? 

I don't think it will die. Of course it's very sad. People want to party and I don't think that will change. That might be something that will take a while to regrow. If you want to believe in the positive aspects of this pandemic then you will take something positive out of it. Of course in times like this mentally they move closer together and as I said before it will grow stronger after this.  It can have a positive impact on the whole scene.

We’ve seen a big surge over lockdown on how people are receptive to music, from live streams and now Lost Horizon who are bringing this brand new VR concept that’s never been done before. Do you think this is something that is going to grow even more?

Yes I do think that. The pandemic really opened the gate and I think accelerated a few things. I think the technology is insane - I had a sneak peak (at Lost Horizon) and wandered around. Some people can’t afford to travel around the world to go to all the festivals, so I think this is a great opportunity for those who can’t attend all the big festivals in the summer. It’s also a lot better for the environment. I think it’s definitely an alternative world for the industry. 

Thank you Tensnake! He joins Goldfish and Low Steppa on Saturday, April 10th, tickets are available here with or sign up for the stream here.