Tone Depth has been redefining his sound and putting the melody back into his music. Now, fluidity and simplicity reign. With Tone Depth’s focus on music at an all-time high, there is a newfound desire to innovate with the raw, live-recorded elements that are the keystone to a sweeping new sound.
This progression means less polish and more soul. Less deconstruction and more organic growth. “I want my music to invade your mind and provide a journey where you can travel the globe with your ears open and eyes closed. Music has the unique ability to suspend belief, and my goal is to paint a scene with sound.”
We catch up with the Canadian producer about his sound, Hosh’s label Fryhide’s showcases, the Canadian scene and more. Enjoy reading while listening to his latest EP ‘Era/Pelago’ out last week on Hosh’s label fryhide.
WWD: How has your summer been, what have been some highlights
This summer was really fun. I always love that time of year, especially for touring and catching up with friends in different places. We had a lot of Fryhide events this summer in places like Barcelona, Berlin etc that were really memorable. Those events are always my favourite as it’s great to catch up with everyone.
WWD: How did you first get into dance music, where, when?
The one memory I have, that really hooked me on clubbing was hearing Lil Louis “French Kiss” in a club in Cyprus one summer in the early 90’s. I think that was the spark that got me started for dance music. After that I was introduced to a lot of dance music in the UK and I was hooked.
WWD: What is the Canadian scene like? Is there an underground, a thriving creative community?
Yes definitely in the main cities like Montreal and Toronto the scene is thriving and has been for a few decades. People who love underground music have lots of options to check out their favourite DJ’s as all the International names pass through regularly.
As far as a creative community my fellow Fryhide artist “Groj” lives in Montreal which is the closest city to where I live so we always collaborate and bounce ideas off each other. Canada has a lot of talent which has made a name in the underground scene which is great since we only have just under 40 million people in the second largest country in the world. However that fact also gives us lots of space to crank music and not disturb the neighbours.
WWD: How long till you found your own sound, do you think, your own style in the studio?
My own sound is something that is always evolving and changing depending on where I am at in my life. There’s definitely a signature to my sound when I express myself that inherently comes out, but I always feel like I’m searching for something new to excite me and resonate with what I’m feeling in that moment. Since that is always changing I find my style of working in the studio changes once I start getting too comfortable, so it’s a constantly changing dynamic.
WWD: You play guitar right? How useful is that formal training when making music?
Yes, guitar is my first and main instrument. I write all of my music starting from the guitar so it’s my main composition tool and is very useful. However I didn’t have any formal training in guitar I was self taught by ear. My formal training came later when I went to college and studied synthesis programming, sound engineering and basic music theory. Definitely any knowledge you can have of music is an asset and being able to train yourself by ear helps in many facets of music production. I think training my ear from the start has helped me to have a critical ear that carries through to mixing my music and creating my sound design.
WWD: How did you first meet HOSH and why did you hit it off?
I was looking for a new label to sign music a few years ago. At the time it was hard for me to find something that really fit my sound and what I was looking for. I’ve been a fan of Hosh for many years and noticed that he had started a new label and the music he was putting out really resonated with me. So I sent him some demos that he liked and we connected from there to sign some music. Not long after he was touring Canada and had a week off between gigs, so he visited me at my studio in the country and we immediately hit it off and started collaborating on music. We wrote the track “Express” in a day and had a lot of fun making it so that was the start of a good friendship.
WWD: What is it like working with him, does he get involved with the music you make and give feedback, and so on?
Yes definitely. We’ve worked in both my studio in Canada and his studio in Ibiza. We are always exchanging ideas and feedback on productions and it’s a great way to see a different perspective on your work when you have been immersed in it for hours in the studio. We spend a lot of time doing tests of unreleased music in the clubs, so we share a lot of feedback on how well it’s received and how best to move the production forward to make something special on the dance floor.
WWD: You had the fryhide ADE showcase last week — what’s it like playing parties with the fryhide crew, does it have a family feel?
Fryhide parties are my favourite parties to play. I love it and we are a tight family of friends who all live in different parts of the world, so being together and hanging out is always special. Those dates are always the ones I look forward to the most and the highlight is when me and Hosh have fun doing back to back sessions. I love those moments as it’s spontaneous and we get to experiment and bounce ideas off each other more live.
WWD: What are you working on right now?
At the moment I’ve been locked in studio quite a bit and focusing on my productions for 2020 as well as some remix work. I’m in a phase of change at the moment so it’s an exciting time to experiment with new ideas for the future.
WWD: What is a guilty pleasure of yours?
Making dark beatless emotional ambient music pieces with my Modular that I never release.
Buy his latest release here