Weska is a Canadian born artist who has seen his productions on hard hitting labels like Cocoon, Drumcode and Bedrock in the past – no mean feat at all. Now with a recent release on Strange Idols “Falling”, we caught up with him to find out how it got into electronic music, and how the new release came about…
Hey Weska, what’s good in your world right now?
Hello hello. I’m just at the airport heading back to Toronto from New York after a little holiday. It was amazing, I love this city!
Tell us about how you got into music and how long it took to find your own sound?
I gained a ton of inspiration from ski and snowboard movies when I was a kid. A lot of them had electronic music, and at the time, I had never heard the genre before. I was immediately hooked and had no idea how integral watching them would become. Regarding my sound, I still think it’s ever-evolving. I’ve always been influenced by progressive house, so I feel I’ve developed this crossover sound between techno, house, and progressive house.
How much does life in Toronto, the scene, the people, the clubs etc impact the music you make?
I go out and listen to techno here and there, but I find I attend a lot more concerts in other genres – indie rock, new disco, mellow electronic etc. It’s from these shows that I gain a lot of inspiration. I love to go to Coda Toronto and Vertigo though, really nice group of people and a tight-knit scene to who I owe a lot. They have done so much for me over the years.
What defines that sound, what is your nature do you think?
I gain most of my inspiration from other genres actually. Indie rock, 80’s and 90’s music. I find it keeps things sounding contemporary enough but also fresh. I really love cinematic/ethereal music as well., so I try to make music that blends these elements with a modern club beat.
What was it like to get support from Adam Beyer? What does it mean?
I remember I was working at a bar and Layton Giordani texted me saying “dude, you’re not gonna believe it… you’re on Drumcode Radio”. Receiving his support changed my entire perspective on music and made me laser-focused. It felt surreal.
What are your aims in the studio? What are the most important part of your tunes?
I love writing melodies and fun chord progressions and I want to incorporate more of that into my music going forward. Less about the drums and more about the melodies. Having a good groove from the start is key though, and of course, using good drum samples. I want to continue to push my sound design and make the best music I can possibly make, incorporating hardware synths when I can as well.
Tell us about your new tune “Falling”? What inspired it?
I was sitting at my kitchen table having a coffee and I came across this incredible sample and immediately loaded up Logic. The idea popped into my head instantly and I had the entire creative idea in a couple of hours. I love the 80’s and 90’s synth wave sound and had a lot of fun incorporating this into a club track. It’s a special one to me.
What gear do you use? Hardware or software, does that matter?
I’m almost entirely in the box, I find it allows me to work quickly and efficiently, and with a bit of processing I can make things sound more warm and analog. Not perfect, but close. I do love a good hardware synth of course – my cheap and cheerful Behringer CAT is really fun, and I would love to get my hands on some Dave Smith and Waldorf stuff.
When producing are you making tunes you want to play in your own dj sets?
It depends on my mood, sometimes I’m making music to listen to and release elsewhere, sometimes for other people, but when I’m making a Weska track it’s for my dj sets and for me to play live.
What else have you got coming up or are you working on?
I have a few really exciting collaborations coming up, some tracks I’ve been so eager to release. Keep an eye out on my socials for those!
