{"id":17358,"date":"2019-10-11T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T08:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xceed.me\/blog\/?p=17358"},"modified":"2023-05-18T09:01:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T07:01:01","slug":"interview-with-glia-the-djs-scene-in-slovenia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xceed.me\/blog\/en\/interview-with-glia-the-djs-scene-in-slovenia\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with GLIA: \u201cPeople think creating contemporary music is just like pressing one button and becoming a producer\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thinking about Slovenian electronic music and not visualizing Umek<\/a> or Valentino Kanzyani<\/a> is complicated. They are the two great exponents of the scene of this Central European country. They were the ones who laid the foundations, who started a path that, today, many young Slovenians continue with the dream of becoming as big as they are. One of the best examples is GLIA<\/a>, alias of Maja Ceh. We are talking about a young producer, DJ and sound engineer born in Slovenska Bistrica, a small village with a few thousand inhabitants and surrounded by hills and vineyards. With only 24 years old, she can already say that she has performed in some of the best clubs in Europe. The best example is Griessm\u00fchle<\/a> in Berlin, a city where, like so many other DJs on the scene, she has recently lived. GLIA was one of the first guests in our Xceed Rooftop Series<\/a>. Now, we have an opportunity to dig deeper into her story.<\/p>\n

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Hi GLIA, it\u2019s a pleasure to have you here with us again. I feel curious about where that aka comes from!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hello! The pleasure is absolutely mine! Look: years ago, I was sitting behind the school desk in high-school during a biology class. We were learning about brains and the teacher explained that GLIA cells provide support and protection for neurons. I liked how the letters sounded and thought to name my next pet like that. But, instead of that, I ditched my ludicrous DJ name back then for GLIA.<\/p>\n

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Can you introduce yourself to Xceed Night Mag readers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe I am a creative and expressive person. That\u2019s why there are multiple ways I feel I can express myself. And one of them is absolutely through music. I never wanted to limit myself just to one thing, so it\u2019s always been hard to define what GLIA includes. In a sentence, GLIA is a part of me focused on creating contemporary electronic music and DJing. As an audio engineer and audio producer, I have a conflict of how much should I include GLIA to other audio-related things that I do, like record and mix bands or singers, lecturing and tutoring people, or getting involved into product design. However, I always come up with ideas on how to expand the concept of GLIA in collaboration with other artists focused on visual aspects and similar.<\/p>\n

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\"glia<\/a>
Image: \u00a9 GLIA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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You are born and based in Slovenia. When we think about DJs from there, we automatically think about Umek or Valentino Kanzyani, two not very young artists… Which are your thoughts about them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I give all my respect to artists like Umek or Valentino Kanzyani, even to artists that are younger and may not be as famous. I think what they have created is admirable. People like Umek influenced me as a child a lot -we call him \u201cfotr\u201d, which means \u201cthe father\u201d. I remember watching his music videos on TV back in the days for songs like \u201cPosing As Me\u201d or \u201cCarbon Occasions\u201d and it absolutely rocked my world as a teenager. Actually, my first proper rave was with Umek and Carl Cox playing. It was a charity event in Ljubljana and back then this kind of music really made an impression on me. I admired them because they are some of the people who influenced the scene in Slovenia and managed to transform their underground brand into a mainstream one. Now, even people who have no connection to electronic music know who Umek is.<\/p>\n

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What about the current status of your national scene? Are there, just like you, more young talent which could start doing important things around Europe very soon?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I look at our national scene, I see a lot of potential artists, but what seems to be the problem, in my modest opinion, is fear in the sense that collaboration may be quite hard due to the small market and its saturation. The competition gets quite hard, especially because \u201ceveryone knows everyone\u201d, so you have to \u201cknow someone\u201d in order to start<\/em>. But I really appreciate our local scene regardless of that. Even though we are a tiny country, we enjoy a scene with almost everything from extremely underground small parties in abandoned places to big, fancy, shiny, international names coming to play. One of the saddest moments on our local scene this year was the closing of an abandoned bike factory called Rog. It has been so far the best place where I ever played. The government shut it down because they don\u2019t see the importance of those kind of places to the alternative-cultural scene in the country.<\/p>\n

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\"glia<\/a>
Image: \u00a9 Shooting Like Pablo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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You are a DJ, but you also produce your own music. Is GLIA more a DJ or a producer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I feel this one is hard to answer, If I judge by knowledge, GLIA is definitely more a producer. However, if I judge by what has been going on so far, it has definitely been more DJ related things. I also feel the mental and creative state I am in when producing music is completely the opposite of the creative process of DJing. When I am producing music, it\u2019s like I am completely selfishly in my own world, focused on sounds, creating textures and ambients. When I DJ, the crowd, space and time is always a component on which I don\u2019t have to think about when producing. \u00a0DJing is just like a cherry on top and being able to play to people that I actually enjoy and rocks my world on the dancefloor is always a delight.<\/p>\n

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You used to live in Berlin some time ago. Why do you think you are so many, the producers\/DJs who have lived there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I find Berlin as the most creative, limitless city I have ever visited. I feel like it can be extremely grotesque and depressing. However, I think that most good art comes from that kind of feelings. Usually, when people are euphorically happy, they cannot offer a lot of art. Berlin has such a specific energy because of its history and the many cultures existing there. It just offers so much inspiration in any art. Everything from graffiti, film premiers, high fashion runaways, contemporary paintings or hard techno parties. Everyone can find something for themselves there. You also get so inspired going to so many amazing parties. You feel like you want to be a part of it.<\/p>\n

