With Swedish house arguably at its strongest point in years with the return of Swedish House Mafia, we decided to turn our focus to an up-and-coming name in Swedish house for the return of Thursday Thoughts. Stephan Duy just broke out into the mainstream dance music world with the release of “Jaipur” on Marcus Schössow‘s Code Red Music label. We had a chance to catch up with Stephan to discuss his inspirations in the studio, his dream collaboration and more.

Hi Stephan, welcome to Dance Rebels! How long have you been a DJ/producer for? And what made you pursue a career in the music industry? What sacrifices did you make too?

Thank you for having me! I’ve been making music for almost 5 years now, so I have more focus on the production aspect rather than the DJ aspect. I started pursuing music simply because of being a fan of various electronic artists, some examples are acts like Basshunter and Ørjan Nilsen, and that fandom sparked my interest in how these artists pieced together their music. Throughout the years, I’ve tried out multiple genres of dance music, everything from genres like Hardtrance all the way to styles like Tropical House.

In terms of sacrifices I made, the number one thing would probably be my creative comfort zone. You need to push your own creative boundaries in order to mature as an artist. That is also the reason why I laid my hands on so many genres over the past 4 years.

Another aspect of sacrificing something would be spending less time with friends and family, simply because you have to actually sit down in front of the computer in order to get any music done. So it’s basically a matter of carving out your time properly.

You just dropped “Jaipur” on Code Red Music this past week. How did that record come together?

The idea of ’’Jaipur’’ came together as a result of not trying too hard to come up with something spectacular, but simply just playing around with loops and samples. The vocals came in later during the creative process, as an accident, and it was during that accident I wanted to try blending traditional Indian vibes with modern Tech House grooves. Both sounds combined beautifully, so the arrangement came together very quickly. In order to spice up the arrangement, I added some stabs and various atmospheric elements that complemented the track, and after that, it was only a matter of refining the smaller details.

When you’re producing, what would you say is the toughest part of creating a new track?

For me, it would be trying to create ideas that really captivates oneself. It is hard to really fuel a potential arrangement when the core elements of the track don’t have anything that sparks interest.

Sometimes, the solution to that problem can actually be complementing the main idea with an extra effect or texture to make the idea really stand out. Other times, it can simply be that the sound of the main idea itself is not interesting enough and that you have to replace it with something different. At the end of the day, the best tip I can give would probably be that one goes for the ’’gut feeling’’. If you think it sounds good, it’s probably good.

In the studio, how do you come up with inspiration for new records?

Inspiration comes to me whenever I least expect it: Forcing myself to come up with something great isn’t always the best method, so I am either messing around with synths and samples or just taking a break doing some non-production stuff, like organizing sample libraries or play a couple of video games.

What I also really like to do is sit down in front of my piano and just play a couple of chords that invokes whatever I’m feeling during those moments, not really having to come up with something, but rather just playing for the sake of emotional expression. Playing also helps me unwind after a rough day.

If you could collaborate with any artist, one inside of the dance music industry and one outside, who would it be, and why?

That’s a tough question. I really like a lot of artists, so it’s really hard to just pick one of each category. But if I had to pick one inside the dance music industry, it would probably be Marcus Schossow. He’s the reason I actually got into House music and the respective subgenres, and I have started following him when he still had the ”Tone Diary” label on Spinnin’ Records.

As for a collaboration with someone outside the dance music industry, I would have to go with movie composer Daniel James. I’m a big geek when it comes to film scoring and I am really into his ”hybrid orchestral” sound. That collaboration would end up being something else than dance music though!

What’s next for Stephan Duy in 2018? More tracks, collabs or anything else you want to let us know about?

I want to thank everyone who has played and supported ”Jaipur” so far. I’m really happy that the track was well received in the dance music community.

You can expect more content over the next 8 months, everything from solo stuff to collaborations with names you might already be familiar with. I don’t want to spoil anything yet!

About Thursday Thoughts:

At Dance Rebels, we strive to bring our readers as close to their favorite artists as possible. One of the best ways to make that connection is to discuss a wide range of topics with the biggest names in the dance music scene. If there is an artist that you think we need to talk to, reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter!