ARTIST TO WATCH: Blossom

1) Tell us something about yourself your fans may not know.

A: Hmmm… I was a cheerleader when I was in high school. I never thought about it like this, but maybe that energy from being out on the field or on the floor transferred into my energy on the stage when I DJ. I quit cheerleading by senior year after I got a concussion doing a back-flip, but evidently that energy lives on.

2) How did you get into DJing & producing?

A: I’ve always been musical and played around with Garage Band in high school, but never really had context for what electronic music even was or what the scene was like… honestly, I had no idea a scene even existed. I discovered EDM through iTunes dance charts and YouTube videos and knew nothing more than that. I was just playing around with making music for the fun of it. When I got to college, I started to listen to EDM consciously and met friends that went to festivals. I didn’t realize this world existed and totally fell in love with the festival scene.

Before I switched to business major, I was taking a few classes at ASU that involved music production in some capacity. Nothing too in depth, mostly intro stuff since I had always loved Garage Band and thought it might be fun. I really enjoyed it and wanted to do more. At the same time, I was going to parties and seeing guys DJ, and they were playing a lot of the music that I was listening to at home. I eventually asked one of the guys for a recommendation for what DJ controller I should get, since I thought it might be something I would be good at. Still then, I didn’t ever in a million years picture myself as someone who would be DJing shows and festivals. I had no idea that the local scene existed beyond DJing frat parties or at nightclubs, and definitely playing festivals wasn’t even on my radar despite being an attendee. Back then, it was probably like thinking I would be a pop star. Not likely.

Ultimately I decided to take some intro to DJing classes at Scottsdale Community College. I ended up discovering Dubspot LA through a friend, and convinced my parents to let me attend in the summer of 2015 between semesters at ASU. I took two courses there, DJing and Beginner Production, and just spent every second of the summer hanging out at the school and working on music with my friend Chuck. It was only at the end of the summer that I realized there was a real DJ and producer community in Arizona; before then, I was really just a music enthusiast and festival-goer making music for fun. I entered the Relentless Beats “15 Mins of Fame” DJ competition in August 2015, made the top 12, and the rest is history!

3) How has being born in London & raised in Arizona had an influence on your production style?

A: Honestly, very little. I moved when I was 5, so I don’t have a ton of memories of being there. I recently went back to visit since my sister moved back there, and even walking around my old neighborhood, I really didn’t remember much. It’s kind of funny that I am so drawn to the UK sound, must be a subconscious thing. The only thing musically that I did while I was living there was start playing violin… I started when I was 2!

4) What was it like being in an orchestra as a child?

A: I spent a lot of time in different orchestras as a child, like Metropolitan Youth Symphony, Phoenix Youth Symphony, and orchestra in elementary and middle school. I went to this arts summer camp called Interlochen in Michigan for two summers and to plenty of retreats with the Phoenix orchestras that I was in. When I was really young, I loved it, but once middle school and high school hit, I thought it was so uncool to be a part of. It had been a part of my life for so long but I was ready to do something else. It’s definitely a shame I gave it up then, but hindsight is 20/20.

5) How has being in an orchestra as a child have an impact on your producing style, if any?

A: Although I can’t read sheet music anymore, my ear is pretty fine tuned since many of my formative years were spent practicing getting perfect pitch. That’s definitely helped me a lot in my production. In terms of my own music, I think the orchestra background makes me love tracks with a melody and orchestral elements, so I try to incorporate those things into the music that I’m making.

6) You recently released your Big Shot EP on Night Bass. How did you get the inspiration for the project?

A: As soon as I got the green light to start working on a Night Bass EP, I was working on something new every week just to create as many options for the label as possible. I worked on the tracks that made the EP consecutively but each have a very different vibe — I wanted to show people the versatility of my productions.

7) What's the song you had the most fun producing on the EP?

A: Definitely Big Shot because it came together so quickly. Once I chose that lead synth, the track pretty much wrote itself. DYTAM & Anime were a lot of fun too, but Anime was soooo labor intensive. It took me months and many new renditions to get it to the final product. Ultimately I’m extremely happy with how it turned out, but it definitely was a lesson in tenacity and “stick-with-it-ness.”

8) How did you come up with the idea for each track? How did each one get started?

A: Big Shot was originally called ‘Walk Around’ and had a vocal sample that I had found on Splice. When AC heard it, he told me he really wanted to get me connected with some vocalists, and connected me with TT The Artist. I’ve been listening to her for a while, so it was really cool that she was on my track. I make a lot of upbeat music, so when it came to DYTAM, I wanted to show a darker side and play around with tech house a little more. I found the vocal first in my existing sample library and it was off to the races. I made the percussion by accident, just playing around with a drum library in Kontakt. I just happened to hit a few sounds I liked in the first go.Anime was definitely tough to make. It just took so long to get it to a point where I was really proud. I had written the song already when I was connected with Outlaw The Artist, but once he recorded the vocals, I really saw the potential in the song to be better than it was and wanted to do his amazing vocals justice. It took about another month and a half of grinding on the track before I felt confident in it for the EP.

9) What plans does Blossom have for 2019?

A: I’m working on more music and trying to improve my production skills. I’m starting to do some of my own vocals which has been kind of liberating for me. Having a lot of fun! I’m going to be traveling to more cities around the country which is so exciting because DJing is my true love and calling. I just love being on stage. I’m planning (and hoping) to do more with Night Bass. They’ve given me opportunities to DJ since I first got going in 2015 & the label is the home to the majority of my musical catalog, including my first ever original release. I feel really connected with their brand and vision and am excited to be a part of it.

Follow Blossom:

Twitter - @blossomdj_

Soundcloud - @blossomdj

Facebook - @officialblossomdj

Instagram - @blossom.dj