Welcome back to BuzzMusic Clinton Tarantino! Tell us a bit about yourself and your background? What inspired you to begin music?
Some of my background into what got me inspired to start DJing was so much great music in the 90's & 2000's. I really loved club music & hip hop back then and was very curious at a young age to start producing & DJ'ing it myself. I grew up listening to Scatman John, Ace of Base & Prodigy. When I was able to get my hands on a collection of great dance music like Universal Religion then starting to listen to other mixes back in the earlier days of A State of Trance by Armin Van Buuren, In Search of Sunrise mixed by Tiesto and Trance Around the World by Above & Beyond it really shifted my priority from listening to diving deeper into the music. I then started DJing every day for a couple years and dabbled into production. Then I took production full on to make my own music that truly inspires me as well as DJ live over the last decade.
What are some major differences between playing a full live set and Djing live? Which do you find more challenging? Which do you prefer and why?
Some of the most major differences between DJing live & Playing to me is how my full live sets is the way I put my sets together. I find that doing my live sets gives me 100% creative control, its amazing how many possibilities and functionality you have inside your own workstation. But with that it can become quite overwhelming, so its been a really fun challenge making limits for myself to allow myself to grow within those limitations. I've learned a whole new side of Ableton Live that I rarely utilized before and its been a lot of fun to use while writing. Most of the stuff I do live is not recorded and will be played live only 1 time so it makes every set that much more special to me. With DJing your creative possibilities are still incredibly capable, because with 4 decks and effects you can really do some awesome things. My favorite thing to do is run sample loops on one or two decks add some effects, then mix between two tracks and interchange loops in between each song. This little tid bit also adds to a unique vibe to your set to really give you great creative control. So with all that said I'd definitely say I prefer doing live sets now for how special it is to me at the moment but will continue to alternate the use of both in my performances.
Tell us about your latest production material?
My most recent summer releases have been very Techno & Melodic Progressive House oriented. It’s something I’m really excited to be bringing back onto the table in the scene. These are some of the classic style sounds that initially got me inspired to where I am at today. I've really been diving into a few new synthesizers for all of my latest stuff using a lot of Spire & Diva and I must say these tools are beasts and contribute a great deal to my work.
We loved your single "Egyptian Warehouse". What was the vision you had for this record?
Initially when I made this track I started with inspiration from a few i_o techno tracks that I was really vibing on and went for the heavy techno aspect from these songs to contrast to a more classic progressive sound. This track has something that really uplifts you to the top of a pyramid with exotic melodies reminiscent of classic progressive house and then drops you straight into a dark warehouse filled with lasers. That's really the concept I wanted to portray with the title of the song as well as the signature sound, its quite a unique piece of music and it holds a special place to me.
Now that summer is coming to a close, how was this past season for you? Anything you're looking forward to this fall?
This summer has been amazing! It has been filled with sunshine, music, family, friends, parties, gigs & releases! I have an end of summer anthem that's a bit outside of my normal style & sound that I plan to release quite soon. I am working on finalizing a few bits prior to release at the moment. Also the cultural EP I mentioned in my last interview has been pushed out. I won't disclose too much, but I am happy to announce its going to be quite an evolution of my sound, and I will release more info as it creeps closer to being fully wrapped up! I am also happy to say there will be a lot more new music and shows coming on the horizon this fall and there after :)
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