“Use your imagination and try to find the sound that is resonating in your head. Know your current tools and hardware to the fullest…” – GIGEE

GIGEE is a name that you may not be familiar with but it is a name you are going to get used to hearing a lot about. She is a DJ that recently stepped up to close the impressive Colosseum nightclub, Jakarta, and fresh back from a tour of Asia which saw her play at venues across Thailand and Singapore. In regards to her productions, her debut EP, ‘Reborn Pulse’ was released on Berlin’s favourite Katermukke label and shot into the Beatport Melodic House and Techno top 100 charts within days of release. GIGEE also recently released the beautiful ‘Lullaby’ EP on mobilee which soon gained some massive support from the big hitters. With lots more superb music on the horizon including another release on Katermukke it looks like this talented young artist is set for some big things in 2020/21. We caught up with GIGEE whilst still in this mad crazy lockdown world for a little chat about her latest release, what she has been up to whilst at home, and ask her a little about how she fell in love with electronic music and the scene…

When I sat and spoke to GIGEE she was catching up with her family in Warsaw, working on some new tracks, reading books and catching up with her mates on FaceTime. So I am sure GIGEE was really enjoying me interrupting her day but I thought I would begin by asking her about how she first got the electronic music bug… I asked her what was is that first grabbed her attention… “I guess that I was in high school. I was listening to electro house, finding new music on the numerous blogs online and visiting vinyl shops, digging through some stuff from Boys Noize, Diplo, Bloody Beetroots, Crookers and so on. I was always kinda different from my friends or classmates with my music taste, I was looking for something extraordinary which you couldn’t find on major radio stations or on TV. That’s how my curiosity works”. I went on to ask GIGEE if she came from any sort of musical background or if any of her family members were involved in music in any way… “Not at all. Although my parents do love music and have always had great taste, mostly jazz music, they have never been involved in any music industry sector”.

Skipping forward to the present day, GIGEE has just released the beautiful ‘Lullaby’ EP on Mobilee Recordings which also includes some rather tasty remixes. I asked GIGEE to tell us a little about the release and how it came about… “Thank you. The mobilee repertoire has been a regular participant in my sets. It’s a well-known, legendary label created by Ralf Kollmann and Anja Schneider, with massive names onboard. So it actually speaks for itself. It is such an honour to be part of this musical family, but yeah… I didn’t see that coming so fast, but I’m really grateful for the opportunity that I’ve been given”. I went on to ask GIGEE about the story behind the release, as there is quite an emotional story behind it… “Oh yeah, I didn’t see that coming as well. I have been in Asia many times before and never struggled with anything that serious. I probably got bitten by a mosquito in Jakarta, when I was touring. I’d started writing “Lullaby” just before I flew in. I ended up getting really sick and went to hospital seriously dehydrated, high fever etc. It turned out to be malaria, and I was unable to finish my tour. It made me really upset as it was my first time touring in Asia and getting collaborations with such amazing names over there. Anyway, after I left the hospital I looked deeper into the track and rewrote it. There is both sadness and happiness in it, the exact mixture of my feelings that day. I thought, I was lucky enough to recover, and that it was a sign to look deeper into what we’re all doing”.

“Do not rush things that much, try to get enough sleep, eat healthily and appreciate what you have. After all, I wanted ‘Lullaby’ to be really different from my other tracks, I wanted it to be more like a composition.”

Whilst discussing GIGEE’s productions I asked if she had a style or method when she is in the studio and working on a track… “Most of the time it comes spontaneously and depends on the track and whether I have a special brief while remixing or not. One day I feel like I have to record something that is looping in my head, another day I feel empty, and unable to develop anything special or maybe nothing that I want to share with the world. So it’s something that couldn’t have been really planned in my case”. I went on to ask GIGEE if there was a track that she really struggled to complete… “There is! I started writing it about 2 years ago and it’s still not 100% complete. It’s one of my unreleased tracks called ‘Exodus’. I don’t really know what’s happening with this one, maybe this is also a sign to consider but every time I approached it, I got a different vibe and idea of how I want it to sound but I’ve finally found a decent idea and will finish it within the next weeks”. One to look out for folks I feel! Hopefully won’t be too long until it sees the light of day.

I asked GIGEE to tell me a little about her studio space and whether she was a hardware or software lover… “Suuure! I have my 2 favourite studios where I mostly finish my tracks, one in Paris (St.Germain district) and the second one in Warsaw. I’m a big fan of Moog and Arturia gear, as well as 303 TB Roland for some techno bassline parts”. I feel many artists would agree with GIGEE on this one… she continued… “I’m mostly using Logic Pro X as a DAW, but sometimes Ableton as well. Depends what I’m currently recording. I keep saying that it doesn’t matter how massive a studio or tons of gear you have if you don’t really know how to use all the features and so on. So it’s more about your abilities and creation process rather than simply the gear”.

