Every local DJ's career story is born from humble beginnings, turning into something that has the potential to become so much more.
Like many others in New York's emergent scene, Wayde Rafnel is among the wave of homegrown talent bringing fresh ideas and perspectives to electronic dance music.
Wayde has his sights set on an eventful second half of 2010: one which will include revamping the traditional mix podcast format, raising the bar for the quality of demo compilations, and most importantly playing great sets.
While this set of goals may appear lofty, it can be done. And here's Wayde plans to make it all come together...
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From paradise to the country...and maybe back
Binarysound: You were born in Costa Mesa, California. What age did you move over to Pennsylvania and where are you in that state right now?
Wayde Rafnel: Right now I live in the Poconos which is in the middle of nowhere. I moved here when I was about 6 or 7-years-old, because my Mom lived here when she was my age and then moved out west before she met my Dad. We then decided to move back here to be closer to family.
BSound: So you were living in the Poconos before you got into DJing and producing?
WR: Oh yea, by far.
BSound: What age were you and where did you become exposed to electronic dance music?
WR: I started playing guitar when I was 15-years-old and I was really influenced by heavy metal and anything that sounded aggressive. I fell into that and did that for a while, but the first ever trance song I heard was on Grand Theft Auto 3 on one of the in-game radio stations. The song was called "Neo (The One)" by Slyder and I just fell in love with it. I thought to myself: "wow this is amazing...what is this?". I'd say I was about 17 or 18 at this point.
BSound: Costa Mesa is about an hour away from Los Angeles, one of the biggest clubbing cities in the United States. Although your current location is only two and a half hours away from New York City, how difficult was it to get started as a DJ in a rural area like where you live?
WR: It was really hard. When I first got into this and started producing, I figured that I needed to DJ while I was making tracks. So I thought I'd try to take my talents to a club around here, but I found out pretty fast that they don't play anything EDM-related.
I then started going to shows in New York and started talking to a couple of the locals who are bigger there, like Brad Miller and Marcello (DJ Eco), and they helped me out a lot. They kind of guided me on the right path and were very supportive of what I was doing.
BSound: So there's no local scene for you to play a show or a house party in Pennsylvania?
WR: When I first started DJing I tried to do house parties, but even before I went to New York to start playing shows I messaged a bunch of fraternities around here and told them "you should do a house night or a progressive night, and I'll DJ for you if you give me some free drinks or whatever". I just wanted to get my name out there, but all of them were like "we just wanna hear rap".
Reinventing the podcast, the demo compilation, and a DJ's fashion choices?
BSound: When you first set out to make your podcast, Uplift, how did you want to market it differently from the hundreds of other trance podcasts out there?
WR: I had a podcast before Uplift called At Sunset and it was good, but it failed because my hosting service just [shut down?] and I couldn't recover the old shows. At that time I thought to myself why I wasn't getting the listener base that I wanted and how I could make a podcast better.
So I decided to start a whole new podcast and give it a better title that would draw people in. That's the whole thing I found out about marketing: it's almost like you have to make a brand for yourself and give people a reason to come. What I'm planning to do more of on the show are updates on local events, artist interviews, and showcasing new talent. Whenever someone comes to me and says they just started DJing and need some help I'll ask them if they have a guest mix and try to incorporate that onto the show.
I'm also doing more quality versus quantity episodes. I used to do one episode a week every Wednesday, but now I do one every two weeks since I'm searching for the perfect track selection rather than just playing the top 20 at the moment.
BSound: How has the reaction been so far for Uplift?
WR: It's been way better than the other one and I think some of that has to do with the title, since you know what the show is about right away. I've gotten at least double the traffic on it and it's been received well. I'm pretty excited about it.
BSound: When talking about uplifting trance online, I often read how people think the genre is too generic and people are no longer innovating with their productions. What's your stance on this sentiment?
WR: I don't think it's generic. A lot of people say it is, but I think the problem is that a lot of people still want something that sounds similar to what it was five years ago. If you go to any musical genre, you'll find that people always say "oh it isn't the same anymore". It's almost like people are holding onto that memory but aren't willing to create something new.
But guys like Simon Patterson- to me that's a new sound, like that techy drive with some uplifting elements in the middle. When I first heard his style I was floored. Guys like DJ Eco, Jaytech, Breakfast, Oliver P, Marcus Schossow, and Jorn van Deynhoven are also making unique sounds where you know it's them when you hear it. It's a very wide range of sound in the genre, and I think the people who say it's generic are listening to more of the top 20 stuff and aren't diversifying themselves enough.