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\"ipse
Image: \u00a9 Ipse Berlin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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What did Berlin offer to you that Slovenia couldn\u2019t offer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Primarily, I moved to Berlin to finish my studies. Most of what Berlin gave and still gives me when I go there is the amount of freedom for self-expression. Berlin has such unique energy and I love how you can get lost there for days forgetting about the rest of the world. It\u2019s a town that offered me something no other place ever has offered me so far. I think because of living there, I developed my personality in a bolder way, especially when it comes to experimenting with your ideas and challenging yourself on various levels. What I also absolutely adore to the bottom of my heart in Berlin is the opportunity to get lost in the chaos of the city. Berlin is a big town with things happening every day of the week, and being able to go around the town completely alone and dance to the music that is a big part of me made me fall in love with the music alone and over and over again while getting to know myself so much more. It offered me as well as different perspectives on life and humanity and offered me new values, which I identify with.<\/p>\n

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Could we say that the GLIA we know and dance to nowadays wouldn\u2019t be possible without Berlin\u2019s influences?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think this is undeniably true. I absolutely believe that you can also hear it in my sets: the sound of my sets is pretty \u2018hard squared\u2019. What I find the funniest is how much I actually learned about music production and DJing while going to clubs and just listening and dancing to the music. So, my goal is to always bring those feelings back to the people when they are on my gigs. And, if I can do that with my own music, it\u2019s even better. What I mostly feel Berlin gave me is self-definition, not just on a personal level, but also genre\/playing style-wise.<\/p>\n

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\"glia<\/a>
Image: \u00a9 Anita Acman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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What about your production methods there in Slovenia? Are the same ones you were using in Berlin? Is it more difficult to set a proper studio in your homeland?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To be completely honest, moving back to Slovenia gave me more options to produce music, due to the fact that I was able to save more money for buying better and new audio equipment. So, I set up a small studio with two Adam monitors, my analogue Korg synthesizer, two other keyboards, some microphones and guitar pedals, and then some DJ equipment, which gives me the option to work independently. \u00a0My production techniques have changed because I upgraded my studio gear. This means now I have almost entirely an analogue approach.<\/p>\n

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Could you go a bit further explaining that musical approach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I could talk about this for days, but it all starts with creating raw sounds, original sounds. These are either recorded (field recording or vocal recording) or synthesized with my analogue synthesizer. That might be then processed with an analogue distortion or reverb and recorded back to the computer.<\/p>\n

This is, in a sentence, how the creative process starts. I try to be as structured as possible, and drums are usually the beginning of my tune. I try to create most of my sounds with my own gear, adding different guitar effects to achieve the desired sound on percussions. Then, it\u2019s always the baseline or the lead synth, or maybe even a vocal, to get a red line of the track. I always include some recorded vocals, even if that means using and manipulating them to become some percussive elements in the track.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, I would be outside in town or travelling or just being in social situations, and I would \u2018secretly\u2019 record just to use it later in a track. Of course, I\u2019d make it unrecognizable, but the goal is to create some mesmerizing, hypnotic sounds or vocal effects electronic music has. My goal is to create as many original sounds as I can, and I recently have been given a lecture about it at one of the music production schools based in Ljubljana. You want to develop your own sound. Even if it\u2019s a longer discovery and excellence process, I believe it\u2019s really important.<\/p>\n

At this point, I believe I have also really mastered the workflow of using the analogue gear. I really disagree or even oppose those who only use already existing samples or even worse loops on most of their tracks. I feel, and I\u2019d say, that is not music production, but more like a remix. Downloading something illegally from the internet, and then just throwing it in your DAWs with no logical organization and consistency is something I\u2019d not call music production or art. That\u2019s kind of why people think creating contemporary electronic music is just like pressing one (create) button and baam<\/em>: congrats, you are a producer.<\/p>\n

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\"glia<\/a>
Image: \u00a9 GLIA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

You don\u2019t only create your own sounds, but you also built some new gear this last year\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes!! I have been engaging in product design for the last two years. I got really into it in Berlin. I worked with some prototypes and I researched some possibilities with mentorships from Microsoft and similar. And, until now, I have never found myself behind the actual creation\/engineering process as this year. I participated in an analogue-synth-building workshop and I managed to build a modular synthesizer with just two basic oscillators and an amplifier. I built it inside an old wine box, painted it and then added plastic buttons to make it look less rigid. My next plan is to add a filter and a sequencer, so the sound will actually become more shaped and manageable. Right now, this baby is really wild.<\/p>\n

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How are both the music you produce and the music you play?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am not that consistent when it comes to connecting both, which makes me annoyed because a lot of times my own production doesn\u2019t fit my sets. But I will get there eventually! A lot of times, the music I would create sounds super happy and melodic in comparison to what I would play. I guess it is just the consequence of my emotions: when I make music, I\u2019m generally happy, and when I play it, I want to throw the roof down or create some intense \u2018basement like\u2019 experience.<\/p>\n

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