With his latest single \”Zaza\” grabbing the attention of some of the biggest names in the dance scene, Swedish producer Garmiani has made sure he is at the top of his game in 2014. It\’s also his second outing on Steve Aoki\’s Dim Mak, and it\’s no surprise that his DJ bookings have been increasing ever since last year\’s \”Rumble\” EP. He spoke to Garmiani to get the lowdown on his recent work.
Where did the inspiration come for the creation of ‘Zaza’?
It started out with me just playing around with the piano and looking for melodies that’d make me feel good. Being an 80’s baby, I\’m into 80’s music, so I was playing around with chord progressions and melodies that have an 80s vibe. When I had the chords and melodies I wanted to use, I redid them with big synths and built the track around it. Then I added the \”Zaza\” vocal. Everybody is asking me what \”Zaza means\”. It means…
You have had numerous releases through Dim Mak, how did this relationship come about?
I sent this track “Dance Motherfucker” to Bryan Linares from Dim Mak. He liked it and sent it to Steve Aoki. Steve got in touch with me saying he loved it and wanted to sign it to Dim Mak. When i started working with the team, we clicked and I loved it so I\’ve been releasing singles there for the past year, it\’s awesome. Shout out to Steve and the Dim Mak crew!
Having played all over the world this summer, has there been one show that stands out above the rest?
One of the nights I played at Pacha Ibiza was incredible. Tomorrowland was also sick because I had the opening set and it was totally empty in front of the stage when I started playing. People kept pouring in fast though and by the time I was done, there were thousands of people in front of me raving like crazy and the atmosphere was all love. It started with a lounge mode and ended all sweaty and crazy.
What has the reaction been like for \”Zaza\” at the live shows?
The reactions I\’ve been getting when playing \”Zaza\” at shows really makes me happy. When I played it before there even was a preview online and nobody had heard it, people started to sing along with the melodies halfway through the track. How crazy is that? Then I played at a festival in Italy one day after the preview was out, and there were people in the front row singing along from the beginning and screaming \”Zaza\” when the vocal came in. That stuff is just magic.
With EDM being so big worldwide, where do you see it developing and how will you adapt your sound for the future?
“Dance Motherfucker” didn\’t sound like any other track on the Beatport electro house chart with its baile funk influences and “Nomad” didn\’t sound like any other track with its oriental/Kurdish flute in the break. They both fitted well with the hot tracks at the moment though and were played by the biggest DJ’s at the biggest festival stages. That\’s how I like my music. With one foot in what\’s going on at the moment and the new stuff that influences me, and the other foot in whatever non-EDM music that\’s influencing me.
Finally, if you could work with one artist, who would it be?
That\’s a really hard question to answer because there are so many. It could be anybody from Steve Aoki, Steve Angello, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sean Paul, Busta Rhymes or Deorro. But if I could choose anybody dead or alive, I\’d choose 2pac. Imagine being in the studio with 2pac and being able to produce him and co-write his flow. To take his signature style of delivery and switch it up a little bit, so you would have him spit a chant hook on a West coast hip-hop influenced electro house track. My god, the possibilities!
You can grab \”Zaza\” here.
