Worldwide Electronic music heavyweight Tenishia recently conducted a legendary event at the closing of Valletta’s 2018 opening programme.
Combining the beautiful sounds of the Maltese Philharmonic Orchestra and the flawless mixing of some of the best Dance music of all time, Tenishia was at the centre of this ground breaking project showcasing the weight of support behind Dance music in the current age. We caught up with Tenishia to learn more about how the event happened and what is next for him!
T.H.E – Hey! Firstly, the show looked amazing! How was the atmosphere at the event?
Tenishia – Thanks! It was kind of different vibe from what I am usually used to in clubs and festivals, but I must say I loved it. The infusion of Electronic Dance and Classical music brought out the best of both worlds in one place, with moments where people just enjoyed the beautiful orchestral sounds, and other moments where it went off like a proper Electronic Dance festival…
T.H.E – How was it representing Dance music alongside one of the worlds finest collection of musicians?
Tenishia – The orchestra gives such class to music, and even though I am an Electronic music producer, one can never take away the credit and the value of real acoustics instruments – especially when played live in an orchestra.
This was definitely a proud moment for me! The concert was closing the opening celebrations of Valletta, the capital of my country, being named the European Capital of Culture for 2018. Electronic Dance has grown so much throughout the years, from a niche type of music to such a huge scene nowadays. Embracing DJing in such an event was definitely another step forward!
T.H.E – How did it all come about in the first place?
Tenishia – The chairman of the Valletta 2018 contacted me as he was organizing the celebration to discuss doing a show to close the whole night, which was called ‘Erba Pjazzez’ which basically means ‘Four City Squares’. He organized some world class activities going on in the main four squares of the capital, with loads of performances ranging from singing, dancing, light projection and also a huge walking giant amongst many other things. I was given the duty to close all this! Knowing how varied the crowd was going to be and how important this event was, the idea of doing just a DJ performance wasn’t sitting well enough in my head so I came up with infusing a whole orchestra into my performance.
T.H.E – Were you more nervous or just excited about the opportunity?
Tenishia – The deadline surely made me nervous, as I had to produce over 17 tracks in 10 weeks before even sending everything to the orchestra. To make it in time, I had to get help from another very talented Maltese producer called Damian Mizzi. He is actually a music composer for films but also loves my style of music so basically he could speak both the orchestra’s language and mine. Anyhow, we managed to do it in time and finally I could relax and turn that feeling into excitement!
T.H.E – How did you go about selecting a track list and choose what you were going to play?
Tenishia – I kind of knew that the crowd was going to be very varied in age and I also knew that the main subject was culture, so I came up with the idea of telling the history of Electronic Dance with some of the most iconic tracks that marked the genre, starting from the 70s and 80s up till the late noughties. The track list varied from Jean Michelle Jarre and Giorgio Moroder to Daft Punk and Faithless, Tiesto and Paul Van Dyk!
T.H.E – Was the collaboration and rehearsal easy and did it come naturally?
Tenishia – Once we had everything in place with production, it came quite naturally. We actually rehearsed it 3 times in total and we were good to go.
T.H.E – What do you have in the pipeline for your fans in the coming months?
Tenishia – While another show like this is surely on my mind, at least in 2019, at the moment I’m working on some new remixes which I can’t really name yet. Also, a new remix by another DJ of one of my biggest tracks “Where Do We Begin” is in the pipeline, and a few originals are on my mind. Touring has been going great for me, especially in Asia, but up next I’m looking forward to perform at some summer events at home in Malta before I head out of the country again.
T.H.E – What was the most memorable moment of the whole experience?
Tenishia – I think the closing track was one of the best… Barber’s Adagio for Strings! I get the shivers every time I re-watch that bit!
T.H.E – Thanks Tenishia!
