Scolario is a musician from Saratov, whose work is supported by such famous names as:
Armin Van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Gareth Emery, Andrew Rayel, Paul Van Dyk, Ferry Corsten, Cosmic Gate, Tritonal, Ørjan Nilsen and many more.
Scolario latest progressive trance gem Your Wish is out now on FSOE Argento and we gave requested an interview with him. We are pleased to have receive his answers in our interview. Enjoy reading what this very talented artist has to share with us!
1-Dimitris: It would be nice to start by telling us your 3 most important achievements or goals fulfilled in your career so far that you very are proud of.
Scolario: 1. One of the outstanding tracks "Vikings" was played by the well-known project Tritonal musicians at the large-scale festival of the main stage Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, the guys also played a cool set with the same track at the party at Gareth Emery, where he presented his new album (The Lasers Virtual Album Release Party), this track was also played on the famous SiriusXM radio, as part of the largest and most powerful Electric Zoo festival.
2. Throughout my creative career, I have been supported by such stars as Armin van Buuren, Above & Beyond, once I could not believe that my music would sound in their radio show
3. In 2022, in the spring, the large-scale A State Of Trance 1000 festival thundered in Los Angeles at the Banc of California Stadium.
Jovan Brooks aka DJ Mr. Brooks opened this festival with their set, where they played a 30-minute warm-up mix consisting of 6 cool tracks, one of which is our collaboration with Paul Arcane - Donovenya
2-Dimitris: Why and under which circumstances did you took the decision to start DJing or producing electronic dance music?
Scolario: I have always loved music since childhood, although I did not come to the electronic genre right away. I started with cassettes of Eminem, Eurodance, and then I heard the band of Benny Bennasi, it became a love-to-love-to-love-to-music and electronic genre in general.
At the age of 16, I got a computer, and I immediately installed the program from the disk of Magix Music Maker 2004, because then I didn’t have the Internet in my city, God, this program was something very cool for me, these effects of reverb, flanger and all this on the most ordinary small computer speakers. At first I just tried to use ready-made loops and constructions, it was funny, I considered myself a powerful musician ahah, but then my mind was changed by such a program for creating music as FL STUDIO, this is where my journey began...
3-Can you note down the top 3 producers that have influenced your decision to get involved in the electronic dance music scene and you admire and respect them very much?
Scolario: I began to study music closely in 2016, then I fell in love with the style of Progressive Trance, my favorites were Audien, Shane 54 $ MYON, ARTY. But now I am madly in love with the old sound of Grum and Eric Prydz, they are real sources of inspiration for me, although their genres are far from mine, which I write.
4-Dimitris: It would be fantastic to talk about your track Your Wish out now on FSOE Argento. Please tell us how this track came about and what was the idea behind it.
Scolario: The inspiration for writing Your Wish for me was listening to the compositions of 2016, ABGT podcasts of that time, maybe that's why the track sounds in such an old genre of the time when it was fashionable
5-Dimitris: How long it took you to produce it and can u describe the production process in simple steps?
Scolario: I always dream of devoting more time to writing music, but sometimes it just doesn't work out at all. I wrote this track for a month, made important adjustments, for which I want to thank Dan Stone, he helped me a lot to hear the mistakes that I later corrected, thanks to this, the FSOE team liked my track
6-Dimitris: Did you had any particular difficulties accomplishing that particular track or any specific technical challenges or obstacles that you had to overcome during its production.
Scolario: Yes, I have a weak computer, and this interferes with comfortable work with music, it probably takes just a lot of time, when the project loads for a very long time, it starts to crack, many musicians like me face this, but I don’t lose heart, someday I I will definitely buy myself a new and powerful computer ahah, but for now I continue to create
7- 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?
Scolario: I live in a small town and there are no shops with music equipment to touch and listen to, so I use FLSTUDIO and plugins like Waves, Fabfilter and many others. I think that now the music world has made a big breakthrough in terms of digital imitation of analog equipment, I think that it sounds real, as if there was an iron synthesizer or compressor nearby.
8-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?
Scolario: I love vocals very much, but I haven't released any vocal track yet, I hope this will definitely happen in the future. In my tracks I use vocal cuts, which I try to edit for a new sound, it's quite a nice creative process.
9-Dimitris: If you really like to produce vocal tracks which vocalist/singer or lyricist on electronic dance music you aspire to work with?
Scolario: I really love the vocals of JES and Haliene, I would like to collaborate with them someday
10-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?
Scolario: Yes, I love this cover, it's beautiful and minimalistic. As for the rest of the covers, to be honest, I can’t even choose the most memorable, they all have their own specific character.
11-Dimitris: Can you pick your top 3 record labels including the one released the track that we discuss in this interview and give us a short comment about them?
Scolario: I love Anjunabeats and Enhanced but they have changed their sound lately leaving progressive trance behind and I am very happy that Dan Stone has given a new life to this genre by opening his own label with the support of FSOE, it is prestigious for me to be part of such a major label, like FSOE
12-Dimitris: Do you have your own record label? if yes tell us when did you set it up, the reasons behind this decision and your top 3 releases on the label so far plus 2 or 3 releases that we should look after from your label.
Scolario: No, I certainly thought about it, but decided to leave it in my plans for the future for now.
13-Dimitris: Are you planning to complete an album or mix compilation soon? if yes please give us all the details about regarding tracks and how will look and sound like?
Scolario: No, I like to write tracks separately outside of the album, but maybe someday it will happen.
14-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?
Scolario: I always dream of getting a big return, but I have few tools for this. I send my music to friends for support, I make sure to post on social networks, this contributes to attention to the track for the listener, but I am very glad that the label also helps a lot to bring the track to the audience
15. Are you happy with the way that royalties system works particularly regarding streaming revenue? Do you believe that artists get what they deserve from streaming providers/DJs playing your tracks in gigs/radio and selling music in physical formats like CDs/Vinyl or digitally.
Scolario: I would call these deductions pocket money, they are enough for food or paying for subscriptions and the Internet, but when there are a lot of tracks, the income is relatively higher, but I love these rewards, they motivate.
16-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.
Scolario: I am always happy to communicate with guys who have just started their journey, I like their emotions of joy and disappointment, but I always support and motivate them, I hope my article will be interesting for them
17-Dimitris: Can you describe your music as certain music genre such as trance, house, techno or your music exempts these categorizations? What is your opinion about hybrid styles and the artists who are attempting to mix influences from various genres in their tracks?
Scolario: I write tracks in progressive trance style, sometimes I try to mix it with genres like synth wave, because I like very old sounds of those times, I also sometimes write melodic house, but it's rare, most of the time my ideas still flow smoothly into trance, even if I want to write house, ahah this is funny.
As for mixing styles, I think it's an interesting experiment, but I don't want it to shift the mainstream genres out of the music market.
18-Dimitris: Is your music business your full time occupation and are you able to make a leaving out of your music business (DJ/producer/label owner/teaching or mastering tracks)? If not what other jobs are you doing in order to support your income?
Scolario: Music is a hobby for me, although I would not mind if it became my main job, but my main job is related to IT, where I help clients set up computers and programs, not to say that I love it as music, but it's also interesting, it's and is my source of income
Find Your Wish here: https://fsoe.streamlink.to/yourwish
Thanks to Scolario for his answers and time devoted to give some insights on his productions.
Thanks to Dan Stone/Argento for arranging this interview.
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