Rick Stones presents his wonderful track Stream of Light on Pattern, the top progressive imprint curated by Dylhen. Let's find out more about this talented artist in his very informative interview.
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.
Rick Stones: Happily settling on a sound I've been refining for many years has been a long but fruitful journey, experimenting with many styles across EDM.
Becoming a winner of a large remix competition for Elliptical Sun Recordings for a track called Haunted by Leo Lauretti, Vault 14 ft. Anna Renae, resulting in my first big release.
Reaching out and connecting with fellow producers and made a lot of good friends in the process. This has helped me exchange ideas and areas to grow my production skills.
2-Dimitris: Why and under which circumstances did you took the decision to start DJing or producing electronic dance music?
Rick Stones: I started producing around the age of 16 and at the time I was newly discovering many great tracks in electronic music. Over time I've stuck with it and felt I've learned and grown and gotten a lot of rewarding experiences from it and it served as a good outlet during personally trying times too.
3-Dimitris: 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?
Rick Stones: It started with my love for what Sasha was producing at the time way back in the early 2000's, his vision for progressive music had a large influence on me. I moved into more niche and contemporary styles and in electronica like Apparat and Sphongle that for me at the time was completely different stylistically but had firm roots in electronica.
Trance acts such as Gabriel & Dresden for me captured the emotion I wanted in my music, and I always loved their driving and emotive tracks.
Today's music I have been inspired so much by Spencer Brown's output and Ben Bohmer's music. The importance for me is melodically focussed tracks that try to push a little beyond expressiveness with a little twist. That really grabs my attention.
4-Dimitris: Can you tell us the top 3 tracks from the past that have influenced your sound the most and why?
Rick Stones: Juno Mamba - Us. I could not put this down. The melody and story telling really got my feelings going and it has a big crescendo. That's the feeling I wanted distilled in Stream Of Light - but framed as a more energetic and upbeat track. It resonated a lot with me.
Marsh - Foss. It captures that mysterious and enchanting vibe to be fair he delivers on many of his releases. This track in particular gave me a big sense of escapism. I never made that the central theme in Stream of Light, but that 'other dimension' aspect of Foss was what I wanted to come through in its sound, which inspired the use of the vocal in the final drop.
Spencer Brown - Womaa - a triumphant track and a great album closer! I love a highly charged and happy track at times. This track had such an elated and celebratory mood I feel is hard to capture in music with a good sense of taste. Its easy to get wrong or overdo I feel, but this track is a masterclass in how it can be done. In Stream of Light I wanted to set the listener off with a sense of tension and drive before lifting their mood just like in Womaa. I feel proudest of this in my track and took the longest time to perfect.
5-Dimitris: It would be fantastic to talk about your latest release Stream of Light on Pattern. Please tell us how this track came about and what was the idea behind it.
Rick Stones: The idea was in half a state I wrote sometime at the start of the year. I'd just finished writing a slower, deeper track where I felt like I'd turned a big corner in production. I was frustrated things hadn't really come together for me even though I was getting better with each track. That's what this track represents - finding the motivation to stick at something and allowing yourself to feel good about it.
Music production can be a really isolating experience if you haven't the means to share your experiences with someone on the same page as you. I'd gotten through the lockdown by finding communities to share this with and formed some great musical relationships. So this track encompasses getting through some rough times but trying to keep a sense of fun.
6-Dimitris: How long it took you to produce it and can u describe the production process in simple steps?
Rick Stones: The initial idea was a simple E minor chord recorded with a choir sound and I played with warping and processing it with a rhythmic side chain before drowning it in reverb. It created this big atmospheric and slightly spooky vibe which formed the main intro for most of time I was writing the track. I later took most of this out, but you can hear it a bit in the last 2 bars before the first drop.
The first take on the track took a couple of days to iron out some of the arrangment decisions and melody. I was struggling getting the melody to not sound too repetitive and perfect the restraint until the later part of the track, since I wanted to write a Progressive track and build around it. It was a little too complicated melody-wise and I was learning this was a bit of weak-spot with my productions. Luckily I had friends to give me feedback on this. Then I really spent a couple of days refining the melody so that it was simple and memorable enough. Its a tricky thing for me to do.
