Funk Farm Takes Over Pacha NYC (Part 2) Interview w/ Sydney Blu

(register & login to view link) (register & login to view link)

Welcome back to part 2 of the Funk Farm (register & login to view link) takes over Pacha NYC (register & login to view link). As I said mentioned before in “Funk Farm Takes Over Pacha NYC (Part 1) Interview w/ Funkagenda” on this amazing night we had the pleasure of kicking the party of nice and proper with the amazing sounds of Sydney Blu (register & login to view link). Words can’t do Sydney Blu any justice to describe how amazing her set was. So I would advise you to check out her latest mix compilation (register & login to view link) and her “Blucast” (register & login to view link) podcast series to get a sample of the musical journey she led us on. After her heart felt performance was over Sydney Blu honored us with the opportunity to talk to her about the current affairs in the EDM scene and whats she was personally up to now a days.

The following conversation is between Sydney Blu, my good friend and fellow artist Minstra (register & login to view link)and myself (Robbie Lumpkin (register & login to view link))

RL: How would you describe your sound in 3 words?

Sydney Blu: Banging, jacking, house music!

RL: Have you have the chance to read Deadmau5’s famous article (register & login to view link)?

Sydney Blu: You know what honestly I know Joel really well. So that article was not news to me on his opinion because I already knew how he felt. I’ve heard him talk about this a lot because we’re really good friends. I’m not saying I agree with all of it though. We defiantly have our difference of opinion’s on it but, Joel’s such a good friend of mine so I know how he feels about this stuff.  He’s just feels very strongly about it and I completely respect him for that, he has every right to have strong feelings about his opinion and I respect it. And that’s pretty much it.

Minstra: How did you decide to get into DJing?

Sydney Blu: I basically started because I was really inspired by electronic music and from seeing DJ’s play live when going to a club when I was in college.  I saw my first DJ when I was in college. From what I remember the biggest DJ’s that I saw at the very beginning of my career were Roger Sanchez (register & login to view link), Erick Morillo (register & login to view link) and Danny Tenaglia (register & login to view link). Those were like the pioneers for me anyway. They were my favorites defiantly back then and they still are today. Watching DJ’s like them inspired me and made me want to do it myself.

RL: So how is it being one of the most successful working female DJ/Producers and record label owner, in the industry?  Your going on tour, you have five residency’s, you have a new album coming out.

Sydney Blu: I don’t really think about it because I just do it. I get up in the morning, I do my job and it’s all I know. I live and breathe for it, I do it all day and I just love it.  And I wouldn’t do anything else because I will work 24hrs a day for my passion. I don’t even consider it to be work because you know what they say “If you do something you love, you never work a day in your life” but I do work “Hahaha” I work hard.

Minstra: Did you feel any resistance being a female DJ in a male dominated industry?

Sydney Blu: At times yeah but, you can’t look at it like that. You can’t ever stop and go “O I’m a girl and they’re treating me like this or that”. You can’t ever do that because then you’ll get even more resistance towards you, so you have to pretend you’re just one of the guys. Or even better you just look at yourself as an artist you don’t look at yourself as any gender in particular. I’m a DJ, I’m not a female DJ you know that kind of thing.

RL: I hear that your planning on updating and restarting your Blucast (register & login to view link). A podcast series I’ve always been a big fan of.

Sydney Blu: We’re planning on bringing it back very soon with some nice changes. The Blucast up until now has just been me doing 1hr mixes for my fans and that’s been awesome because they really seem to love it. But now I’m going to turn it into a radio show. It’s still going to be me doing mixes but I’m also going to be bringing in guest mixes every week now. And it’s really exciting because now I get to work with a lot of people I’ve really wanted to work with for a long time. I get to have a lot of my favorite artists as my guests and that really exciting. The basic format is going to be a 30 minute mix by me and a 30 minute mix by a guest every two weeks. It will be featured songs like something new that I love, something that’s coming out soon and the Blu pick of the week.

It’s launching on several different radio stations which I will be able to disclose sooner than later as well. I can’t really right now because the whole thing hasn’t been worked out yet. I’m really excited about it and I feel that my fans will really love it because they are going to hear me speaking my mind as well, it’s going to be a lot more personable this time around. There have been a couple Blucast’s in the past were I got on and I spoke a bit. But now I will be talking on every episode. I will be telling everybody what my favorite tracks are right now, how I am feeling, what I have been up to etc…I think people will get to know me better this way.

RL: It’s a great outlet. I mainly listen to music through podcasts now a days. Because I know who I like as a DJ/Producer and I know I’m going to like what you guys are going to play. With the added bonus to hear your opinions and thoughts on what’s happening now. It’s always great to hear that and helps keep me up to date on the industry.

