Daniel Wanrooy moves on to a whole new level in his career and presents his debut solo album entitled “Slice Of Life”.
Daniel has been pretty busy in the midst of the recording sessions for his new album. While working on “Slice Of Life” he finished remix assignments for The Crystal Method, Super8 & Tab, JES and Thrillseekers and saw his earlier single “Endless Moments” secured by Ferry Corsten, who used it for his double mix compilation “Once Upon A Night, Vol.2”. The same happened with Betsie Larkin with Super8 & Tab’s “All We Have Is Now” in the Daniel Wanrooy remix, which Corsten grabbed for “Full On Ferry - Ibiza”.
If that wasn’t enough, Daniel also delivered his DJ mix for the “In Trance We Trust, Volume 14” mix compilation. Bookings poured in and Daniel performed in Brazil, Taiwan, South Africa and the U.K and in most European countries. This summer, Daniel will make his debut in Ibiza.
The prelude to all these achievements was the single “Ocean Terrace”, which now appears on the album in a special 2012 version that already gained the support of Tiλsto, Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten and BBC Radio 1. Richard Durand reserved it for his “In Search of Sunrise 8, South Africa” mix compilation. Durand later requested Daniel’s “Bangalore” for his “In Search of Sunrise 9, India”, once again confirming the outstanding quality of the tracks.
For the album, Daniel collaborated with several established artists such as USA Idols finalist Blake Lewis, Elliot Johns, Emma Lock and Hannah Ray. He mastered the album together with Tiesto’s producer Dennis Waakop Reijers-Fraaij.
One thing is clear: Daniel Wanrooy’s “Slice Of Life” is a unique electronic dance album, that will become the best addition to your collection this year!
The release of this great album is the perfect time to conduct an interview with Daniel, and get the background of the making of this must-have collection of wonderful melodies, energetic beats and mesmerizing vocals.
Interview was written and conducted by Dimitri Kechagias, Radio/Club DJ & Music Journalist
Dimitri: Hi Daniel. I’m glad that after two years since we did an interview for your ‘In Trance We Trust’ mix compilation, now we now communicate once again for an interview about your album ‘Slice of Life’. I’m very glad to be doing this and would love to connect the previous interview with this one. In the beginning of 2010, in that last interview I asked you about the rumors of a solo album, and you answered: “I am always full of plans, and I really feel like doing this in the future. But I will wait till a label asks me… They know best when they feel like the time is ripe for it. But I am up for it for sure. Your own album is something special. It’s like giving a bit of your soul away… I will keep on working hard and I am quite sure it will happen sooner or later. “Daniel Wanrooy”
You said back then “I will wait till a label asks me…” How did you feel when Black Hole recordings proposed that you to record a full album for them?
Daniel Wanrooy: It was amazing! It was right after my Trance Energy gig that the subject first came up. Perfect. Good times!
Dimitri: Also you mentioned back then: “Your own album is something special. It’s like giving a bit of your soul away” Now that the album is released do you feel that you gave a bit of your soul away? If so, can you please elaborate on in what ways this happened during the process of recording it?
Daniel Wanrooy: Yeah for sure. Well, it’s more like sharing a piece of your soul. It’s - that’s why the title “Slice Of Life” was perfect for it. With an album you can do a lot more than with a single release. My style has always been a bit more crossover, a mix of a lot of styles; but now I could just do what I wanted myself. For example, the intro track, a long track with an old ‘In Search Of Sunrise’ intro-feeling, combined with live guitars from Martin Cernocky. That was a great experience.
Dimitri: How did the title ‘Slice of Life’ come about, and why did you name it that way? Did you consider any other appropriate names for the album?
Daniel Wanrooy: Well, I am a big Dexter fan, and naming my album “Dexter” would have been a bit too much… No, I saw this title while watching a Dexter episode, it’s the name of his boat. When I saw it, it was like “Hell yeah, that’s it!!”. Of course I considered loads of other names, most of them were too vague, strange, awkward or just didn’t suit the message.
Dimitri: Before the release of the actual album you offer us some brilliant tracks in your ‘Slice Of Life’ EP’s. Have you included all the tracks from these EP’s, or did you change your plans completely to include brand new tracks?
Daniel Wanrooy: Yeah, it was first the idea to release the EP’s, and then pick up the tracks from that for the album. But it just didn’t feel right, if everyone had already heard most of the actual album. Besides that, my style and knowledge had evolved in my opinion. And, another “and”; I had the chance to work with some of the greatest vocalist in the scene. So, I had to move on there.