BSound: What upcoming tracks do you have coming out?
WR: I have a two song EP coming out on Couture, but I'm not sure of the exact release date yet. It's a more tech-trance label and the main track on the EP is called "Struggle", and it's really odd how that track came together. I've written so many tracks and sent them to different labels, but I usually get the response of "oh well it's really good, but whatever".
The idea behind "Struggle" originated when I watched The Pursuit of Happyness, and that movie was so inspiring to me because producing trance music is what I love to do. I wrote the song and gave it that name because the sound feels like you want something more. I was totally inspired by the fact that I feel like I struggle and I'm never going to get anywhere with a song, but it's weird because now it got signed to a label. It's a really dark track with three parts to it and people who have heard the track already have said that it's interesting.
The other song is called "Costa Mesa". I've always wanted to write a track with that title but they were never good enough. When I finished the first song on the EP, Couture asked me for another track and I was working on this one and decided to finish it up. It's more of an uplifting track, similar to Sean Tyas' "Melbourne": a song that has pads and piano.
BSound: How long have you been working on both of these songs?
WR: "Struggle" came out pretty quick because the ideas really flowed together and I had the basis of the song together within a couple weeks. "Costa Mesa" was a lot faster than that because I felt I was on a deadline and I wanted to have something good so I finished that one in about a week. The total process for "Struggle" took me about a solid month.
BSound: On your last episode of Uplift, you played a half hour mix of an upcoming demo compilation that you are putting out called "Costa Mesa". What's the story behind this release?
WR: A lot of people ask me when I'm playing a gig if I have a demo mix, and I feel like every artist in the scene will take a one hour mix and burn it to a CD, write on it on sharpie, and then hand it to people. But the problem is those people are getting a million other CD's like that with sharpie on them. So I felt that I really wanted to make a demo mix that is almost like my own version of A State of Trance or In Search of Sunrise, which contained tracks that I really identify with and something that really showcases what I want to sound like in my feelings.
But I wanted to do it professionally by getting nice CD labels and artwork. I'm not going to sell it because of course that's illegal, but I'm planning to give it away when I have a gig. It'll be a great demo and it's something people can enjoy and remember more since they have more of a package rather than just a blank-labeled CDR.
The compilation is called "Costa Mesa" because that is where I want to move back to and be, and every single track on there has something to do with that location. About half the tracks on both CD's (it's a two disc thing), are edited or original. On my latest podcast I did a 30 minute preview of the first disc and it's way laid back and definitely like a summer beach mix. Disc two is solid trance but it definitely has its summery sounds and uplifting elements.
Some tracks off of the Costa Mesa compilation are:
Luigi Lusini - Who We Are (Wayde Rafnel Costa Mesa Intro Edit)
Answer 42 - Pink Houses (Wayde Rafnel Dub/Vocal Piano Edit)
Oceania Pres Corndonnier - Squares in Boxes (Suncatcher Remix)
Velvetine - Safe (Wherever You Are) (Rank 1 Remix)
Greg Downey - Global Code (Original Mix)
Oliver P - Philadelphia (Wayde Rafnel Southern California Edit)
BSound: In most of the photos I've seen of you DJing, you wear plain clothes like a solid black or white T-shirt. How would you describe your fashion choice? I though it looked a lot different than what everyone else wears when they're behind the decks…
WR: [Laughs] I have 20 white t-shirts and that's pretty much all I wear. It's just my style: jeans and a white t-shirt. I guess it's just how I like to look- something laid back because the button downs and flamboyant shirts are cool and stuff, but it's something that sets me apart and may make me look more approachable. When I think about it I don't like to put a front on or a fake image- if you wear a white t-shirt and jeans I feel people are more accepting of you way more than if you try to look like something you're not.
BSound: Can you tell us what people can expect from you this Friday with Brad Miller and Mike Saint-Jules at Santos Party House?
WR: I'm really excited for this show. I'm going to be playing more laid back stuff to give people another taste of what I can do. A lot of people right now know me for playing 140 bpm straight driving trance, but I'm on opening duties and I want to show people that I can play the progressive trance stuff without it sounding the same. I want to show people that you can play summer themed music in a club and people will love it.
[Image credit: Nickki Figurski, Santiago Maiza]
