David Compán Santiago aka Fisical Project was born on May 22, 1996 and grew up in Órgiva-Granada (Spain). He started his career in 2010 after participating in a DJ's competition, where he discovered his passion for electronic music. One day, he casually installed FlStudio and started producing-finishing his first song in 2013. After his first experience with the production, he continued to learn in a self taught manner, and was also guided by tutorials, which would make him progress on a yearly basis and allow him to progress towards the most prestigious record labels on the trance scene.
From 2017, he began to sign agreements on renowned record labels such as Black Hole Recordings, Enhanced Music and Vandit Records, where he managed to receive great support from artists such as Aly & Fila, Armin van Buuren, Dash Berlin, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Jordan Suckley, Mark Sherry, Mike Push, Paul van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Roger Shah or Sied Van Riel, among others.
After several years on the scene, Fisical Project has had the opportunity to be part of compilations such as Perfecto Fluoro vol 5, Rielism vol 4, perform guest mixes for artists like Paul van Dyk and remixing "Lumina" from Giuseppe Ottaviani.
1-Dimitris: 2023 just started but it will be cool to let us know how was 2022 for your career. Let us know about achievements or goals achieved that you are proud of.
Fisical Project: To be honest I think I've always been very strict with myself, and sometimes I forget to love myself a little bit more. My perception until today was not as good as it should have been, although after analyzing just now all the music I have released I should be very happy.
I know I'm very strict with what I do and sometimes that can be a pretty bad thing for yourself, so in the last few years I've been able to work on that a bit more.
Now that I look at everything I've done with different eyes I can say that if you told me a few years ago that I was going to consolidate on Giuseppe Ottaviani's label or that I was going to work with singers like Sue McLaren, Cari or do a remix to Natalie Gioia's voice I wouldn't have believed it.
But being somewhat critical I always expect more from myself, because I was not entirely comfortable with my own sound or style, sometimes I felt that I had no style and I painted what I felt like at that moment, which is not bad but it doesn't fill me 100%.
2-Dimitris: Do you have already some concrete plans for 2023 and if you are allowed to announce them to our readers please tell us what you are preparing for us in the coming months regarding releases and performances in gigs/festivals.
Fisical Project: Concretizing the previous question and at the same time this one. After making my remix to Giuseppe Ottaviani's Lumina two years ago I relaxed a lot, but also during that time I've been experimenting until I got to my current sound. Maybe this new song "Invicta" reflects that change. Personally it is a transitional track to my new sound. But I'm very proud of it of course.
My plan for this year is to consolidate myself, and finish several projects that I think are very interesting and that are going to be at a great level. Sincerely I don't know when these releases will be released as they are still in process, but I can already tell you that they are very anxious and I think they will bring something different to the scene.
I think you can also notice in my networks that I'm back with a lot of energy and motivation, everything is linked to what I'm doing.
3-Dimitris: It would be fantastic to talk about your track Invicta out 24th of March on Vandit. Please tell us how this track came about and what was the idea behind it.
Fisical Project: The truth is that "Invicta" as I mentioned before has been an experiment to get to the sound and style that I hope to unveil soon. It is evident that it is very influenced by artists like Giuseppe Ottaviani but also by that classic trance sound and at the same time by those new interesting sounds that have appeared in the scene like the current "melodic techno" and progressive. I think I've opened up a lot in the last year to listen to a lot of different music and that's helping me to experiment. So I hope to keep it up as I'm enjoying it a lot, before I used to use the same sounds, now I try to listen to all the libraries and try to be creative.
In reference to the name of the song, it's a dedication to Oporto, the city where I lived one of the best years of my life, and which has given me so much.
4-Dimitris: How long it took you to produce it and can u describe the production process in simple steps?
Fisical Project: Honestly I did it quite a long time ago, I think I finished it just a year ago, but I remember it was quite fast, about 20 hours. But it all came about because of the main melody, I tried to do something in tune with my remix to Lumina actually. I wanted to try to transmit that energy that I had achieved with that track.
5-Dimitris: Did you had any particular difficulties accomplishing that particular track or any specific production challenges.
Fisical Project: In general I have had the difficulty to find my style and sound, and although it is true that this track is not 100% reflected yet, it helped me to finally find the style I'm looking for a few months ago.