Dimitri: Of course in the album there are super huge trance anthems that we loved in the past, offered in brand new versions - such as the classic ‘Ocean Terrace’ & ‘Pretoria’. Why did you want to include these tracks in your album, and are you satisfied with their 2012 makeover?
Daniel Wanrooy: Yes! I think both of them are one of my strongest former releases. But you know; the mixing sounded a bit out of date compared to the rest of the new tracks. So, what I tried to do, was to make a new version of both, and especially make the master better. And yes, I like them better how they are now.
Dimitri: How long did it take you to complete the album, and if possible can you recall any funny, sad or unfortunate event that happened while you were recording, that you will never forget
Daniel Wanrooy: It’s hard to give an exact amount of time, but over a year for sure; of course I worked on other projects in between as well. The whole process from beginning till the end was loads of fun! I just love to spend time in the studio. Good thing is that not so many sad things happened.
Dimitri: Another highlight about the production of this album was your co-operation with Tiesto’s producer Dennis Waakop Reijers-Fraaij. Is it possible to tell us your opinion of this legendary producer, and how the idea of working together came about? It would be great to explain to us Dennis’s input through mastering, and how important you think the art of mastering is to a track?
Daniel Wanrooy: He is just amazing! It was such an honour to be in the studio with him - I learned a lot. I remember I contacted him when I made the first version of my track with Blake. He really liked it, and he wanted to finish it together. It was just a matter of milliseconds for me to give a positive answer on that one. The time in the studio was amazing, and we had really good chemistry. When I showed him the vocals I had for Elliot Johns, we decided to produce that one together as well. Together we mastered the tracks of the album, instead of the normal mastering studio. In this case, I could be closer to the finishing touch of the album, and the result became amazing in my opinion.
Dimitri: It would be brilliant to take this album track by track and give us a short comment about each of them. For example; from where you got the inspiration for it, and how your collaboration was with the vocalist on the specific track.
Daniel Wanrooy:
01. Friuli: I gave the name to this track because of my 2 festivals I played in Udine, Italy. I was headliner twice in a sports hall. Crazy! The events were both amazing and I am still in great touch with the organisers, really special people. The guitars were played by a good friend of mine Martin Cernocky. Amazing musician, almost magician ?
01. Friuli: I gave the name to this track because of my 2 festivals I played in Udine, Italy. I was headliner twice in a sports hall. Crazy! The events were both amazing and I am still in great touch with the organisers, really special people. The guitars were played by a good friend of mine Martin Cernocky. Amazing musician, almost magician ?
02. Put Yourself Through This (with Elliot Johns):
One of the 2 tracks I did together with Dennis. This is still one of my favorites, this man’s voice just makes me weak… sounds strange, I know. But I just love it. Still one of the tracks I play the most. I am also working on a club version of this.
One of the 2 tracks I did together with Dennis. This is still one of my favorites, this man’s voice just makes me weak… sounds strange, I know. But I just love it. Still one of the tracks I play the most. I am also working on a club version of this.
03. Ocean Terrace 2.0:
I made this 2 years ago, after my first WMC. We had a hotel at Ocean Terrace, I felt like it could use a little update though. Still a track that always works
I made this 2 years ago, after my first WMC. We had a hotel at Ocean Terrace, I felt like it could use a little update though. Still a track that always works
04. Dog Day Afternoon:
One of the last tracks I made for the album, electro leads and big basslines, love it!
One of the last tracks I made for the album, electro leads and big basslines, love it!
05. Stay In The Moment (with Blake Lewis):
My other collab with Dennis and of course Blake Lewis. I am really proud of this one, his voice is huge! I spent 4 days in his house a couple weeks ago to record the music video (check it out on YouTube!). He is an amazingly creative person and a great guy to hang out with as well. We had a great time!
My other collab with Dennis and of course Blake Lewis. I am really proud of this one, his voice is huge! I spent 4 days in his house a couple weeks ago to record the music video (check it out on YouTube!). He is an amazingly creative person and a great guy to hang out with as well. We had a great time!
06. Tonica:
More of a Pryda style summer track. I really like the pianos, great to open a beach set with in my opinion.
More of a Pryda style summer track. I really like the pianos, great to open a beach set with in my opinion.
07. Bangalore:
This one was already on Richard Durand’s ISOS 9, more of a housey-electro beat, with a fat bassline and an easy melody.
