Melodic and powerful are the two words most commonly used to describe Swiss / Belgian producer Paradoks' sound. Releasing on revered imprints, including Purified Records, Stil vor Talent and Parquet, his releases have been supported by a long list of industry greats, including Tale of Us, Eelke Kleijn, Township Rebellion and many more. Dedicating the first few months of 2022 to the studio, we caught up with Paradoks to hear about his journey so far, and what we can expect from him this year.
Hi Kobe, welcome to UNDRTONE! For those that aren’t familiar with you, could you shine some light on your sound, and how you became to be a DJ/producer?
Hey there! Thank you. I’m a Swiss / Belgian melodic electronic music artist. I would define my sound as both melodic and powerful. My idea is to have a balance between emotions and movement so that you can feel the melodies through motion, whether that’s on a dancefloor, on a run, driving your car or anything else. I became a DJ/Producer initially through piano. I taught myself the piano and played a few concerts, until I switched to producing electronic music. And from then on it was a very slow process to shape my sound and build momentum around my music. I initially did music on the side, until I recently decided to take the plunge and aim to make it my full-time job.
With so much going on in the world, we look to music to help unite people from all backgrounds and help us find an escape. Is there an artist or piece of music you find really helps you in times of need?
Absolutely, there are so many beautiful tracks that help me through difficult times. “Killing time” by Helsloot, “in my mind” by Wallners or “Gimme some” by Weval are just a few examples.
Looking through your Instagram, you are often in different countries all over the world. How do you incorporate elements of your travels into your compositions?
So far, I wouldn’t say that there are specific elements from each country that I incorporate into my music. However, it’s the emotions and memories from these travels that translate into my compositions. Coming back from a beautiful tour where I played in amazing venues, connected with beautiful crowds, and met all kinds of inspiring people is what brings me a sense of joy and creativity. It's with that creative energy pulsing in me that I sit down and compose new songs.
Your recent release ‘Sense Of Wonder’ on Purified Records manages to transport the listener to an almost alpine sonic environment. Is this what you were aiming for? What was the inspiration behind this stellar track?
Thank you. I generally don’t really aim for anything specific: I just create what I feel, and most of the time these melodies just happen. I then try to understand what the song wants to be and where it wants to go, and I produce it in a way that enables its best potential. Sense of Wonder was a track I started producing when I came back home from my early 2020 South America tour. It was interrupted early because of the pandemic and I had to suddenly rush home. The pandemic had the whole world on hold and plunged us into uncertainty and during that uncertainty, it was initially very difficult for me to make music. During the peak months of the pandemic, many people weren’t allowed to leave their homes, but thankfully in Switzerland we were allowed to go outside. This really helped, as the nature surrounding me gave me a sense of peace and gratefulness. I remember coming back home from a walk in the forest with the main lead of Sense of Wonder in mind. I sat down and made the track in a week, but I felt that the track wasn’t ready yet, so I left it to rest for over a year and came back to it only mid-2021, when I finally finished it and gave it what it needed.
We noticed that you like to spend a lot of time out in nature, out in the woods or up in the mountains. Do you ever do field recordings while out and about?
Yes, nature is really my favourite place to be. It’s where time stands still, and it feels like a safe place amidst all the craziness of the world. I do sometimes do field recordings, but I haven’t done any in a few months now. Generally, it’s mostly for atmospheres, but I also use it for percussive sounds. In some of the new tracks I’m currently making in the studio, you will hear some unique sounds I had previously recorded. Thank you for your question, it’s a good reminder to go and record some more in the next days!
You did an official remix for Lost Frequencies ‘Rise’. How did this come about and what was it like transforming the original into your realm?
Felix from Lost Frequencies reached out to me for a remix request after hearing and playing my track ‘Floating’. It was an honour for me to do it since I knew his music from before I started as Paradoks. It was of course a challenge to interpret his song “Rise” into my own style, but it was fun and different. The biggest challenge came from the fact that I was in full presentations and exams period for my Master’s Degree, so I overworked myself a bit for a few weeks, trying to balance both the workload of university with the remix, but it was a success and I had a good time remixing it.
If you could collaborate with another producer, or artist, who would it be and why?
I would absolutely love to work with RÜFÜS DU SÖL one day. They have an incredible balance between beautiful song writing and vocals mixed with melodic and modern electronic elements, and they really plunge you into their own realm. Also, working with Janus Rasmussen would be amazing, because he really inspires me and just seems to be such a genuine person.
Will we be seeing you in the UK any time soon?
Yes, I’m coming back to London on the 23rd of March, more info on that soon!
Thanks for speaking to us today!
Thank you for having me.
Connect with Paradoks on Instagram.
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