Exposed Vocals Interviews DJ Substorm

Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?

I received a private message on Twitter.com from Exposed Vocals asking if I would be interested in doing an interview, I thought it would be a great way to further my exposure in the music industry as well as with the EDM community.

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

Boulder, Colorado,  my influence came from the early days of the Colorado EDM scene (1999-2003).  I attended festivals/underground parties hosted by some of the the great forefathers of the United States EDM scene Dave Ralph, Sandra Collins, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, DJ Micro and Christopher Lawrence.

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

Originally Aurora 7 was the intended name which was the mission in which astronaut Scott Carpenter (Boulder, CO) participated in, however I decided to switch it up because I thought DJ Substorm would stand out and be more marketable.  I’ve always been fascinated by astrophysics specifically solar storms, I try to find ambient songs that are remenicant of the Auroras and also songs that have great progression in the way that a solar storm travels towards and interacts with Earth.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Music sharing is great for helping artists promote music, unfortunately the majority of DJ’s are negligent when it comes to providing track lists for their compilation mixes, I am a firm believer in giving artists credit for the work that they created.  It is industry tradition for DJ’s to provide free promo compilation mixes and of coarse a great way for the original producer to market their music to a specific audience, it’s kind of a “scratch my back, scratch your back” type of deal.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Networking has been a great way for me as well as doing the online video radio show, trying to connect personally with my friends (fans) is important, I consider every fan of mine a friend because we share the same interests in world unity and music, a lot of them I know personally and speak to regularly.  It’s a tedious process, however people will remember your name and what you stand for on a personal level as well as what your message is to the world.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

We all make mistakes on occasion, however what differentiates a professional DJ from an amateur is the amount of time it takes to correct that mistake.  I handle that by making sure that the gig is well prepared for by doing research on the venue (equipment, audiences music preference, etc.), also knowing your tracks is absolutely essential in this game.

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

The “TRAVELS” tour consisted of gigs in Reno NV, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, FL and of coarse Boulder, CO.  My first Orlando appearance was actually on accident, I was visiting and there was an event being held in the lounge/bar that was attached to the hotel.  I went to ask the DJ what track he was playing, we got to chatting, I told him who I was and next thing you know I was doing a short closing set which was completely on the fly.

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

I always try to make a new mix for each city that is visited, then songs are added to the compilation to match whichever environment that I’m in.  I let the music guide me into the set and always mix in key which makes it much easier to assemble tracks that correspond with each other.  I then listen to the rough draft of the mix as many times as needed so that I have a tighter visual on the environment in which I want to shape.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

There is now have a website which connects to all of my social media pages at www.reverbnation.com/djsubstorm I try to take the time to keep up with all of the major musician websites that are out there including Mixcloud, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, this is a tedious aspect of the DJing game.  Recently I learned how to make my own YouTube videos, which I’m still trying to perfect but really enjoy doing.

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

There isn’t necessarily anything that I’m embarrassed of per say, every song that’s on my mp3 player is something great that I wouldn’t be ashamed to share with anyone.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

I would build a high end recording studio and lock myself in it for the whole year to make my own music, that has actually been my second dream aside from becoming a DJ, to open my own recording studio.

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

Currently my arsenal consists of a Macbook Pro, Korg Zero 4 mixing board, powered speakers and an M-Audio MPK49.  I would love to get my hands on some of the new Pioneer DJ equipment, its awesome that Pioneer is progressing into the digital age and offer MP3 decks, there was an article out there that stated that they were planning on phasing out of their CDJ lineup, which will be much more convenient than carrying around vinyl and CD cases like we used to.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Social media has proven to be the best promotion tool for me aside from directly giving out promotional material, I try to network as much as possible with like minded people.

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Playing somewhere in Europe is the first thing that comes to mind, specifically in the Netherlands where the majority of great Trance Music producers/DJ’s reside.  Armin Van Burren and his ASOT crew would probably be my choice artists to perform with, they have awesome down to earth fans, great productions and are all around good people.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Currently in the works is a new Progressive Trance compilation titled “Project Phoenix” featuring tracks by Natious, Above & Beyond, Kyau & Albert and Mike Foyle, which will be released as a treat for the Trance Family in celebration of DJ Substorm entering the top 50 Global EDM chart on ReverbNation.com, on there my current rank is 1/15 Local, 36/1945 National and 54/3735 Global as of February 9 2015.

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Programming computers, and my mom would be happy.

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

When I was a teenager I started off listening to R&B, I’ve bought so many albums in the past I honestly couldn’t say which was my first, however the first EDM album ever bought was Sasha Global Underground 013: Ibiza from the Global Underground mix series.  When I first heard it I thought “wow what amazing sounds!” and it was certainly part of my inspiration to become a DJ.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

It takes a lot of determination and dedication to stay ahead and keep up with everything from production to promoting.  Balance is the key, sometimes I do get lost chatting with social media friends/fans, however meeting different people from around the world and getting to know them on a personal level is absolutely priceless.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2015

The reinstatement of the Global Connection internet radio show with many great compilations, as well as some original production tracks.  Be sure to keep up with new releases on ReverbNation.com/djsubstorm and also subscribe to my YouTube channel youtube.com/djsubstorm.