This one was already on Richard Durand’s ISOS 9, more of a housey-electro beat, with a fat bassline and an easy melody.
08. White Sands (with Renι Havelaar):
My collab with Rene, a good old friend, we grew up in the same street. We started to mess around with sounds at the same time. We still love to spend time together in the studio, and we always try to do so once a week.
My collab with Rene, a good old friend, we grew up in the same street. We started to mess around with sounds at the same time. We still love to spend time together in the studio, and we always try to do so once a week.
09. Living It Up (with Emma Lock):
I really love the vocals by Emma, she has that sexy English accent that secretly turns me on a bit. Well, that’s not a secret anymore now right? Anyway, I made the full track in 8T, that makes it really hard to mix, but it gets that really nice deadmau5 drive because of that.
I really love the vocals by Emma, she has that sexy English accent that secretly turns me on a bit. Well, that’s not a secret anymore now right? Anyway, I made the full track in 8T, that makes it really hard to mix, but it gets that really nice deadmau5 drive because of that.
10. Pretoria (2012 Mix):
A Classic, I almost played the original in all my sets. People just love to hear this one live, it has so much energy! That’s why it had to be on my album, I just updated the mixing and arrangement a little bit.
A Classic, I almost played the original in all my sets. People just love to hear this one live, it has so much energy! That’s why it had to be on my album, I just updated the mixing and arrangement a little bit.
11. E.L.F.:
Love this one, still one of my favorites here. A lot of power with electro beats! Perfect for my sets ?
Love this one, still one of my favorites here. A lot of power with electro beats! Perfect for my sets ?
12. Your Life (with Hannah Ray) :
Great vocals by Hannah, upcoming talent for sure! This is one of the most Trancy songs of the album, the melodies and the vocals make it more of a good old Trancer.
Great vocals by Hannah, upcoming talent for sure! This is one of the most Trancy songs of the album, the melodies and the vocals make it more of a good old Trancer.
13. Lotus :
Already released end of last year as a single. This works really good in live sets, the beats are easy but yet so powerful, in combination with the razor-sharp synths it’s a winner!
Already released end of last year as a single. This works really good in live sets, the beats are easy but yet so powerful, in combination with the razor-sharp synths it’s a winner!
14. 4 Days Out:
Chill track with progressive trance melodies. I wanted to slow it down a little bit after the energy of Lotus, this was the perfect track to do that for me. Perhaps not one I would play in a set, but love it for cruising with my car.
Chill track with progressive trance melodies. I wanted to slow it down a little bit after the energy of Lotus, this was the perfect track to do that for me. Perhaps not one I would play in a set, but love it for cruising with my car.
Dimitri: Can you reveal which track took you the longest to complete, and was quite hard to finish, and which track was the easiest and quickest to produce?
Daniel Wanrooy: The track ‘Stay In The Moment’ was actually the longest track to finish, this one goes waaaaaaay back. I first made a version of it for another singer, he sung on it, and it was pretty nice. When we finished it, it was cancelled due to management issues. So Black Hole sent it to Blake, he loved it right away, and made new lyrics for this. When I heard the lyrics I loved them so much, I decided to chance the whole song again, and after that I changed it again together with Dennis. The easiest one was ‘Ocean Terrace’, I had that melody in mind during the WMC 2010 almost the whole week. So that was more copy from the brain / paste in Ableton.
Dimitri: Can you elaborate on the way that you produce the tracks for the album. Did you always start from the very first beats, or did you work, for example first with the breakdown, and then with the rest?
Daniel Wanrooy: It really depends, it goes differently with each track. I have a zillion unfinished projects/ideas, that just didn’t make it to the album, because they didn’t fit, or weren’t eventually strong enough in my opinion. I have nights I wake up with a melody in my head, I just need to go to the attic to make something with that. With headphones of course, my neighbors go through a lot already! :P
Sometimes I start with a beat and make a melody on that. I am working on a new song now, that started with a bassline. I am now at the point I have the melody I like with the bassline.
Dimitri: Did you have the chance to road test the tracks of the album in a club environment, if so, which tracks got the best reaction and feedback from the crowd?
Daniel Wanrooy: Yeah I did test most of them, although I wouldn’t play them all in the clubs. For example, if I played the full length of ‘Friuli’ in a club, people would go out for a smoke, or they would get a drink. That’s just too laidback to play in a club. I would like to make a cool banging version of it one day though, I feel it can have it. But anyway, like I told you earlier, ‘Pretoria’ ALWAYS does a lot of damage on the floors.
