Joining forces with Amber Na to create the ultimate BFF anthem, music producer, and DJ CHYL, releases ‘Bestie’.
The hard-hitting Bass House track brings energy to the dancefloor, while the synths and vocals uplift the experience. Following its release, CHYL, who’s known for her innovative take on Dance music since her beginnings, sat down with us to answer some questions about the track and her hopes for the near future.
Aditya – Hi CHYL, great to hear from you. How are you?
CHYL – I’m doing well, thank you!
Aditya – Does ‘Bestie’ have a story behind it?
CHYL – Yes, of course. “Bestie” is a collaboration between me and Amber. We wanted to kick start 2022 with an energetic bass house track that celebrates friendship and women in the dance music scene.
Amber and I met through my ex-manager, and we became really great friends under some unexpected circumstances. We live on opposite sides of the world, but we’ve gotten to be very close with each other. As female artists, we wanted to create this track that celebrates the friendships between girls in a very male-dominated dance music world.
I think of this track as a “BFF anthem”. It will make you want to dress up, go out and have fun with your best friend. There is a saying that “behind every strong man there is a woman”, but in reality, behind every strong woman there is a collective of strong females who support each other. We tried to portray the uniqueness and value of female friendships.
Aditya – Can we hear any of your musical influences on the track?
CHYL – This track is a bit more “European” bass house. I referenced a lot of Julian Jordan, Blinders, and TV noise-style bass house tracks while I was producing it. For example, I had TV Noise’s “Mumble” in mind while writing the bassline of Bestie. A lot of the synths I used came from serum and I included a lot of glide notes in them to make them more “alive” and bouncy”. I also tried to make the vocals more choppy to try to create more energy during the drop.
Aditya – How does ‘Bestie’ differ from some of your other pieces?
CHYL – Bestie is a bit “harder” compared to some of my other pieces. Usually I would try to combine tech and bass house together like in my tracks “Boom Boom” and “Barbie”. For this one, it just goes hard and it’s very much of a club track. Instead of a bouncer bassline, the bass goes right on top of the kicks and right on grind, so the track has a more hard-hitting effect.
Aditya – How did you come about working with Amber Na?
CHYL – It was actually a pretty interesting story. Amber and I both used to work with the same manager, who lied about a lot of things and created a lot of headache and drama for both of us… I actually bonded with her very deeply because of all the drama our
ex-manager created and grew closer to her because of everything we went through. As I got to know her, I realized she is so sweet, kind and talented, and a much calmer person than I am when it comes to crazy situations. In any case, that is how I met Amber and came about working on this track together.
Aditya – What do you feel is the most important element in releasing a track?
CHYL – That’s a good question, I never really think too much into it, but I think you really have to believe in your own track to release it. Confidence is really important. When you believe it’s a great track, your audiences will feel it and support it as well. And of course, marketing is important too.
Aditya – Do you have a typical process when writing a song?
CHYL – Yes, I’m not sure if this is common, but I usually start with the drums and bassline during the drop first. For a lot of bass house tracks, the bassline is the main melody so it kind of works writing this way. When I have a main bassline idea, I would try to change up the bass sound design to something cooler, add in interesting fills and FXs, then move on to think about what vocal would fit this drop. I typically draft out the majority of the drop first and then move on to write the verses and intro. After that I would send it to the feature artist or rapper for the lyrics and vocal recording.
Aditya – Who would you love to collaborate with in 2022?
CHYL – Ah, if my dream comes true, I would love to collaborate with Wenzday or Nostalgix. They are such badasses in the bass house music scene and I love their productions so much. They are my role models in the dance music industry!
Aditya – Who’s creative opinion do you trust the most when it comes to your music?
CHYL – It’s hard to say because I don’t necessarily agree with a lot of the feedback I get on my tracks. I’d say I trust my own ears the most. But a lot of times when I get stuck or if I listened to a track too many times, I would send them to my producer friends for feedback and usually they give very good responses for my tracks.
Aditya – How do you balance producing with your other responsibilities?
CHYL – It’s hard balancing producing, marketing, social media and networking all at the same time. I try my best to give myself a schedule and to-do list everyday and check off things as I go. But there are always a thousand things to do and a hundred things I would forget while being busy with other responsibilities. It’s a grind! But I’m very happy and fulfilled doing what I’m doing every day.
Aditya – What are your opinions on sampling?
CHYL – I think sampling is great (as long as it doesn’t infringe on any copyright issues)! It definitely gives artists more ideas and creativity while searching for samples online. Other artists always inspire me and it’s always so cool to use vintage vocals that I dig out from YouTube in my productions.
Aditya – What is the best piece of advice anyone has given to you?
CHYL – I think the best piece of advice was that “every artist has his or her own path”. Recently, I’ve become more and more aware of that. When I first started my musical journey, I looked to other artists and tried to imitate their style and their success. But overtime I realized that what I imitate from others is not mine, and it never works because it is not authentic. Everyone’s success story is different! Since then, I’ve been sticking to my own path, style and production. I hope I can bring more people along on my musical journey!
Aditya – Can you let us in on what else you’ve got planned for this year?
CHYL – I hope to release a track and edit/remix every month! I have A LOT of unreleased demos and I’m super excited for everyone to hear it as soon as possible. A lot of great things tee-d up and a lot of cool collaborations in the works. I hope the COVID situation can also be mitigated so we participate in more live events. Overall I’m very excited about 2022.
