Few producers have managed to maintain their studio output with such stamina and consistency as Sultan + Shepard.
We caught up with Ned during ADE 2016 and spoke to him about working with Armada Music, their single – Love Me Crazy’ and the experience of visiting ADE 2016 constantly for 5 years. Have a read.
Akshay – You’ve been working with Armada since quite a while now. How’s the entire experience?
Ned – The experience is really great. They’ve been doing this for a really long time. They really understand the industry. They get really enthusiastic about the music. They’re very good people, really transparent, I trust them a lot. It’s very refreshing.
Akshay – Obviously there is a lot of talent in the Armada label. Is there anyone in particular who as caught your eye?
Ned – Dave Winnel makes really good music. There’s just a lot of talent!
Akshay – You guys are classically trained musicians. How do you blend that knowledge into the different kinds of tracks that you make?
Ned – If you don’t know how to play an instrument, you get stuck into one style of productions. For us music is the first thing, the production comes second.
Akshay – Does it help on experimenting with different styles, being classical trained, that is?
Ned – Yeah, absolutely. For us it helps a lot.
Akshay – When you played at ADE for the first time, how was that feeling?
Ned – It was really fun. I think the first time we played here was 5 years ago. We just had a really good time.
Akshay – How do you enjoy coming back here since then?
Ned – It’s one of our favourite places to play, because the vibe is really cool here, the city is really beautiful. There are a lot of great venues. In Amsterdam, you have a lot of venues that are really creative so it’s very enjoyable.
Akshay – Could you tell us a bit more about your track, ‘Love Me Crazy’?
Ned – It was a song that came about sort of differently than normal. We found a sample that we played and it had a really summery reggae kind of chill vibe. When we worked with Gia and Jessie, the vibe was so good over the instrumental that we kept it, which is rare for us. That one in particular just really worked. It was something we knew that would sound good even 1 or 2 years later. Usually when you make a track, it usually gets outdated really quickly, but when you have a good song, you want the production to last and that’s what we were confident about with ‘Love Me Crazy’
Akshay – What are some of the exciting projects you have coming in 2017?
Ned – We have a lot more music coming out at Armada. A couple of new songs, collaborations. Some people we’ve worked with before so there’s a hint for you guys! The vibe is going to be cool.
Akshay – Last question! If you had to choose between ADE and Miami Music Week, which one would you go for and why?
Ned – Completely different, they’re just completely different. Miami to party, Amsterdam to get kick-start your artist career!