Genetrick – a rising talented producer – interview & mix
Genetrick – a rising talented producer – interview & mix
We hooked up with Miki, the man behind Genetrick project, whose very special debut album “Starseed” just released on Iboga Records. There’s also a fresh exclusive mix for you to jump to!
Listen to Genetrick’s new mix while you read:
Q. So a debut Genetrick album on Iboga Records – it’s rather unusual as it tells a story – tell us about it.
A. I’ve always dreamt of making a full length album that has another side besides the music.
I grew up on musical albums that told stories like ‘The Wall’ by Pink Floyd or ׳Scenes From a Memory׳ by Dream Theater and these sort of concept albums inspired my imagination.
During the COVID lockdowns I had a lot of time to think about what kind of concept I wanted as an imaginative world and how to blend it with my passion for psychedelic music. I really enjoyed the process of making the album. My goal was to create a story that would eventually be told by listening to all the tracks and looking at the graphic art that was made especially for the album, and it will add that special link to the whole story.
In General the idea was to show events and occurrences happening in a sci-fi environment that follows 3P, the main character I created, in his search for enlightenment.
Q. What was the path that led to the album – how did you start creating music, how was Genetrick born, and what were the key points on the way?
A. I started creating music at a young age. I used to have a Rock/Metal band with my friends and I was the lead guitarist. At that time I discovered a program called ‘Guitar-pro’, which was a multitrack editor for guitar and bass with a built-in midi editor.
I was influenced by progressive metal bands which had really fast riffs and complex solos so I started composing songs with the program I just learned, influenced by the music I loved, which were too difficult for our band to play. Some time later another friend showed me other editorial programs and I started composing on Cubase. After experimenting with a few music genres, I got hooked on psytrance.
It was a period when progressive trance was breaking out and I was looking for good outdoor parties in my area, Northern Israel. Almost every weekend we went to a party which pumped my ideas and I was influenced by it, so I got to my studio and started piling up tracks until I was ready to let it out and came up with a name for the project. The first EP I released got me my first gig abroad in Switzerland, and since then the dream of making a full length album just grew stronger until I had the chance and time to actually work on one.
Q. What is your vision for Genetrick?
A. Genetrick is a blend of progressive trance and psychedelic full-on trance. Colorful melodies with a twist of powerful riffs. I really love diversity in music and It is important for me to keep the diversity in the project. Some tracks are more on the progressive side, while some are more full-on for the dance floor. Nowadays I’m more attracted to the psychedelic side of things, from hypnotic melodies and up to weird unconventional sound effects.
The only rule I have for the vision of my project as I see it, is if a track moves me and makes me want to dance to it.
Q. Tell us a bit about your studio and creative process.
A. My Studio is on the roof of the building I’m living in in Tel Aviv. Me and my girlfriend renovated an old abandoned room and made it our shared studio space. Today it’s my production studio, which I built from scratch.
I’m usually there in the evening or at night, when everything outside gets calmer and less noisy, it gives me a chance to tune into my own noisy world. I’m used to working with digital vst’s so I don’t have a lot of equipment but recently I started using some analog synths and it spiced up my creative process.
Usually I will start by building a loop of percussion and pump it with melodies until I have a few ideas that connect into a track, or sometimes I start from the intro that brings the ideas flowing into a full track. It varies.
Q. What is your ultimate Psytrance track? We know it’s hard to choose, but still, if you have to…
A. It’s really hard to think of only one. It depends on the mood. One track that really got me at the beginning was ‘The Light’ by Ace Ventura & Lish. The emotional melodies in it made me fall in love with progressive trance.
I can also think of the ‘Time’ album by Quantize that really got me hooked and was super innovative at the time. I remember hearing it on repeat for months on end.
If you look at the last few years, ‘Shamanic Tales’ by Astrix is a super refreshing piece of art, with such an amazing flow. And of course, the ‘Nonstop’ album by Cosma, I think some of the tracks there really shaped our psytrance scene. Like you said, it’s hard to choose only one.
Q. Future plans? A first album, how do you see things going from here?
A. After releasing my debut Album ‘Starseed’ on Iboga records, the label that nurtured a lot of the artists I grew up on, I feel I want to evolve in other directions as well. After spending a long time in a personal creative process, due to the fact that ‘Starseed’ is a solo album, I want to connect to other artists in different psychedelic genres.
Listen & support: https://iboga.fanlink.to/StAr
I’ve started working on a compilation with a lot of artists I really love and I will spend a lot more time on collaborations and remixes.
Besides Genetrick, I also want to open new projects, one with faster BPMs, much more psychedelic, less melodies. Also in the far future maybe another one with slower beats, that is more suitable for live shows. Only time will tell.
Read our interview with Samra: https://trancentral.tv/2022/10/samra-a-rising-talent-to-follow-interview-mix/