{"id":20755,"date":"2020-06-30T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xceed.me\/blog\/?p=20755"},"modified":"2021-03-23T11:58:27","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T09:58:27","slug":"interview-with-shay-de-castro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xceed.me\/blog\/en\/interview-with-shay-de-castro\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Shay De Castro: \u201cI know a lot of people say that\u2019s not really producing or it\u2019s cheating, but I disagree\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Born and raised in the USA, coming from a rock background and playing the guitar since she was a kid, Shay De Castro<\/a> is a prominent talent in the techno and trance scene. She is young and fresh, yet she has already shared the stages with artists such as Spektre, Groovebox and Deborah De Luca, just to mention a few. Her sets are progressive and full of energy, and so are her tracks. In the occasion of the release of her ‘Assembly<\/a>‘ EP via CODEX Recordings<\/a>, which is already rising in the Techno Beatport chart, we spoke with Shay about the production as well as her roots, her life in the USA, her inspirations and her ideas on how the music scene will change after the covid-19 crisis.
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Image: \u00a9 Shay De Castro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Who is Shay De Castro, and how did you get into djing and producing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First off, thanks for having me! Shay De Castro is just a girl obsessed with music and sharing that with others. I got interested in djing when I discovered trance when I was 11 or 12 years old. With some birthday money I\u2019d saved I bought a book about learning how to DJ at Barnes and Noble, but at the time I didn\u2019t really have the chance to implement what I\u2019d learned. It was only when my friend showed me, a few years later. I grew up in a smaller city with literally zero electronic music venues, so it wasn\u2019t until I moved away after high school that I really got into djing.

Production was a different story though. I knew I wanted to make music as I was a musician almost my entire life. However, learning a DAW was initially a struggle for me. It wasn\u2019t until I started taking online courses that I fell in love with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Some American cities have been really important for electronic music, in particular techno. Having grown up in the USA, how did it influence you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, well my hometown (Boise, Idaho) definitely didn\u2019t help much. Only one record store called The Record Exchange held trance and techno, and that was the beginning of my collection. LA was a huge influence, though, and really motivated me to just play and make whatever I wanted. What I love about LA is that most people have moved there to pursue a dream and it\u2019s so incredibly motivating being around those types of people. They really feel nothing is impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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What role did rock music play in your life and, consequently, in your career? Did other genres influence you? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It influenced everything. My parents were playing Black Sabbath<\/a> and Nirvana<\/a> when I was just a baby. It just became a part of me. I taught myself the guitar at 10 and I took that thing with me on the school bus and played outside the school every morning and lunch because I didn\u2019t have many friends. Music was something that was always there for me and was the perfect escape. When I got into middle school and high school, trance entered my life and quickly became an obsession. I always loved techno too, but at that time, trance was it for me. It still influences me a lot today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

You have released your \u2018Assembly\u2019 EP on CODEX Recordings. Where does the idea of this EP come from? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea was this more raw, intense EP. That\u2019s how the title of the track came about. It was kind of a way to express quite possibly the most difficult time in my life. My previous releases were a lot less serious, I guess you could say, and that is because I didn\u2019t feel real-life emotions or struggles were contributing to it \u2013 as clich\u00e9 as that sounds. The other two tracks are a bit more \u201cfierce\u201d, I guess, and represent a brighter side to that situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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