TALAL: as long as you keep developing new components, then your overall sound will keep moving

Radio intense is happy to present to you our next guest - TALAL!

TALAL has recently made his debut on Renaissance Records, on Vol.2 in the Merin EP series, an immaculately produced portfolio that features breaks, deep house, MH&T and indie dance.

The series provides an exciting opportunity for Renaissance to shine a light on some of the best production talent in the world today, be it from established artists to up and coming or newcomers to the scene; "our rule is simple - if we feel it's worthy, it's in." - Renaissance.

As an artist, TALAL has already gained the support of Adriatique, John Digweed, Maceo Plex, Petar Dundov, Solomun, Adam Beyer, Laurent Garnier and more. With his atmospheric sound continuing to develop we are expecting many great things to come from this exciting talent.

We spoke with TALAL about the Renaissance release, his influences and more. Enjoy!
— Hi Talal! Great to have you with us today. How are you doing and where are you talking to us from right now?
— Am in Bahrain at the moment, I've been trying to plan to return to London but the vaccine I was administered is yet to be approved in Europe so it makes travel not as straightforward.
— We're excited to be chatting with you around the release of your track 'Moda' on the Renaissance Merin EP Vol.2. Congrats on the release, Renaissance makes a great home for the track. What was the inspiration behind Moda?
— I had recently finished a 3 week hotel quarantine in Hong Kong and had to transit in Istanbul before proceeding to Bahrain or London. So I thought to make the most of it and spend some time in Istanbul. The area I stayed for a period is named 'Moda', it was an odd time because you couldn't really stay out beyond certain hours and Sundays everything would be pretty much on lockdown due to the circumstances.
— We'd love to hear about how you started your career in music, where did it all begin for you?
— I had a release in 2011 on a label in London which at the time was also releasing Max Cooper, Pig & Dan etc... but then I didn't write/release more until 2015/2016 and I have been writing since then.
— Who are some of your greatest musical influences?
— It's difficult to narrow it down as there are too many, but I think it isn't so much based on genre but rather the best quality from any given area, be it jazz, rock, electronica etc.
— How do you like to approach making music?
— I usually start from the drums/percussion first and then the bass and gradually work towards the higher sounds, then I step away and come back a day later to work on overall arrangement and transitions.
— Your atmospheric sound has garnered the support of many of the scene's top artists, such as John Digweed, Laurent Garnier and many more. What would your most valuable tip be for an aspiring producer?
— Genres and sounds go through many seasonal trends every couple years, so I would avoid looking at the bigger picture - and focus more on the process of production/writing. As long as you keep developing new components, then your overall sound will keep moving rather than getting a bit myopic.
— With the restrictions of the pandemic in mind, have you been able to return to gigging yet? What aspect of events did you miss the most during the last 18 months?
— Pending circumstances, I am in discussions for some items potentially in Thailand, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Bahrain, Portugal and Istanbul. The Propaganda/Mindset Media event series in Bahrain has some interesting items in the pipeline including potentially hosting Boiler Room in Bahrain. New Zealand's The Greatest Show On Earth event team host the Shipwrecked Festival, they are very good people and are busy on many more items in the country. But I think most likely it will take things a couple more months to become clear. I miss meeting and interacting with new interesting people, the situation of late was almost like hibernating.
— Thank you so much for chatting with us today and congrats to you on this latest release. To finish off, is there anything else upcoming from yourself that you'd like to share with us?
— I have some releases coming up after this one on Spectrum, Robot Heart, Desert Hearts Black, Black Hole, Nomade/Paperclip and a few more items still in process.