Thomas Datt -interview

1. You´ve released your debut album Picking Up The Pieces last year. How have the fans reacted to your new music?

The fans have been wonderful! I had a slight feeling that they might like it, but not as much as they do. At some of my gigs in Europe people would literally scream that they love my album. Such a thing brings a grin to my face.

Of course as you may know, the album was “Album of the Month” in the January issue of Mixmag. This was quite the honor for me. What really sticks out however is that unofficially, many fans around the world declared it as Album of the Year. That’s simply priceless!



2. How would you describe your music today?

The evolution of my sound throughout the years has been quite interesting. In essence it has always been a Datt sound, however it’s been changing technically and artistically for the better. I would describe it as progressive, emotional, uplifting, banging, chilled, futuristic psy-fi trance.


3. Where do you draw inspiration?

Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time, day to day life. Most of the best work I've written has been a result of hardships, pain, and struggles… not just my own, but through other people as well. For instance recently a friend of mine was going through some terribly emotional times. I felt really awful for this friend, which ended up inspiring me to write something quite beautiful.

Another example would be Benjamin Curtis, from School of Seven Bells, and his fight with cancer. I ended up going to a benefit concert that was thrown by some really cool NY bands, and I met Alley there, which is the band’s singer. I had a little heart to heart with her, and the overall experience and atmosphere of this benefit concert inspired me to write something dedicated to the band.


4. What do you think of the trance music scene today? How has it changed over the years?

I think trance is finally starting to come around and back to its roots. There have been many producers out there, which I don’t need to name, that gave up on what they were originally doing to pursue the Trouse bandwagon. To me it’s an irritating style of music, which is basically selling out commercially. This alienated a lot of fans, and created a rift in the overall trance world. Not only that, but the word “trance” was being misused and mislabeled. Regardless, it’s starting to come back around after a couple of annoying years, which makes me and many others very happy.


5. Are there bands, projects or artists you look up to? Or hate? Especially in trance music?

I really love and look up to School of Seven Bells. It is my favorite band, which also makes Benjamin Curtis my favorite producer. Alejandra Deheza is an amazing vocalist with a beautiful voice. No, it is not trance music, but that’s okay because I live and breathe trance. Listening to only one type of music can really become quite boring. M83 is another band I really love, amazing music.


6. Is there an artist or a singer you would like to do a song with?

Would you be surprised if I told you School of Seven Bells? I also always thought that I would be a good fit with Sarah Howells.


7. In your opinion, which songs are the biggest trance classics?

First thing that comes to mind is Seven Cities. Then there’s Southern Sun, Xpander, Netherworld, Eugina… The list is too long.


8. What do you think about Spotify and people not buying whole albums anymore?

I’ve always been quite concerned with illegal downloading, torrenting, zippyshare, etc. Creating any kind of art is not easy work. It takes time, patience, and quite often causes stress. People shouldn't think they have some divine right to have that work for free. In any case this is how things are now, which many have accepted, including myself. Spotify is quite cool actually, and I’m told it makes a decent revenue over time. I even use Spotify once in a while.

9. Is there a second album in the works?

Yes. I've made the announcement couple of weeks ago on Facebook and Twitter. This time around it will focus on my chill out and ambient side. This type of music has always been my passion and it’s only natural to release a whole album around it. It is more than halfway done, and I hope to have it out while the Ibiza season is still going on. That doesn't leave me with much time, but I am confident I can get it done within a month. Of course it also depends on the singers, whether or not they will take a long time or not.


Thank you for the interview!