Hey there, music enthusiasts! Today, we're diving into the vibrant world of chill house music and the creative process behind it. We're chatting with just Fede, the mastermind behind the recent organization of a contest "Soave Academy" with Soave Records. The contest winner, Steeg, was then invited to collaborate with just Fede and David Emde. So, grab your headphones, kick back, and let's groove into the story behind this exciting project.
1. What inspired you to initiate this collaboration with a contest winner?
During the Soave Academy series, I was giving tips about ways to get new inspiration and overcome the writer block. And while trying to make the series interactive with the audience, I was curious about what people would have come up with using those techniques I showed.
Also, people were sending me in private some DEMO’s and ideas to get feedback and that is where I thought about gathering all of them in an original featuring contest.
2. How did you feel when selecting the contest winner and realizing you'd be working with them?
The DEMO’s people sent were so different from one to another. Each of them had a different artistic direction and specific vision. At some point it isn’t a quality matter anymore, is about which direction resonate the best with my vision and universe. My purpose was to find a demo which I could have brought my touch on. I had to be a good fit for the song as much as the demo had to be one for me.
When listening to Steeg's demo, I felt ideas and inspiration flowing on my mind. It was also clear to me the way I would have made the desired changes on track.
3. Can you describe the process of brainstorming and refining ideas with the contest winner for the song?
It is about connecting with the artist to make sure we are going in the same direction. In this case, it hasn’t been a big struggle at all. Indeed I felt more like continuing a work that has already been started rather than redefining something. This is how I see things:
During a collaboration, there is always what I called the “creativity range” within which collaborators can navigate and negotiate ideas coming from both parties. However, this range is bordered by limits where the music would go outside of my vision, style and universe.
In this case no decision or idea has ever exceeded these limits and it was a pleasure to navigate the creativity range to conclude with an instrumental embodying both producers vision and universe.
4. What aspects of the contest winner's songwriting style or vision resonated with you the most?
Steeg and I are both very clear and organized in our way of producing. We both believe that a clean mix comes first from the superposition of precise and well-fitted elements. It is something that has to be carried since the beginning. This gives us a fairly similar workflow and clear vision of the track.
Also we quickly realized that our inspirations were very similar. For example, David and I are both very inspired by the same pop artists, which automatically creates a very interesting common ground for us, in term of songwriting and toplines melodiy taste.
5. How did you navigate any creative differences or challenges that arose during the collaboration?
For me the instrumental had the particularity of being quite complete on his own and left little freedom to the singer to find a wide and powerful vocal melody. That is probably why we at first had some difficulties to find the right singer who could adapt to this instrumental.
However, David has been excellent in finding the right vocal rhythm that fit perfectly into the space left by the instrumental. It is definitely a challenge for the vocalist to enter on an instrumental that is already advanced and defined in the frequency spectrum.
6. What do you think the contest winner brought to the table that enhanced the final product?
Steeg definitely brought a lot to the table. His demo had a fantastic chord progression that felt both catchy and emotionally resonant. It provided a strong foundation for the song and gave it a unique character.
David's performance added a whole new dimension to the song of course. He has a fantastic voice with a lot of warmth and soul, which perfectly complemented the emotional vibe of the track.
7. Can you share any memorable moments or breakthroughs that occurred during the collaboration process?
I think when Steeg and I got the vocal from David we were surprised on how good the fit was on the track. I used to see David very comfortable in organic and acoustic guitar based instrumentals, but this was a bit more housy so I didn’t know what to expect exactly. I hope some memorable moments are still yet to be created during the releasing process of the song!
8. How do you believe this collaboration has influenced or enriched your own artistic approach?
Collaborating is like get to know a stranger we never spoke to, wouldn’t you be curious to know his life vision, experience and lesson? I think almost every collaboration is beneficial. It is a constant learning game. We are all artists coming from different cities and culture, with different background inspirations and expertise. So I believe that everyone has something to teach and bring to the tables.
9. What themes or messages did you aim to convey through the song, and how did the collaboration contribute to shaping these?
In my whole Soave Academy series, my purpose was to invite artists to think differently and try to come up with new unexplored ways to build our tracks. The purpose is to explore our creativity limits and learn from anything we wouldn’t have considered on a usual basis. This song is a great example, I think. Every song should have a different story otherwise it means we are not growing up. “All We Need Is Us” definitely has such an original and unexplored way of creation. Which loops well the initial purpose of the Soave Academy series.
10. Looking ahead, do you envision continuing to explore collaborative opportunities with emerging artists?
I believe that we are all emerging artists, there is no finish line. And if there is one, I hope I will never hit it completely. The purpose is to get better, meet new people, have a lot of fun and share ideas to the world. I don’t think in term of ranking and try not to overrate numbers meaning.
I stay very hungry and ambitious in my project and it is then crucial for me to collaborate with people who also are and put improvement at the centre of their project just as I do. I end up learning from each collaboration I make, and definitely learned a lot here too, so nothing I would rather go for.
And there you have it, folks! A glimpse into the magic of collaboration and creativity in the realm of chill house music. From the initial spark of inspiration to the final notes of the track, it's clear that just Fede, David Emde and Steeg have crafted something truly special. So, keep your ears peeled for more innovative tunes from this dynamic duo, and remember, in the world of music, the only limit is your imagination. You can now listen to "All We Need Is Us" by just Fede, Steeg & David Emde.