Dimitri: Are you going to follow up the release of the album with “Slice of Life” Tour in the near future. If so, can you reveal for us the future gigs that you will perform supporting the release ?
Daniel Wanrooy: We are working on a tour for the US at the moment, but a lot of it has to be achieved with permits, so that will take a little while. I am having 2 ‘Slice Of Life’ gigs in Norway in September, and I have requests for a tour of Poland and Lebanon.
Dimitri: Do you care about your presence in the internet world, for instance; to have a good looking web site and Facebook page, and frequent tweets about your current activities? Do you think that these days DJ’s and producers care more for the audience comments in their social media pages, and the likes they get, rather than the feedback they have during their actual performance?
Daniel Wanrooy: I actually started a bit too late with Twitter and Facebook. I see the numbers of followers and likes increasing pretty well now, and yes it’s really important nowadays. It’s great you can interact closely to your fans now, and I always try to reply to all their questions and tweets. That’s what I really like about it. On the other hand, I dislike the fact that people are able to buy followers and likes nowadays, and I am 100% sure of certain guys in the scene that did it. But sooner or later they will face their own mistakes I guess. It’s so crazy, that you are able to buy “fans”… lol.
Dimitri: My favorite standard question that I always ask is about self-reflection and self-criticism. Out of 10, with what score do you rate the various elements of your DJ performance, and why?
Daniel Wanrooy:
You are so cruel!! ?
You are so cruel!! ?
a) your mixing skills: 7.5 I can mix tight, but I can’t do all the crazy fx things and play with 5 CDJ’s at the same time… but yeah, is that necessary?
b) your ability to choose the right track for the right occasion: 8, I always have some backup CD’s with secret-certain-tough-location-tracks with me. ;)
c) your friendly attitude towards the fans that come to shake your hand when you perform and after that? 10, the highest I can possibly do. I am doing this to the max, these are the people that brought me where I am now.
Dimitri: Many thanks for this interview. Please offer us as the last question your advice to our readers for better life with slices full of unforgettable moments? Can you dedicate to them a track from the album as well?
Daniel Wanrooy: Thank you as well! Loved it. I just want to recommend: ‘Carpe Diem’, just try to enjoy each day to the max. As far as I know we have only one life, make the best of that one. I would like to dedicate ‘Friuli’ to the readers: it’s smooth, beautiful, without too many worries and a bit of a raw edge. The way life should be. ?
Thanks so much to Daniel for accepting my invitation, and taking time out of his busy schedule to answer my interview.
Thanks so much to Jeroen Polak at Black Hole recordings offices for his support in organising this interview
Many thanks also to Mark at Black Hole offices for his big support for my radio shows.
Slice of Life Tracklist:
01. Friuli
02. Put Yourself Through This (with Elliot Johns)
03. Ocean Terrace 2.0
04. Dog Day Afternoon
05. Stay In The Moment (with Blake Lewis)
06. Tonica
07. Bangalore
08. White Sands (with Renι Havelaar)
09. Living It Up (with Emma Lock)
10. Pretoria (2012 Mix)
11. E.L.F.
12. Your Life (with Hannah Ray)
13. Lotus
14. 4 Days Out
Check this great interview on 1mix web site as well, Click here
01. Friuli
02. Put Yourself Through This (with Elliot Johns)
03. Ocean Terrace 2.0
04. Dog Day Afternoon
05. Stay In The Moment (with Blake Lewis)
06. Tonica
07. Bangalore
08. White Sands (with Renι Havelaar)
09. Living It Up (with Emma Lock)
10. Pretoria (2012 Mix)
11. E.L.F.
12. Your Life (with Hannah Ray)
13. Lotus
14. 4 Days Out
Check this great interview on 1mix web site as well, Click here
Additional info:
www.danielwanrooy.com
www.blackholerecordings.com
www.facebook.com/blackholerecordings
http://www.facebook.com/danielwanrooycom
http://www.twitter.com/danielwanrooy
http://www.youtube.com/danielwanrooy
www.danielwanrooy.com
www.blackholerecordings.com
www.facebook.com/blackholerecordings
http://www.facebook.com/danielwanrooycom
http://www.twitter.com/danielwanrooy
http://www.youtube.com/danielwanrooy
Links to the download:
iTunes Click here
iTunes Click here