RL: You mentioned that you will be sharing some of your favorite tracks in your podcast. What would you say are 3 of your favorite tracks right now?

Sydney Blu: I love “Allein” by Eric Prydz (register & login to view link). Another one of my favorite tracks is “Totally Worth It” by Hot Mouth (register & login to view link), with Chris James (register & login to view link) who’s also the vocalist on “The Veldt” (register & login to view link). When I played it earlier it really went off and that’s going to be on coming out Rising Music (register & login to view link). Another record I like right now is called “Smile” by Christian Falero (register & login to view link) I played that tonight also. It was the first time I ever played it out live and the people went crazy!

RL: What would you say are the best and parts about being an artist?

Sydney Blu: The best part about being an artist is you get to put yourself out there. You are doing what you love, showing your passion, your art and your emotions to the world. And then if it’s loved in return, it’s like the best feeling in the world there’s nothing that beats it you know. And the negative side is the exact same thing, you can be totally judged on it negatively. It’s not a perfect world and you have to be able to take rejection and develop thick skin to deal with everything. Being a musician there’s always negative things that come along with it and you have to be able to take the good with the bad to be able to do it. A lot of people don’t want to be rejected, they don’t want to go through constantly working on things that aren’t going your way. They don’t want to go through that because its hard work.

RL: It’s hard for sure and dealing with rejection is hard, it’s just natural human instinct to resist those things.

Minstra: Where are your favorite places to perform?

Sydney Blu: My favorite places to perform would be Toronto because it’s my hometown, Miami, I love performing in San Francisco it’s a great city. Also I love Ibizia, I’ve played there several times and São Paulo in Brazil. New York is really one of my favorite places to play because people know music here so that’s a no brainer, this is one of my favorite places.

RL: Nowadays social media sites like Twitter and Facebook play such a big role in the industry. By connecting you to your fans, other artists and key people in the industry. What’s your view on how it’s changed the way you work over the years?

Sydney Blu: I like it because I can be personal with my fans and they can get to know me. Like if I’m in a certain kind of mood or when I post a shot of me goofing off in the studio. I swear to god those are the posts that get the most response, me just being me. As opposed to come to my party or here’s my flyer for this show or here’s this. My biggest pet peeve is artists that only post things about promotion on their fan pages. Like come to my party, listen to my music, do this, do that and buy my music, don’t be so selfish people. If you want people to give a shit about what you’re doing, show them another side of you. Show them who you are, you know what I mean and show them that you actually care. You should want to get to know your fans a bit, you’re not going to get to know them personally but at least post a picture of yourself in the studio. Like this is what I do when I’m working on the things I’m asking you to buy from me.

RL: What do you use in the studio as your DAW of choice?

Sydney Blu: Ableton Live (register & login to view link).

RL: For everything, like all stages from production, to mixing and mastering, do you use it all the way through or switch it up?

Sydney Blu: Ya I use it for everything. I use it for writing music and I use it for doing my podcasts and mixes. I love it, it’s the most user friendly program in my opinion.

Minsta: How do you approach creating music in Ableton Live, like before you do anything how do you make it happen?

Sydney Blu: I might be inspired by things I’m hearing or I might be thinking something in my head like a tune or a idea. Then I will play a bit out on my piano before I translate it into a beat. Sometimes that’s how I write my songs.

RL: What’s is the one piece of equipment in your studio that you cannot live without?

Sydney Blu: My Novation midi controller (register & login to view link), it’s a big keyboard.

RL: Is there anything else you want to say personally to your fans, any future projects besides the ones we’ve already mentioned?

Sydney Blu: I have tons of new music coming out starting in July. Like “Chemistry” (register & login to view link) my newest single will be coming out with a few remixes. I also have a bootleg called “A Little Bit Paranoid 2012” (register & login to view link) I’m going giving out, so look out for that.

Minstra: One last question, who is your absolute favorite artist? Like who do you look up to?

Sydney Blu: Like Dj?

Minstra: Like anyone.

Sydney Blu: Madonna (register & login to view link). I’m a big Madonna fan, like honestly I could go on for hours about Madonna hahaha!

In case you missed it don’t forget to check out “Funk Farm Takes Over Pacha NYC (Part 1) Interview w/ Funkagenda”

(This interview was done by Robbie Lumpkin (register & login to view link) with the help of Minstra (register & login to view link))

(The photos presented here are credited to the talents of the world renowned Rukes (register & login to view link))

(register & login to view link) (register & login to view link)