“Use your imagination and try to find the sound that is resonating in your head. Know your current tools and hardware to the fullest before you buy another one.”

GIGEE added… “I’m still in the process of completing my own studio but as long as I can come up with new tunes or remixes with my current midi keyboard, a few synthesizers, pioneer nexus decks and DAW software – I’m not that worried!”

I quickly snook in a question about what’s on the horizon in terms of new releases for GIGEE and thought she may give me a little exclusive but she gave nothing away but it certainly does sound like lots more music is on the horizon… “We have a few new releases coming up this summer and also both new tracks and remixes from my side planned for the autumn season. So there will be a lot of new music!”

I am sure like me, many of you are sick of hearing the words COVID-19 or Coronavirus but as we were chatting it felt right to ask GIGEE how she is coping with lockdown and what she has been up to… “Well, I got stuck in Warsaw just before I was about to move to Paris but as I mentioned before I cannot complain, I’ve got everything I need right now and the company of my family and my dog. I also have some studio gear with me so I’m trying to spend my time on the creative process and all of that, which I was postponing while touring. Maybe we all needed to slow down a bit and reconsider what is most important out there and when we should focus our attention. Maybe 2020 is one of the most important years in this process in our world… I hope it is, that some good comes out of all the sadness”. It can be easy to focus the negatives during this crazy mad time but I asked GIGEE what some of the positives have been for her over recent weeks during lockdown… “I hope the second half of the year will be much better. Anyway, yes I’m trying to stay positive and spend time in a productive way, producing new tracks and doing the legwork. We all should stay positive to keep good energy inside us, take care of our loved ones and hopefully get back to some new version of normal pretty soon”.

Whilst on the lockdown subject we have all witnessed the number of DJ live stream across the various social media platforms. I asked GIGEE her thoughts on the live stream and platforms being used for them… I think she thought I was leading her to an answer when she commented… “I’m not sure if you have anything particular on your mind or just a ‘live stream boom’ that we are all experiencing around the globe, not only regarding music and DJs”. I am a grumpy old raver so I am allowed to have a moan about the number of DJ live streams especially from some guys kitchen when he has not washed the dishes… anyway, GIGEE continued… “I’ve seen live streams EVERYWHERE, whether it was a public figure’s page or some cooking pages, fashion sites, my friends’ Instagram or anything else. I feel a bit overwhelmed by tons of it and honestly speaking, I’m no longer that much excited about any of them. It’s just too much. Even your favourite pizza loses its taste when you eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day”. I couldn’t agree more and feel many are on the same page, although I reckon I could live on pizza but GIGEE makes a great point, maybe not every day!

Social media is a huge part of any artist’s life these days, and even more so during the lockdown. I asked GIGEE what some of the biggest positives and negatives are of social media are for her… “I don’t really like managing my own social media, it’s killing me haha! I try to stay in touch with my audience and fans as much as I can and give them backstage and private stuff to keep reminding them that we’re all only humans at the end of the day. The positive side is that we all can stay in touch and updated via social media, the negative is probably the ‘perfect life’ bubble most of us are showing, focusing on the best of it and skipping the everyday problems so it may cause the impression that everything is ideal over here when it’s actually not. Lots of people are getting depressed by seeing all that, and not meeting all of the high standards which social media’s putting on us all”.

As we can see the lights at the end of the tunnel in terms of lockdown (for some of us anyway), I asked GIGEE what she is most looking forward to after all this mess is over (if it ever will be)… “Hmmm, I’m gonna meet and hug my friends and family, all of them, go to my favourite spots and venues, grab my fave food over there, just live a normal life. And I’m really looking forward to touring again, I miss my gigs and the energy that comes with it, sleepless nights, meeting new people, exploring new cultures and so on…”

It was an absolute pleasure to chat with GIGEE and we at Decoded Magazine wish her well for the rest of 2020 and into the future of what I am sure will be a very fruitful career in the industry. Get used to this lady’s work, it is going to be on the playlists of a lot of artists over the coming months!

GIGEE’s ‘Lullaby’ EP is out now on mobile and you can grab it here. Look out for her Katermukke release ‘Minotaur’ which is out on July 17th!

The post “Use your imagination and try to find the sound that is resonating in your head. Know your current tools and hardware to the fullest…” – GIGEE appeared first on Decoded Magazine.