We had the pleasure of interviewing EDM Producer, singer, and actor. Check out the interview below.
Hi, Dylan! Thank you for granting the interview. Your music is amazing, and we’re excited to speak with you about it. Why EDM music?
Hi! It’s an honor to chat with you all and thanks so much for enjoying my music! While I started off playing guitar and classical piano at a young age, I wanted to take my musical passions beyond the instruments I was ‘forced’ to play at a young age. That’s where I discovered EDM. At the time when I started producing (in 5th grade), EDM was not as big as it was now. The radio still only played “old-school” 2000’s music and massive pop superstars, such as Kelly Clarkson and Bruno Mars to name a few. The radio waves were slightly unfamiliar to electronic dance music. However, I had no intention to get on the radio when I started producing. It was something that seemed interesting and that I found to be quite enjoyable to pass the time. It was an easy way to mess around with different instruments without having the instrument physically in front of you. I could play the harp, for example, and not know how to play the harp in real life. It was also a way to be an artist and be somewhat “lowkey” about it too. EDM producers aren’t necessarily singers, per se, so their voices aren’t heard in their songs. As a kid in 5th grade, I could post my music on Soundcloud, and not be judged about my age or my appearance, but for how my music sounded.
You’re also interested in acting. What inspired your desire to act?
As a kid, I loved watching movies! They basically influenced my childhood, and I was so intrigued as a child about how you could make a fantastical world become reality. As my social media following grew and I began to meet more people in the industry, I was finally able to use my connections to start taking acting classes. It’s always been my dream to star in an on-screen tv show or movie and hopefully one day that may come true.
You amassed over 400,000k followers across several platforms. How important is it to reach your fans?
In the music industry, marketing your tracks is the most important thing to get yourself out there and to get discovered. I was fortunate to gain such a big audience on social media, allowing me to promote my releases to my following. Not only are my fans able to know sooner when my music is out, but they are also able to see my whole music-making process, whether it be on live stream or on my story.
I also love social media because I am able to talk to my fans, who continuously support all my music. I try to respond to all my DM’s. I love talking to my fans, and social media is such a great way to get to know those who might not have the chance to meet me in person.
Tell us about your music-making process. How do you choose a sound to produce?
Producing is harder than it seems, and for me, there’s no textbook methodology for producing a song. Typically, however, I would start with a simple rhythm: a drum pattern or a melody. I would start to write lyrics off of that and just have a solid rough draft, knowing what direction I would like to take the track. I generally record my vocals to the lyrics as a draft so I am able to remember how the track sounds. From there, I rescrap the whole instrumental. I use Ableton to produce my tracks, so I just import my vocal file into Ableton, and from there, I am able to start working on the to-be final copy of the track. I start with a nice drum pattern, and generally, I work on the first verse first. Once I have a drum pattern I think works, I’ll duplicate that to the second verse. I try to keep my drum pattern similar, but a tiny bit different, in the intro, chorus, bridge, and outro. For my synths, I use a variety of different plug-ins (NI Massive, Sylenth1, etc). I have a folder of 50,000 different NI Massive presets on my computer, so as you can imagine, there’s a lot going through to find the PERFECT sound/instrument for the particular track. After the leads and synth, it’s a matter of adding the final touches: the final vocals, bass, risers, and buildups, etc. In total, most tracks take me 30+ hours per track. As I said though, this is not some sort of textbook step-by-step type thing, so every track is different in regards to how I make them.
What has been your biggest challenge as a music artist?
Going from a singer and producer on social media to a credible music artist. Making that adjustment. Anyone can get big by posting their music on their Instagram, but it’s making that leap to eventually reach labels and the radio. This is a challenge I have yet to overcome, but I am working on rebranding myself out of this small social media industry of Musically stars and into the music industry.
How has the response been to your music?
So far, I’ve only received positive feedback from everyone (fans, labels, radios, etc) in regards to my music. Hopefully, this stays consistent as I grow as an artist. Of course, I am always going to have people who don’t like my music. It may not be for everyone, but I hope that everyone at least listens to my music themselves before they make any judgments.
How can fans-to-be gain access to your music?
Yes! All my music can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and Instagram! I also post videos of me working on my music on my Snapchat.
Spotify/Apple Music: Rodin’ Flash
Instagram: @RodinFlash
Snapchat: @DJRodinFlash
Tik Tok: @RodinFlash
Youtube: www.Rodin.Tube
If it’s not above, you can find my social media accounts on my website by visiting: www.rodinflash.com/discover
What are your musical icons/influences?
As a producer, my influences are The Chainsmokers, Zedd, Martin Garrix, and Avicii.
As a singer, songwriter, and rapper, my influences are Jon Bellion, Jake Miller, NF, G-Eazy, and Macklemore.
When looking back on the production of your music, what resonated with you the most and why?
I think when I first started adding vocals on my tracks, it really defined what I wanted to become as an artist. I didn’t want to be an electro house or trance artist that didn’t have any words in my songs. I wanted to make music that touched people, that moved people, that motivated others.
In your opinion, how could a music artist make an impact on the world?
I think there’s a sense of unity that music provides. It unites people around the world. Nothing else unites countries like music does. Currently, my favorite singer is this girl from Kazakhstan named Daneliya Tuleshova. She’s incredible and probably the best singer I’ve ever heard. She won The Voice Kids in Ukraine. While she’s not a massive mainstream pop singer living in Los Angeles, or the United States to say the least, she’s been able to gain an immense following and been able to touch audiences worldwide with her amazing voice.
You don’t have to live in Los Angeles to impact the world. That’s a massive misconception. By building a community of following and continuing on your craft, any music artist will be able to make an impact on the world. I remember there was one time when I went live with some fans who lived in Europe and the whole live stream they just taught me, French. As I mentioned, music, by nature, is universal so it’s a matter of putting yourself out there online.
If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose this career? Would you do anything differently?
I believe that everything happens for a reason. Music is something that I am passionate and I could never imagine myself not being a music artist. However, if I could change how I got into the music industry, I would have preferred if I started singing and rapping at the same time as I was starting to get into EDM, similar to the Chainsmokers.
Do you have anything else you would like to share about your music or acting career?
Yes! I’m currently working on a brand new pop/hip hop album called Chapter One with me singing and rapping in it! While I am still producing most of the tracks on this album, it is something completely different from my old work and it’s something new and different that I would like to share with the world. However, I am still planning a few more EDM tracks for my Soundcloud and Spotify. I don’t want to stick to one genre and I want to do what I am passionate about, so hopefully, this album will help give me more insight on what kind of artist I would like to be when I am older.
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