{"id":18054,"date":"2019-12-12T13:55:33","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T11:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xceed.me\/blog\/?p=18054"},"modified":"2023-05-18T09:00:25","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T07:00:25","slug":"interview-with-toman-the-new-dutch-uprising-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xceed.me\/blog\/en\/interview-with-toman-the-new-dutch-uprising-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Toman: \u201cI couldn\u2019t understand when people told me it can all go really fast, now I definitely can\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of you may not yet be familiar with his name, but it’s only a matter of time. The Dutchman Toman<\/a> considers that it was in 2017, after his first international gig in Romania, that his career as a professional artist reached its turning point. This debut came alongside the Romanian Mihai Popoviciu<\/a> and a few months later, Toman was already reaching big goals and playing in stages of the calibre of Awakenings<\/a>. Some important Berlin clubs have already known the freshness of his rhythms. Other meccas of the party, such as Ibiza<\/a>, are still on his list of dreams to be fulfilled. Although the greatest dream of all, he tells us, is “to share my music with the whole world”. Today we meet Toman, one of the most promising talents on the European tech scene.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe most important thing is not to forget to enjoy it\u201d, you said once. What % is joy and what % is seriousness -or even suffering- while playing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good question. For me the most important thing is balance. Lately, I\u2019m travelling a lot, and this is new for me. I am trying to find out how to keep the balance between joy and seriousness. Weekends can be crazy: party, meeting a lot of new people and travelling can be exhausting. When I get home on Mondays, I take a step back. Meditation is something that really helps me. Without giving my mind a rest, I can\u2019t enjoy what I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n

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In fact, your career is quite short for now, but you started doing music with some pans and pots in your kitchen a long time ago\u2026 Music has always been in you, hasn\u2019t it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a kid, I often improvised my one-man-band. Pans and pots as drums, a piano toy, an air-guitar\u2026 I did it all. I started playing the drums when I was about 5 years old. Already after a few months, my teacher told my mother I was really talented. I played the drums for 7 years, but when I got older, I didn\u2019t like to read music and just wanted to improvise and play around.<\/p>\n

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\"Xceed-Interview-Toman-Festival\"
Image: \u00a9 Toman Press Kit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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How did the story continue?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I found out about FL Studio I started making my own hip hop beats. Again, just playing around and not really knowing how to finish a full track. A few years later, I found some tutorials on YouTube and learned the basics. When I was 16, I went clubbing and immediately knew I wanted to be a DJ. This was also the moment where I switched from hip hop to house music. At the same time, I started using Ableton Live and finally finished some tracks. After high school, I tried to study and work but always ended up with music. When I got accepted to the Herman Brood Academy (Electronic Music Producer), my life changed a lot. I finally found a place with like-minded people (Luna Ludmila, Luuk van Dijk, Colyn, Lewski, VNTM) where I could focus on music and find my own sound. I started playing my first local gigs then.<\/p>\n

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At what point would you say you realized music was definitely your path?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When my first release with Cyclic Records hit the Beatport Top-10. That gave me a huge boost. I got booked for my first international booking in Romania and I think my career started after that trip, which happened in 2017.<\/p>\n

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Cyclic Records is owned by Romania\u2019s Mihai Popoviciu, which explains that first international gig. What\u2019s your relationship with him? How did you end up releasing your first track on there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was a big fan of Mihai and the label and I liked every release. After months of working on that EP, I decided to send the demos to his email. I didn\u2019t know him by that time. 2 days later he told me he loved the tracks and wanted to sign them to the label. This was a dream come true. After it hit #7 on Beatport, I got booked in his home country. I decided to stay a full week and Mihai invited me for dinner in his hometown. We spoke a lot about music and the scene and afterwards went to party with some of his friends. I kept sending music and did a few EP\u2019s after that. Last summer we met again when we both played at Key Conference in Uruguay. He is still a big inspiration for me and I\u2019m proud to say we played b2b with James Dexter at Fabric some days ago.<\/p>\n

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