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It’s pretty exciting to be able to score an email interview with a world-class artist like Thomas Gold, but to do so and then follow up with a sit-down in Las Vegas a couple hours before his main stage set at the 2011 Electric Daisy Carnival has left me feeling elated and accomplished. In fairness, the interview is mostly as good as it is because of Thomas’ love for what he does and for those around him who are also making music – mostly. I also happen to be a huge fan, and having followed his work avidly for the last year or more made it pretty easy to pick his brain.

He has a lot to talk about, and the two different interviews cover two different sides of the story. The email interview is a bit more personal, and you can tell he spent some time caringly crafting his answers. The sit down is all about the current – what’s new, and what’s about to come up. Be excited – it’s a big year for Thomas!

I’ve included some photographs of the main-stage performance at EDC, and when you watch the video you’ll also see some footage I recorded. One special note: there is a pretty hilarious panning shot of the audience that is probably the shakiest footage I’ve ever captured. I was working with a new grip rig for my DSLR that I hadn’t really taken for a proper test drive, the adrenaline was rushing, and the stage manager insisted that I be quick. Nonetheless, the footage gives a sense of scale – the main stage was HUGE!! Definitely the biggest production I’ve seen yet.

At the bottom of the article you’ll also find a copy of Thomas’ set, which I’m sure you’ll agree is top notch. As promised in my interview with him, it is loaded with new tracks and special edits! If you’re interested in what a top-notch festival set sounds like, as crafted and delivered by one of the world’s foremost EDM producers, then have a listen.

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Cal: With your current tour schedule, producing at your studio in Berlin is rarely an option. How are you enjoying producing on the road?

Thomas Gold: I really got used to it and actually I love it! In the beginning I started producing on the road with a small laptop model and i found it often hard to work with, due to lack of processing power and the little screen. Also I just had to get used to working without a mouse, only with headphones etc. Now I have a better laptop and this one is really fast! So i can nearly do the same stuff as i do in my studio, of course without the big monitor speakers. But I can work on my tracks, remixes and all other stuff whenever I want to. Really appreciate that, as otherwise I would not be able to spend much time in the studio with all the traveling!

Cal: As someone who likes to play melodies on a full keyboard I imagine the transition was difficult. What tools do you use to facilitate experimenting and getting creative when writing songs on a laptop at an airport?

Thomas Gold: I tried a couple of things. Drawing notes with a mouse or the trackpad is not my thing. So I either use the apple key-board feature (you can use the keyboard like a piano key thing – somehow) which is not often easy but it works, even for chords haha! Or – which i do prefer – i use a small USB midi keyboard. I had to try around with a couple of them, but in the end, I now have a mini keyboard, with 2 octaves which works well and – it’s very compact and lightweight – perfect for traveling, also at airports 🙂

Cal: How do you stay organized and focused while traveling?

Thomas Gold: I have all my music and production stuff on my laptop, also emails, diary etc. So actually I take my complete ‘office’ with me when on the road. I try to keep my stuff organized as much as possible, but of course sometimes an email gets lost or forgotten or some data goes missing. I’m looking forward to be able to work with the ‘cloud’ system in the future, so I can access all my data from anywhere in the world and nothing gets lost…

Cal: On the one hand, you’ve had some breakthrough originals and collabs, with talk of future releases on Toolroom and Size. On the other, incredible remix work with top artists like Adele and Lady Gaga. Do you know if your focus in the next few months will be on remix work or more originals? Why?

Thomas Gold: As I focused a lot on remixes in the past months, I’m now getting back to my own original productions. I did a track with Kim Fai (which will be out on Size) and just finished another one together with Dirty South (out on Phazing soon) and I have two more track on the go, which will be released on Axtone – so I’m excited to get them out around this summer and autumn!

Cal: You’ll be spending time in Ibiza this summer playing at Masquerade Motel, and probably a bit of relaxing too right? What’s your favorite lesser-known spot on the white isle to kick back?

Thomas Gold: Sometimes I like to go to Cala Jondal beach – it’s a nice and small one, not as crowded as the other big beaches, perfect for chill out… And you can have some nice fish at the restaurant there! But keep that to yourself! 😉

Cal: As a musician selling records right now, you must have some ideas or feelings about attitudes towards purchasing music. What has to/will give? Will music sales never be the same, and will musicians just make money off touring? Or will sales improve as new services grow like iCloud and Spotify?

Thomas Gold: I think looking at the actual development, track sales won’t be that important anymore in the music business. Nevertheless I think it’s only fair to pay for music – it does not have to be much, but behind all those tracks there is a lot of work, and even musicians and producers have to pay for their lives. On the other side, i think it’s nowadays an important tool of marketing and self-promotion to get your music spread over the internet by bloggers and fans. I only hate those people who steal music and then go and sell it – this destroys a lot and does not help any artist! But all in all I think that most of the money artists make will come from their tours. But not all DJ’s or producers are able to do live gigs, so they will definitely lose here. And I think that this is kind of a problem as then many of these guys have to stop making music, which will be a loss. Maybe in the future with those new internet services things will change, so let’s see, fingers crossed!

Video Interview With Thomas Gold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPZrHstBnJU

[audio:Thomas Gold – Live at Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 Las Vegas 26-06-2011.mp3]

Tracklist:

01 Thomas Gold – Abart (Intro Edit)
02 Jay C & Felix Baumgartner – Souk / Djuma Soundsystem – Les Djinns (Thomas Gold Remix) w/ Shakedown – At Night (Acapella)
03 Quintino – Raider
04 Arty – Across The World w/ Adele – Rolling In The Deep (Acapella)
05 Marcus Schossow – Acid Festival Champagne Bitches w/ Matisse & Sadko – Hi Scandinavia
06 Thomas Gold – Headbang
07 David Tort, Thomas Gold, David Gausa – Areena (Original + Dirty South Remix) w/ Everything But The Girl – Missing (Acapella)
08 Steve Lawler – That Sound (Thomas Gold 2011 Rework)
09 Thomas Gold – Marsch Marsch w/ Delerium ft. Sarah Mc Lachlan – Silence (Acapella)
10 Calvin Harris – Awooga w/ Justice vs. Simian – We Are Your Friends (Acapella)
11 Bassjackers – Mush Mush w/ Stefano Noferini – French Kiss w/ Paul Johnson Get Get Down (Acapella)
12 Tim Mason – The Moment (Thomas Gold Re-Edit) w/ Hool vs. Bruckheimer – In The Beginning (Acapella)
13 Lady Gaga – Judas (Thomas Gold Remix)
14 Green Velvet – Flash (Nicky Romero Remix) vs. Sander van Doorn – Intro w/ Red Hot Chili Peppers – Otherside (Acapella) (Dirty South vs. Thomas Gold Mashup Re-Edit)
15 Cirez D – On Off (Thomas Gold Re-Rub) w/ Erick Morillo – Dancin (I Got The Pills) (Acapella)
16 Sander van Doorn – Reach Out (Thomas Gold Remix)
17 Hard Rock Sofa & St. Brothers – Blow Up (Thomas Gold vs. Axwell Remix) w/ John Dahlback – Blink (Acapella)
18 Adele – Set Fire To The Rain (Thomas Gold Remix)
19 Dirty South & Thomas Gold – Alive
20 Sidekick – Deep Fear w/ Henrik B – Acid Rocker (David Tort Remix)
21 Cygnus X – Superstring (Thomas Gold Edit) w/ Chuckie & Gregori Klosman – Mutfakta (Promised Land Remix)
22 Sander van Doorn – Koko (Thomas Gold Rework)