Myagi gets into the interview fray with Warp Academy Sponsored Artist Adam Hennessy. Adam, hailing from Victoria BC, is a ridiculously hard working club DJ and producer. His sets range from electro to funky bits and deep house – a versatile party rocker and one we’re proud to support!
How long have you been producing dance music for as opposed to just DJ’ing?
4 years. My first release was a year and a half ago. It was a collaborative remix of Kid Panel’s “R U Ready” released under Pooty Club Records. The track was #1 on Beatport Breaks’s charts for over a month, and working on the remix was a boatload of fun.
I had the pleasure of working with Synthetic Hype, no stranger to the Beatport charts. I was stoked to learn that my first release sat comfortably at the #12 on the charts.
We had fun with it. I come from a more “4 on the floor” background, and pushed for a more Electro vibe, while Synthetic Hype was all about the beats, cuts and tricks. Together we were able to put a fresh new twist on the tune. I’m quite happy with it.
Nice one! What is your home studio like?
I use a Macbook pro. Mostly sample and plugin based production through Abelton Live with an Akai MPK 61 key midi controller.
I’m all about learning new methods, tools, tricks and workflows to enhance my production.
What plugins are you working with?
I use a slew of plugins. Waves is my bread and butter when it comes to the basics (EQ \ Limiters \ etc..). I’m quite fond of the Izotope family of plugins, particularly Ozone (holy harmonics!). The Native Instruments family also has some gems. Reaktor hosts a slew of awesome synths, effects, and has a large user base of ensembles to tweak. Absynth is great for ethereal and more experimental textures. And then there’s Massive, and FM8 for that old school retro FM synth feel.
How has working with Warp Academy influenced your music production?
Watching Warp Academy’s online tutorial videos have been helping me re-approach my current projects. Specifically, I’ve been able to use Ableton Live more efficiently, my sound design is evolving and my overall work flow are a some things that these tutorials have definitely helped me with. I’ve been in Pro Tools land for a majority of my production history and am looking for other creative methods of making music. I’m all about learning new methods, tools, tricks and workflows to enhance my production.
Non-linear, all the way baby!
Now that you’ve switched to Live, what how has your songwriting changed? Are you more linear or loop based?
I prefer to work on ‘nuggets’. I’ll bust out a gnarly bassline and a catchy lead. Then I might come up with a good melody and see how separate segments flow together. I rarely, if not ever, start a track from the 0:00 mark till the end. Nuggets get thrown into a slew of potential segments, and the track comes to life after. Non-linear, all the way baby!
Whats your most indispensable piece of kit?
My Akai MPK 61 key midi controller.
What was the first big milestone for you that you knew you’d remember forever?
My first international gig in Linkoping, Sweden two years ago.
Awesome – what stood out for you? The club? The food? Where do you want to go next?
Being in a place where EDM is accepted and no big deal. I have been very passionate about electronic music since 1998 and have found it really hard to find people that had the same love for the music as I do – until now of course. It was really funny, I walked in to a clothing store and one of my favourite tracks came on. That was a great memory.
The club Charken was great! I played there 2 times while I was there. Great crowd and I have to say that like loved it when I played Swedish House Mafia or Avicii. They sure like the big stuff.
The food that really stood out with me was the cheese, milk and olives. All I can say is that was an experience of epicness (I don’t think that is even a word).
I would really love to go DJ in Brazil and play Deep house on the beach. My dream!! I actually am woking on it right now I have a good connection down there so this might actually happen.
