MUSIC | An Interview with Daniel Blume
Daniel Blume hailing from Dublin, is quickly etching out a notably impressive career for himself.
Breaking onto the scene as a budding producer under the globally renowned Spinnin' Records, the 19-year-old set his first record of becoming the first Irish DJ to sign with the illustrious label. He's been hailed from the likes of Sam Feldt who even went on to say 'If you haven't heard from this young prodigy yet be sure to check him out because I know for sure we'll be hearing a lot from him in the future. I can tell this kid and his music are going to shock the world' We got the chance to catch up with him this week!
What age were you when you started producing music?
From the age of six months my mum took me to mother and child group music glasses which helped to spark a passion for music from a very young age. At four years old I began to play the classical guitar and at 8 I was awarded a scholarship from The Rolling Stones to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey. Here I began to also study composition where I realised I had even more passion for creating music myself. When I was 14 I heard Martin Garrix's hit Animals for the first time which opened my eyes to dance music and after discovering that he was only a couple years older than me I a whole world of possibilities opened and I began teaching myself to produce music from videos on youtube.
You attended The Yehudi Menuhin School "a school for musically gifted children", how has attending a specialised music school helped you with producing electronic music?
I think that it really helps when it comes to the creative process of making chords and melodies as well as developing the structure of a song that's able to hold the attention the whole way through. Of course, there are also many differences between classical music and writing a pop song so every day I'm learning new things and techniques in the studio when it comes to songwriting but the fundamental musical knowledge I owe completely to the education from my school.
What instruments do you play?
Currently, I play the guitar and the piano and I also sing. I try to incorporate all of these into the records that I put out as I think it's really important to really showcase who I am as an artist into each song. As well as djing and singing, I really want to incorporate lot's of other live elements into the Daniel Blume show which I think will bring a unique flavour to the performance.
What age did you sign to Spinnin' Records? Is it true that you were the first Irish DJ signed to Spinnin' Records? How did Spinnin' discover you?
I signed to Spinnin' Records when I was 18 years old and it was so exciting to be the first Irish DJ to ever sign to the biggest dance music label in the world. Spinnin' is like one big family, all the artists know each other and support each other and I think that's an amazing atmosphere to have and pretty unique to the label. I actually got discovered by Spinnin' in an interesting way. I went to this huge dance music convention in Holland called Dancefair which happens annually and here I established a contact with my now publisher Oscar Ombach who was working for Universal at the time and was actually the publisher who first signed Martin Garrix which kind of links the story. He soon transferred to Music All Stars Publishing a sister company of Spinnin' Records and so after signing a publishing deal I got in contact with the label.
What was the inspiration behind your latest track 'Balcony'?
Balcony is a very personal song to me. I had a lot of emotions in my head about a relationship whilst writing the song and wanted to express it in a slightly different way than usual. 'Balcony' acts as a metaphor for being on the edge of a relationship where you don't know if you should go on together or give up and go your separate ways. The whole song was written quite quickly, in just a few days, but the production took many different turns along the way. I'm really happy with the final product and how the song turned out and I'm super excited to be able to share it with the world.
You recently moved to London from Dublin, Ireland, do you think the move will help with your progression in the industry?
I'm super excited to be here in London, surrounded by my best friends who are also all so driven to succeed in the music industry. London has always been one of my favourite cities and when I was at school it was almost a tease of being so close and yet so far from the city so to actually be living right in the centre right now is so cool. There is so much going on in terms of sessions, concerts, music businesses, agencies and labels here that I really want to take advantage of it all and I'm going to be in the studio everyday working on tons of new music for you guys!
In 2015 Daniel was awarded the BBC Young Composer of the Year award! To catch more of Daniel's music, feel free to clikc on his links below!