Stiv Hey: techno music is the one that really makes me move

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

Hailed as one of the most exciting new labels to emerge onto the US techno circuit following its launch in January 2021, LA-based imprint There Is A Light now gears up to celebrate its fifth huge EP of the year, as it warmly welcomes iconic Milanese producer Stiv Hey for his eagerly anticipated label debut. Out now, Stiv Hey and There Is A Light now proudly present the colossal two-part Flavours EP.

Celebrated globally for his inimitable blend of mind-bending techno and dark, driving soundscapes, Stiv Hey's imminent debut on TIAL follows a prolific run of critically acclaimed releases on some of the biggest labels in techno over the past few years, including Octopus Recordings, FORM Music, Sci+Tec, Tronic, Set About, Prospect Records, Respekt Recordings and Unrilis. We caught up with Stiv to talk about his early raving days, future goals and much more.

Read more below!
— Hello Stiv, great to have you back! How are you?
— Hello guys, happy to be back! I'm feeling great thanks, just back from an amazing trip to Turkey and excited to get on this new interview with you.
— Going back to your early raving days, can you explain when you fell in love with electronic music and then how made the jump into the industry?
— Well, the story begin at my 18th birthday. A friend brought me to Amnesia Club in Milano and I clearly remember the moment when Sven Vath was playing the Dubfire's remix of Grindhouse. It was my first time in a club, my first time to experience that feeling, goosebumps, tears…such a strong feeling. That's the moment when I fell in love with electronic music. Of course I was still far from figuring out I wanted to work in this industry, but after that night I started attending any available rave around me and my passion just kept growing and growing. Another year passed and during an English Summer Camp my room mate was an hardcore DJ and producer, I was watching him producing every night thinking "wow this is sooo cool". When I was back from the camp I purchased my first mixer and CDJ's and then I went with the flow, my first club gig, music production school, my first release, my first international gig and so on.
— Why did you choose to pursue techno over other genres of electronic music? Was it always your passion or were you introduced to dance music from other genres?
— When I first got into music production I tried different styles and I'm still doing so. Techno music is the one that really makes me move and excites me the most, but I really like many other electronic music genres as well. I keep experimenting, I even produce ambient and meditation music. Every time I get into the studio I'm just open to see where my creativity leads me to.
— Massive congratulations on your new two-part Flavours EP on There Is A Light. Can you talk to us more about this project?
— Thank you so much! I really believe TIAL is going to become a very strong label in the techno industry, the guys are so professional and really take care of all the details. So when they reached me out asking for an EP I really wanted to make some special tracks for them. I wanted to make the tracks in two different styles, trying to combine them with common elements. "Flavours" is a more rolling dance floor based track while "Destiny Calls" is more melodic and driving. I think the combination of the two tracks reflects my idea of Techno right now.
— You've had an incredibly successful year so far. What have been some of the biggest highlights?
— Thank you so much! Well being present so often in the Beatport Techno Top100 never happened to me in the previous years, so it was definitely my best highlight. I was also nominated by Beatport as one of the most uprising Techno talents in the industry.
— Looking forwards, do you have any goals or objectives you would like to achieve in the future as an artist?
— Yes I definitely have quite a few ahah I spent a lot of time working on upgrading my DJ setup and I can't wait to go back to the clubs to test in on the road. So my first goal is to play with the new setup. Production wise I'm really trying to craft my sound more and more, I'm feeling close to that signature sound every producer looks for but I know there is still work to do. I also have in plan to start working with different singers on some very special projects, you will see… :)
— Can you mention a few pieces of your studio equipment that you're really loving at the moment?
— At the moment I'm really into my Virus TI, which I'm using in almost every track I'm producing. I'm doing a lot of Sound Design in Vital as well, a new free synthesizer which I'm really loving.
— What's the scene like in Italy right now? Any improvements on this matter in the current situation?
— I know Italian clubs are opening up again. I've been living in Barcelona during the last 4 years so I'm more into the Spanish club scene at the moment. Here all the clubs are opened with almost no restriction. Party life is back finally!!
— Where can we see you DJ over the coming months?
— I have some shows confirmed here in Spain, as well as Czech Republic and Italy. Things are moving forward and more dates will be added to my calendar soon.
— Finally, do you have any other projects coming up soon that you'd like to share with us?
— We are doing a great job with our project Sounders in Italy. The first network of Italian music producers. The Sounders crew is rising and rising and after less than one year we are really starting to make an impact on the Italian electronic music scene. We are hosting our first Music Lab in December in Milano and i'm so excited about it. The event went almost sold out in a few days and that's something i'd never expect. I'm so happy to finally see that Italian producers from all over the country are starting to join forces, share their knowledge, help each other. We were really missing this in Italy.