6- Dimitris: Which music composition software or hardware you prefer and why? What is your opinion of the latest movement to produce music with more analogue equipment and with less or without any digital software?
Fisical Project: I started using Fl Studio, since then we have had a love and hate relationship, you know sometimes it all goes to s... haha.
But I've learned a lot by seeing how other producers work in other programs.
The truth is that I haven't had the opportunity to produce with analog gear, but I would love to be able to feel that with my own hands I can get what I want, it would definitely be fun. But it is true that nowadays many of those synthesizers or effects have analog options, which I use to give more color to the sounds.
7-Dimitris: Do you prefer instrumental dance tracks or you adore vocals? Please explain to us your position and if in your latest production you have vocals tell us how did you choose the specific singer and if it was great to work with her/him?
Fisical Project: I love music with or without vocals, sometimes a voice enhances your theme, and sometimes it's just the melody or the rhythm that tells the story. Now that I've had the opportunity to do several vocals you don't know how much I've enjoyed it! In this case it's instrumental, but for the future I will continue to release songs with singers also guys, there are already several projects on the way!
8-Dimitris: If you really like to produce vocal tracks which vocalist/singer or lyricist on electronic dance music you aspire to work with?
Fisical Project:I would say Jennifer Rene... it's possible that Caleb Golston and I are already working on something....
9-Dimitris: Do you believe that artwork on your latest track is good and do you believe that artwork can attract listeners or record buyers? Can you mention the best artwork of a track ever released?
Fisical Project: I have studied tourism and marketing, so I can tell you that it is very, very important, every detail is important. I remember studying oenology, any detail is important, and not least the presentation or bottling in this example. In the end the way of presenting the product is very important but also the way of presenting it, maybe it has been my strong point so far, I hope my sound is up to it too!
The artworks of Black Hole Recordings look amazing to me, I hope to debut on the main label soon!
10-Dimitris: In which label your latest release will be? Tell us your opinion about that particular label and your connection with them.
Fisical Project: My next release will be on legendary dj Paul van Dyk's label, Vandit Records. The truth is that since I signed with them in 2019 they have treated me very well and it's great that they are still interested in my music. I think they are doing a big renovation on the label and it's great, I feel like they are going back to the top again!
11-Dimitris:How much time do you spend promoting yourself in your social media and you see this as essential tool for self promotion and getting bookings too? Which social media is the one that seems to work better for you?
Fisical Project: I think that if it hadn't been for social networks it would have been very difficult to start this path. I don't know how much time I dedicate to it, this goes in spurts, and motivation, when I am going to release music I am very active, I love to listen to my followers and talk to them, I sincerely thank you for all the support received and above all for treating me as an equal, is what I value most and what makes me feel the same as I have always been a lover of this music!
12-Dimitris: Please note for all the new talents that read this interview to get some inspiration from you any technical tips in relation to your DJing or music productions. Also any piece of personal or music business' advice that has helped you to progress even further and is worth telling to the new upcoming talents.
Fisical Project: I think my best advice to all those people would be to enjoy what they do, not to focus on sounding good but on what they want to transmit, and from there they will improve a lot, I'm sure. When we start producing we tend to focus only on sounding good and forget that the music has to tell you something. On the other hand is that they take all the time in the world, that there is no rush, that they enjoy the journey. That they do it for passion and not for making money.
13-Dimitris: Many DJs who are producers too they offer online masterclasses or teach to music production courses. If you are offering any of these services please tell us about it.
Fisical Project: I've been offering online production services for several years now, and it's something I really enjoy doing, especially because you discover a lot of hidden talent. The truth is that I have been lucky to be able to do sessions with very involved people and that today they have even signed in record labels like Armada, Vandit, sub labels of Black Hole and Monster Tunes. so I can't be more proud of them. But for me it's important to emphasize that even if I show how I produce or how I get to get my sound, if they don't put everything into practice and keep working hard it's impossible to learn in several sessions, the important thing is perseverance, but I have a lot of fun giving online sessions. If anyone is interested I will be in my social networks to talk quietly how it works.
14-Dimitris: Your message & wishes for Flux Bpm Online readers.
Fisical Project: I want to thank everyone at Flux for the support during all these years, to all those people who have always supported me, to all of them who will do it in the future, I hope you found it interesting, a hug!
Thanks so much to Fisical Project for his brilliant interview and we wish him all the best for the future.
