Photo courtesy of Armada Music
If you don't follow trance music, without a doubt you've heard of Armada Music. The label is known for the empire it has built in the trance world with many imprints, run by some of the biggest names in the industry. Many of the artists who come from Armada see huge success as they often play ASOT events and partake in busy touring schedules.Andrew Rayel at 22 years old has captured hearts of trance heads across the world. During EDC week the classically trained DJ and producer played at Marquee Nightclub and the BassCON stage. THUMP Canada caught up with him before all the madness went down in Vegas to talk about his debut artist album, Find Your Harmony and how he broke into the dance music scene; from small labels to the empire that is Armada Music.THUMP: Welcome to Las Vegas, this will be your first time playing EDC Las Vegas.
Andrew Rayel: Yes! That's right. I'm so excited about it. It has been one of my biggest dreams to play at EDC; I always wanted to be part of it and it finally happened.Let's go way back to your roots; how you got into making music and getting involved with Armada.
I started to learn the piano at a local music school in Kalarash, Moldova. Initially at the school I didn't really like learning how to play other people's music because I wanted to create my own. I didn't really know what style I wanted to pursue, but I heard a lot of tracks by Armin Van Buuren, ATB and at the time I fell in love with that type of music.ATB was massive throughout Europe in the '90s.
Yes, absolutely. He was all over the radio and every time you tuned in his songs where always playing. During that time I knew that was the type of music I wanted to produce. I was about 13 years old and it took me about five years to finally produce something I could release, it was on a small label, but everyone starts from a small label.What label was it?
It was a label called Only One Records. The song I released was under a different alias at the time.How did you get involved with Armada Music?
I released a track on a Russian label, Timeline Music and they had really good promos that were sent to all the big DJs. It happened that one of my tracks, "Aether" was sent to Armin and he really loved it! He played it at all the festivals. That's how Armin discovered me; I continued to send tracks to him and he has played all of them.You just released your first artist album, Find Your Harmony, what where some of the challenges in making it? A lot of artists have become hesitant about releasing albums and are more focused on singles and EPs.
It's been on my mind from the moment I started to produce. Maybe now it's not common to produce an album, but when I used to listen to Armin's tracks at the time, releasing albums was very common and every big artist was doing it. As time went on, the production of albums declined, but I always wanted to make my dream of producing an album of my own a reality. The album wasn't made from scratch; I already had some ideas planned out for it and the name "Find Your Harmony" as well. I wouldn't say it was easy, but it took me nights of getting no sleep to get it done and that took about two years to complete but I was prepared for it.A lot of people compare you to Armin van Buuren, what's your reaction to that?
I am really honoured and blessed that so many people think that. We all know there won't be another Armin, and again, being compared to him is an honour so I will try not to disappoint all the fans! But utimately I want to be Andrew Rayel and have my own sound.What's the music scene like in Moldova?
It's pretty good. Within the past few years we had all the big names, except Armin. I hope he comes really soon. I played my first Find Your Harmony show and it sold out with 5,000 people in attendance. It was a venue called Manej Stadium. I had vocalists Christian Burns and Alexandra Badoi join the show so it wasn't just a club set, it was a production with prepared visuals and I played for about four hours. It was really special for me.You have worked with quite a few prominent singers, are there any vocalists you want to work with but haven't yet?
There is one singer I've always wanted to work with, Emma Hewitt. I think she's one of the best vocalists in the scene. I hope very soon we can find some time to produce music together. She is always on tour and doing vocals for others artists but hopefully we can make it happen!What does trance music mean to you?
For me it's always about the melody and not just the drop. It's something energetic, something that inspires people and something that takes people on a journey. It's not always just party music and the next morning you can't remember anything. It stays in your memory forever.Ani advocates electronic music and loves soda water. Follow him on twitter @AniHajderaj
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Andrew Rayel: Yes! That's right. I'm so excited about it. It has been one of my biggest dreams to play at EDC; I always wanted to be part of it and it finally happened.Let's go way back to your roots; how you got into making music and getting involved with Armada.
I started to learn the piano at a local music school in Kalarash, Moldova. Initially at the school I didn't really like learning how to play other people's music because I wanted to create my own. I didn't really know what style I wanted to pursue, but I heard a lot of tracks by Armin Van Buuren, ATB and at the time I fell in love with that type of music.ATB was massive throughout Europe in the '90s.
Yes, absolutely. He was all over the radio and every time you tuned in his songs where always playing. During that time I knew that was the type of music I wanted to produce. I was about 13 years old and it took me about five years to finally produce something I could release, it was on a small label, but everyone starts from a small label.What label was it?
It was a label called Only One Records. The song I released was under a different alias at the time.How did you get involved with Armada Music?
I released a track on a Russian label, Timeline Music and they had really good promos that were sent to all the big DJs. It happened that one of my tracks, "Aether" was sent to Armin and he really loved it! He played it at all the festivals. That's how Armin discovered me; I continued to send tracks to him and he has played all of them.
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It's been on my mind from the moment I started to produce. Maybe now it's not common to produce an album, but when I used to listen to Armin's tracks at the time, releasing albums was very common and every big artist was doing it. As time went on, the production of albums declined, but I always wanted to make my dream of producing an album of my own a reality. The album wasn't made from scratch; I already had some ideas planned out for it and the name "Find Your Harmony" as well. I wouldn't say it was easy, but it took me nights of getting no sleep to get it done and that took about two years to complete but I was prepared for it.A lot of people compare you to Armin van Buuren, what's your reaction to that?
I am really honoured and blessed that so many people think that. We all know there won't be another Armin, and again, being compared to him is an honour so I will try not to disappoint all the fans! But utimately I want to be Andrew Rayel and have my own sound.What's the music scene like in Moldova?
It's pretty good. Within the past few years we had all the big names, except Armin. I hope he comes really soon. I played my first Find Your Harmony show and it sold out with 5,000 people in attendance. It was a venue called Manej Stadium. I had vocalists Christian Burns and Alexandra Badoi join the show so it wasn't just a club set, it was a production with prepared visuals and I played for about four hours. It was really special for me.You have worked with quite a few prominent singers, are there any vocalists you want to work with but haven't yet?
There is one singer I've always wanted to work with, Emma Hewitt. I think she's one of the best vocalists in the scene. I hope very soon we can find some time to produce music together. She is always on tour and doing vocals for others artists but hopefully we can make it happen!What does trance music mean to you?
For me it's always about the melody and not just the drop. It's something energetic, something that inspires people and something that takes people on a journey. It's not always just party music and the next morning you can't remember anything. It stays in your memory forever.Ani advocates electronic music and loves soda water. Follow him on twitter @AniHajderaj