Saraga: I want you to know that there are no rules or limits in creating music

Radio Intense is happy to present to you our next guest - Saraga!

Having been immersed in Tel Aviv's thriving underground scene from a young age, Saraga has developed into one of the scene's hottest emerging artists, having performed already in Ibiza, Paris, London, New York, Tulum and more. This December, the rising talent will make his debut on Crosstown Rebels with the four track Love And Happiness EP, adding to a run of strong releases in recent times on the likes of Nervous Records and Robsoul Recordings.

Enjoy!
— Hi Saraga, pleasure to have you with us today ahead of your upcoming debut on Crosstown Rebels. To begin, how are you doing and where are you based currently?
— Hi, first of all many thanks for the invitation to this interview. I'm now at my home in Barcelona, touring around Europe and getting ready for my next US tour in December. During the week producing and scheduling my label Oddity calendar for 2022.
— Set for release on December 10th, the Love And Happiness EP features four original tracks. Congrats on a brilliant EP here. What can you tell us about this EP?
— Thank you for the kind words. Each track has its own story; each one of them was from a different time in my life. 'Love and happiness' I created almost three years ago. I wanted to take some old-school song and put it into a special groove and warm sounds. And Al green was the best option for that. I purposefully created 'Mantra' as a trippy track for the desert of Burning Man. '‏Mujer' I created when I was in Tulum last year, an energetic groove with Spanish vocals. Finally, 'All day every day' is a gritty bassline merged with echoing vocal tones. It's one of those tracks that you pick when you want to start the party.
— How did it come to find its home on Crosstown Rebels and what does it mean to make your debut on the longstanding imprint?
— As a DJ for the last fifteen years, I've followed this label for a long time and decided to send Damian Lazarus my stuff. He liked them and tested them immediately in the club and decided to release them. I'm happy to share this EP with Crosstown Rebels, I think it's one of the biggest and most stable labels in the last 15 years.
— We'd love to hear about how you first got into electronic music, what were your first experiences like and what first led you to DJing and producing?
— My love for music started at a very early age. I used to listen to music and explore many genres until I found myself at 14 years old playing at parties. I started playing hip-hop music and over the years I found myself more into house music. I used to collect many records and tested them in the club, it was a pure fun and Learning period. By the age of 17 I started to produce music. I created some bits and played with samples/ vst, I used to spend hours and hours in the studio to find my own sound and know exactly what I wanted to say.
— With a characteristic rawness to your sound, you have previously released on the likes of Robsoul Recordings and Nervous Records. Can you tell us a bit about the artists or styles of music that have influenced you most in your life?
— There are many artists that influenced me over the years of course but If I need to choose it will be: Moodymann, Johnny D, Ricardo Villalobos.
— We'd love to hear a bit about your production technique, how do you usually approach creating a track?
— Before I even say anything I want you to know that there are no rules or limits in creating music so what I'm gonna tell you now can change again and again over the years. So usually when I start to create music the first thing I do is find the rhythm for the mood I'm in at the moment, after I have the groove that moves me I start to play with the synths and effects. I like to record everything I'm doing until something touches me. When I have the idea and the groove I start to imagine how the track should be built, add effects to what is needed and find the accurate color I want. I like to use tapes and a few different delays, change times and speeds and make things sound trippy, duplicate channels, and use them differently. I think most of my best tracks were without much thought about what I'm gonna do. So trust yourself and your instincts and the results will come.
— Thank you for speaking with us today Saraga and congrats on the Crosstown release. To finish off, is there anything else upcoming from yourself that you'd like to share with us?
— I'm working on many things at the moment, a new label that I'm gonna open. A lot of new music coming out soon and collaborations with a few interesting names. So there is a lot to wait for in 2022.