With 2022 almost at a wrap, we caught up with Canadian artist Royce&Tan to discuss the creative process behind their latest release ‘Obsession’, reflect back across their career highlights to date, as well as get some insight into their future plans.
T.H.E – Welcome guys to T.H.E – Music Essentials, how are your preparations going for the approaching festive season?
Royce&Tan – Thanks for having us! They’re going great – getting ready for some downtime as we both work full time jobs, Royce in tech and myself Chrys in Supply Chain management. It’ll be nice to unwind and spend more time on music related projects.
T.H.E – With the recent release of your single ‘Obsession’, is this your first collaboration with Madeleine Wood?
Royce&Tan – Oh man I think this was our 5th with Maddy, she’s such a pleasure to work with and we absolutely love her voice so we try to do as much with her as she’ll have us.
T.H.E – Being such a classic from Animotion, have both always been fans of the original?
Royce&Tan – Absolutely, it’s a childhood favorite. I think it was first discovered in our youth as a classic runway song for fashion shows.
T.H.E – How long did the production process last, from the first studio session & through to completion?
Royce&Tan – We went through so many different sound designs and stages before it came to the released version… I think around 2 years in the making. We originally had something with a little more of a disco vibe and then we got together with another producer and redesigned the sounds to something a little more current. Royce came across the lead sound and then the rest just flew from there.
T.H.E – With you guys also behind a number of other big tracks, what’s a piece of advice you’d share with producers trying to break through?
Royce&Tan – Just keep making music and try not to focus on just one track. I think that’s something we’ve learnt more recently. We used to hyper focus on one track and then sit back and cross our fingers that it goes somewhere. I mean, we’re still trying to break through ourselves, at this stage though we’re in a let’s have fun with it and see where it goes.
T.H.E – You’re also highly regarded for your DJ sets, has there been one show or event that stands out from the rest?
Royce&Tan – I think our first big show was at the Montreal Canadiens parking lot, our team back then put on a big concert with Calvin Harris as the headliner and had us slotted. Then the day before they said we think you’re gonna play for 45 mins before him to set the vibe. Looking back at our faces, you could tell we were a little overwhelmed to all of a sudden be in front of 4000 people for the first time.
T.H.E – Are there plans on remixes of ‘Obsession’ to follow?
Royce&Tan – We’re contemplating making a few edits ourselves, we just love the vocals so much we feel it can cross over into a few other genres that people would appreciate. Something a bit more housey for sure.
T.H.E – And lastly have you already started working on your next single, or will we have to wait longer for that to come?
Royce&Tan – Ohhhh yessss indeeeeed 😄 We’re working on putting out a single out every 2-3 months at most. We have 2 right now near completion that we’ve been trying to get out for a while, stay tuned!
T.H.E – Thanks for joining us both & have a great holiday season!
Royce&Tan – TYSM for having us! We were thrilled when we got the chance to sit down with you as we’re big fans of T.H.E! Happy holidays and all the best.
