EAUXMAR on how he got into electronic music, working with STMPD RCRDS and more.
EAUXMAR’s electronic sound incorporates the use of organic instrumentation and is heavily influenced by artists like Mura Masa, Kaytranada and Disclosure.
Making a remarkable first appearance on Martin Garrix’ STMPD RCRDS at the age of 18, EAUXMAR became the youngest artist to release on the legendary label with his ‘Tell Me’ EP. A few weeks back, he followed that up with his single – Blame.
We did an interview with the prodigious talent, and discussed his journey of how he got into electronic music, being a part of STMPD RCRDS, and the 5 artists he looks up to. Read our chat below.
T.H.E – Hey! Welcome to T.H.E – Music Essentials. What have you been up to?
EAUXMAR – Hey, thanks for having me. Lately, I’ve been finishing a lot of new music for which I’m excited for you guys to hear. Besides finishing and starting new music, I also am very busy working on some unique branding of my artist brand and I always am working on visuals as well, which I absolutely love doing myself or with my team/friends.
T.H.E – Let’s talk a bit about how you got into electronic music. What inspired you and which artists inspired you to become a DJ/Producer?
EAUXMAR – Back in 2010, I used to live in Singapore and I went to middle school there. While being there, I was always skateboarding with my friends and having fun pretty much every day. I loved watching a lot of skate videos, which always had this weird but cool music under them. Those skate videos made me develop a love for Hip-Hop and super indie/alternative music at a relatively young age. I was listening to MF Doom and tame impala at the age of 10-12, which was not very normal to say at least haha. On the days it was raining we weren’t able to skate so my friends and I needed to come up with something else to do after school. I went to my friend’s (Piseth) house, who was amazingly good at playing piano and drumming, and we tried out Garageband on his mom’s computer and from there a whole new world opened for me. In 2012 I moved back to Europe and from there I continued messing around with music production but it wasn’t really serious with it. In 2013, I went to a Disclosure show with my friend, sister, my sister’s friend and my dad, and that show really inspired me to really get better at producing and sparked a real love for music production in me. I guess this is my ‘origin’ story, haha, and from there I started experimenting with different genres and a lot of trial and error.
T.H.E – How would you define your sound?
EAUXMAR – I get this question a lot, haha, and till this day I still can’t give a straight clear answer to be honest, which I also think is a good thing. But if I really try to define it then I would probably define my sound like electronic music with influences of indie/hip-hop/UK Garage but every track still has that distinctive EAUXMAR sound to it. To keep every track I make, that can be quite different from each other, in the same line of my sound and brand I always use certain elements that can be traced back in every track I’ve produced. Besides all that, I always try to be innovative with the spacing in my tracks, in order to make my tracks playable for big shows I strive to do in the future and also soothing for someone to listen to at home on their headphones. In keywords, I would define my music, calm and chaotic with a lot of hidden details.
T.H.E – You just became the youngest artist to release on Martin Garrix’s imprint – STMPD RCRDS, with the ‘Tell Me’ EP, and now you just released another single on it – Blame. How was it working with the label, and how important have they proven to be for your career?
EAUXMAR – Working with STMPD is amazing and I want to thank them for giving me this opportunity to release my music on a big scale. It was hard finding a proper label for my style of music, because most labels want the low-hanging fruit and not any difficult music. Luckily, STMPD is very open-minded when it comes to music styles which I think more labels should take STMPD as an example, especially in a scene that is really saturated with formula music and music that sounds way too similar to each other.
T.H.E – Releasing a track on the label means you obviously have the support of Martin Garrix. Would you ever want to collaborate with him if you had the chance?
EAUXMAR – I would love to release a track together with him, but I don’t want to make a track with Martin just to make a track with Martin, if you get what I’m saying. That would seem too forced to me, which I don’t like. I’d rather make it happen naturally and just very spontaneous. I think we could make such a banger of a track, just wait for it.
T.H.E – You also played at the STMPD RCRDS label showcase at ADE 2018. How was the experience?
EAUXMAR – Playing there was super dope! It was my first show as EAUXMAR ever, so I was really excited but I also pretty nervous to be honest. The energy was really good that night and even though my music is quite different from most the other STMPD artists out here, the crowd really loved it so much and so did I.
T.H.E – What are your plans going forward from a touring and production point of view?
EAUXMAR – This year I am mostly going to tour and get my name out there and spreading my sound across the world, which I am super excited for and currently, I am also working on something next level for my shows next year, which is going to be mind-blowing. I don’t want to spill the beans already, but this is going to be next level on so many ways, from the visuals to the way I am to performing and to the way the stage is designed. Stay tuned!
T.H.E – Given that you’re quite young yourself, which 5 artists do you constantly look up to in the scene today?
EAUXMAR – That’s a hard one, I am really bad at making top 5 or top 10 lists since there are just too many good artists out there. But if I really have to choose than a few of my favorite artists are Disclosure, Sam Gellaitry, A$AP Rocky, Kaytranada and Anomalie. However, I could easily name 100 other artists that I think are amazing and inspire me a lot.
T.H.E – Thanks, man! Can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.
EAUXMAR – Thanks again for having me as well, it was a pleasure!
