In this brand new series we will share “a bed” with upcoming DJ’s and Producers across the globe we think we should highlight! This week we give the floor to the talented Vital Idiot from Finland. His last track will be released on the 25th of November 2015 on Twisted Shuffle, but we are very happy we can already share his latest track right here on We Want EDM:
Small introduction of Vital Idiot
Vital Idiot is a Finnish house producer and a dj with wide background as a professional musician. After receiving huge amount of inspiration and pleasure from house music throughout his life, Vital Idiot has decided to give something back.
His passionate love story with house music started when he was just a kid, approximately 11 years old. His first computer was soon filled with beats and loops and there were several cd’s burned (U remember the days?). When he became 15 he decided to take a minor sidestep from producing and became a professional drummer. After some 8 years or so Vital Idiot decided to pursue a career in producing and dj:ing house music. His style has eventually evolved through many years towards the deeper territory of house with a big aim to take deep house forward, find new sounds and push the genre-limits off their course with only one rule: love what you do and share it.
Lets get to know Vital Idiot
What was your first House track you have heard which made you fall in love with this genre?
That is a quite distant memory so I can only guess which track it actually was. It might have been Black Legend’s You See the Trouble With Me:
or Timo Maas’s remix of Azzido Da Bass’s Dooms Night. But the the final straw was definitely Daft Punk’s Discovery album. The first and the last track, One More Time and Too Long respectively, were something that changed me when I heard them the first time. I still refer back to all of these tracks occasionally. Such classics.
When did you first started with producing music?
Well I stacked my first loops on top of each other when I was something like 12 I guess. It was with Rave eJay, a simple program with bunch of loop all in 180bpm and A minor. I bought it from a local bookshop. We had no internet so I was in the dark for a while. Then I got a version of fruity loops and Sony ACID from a friend and started to buy magazines for more samples and tutorials. It went on like that for a while and then I dropped it when I started drumming seriously at 15 years old. I started producing again when I was 22.
How did you came up with your DJ name?
Well it was just something I came up after some different things. I used my own name for different kind of productions and needed some kind of alter ego to use for house music. At first Vital Idiot stuff were quite simple and funny but it has grown a lot in a short period of time. Vital Idiot is the side in me that doesn’t always make any sense. It’s just for fun. It’s necessary.
Which DAW do you use and why?
Ableton live. I started with it when I started producing again at 22 years old. It reminded me of acid and the session view was fun. And it just made sense for me, everything was simple and comprehensible. I switched to Logic 9 for a while and liked it too after some practise. Then I tried Ableton again and after the Logic period it seemed that I had gotten a lot better on Ableton during that time. Seems funny but Logic helped me get better on Ableton. They seem to bring new and innovative stuff along pretty often and I love that too.,
What are your favorite plugins for synths, mastering and effects?
For synths it’s the basic stuff like Massive and Sylenth1. I also use Reaktor stuff like Monark, SineBeats 2, Ok Computer 2 and Photone. Usually I use samples though and twist them with Ableton’s Sampler.
For mastering I use Ableton’s stock eq and sometimes Glue compressor. Then I limit with Fabfilter’s Pro-L. That’s about it. Everything else I try to get right in the mix.
My favourite effects plugins are NI transient master, NI Solid eq, Sonimus Satson, Audio Damage Rough Rider (It’s free if I remember right, go get it!) and off course all the Live’s native stuff. Especially Convolution Reverb Pro. I’m just familiar with the native plugins and that’s whats important I think.
If you could do a collaboration with any artist out there, what would be your top 3 (and why)?
1. Daft Punk cos’ come on…. Daft Punk. They are the greatest.
2. Aphex Twin because I think he is one of the most creative minds right now (at least of those that I have ran into). He releases amazing music constantly as User18081971. And off course he is a legend on top of that.
3. Kanye West because he has this amazingly childish mind in a good way. And I honestly really love his music. Plus the collaboration would definitely leave me with a bunch of great stories to tell…
What do you usually drink when you are in the studio to get inspiration?
Coffee, fresh squeezed green juice or water. If I get wild I just might get a Vanilla Coke. I only drink alcohol while working, so I try to keep it out of producing.
If you could travel the world as a DJ what would be the three items you will always bring with you in your bag?
Well in addition of the essentials such as new socks, I need to have my field recorder, a laptop and maybe some fun gadget like Volca Sample, Op-1 or an iPad depending on the current mood.
It’s almost 2016, what can we expect in the upcoming year from you?
I’m going to think outside the box. Preferably without a box altogether. New kind of music and concept for me at least. There is definitely going to be some Vital Idiot stuff too. It’s not something that seems to fade anywhere. Exciting times 🙂
Just a side node for the readers about the “studio” pic: I try to keep my home setup simple, clean and minimal. I have a workspace with a bunch of friends with all our synths lying all around but it’s a mess currently so no picture of that, sorry 😀
Thanks for asking me for this! Sincerely, Josu Vital Idiota Mämmi
Listen http://soundcloud.com/vitalidiot
Follow VI at these ‘social’ media channels:
http://soundcloud.com/vitalidiot
http://twitter.com/vitalidiot
http://www.facebook.com/vitalidiot