There's a lot of elements in this track that are really subtle. I love adding small and quirky percussive elements and ear candy in my tracks to give depth and to move the story of the track along. I spent a good day or 2 on this part alone.
Once I was happy, I took a break for a few days and then polished and polished the mix some more for a couple of weeks trying to get that big energy before I was happy to call it a day.
I guess I'd call it a month in total from the idea to the finished track.
7-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.
Rick Stones: Low end mixing is a big challenge, keeping everything clear of the kick so that it can push the track forward is pretty complicated.
My mac was also misbehaving a lot and being very slow haha!
8-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?
Rick Stones: I stick with in the box because that's what I've always known. I use Ableton Live with headphone correction software because my room is small box room - pretty awful to produce in.
I love producing through headphones because its intimate and up front. The correction software does the heavy lifting in helping me spot flaws in a mix that a proper studio would highlight.
I did this track using Diva, Serum and stock plug-ins - save for the mastering which was using more plug-ins from Gulfoss and Ozone.
I feel its totally the choice of the producer to want to move to analogue if they prefer it. There's a lot of good to be said about both digital and analogue - I feel we're in a golden age of manufacturer's modernising and innovating analogue synths and gear. If you can make good sounds in both digital and analogue mediums then great!
9-Dimitris: Can you pick up your all time favorite album or compilation and tell us why you adore it so much?
Rick Stones: Sasha - Involver
Its progresses and evolves so well and is some of finest collection of remixes I've ever heard. I still enjoy it today. I think its because its so eclectic and and it surprise me so much how electronica can take already great tracks and give it fresh sound.
10-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?
Rick Stones: I'm not the most out-going of people - I like being the head-down engineering type and social media can take away a lot of time if not moderated. That said, its some of the most powerful content and marketing tools around today. I'm developing my sense of social engagement more and more as my confidence with it grows. But Im still very much a fledgling in that area lol.
11-Dimitris: Are you happy about the quality of the tracks released in your preferred music genres? Please justify your answer with your opinion about it!
Rick Stones: There's never been a better time for quality tracks lately with technological advancements. We're getting ever more quick at consuming music with streaming and what with so many tracks out there makes it an interesting challenge to captivate your audience, so its keeping sounds fresh.
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.
Rick Stones: For music producers starting out or who are in a rut - try to seek online communities that bounce off each other and try to get feedback as early as possible. Let those who are more experienced give you pointers that will help you grow and try to integrate that into how you produce. It's testing to push yourself, but its one of best and quickest ways to develop and challenge yourself. It worked for me haha!
13-Dimitris: Many producers and DJs offer online masterclasses or teach to music production & DJing courses. Do you believe is essential to take part in any of these courses to develop your skills? Are you are offering any of these services? or other related services like ghost-producing or mastering? please tell us about these activities
Rick Stones: I've taken my fair share of online courses and even a couple of 1-1 sessions with great producers in recent times. It's a boost to morale if you're stuck in a particular area of production. There's no shame in it - you need to understand your craft! It can really dispel and fix your problems with a little knowledge sometimes. But you have to do your homework and practice too. But to cut your teeth with they're extremely helpful.
I started producing at a time when online content was only really just starting and production videos were scarce. I would leap at and watch any production videos I could find, but it was still very much a behind closed-doors era. I really wish I have had what is available to me today back then. I had to learn the harder way through trial and error and a lot of technical reading, but I'm very grateful for that.
14-Dimitris: Is there a club classic that you would like to remix or rework in 2023? Do you attempt often to do your own bootlegs of classics?
Rick Stones: I've attempted a remix of Mat Zo Superman - bold I know! I feel I could do a bit better than that attempt though as it was a while ago haha!
I attempt bootlegs if I want to learn a new technique or feeling a little burnt out from producing original ideas. Sometimes I just want instant fun, which bootlegs allow :)
15-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?
Rick Stones: I still work full time in my career in Software Development, which is another passion area of mine.
Dimitris: Your message & wishes for Flux Bpm Online readers.
Rick Stones: Thanks for reading, I hope you found some insight into who I am and hope you enjoy my music!
Thanks to Rick Stones for his wonderful answers.
Thanks to Paul Thomas for arranging this interview.
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