Space Interview with Daytona Dreaming

When did you start making music?

My interest in music goes all the way back to my childhood years. I was a teenager in the 80s and really into the whole Synth Pop scene. The problem back then was that synths were quite expensive and music software nowhere as advanced as it is now, so it was hard to make anything that sounded really good. I did use both Atari and Amiga for music production and had old versions of Dr. T and Cubase. I owned a couple of synths such as the Ensoniq ESQ-1, Roland Alpha Juno, a couple of sound modules and also got my hands on a Korg M1 for a while. 

Where do you take inspiration for your musical arrangement?

I always approach my tracks as small stories or movies, where the listener is taken on a journey. My genre, Synthwave, can occasionally get quite repetitive and I feel a lot of artists tend to use the same song structure over and over again. I like to build my arrangements with different sections or scenes if you like. The Last Call EP is an example of trying to use more complex song structures and expressions. 

What was the trigger that inspired you to make music? 

As I mentioned earlier, my interest in music goes back to my childhood. I grew up in a family that always played a lot of music. My dad in particular, have always had a great interest in music and I guess that rubbed off on me. He would play all sorts of progressive stuff such as Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, early Jean Michel Jarre and so on. For some reason I was always fascinated by synth sounds. They were so different and new back in the later 70s and 80s. Eventually, I wanted to do stuff like the artists I was into such as Depeche Mode, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb and all the synth groups of the time.

How is the electronic music scene in Dubai?

We do have quite a lot electronic music going on here, whether it is local acts or major names coming and playing here. There are a lot of clubs and venues here that are trying to put on interesting shows. Of course the pandemic has slowed things down a bit like everywhere else. I think in terms of Synthwave, the scene is still quite small but there are fans around here too.

What kind of direction are you going to take for your next releases and what are your plans for the future?

I am already working on my full album which will be released around spring next year. I working on a concept at the moment, involving Mona Daytona (the avatar on the cover) and will bring in some vocalists as well. The guy who did the video for Palm Beach Marauder, has been working on some characters I will try to integrate into the story line of the album and then have a couple of videos associated with it. But lets see, it is still early days, and things can still change a lot. 

This is a question we ask any artist every time: If you had a time machine, in which era would you travel and which kind of music would you bring with you in the past?

Well, I was lucky to be around in the 80s when the whole synth scene started developing. It was really an exciting time if you were into that kind of music. I think there is a bit too much 80s nostalgia these days, and everything wasn’t great. But the electronic music scene was in its early days, which was very inspirational. The 1960s is probably another time that I would like to have experienced simply for the sheer creativity that was going on in music. 

What is the last thing you would like to say to our Space Travellers?

I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and bought my music. There would be no scene without the fans, and your support is deeply appreciated and deeply important.