NANCE mixes up a night at Blue Beet May 1
Riley Nance aka NANCE is an up-and-coming EDM Producer who will be showcasing his original remixes and DJ style at Blue Beet in the Balboa Peninsula Thurs, May 1. Hailing from Newport Beach, Nance is familiar with the OC electronic scene having performed at popular venues such as Sutra, Ten Nightclub, and the Yost Theater; and with artists such as Lil Debbie.
In addition to DJing, NANCE has produced some notable tracks that have made their way to the Beatport top playlists. One of his latest, a remix of Tiesto’s “Take Me,” charted sixth place in plays as part of a Beatport remix contest. Another one of his remixes, a remix of Bass Kleph’s “Less is More”, charted 1st in plays.
The OC Concert Guide had the chance to ask Nance about his Beatport successes and future plans for his music.
OCCG: What were the biggest influences growing up in Orange County that got you into DJing?
RN: To be honest I have only been DJing for just a bit longer than 2 years but, I have a fairly established musical background aside from “edm.” I originally started being in bands playing several different instruments and singing, playing shows and gigging since I was just 10 years old. After many years of being in bands, playing and writing original music my bands decided we would to turn to recording our own music and without any significant funding the only option seemed to be, well doing it ourself. As time went on I faced many struggles, often with band members: being undedicated enough, not talented enough, not passionate enough, musical differences, drug problems, the list really goes on. What I found in Orange County is that really what I came to enjoy was producing music, why, because with a computer your only limit is yourself, the tools are there, you don’t need to rely on other “band members” if you’re falling short its your own deal, get better, be better, all the tools are there, I liked that. Producing music is what led me to electronic music, which led me to wanting to DJ.
OCCG: Which track has gone through the most creative transformation from when you started working on it to when you finished?
RN: At this point in time I haven’t actually released any original music, however I have an almost completed album I’m very excited to to release in the near future, I have been working with a few local artists that will be featured on it! On this album there will be a track titled “Alone” that I’ve been working on for over 2 years that has had 4 vocalists try to take it by the reigns, none of whom succeeded, most of what I produce is 128 bpm house oriented music but I do eventually want to change the face of electronic music and this track is really aside at least most of the electronic music I have ever heard, I believe this track will be a part of what I will Innovate within the genre or category of electronic music, and I believe this song would definitely be my answer to this question!
OCCG: What advice would you give DJs starting out who want to remix other musicians work?
RN: Make sure you have the musical knowledge when remixing a song to do so within the correct key and scale or a greater knowledge of music to know how to change it, aside from that I’d just say when you’re mixing have some decent speakers and compare your tracks to other tracks that you know sound great in the club or at the festival!
OCCG: How was being in the 1st in play spot on Beatport?
RN: Honestly I love my followers, Beatport is a huge site for DJs and I was so surprised to get first place in plays in the BassKleph contest and even more I was surprised that in the Tiesto – Take Me contest I got 6th out of 3,589 applicants In plays, I’m looking forward to many more of the Beatport contests and I hope my supporters come through and support me again, thanks guys!
OCCG: What do you feel set you apart from other DJs on the Beatport contest?
RN: Well I’d like to hope that it was the music, but I created event pages on Facebook and a few other social media sites asking friends and fans to engage and help me get plays!
OCCG: You like to work with a lot of different genres within Electronic music, how do you decide which genre works for the song you are creating at the time?
RN: Well to tell the truth every time I sit down I start from scratch, sometimes I start with a general idea, like if a song originally was a house track sometimes I feel like maybe people would like to hear a dubstep rendition, but mostly I stick to house oriented music and when I dub, I dub in 128 bpm 😉 however wait for my album to hear a few tracks breaking outside my box!
OCCG: How do you pick a song to remix and make it your own?
RN: At this point in time I’m not a huge DJ or Producer, I really pick from a combination of what I like and what is fairly commercial, or when there are contests that will spread my name. As I progress on and become more successful I will probably start picking songs that most people haven’t heard to remix and hopefully people will like what they hear!
OCCG: What are your plans for the rest of 2014? New music? More tours?
RN: I’m really hoping this is going to be a huge year for me, my album should be out, and hopefully released on a major label, I have several remixes in the vault coming out for my followers and tons and tons of shows coming. For now I’m in the studio recording and playing occasionally but as soon as my album is released it will be tours and shows from Orange County to Chicago.