Exposed Vocals Just Caught an Exclusive Interview with ‘TICTO’

My name is Stefan and I’m a 21 year old producer from Sweden. I grew up in a small city in Sweden called Köping to immigrant parents from former Yugoslavia, loving music from an early age which resulted in me starting work as a DJ back in 2011. Since then I’ve done a lot of different gigs around Sweden, still very active and currently (since 2014 regularly) doing a lot of lounge gigs (together with a saxophone player) on cruise-ferries operating the baltic sea (Silja Line). This as a result got me into hanging out with lots of amazing people, who encouraged me into pursuing a career within music, which resulted in me starting to produce my own material back in October 2014. And as of 2016 I am also a proud CEO of my own record label, Golden Vibe Records.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/track/0wN0oOXmZV4envhQQcjrvz

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

TICTO: My name is Stefan and I’m a 21 year old producer from Sweden. I grew up in a small city in Sweden called Köping to immigrant parents from former Yugoslavia, loving music from an early age which resulted in me starting work as a DJ back in 2011. Since then I’ve done a lot of different gigs around Sweden, still very active and currently (since 2014 regularly) doing a lot of lounge gigs (together with a saxophone player) on cruise-ferries operating the baltic sea (Silja Line). This as a result got me into hanging out with lots of amazing people, who encouraged me into pursuing a career within music, which resulted in me starting to produce my own material back in October 2014. And as of 2016 I am also a proud CEO of my own record label, Golden Vibe Records.

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

TICTO: Really it’s basically just a play of my last names, Ristic-Tosic, which turned into TICTO 🙂

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

TICTO: I love online music sharing, and I think we’re living in the best of times, not only regarding music but regarding every aspect of our everyday lives. Today it’s so easy to just hit up your favorite artists on Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud, and in SECONDS you’re doing what use to take HOURS 25 years ago (going to record-stores etc). I’ve currently just released one song, and it’s $1 on iTunes, so I’ve yet to give out my songs for free, but back when I was releasing mashups/ bootlegs as a DJ, I used to give them out to my fans completely for free, which I will probably do again in the future with my original songs.

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?

TICTO: Well I’m still in the struggle my self, especially as a start up producer. But I’ve been DJing now for a solid 5 years, so my best piece of advice to the newcomers would be to really be selfcritical and self-aware, ask yourself honestly if you’re really good at what your doing, and if this really is what you’d want to spend a lot of time/energy/money on, and then pick out your favorite DJ/producer/artist, and work 2x as hard and 2x as smart as they do.

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

 

TICTO: Oh yeah I do, but I usually cover them up pretty good, and the key is really just practice and a lot of experience. You tend to make smaller mistakes as you get better at your craft.

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

TICTO: Yeah, I ”tour” as a DJ once a month for 2-3 weeks on the cruise-ferries I mentioned before, and usually there’s always something happening over there. One memorable child-safe story though would probably be the time a guy walked by and tipped me 50€ for playing a Kraftwerk song. That’s the power of music kids! Another one was when the audio cables to my mixer from my CD-players accidentally jumped out (don’t ask me how) and I had a packed dance floor staring at me for a few seconds in dead silence, I then started to yell, rhythmically, HEY HEY HEY! getting everyone to join, while I quickly solved the problem and dropped DMX’s ’Party Up In Here’. Great night!

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

TICTO: From everyday life events, people I meet, nature and really anything that gets my mind going. I usually start with the chorus and work my way around the track, but it’s really a different approach every time depending on the track. I think of my tracks as children that I raise to be great adults, sometimes your really proud and sometimes you’re just disappointed of what they’ve turned into.. 😛

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

TICTO: Yes, all my music is directly available through my record label’s website, www.ggoldenvibe.com . My main sources of sharing is Spotify, YouTube and Facebook, but my music is available on pretty much all online music stores/streaming services (iTunes, Apple Music, Tidal, Shazam, SoundCloud etc)

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

TICTO: None really, why be embarrassed of your music? And mp3 player? Come on, its 2016 guys…

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

TICTO: I would invest in my music making (studio, production, marketing etc) and make more content than ever!

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

TICTO: Possibly a new sound card, recommendations are more than welcome! I’m currently using a lot of Native Instruments software & hardware (Maschine, Komplete 10, Maschine Studio etc) but also Ableton Live 8 and 9, my 2016 iMac, Yamaha HS7 monitors, Scarlett 2i2 soundcard, M-Audio keystation 49, Sennheiser hd 280pro headphones and also the legendary AKG K240 headphones!

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

TICTO: There’s all kinds of ways to promote your music, through Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, you name it! I always try to be innovative in how I promote my music and gaining a organic audience, most of the ways are only one google search away though!

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

TICTO: I would love to perform with Freddie Mercury (do I have to evaluate on that one?) studio or gig doesn’t matter where, the man is a genius and a true legend. Definitely also Dr.Dre, cause he’s Dr.Dre. I would also love to perform with Skrillex, just cause he seems very natural in the way he does things, and also one of the few true artists in todays music scene.

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

TICTO: Next up is my upcoming single called ”Great Clouds” again together with the lovely Mara on vocals, dropping August the 15th on Spotify, iTunes and all other online musicstores/streaming services! From then it’s pretty much one release per month, basically grinding hard!

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

TICTO: Probably rendering tea-kettles in CAD in some dark basement somewhere, ugh…

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

TICTO: Eminem – The Eminem Show, a present from my father back in 2002. Just really digged the whole vibe on the record, Dre & Shady magic at its best.

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

TICTO: Planning my friends, thats the key. You don’t get time, you make time for what’s important in your life.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016? 

TICTO: A lot of original sounding tracks not only from me but from other artists too, 2016/2017 is a year of change, especially in the music world. Make sure you enjoy every minute of your favorite songs, and more importantly your life!