Check out an exclusive interview with the Incepted Artists
Q: How did the songwriting process look like between you, Iris and Maehila? Did you already have a story developed and break it down into a 3 song narrative?
Andreia: From day one, the concept of different timelines and traveling through different dimensions was really noticeable from all the different genres and influences that I was experiencing from the entire group energy. We immediately started jamming at Sony’s One Studios as one big group that ended up separating into 3 different tracks. However, that initial kickstart marked the workflow of ‘Crave’. I started the writing section together with Maehila & Iris. The experience of brainstorming and creating a storyline with such inspiring female artists, was truly a moment I will always remember, since it was something I always wanted to experience since I started my solo career in male predominant industry.
CRAVE
Q: How did the process of producing look like between you?
Nash: The initial idea for the song was actually a garage tune, with 2 step drums and intense synths. We initially intended on keeping the drop more intense and keeping the 2 step vibe but as we worked the drop slowly morphed into a much more chill almost afro-house vibe. After some time working we decided the current drop had become too mellow so we turned it into a sort of pre-chorus, which helped build the energy but didn’t go all out just yet.
Millim: Nash instantly crafted the foundational synth chords for our initial idea, which set the entire mood for the track. With those chords in place, Maehila hummed a melody to match the vibe—it was incredible. Inspired by this, I thought, “What if I chopped the vocals and gave them a stutter effect?” I immediately went ahead with the idea, and the result was fantastic. It’s actually my favorite part of the song, bringing a lyrical and sophisticated vibe.
Nash, with his impressive synthesis skills, handled all the synth design for the chords. For the first drop, I wanted to add a more experimental touch, so I creatively structured the drum elements to bring something fresh and unique.
Then, as the second drop kicks in, Nash’s signature future house synth texture truly shines, transforming the sentimental mood of the first verse into an energetic, fresh dance tune.”
Nash: Working on this song was such a fun experience. Getting to know each other during the creation of the song made the whole process feel so genuine and real, creating things on the fly with no expectations of what should come next.
Andreia: We started writing this story about the ‘’crave’’ we feel for someone or something that we try our hardest to keep it in the dark (‘’ Craving you in silence / Once it gets dark ‘’ ) even for ourselves, but whenever it is in front of us we just can’t resist it. As the song started having shape, it was clear that we had to add the different languages that we had in the group, since it’s also a way of traveling through dimensions and time, so you can hear English, French, Portuguese and Spanish throughout the composition. I would love for the listener to get this feeling that no matter the language they feel more connected to, music and human experiences are universal.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, DARK
Q: Can you tell us what your first day at One Studios looked like?
Hajo: I got a text from Iris asking if I wanted to join her and Anita to do the production together. I was immediately up for it. We listened to some inspiring tracks and Iris mentioned she really wanted this contrasting, storytelling breakdown. We all loved the idea. At first we were jamming and getting to know each others production method. I hooked up my Digitakt and Preenfm to Anita’s laptop but after a short while I already noticed it was getting a bit full and chaotic, and we needed a reset. I laid down a simple pattern consisting of a kick, a rolling sub and a hat and Iris came up with the hook. We recorded some takes of that and we had the skeleton to work with the next day.
Vani Vachi: The first day we were just jamming, trying to understand directions of the sound. At the end, Iris came up with one line of lyrics which was “Light, Camera, Dark, Play… Light, Camera, Dark” — and we made one loop with it. The next day, when I was on the route to the studios again, the loop was stuck in my head. “Lights, Camera, Dark…” I kinda came into the room and was like “Guys, I think it’s a hook”.
Iris: I’d never made music this rave-y, but I already loved the intensity and darkness of Hajo and Anita’s music. I started thinking about emotional journeys I’ve experienced on dancefloors. I wrote lyrics in my notebook for a song set in a dark, sweaty club, full of bodies moving in strange, expressive ways. A real catharsis, both emotionally and in terms of how bodies could move to it, could dance; something overwhelming in the best kind of way, that just-too-much, close to bursting feeling you get in a club or rave when the mix and the atmosphere hit right.
Q: Where did the track go from there?
Hajo: The next day we went to SAE studio’s. I used the first couple of hours to make a basic arrangement, and composition up until the breakdown, making a blueprint with timed markers, and categorizing the different sounds to keep the workflow organized, minding to leave enough space for Anita to jump in later. I brought a Hydrasynth explorer that day, and recorded some plucks, pads and a reece. Then I focused on making the breakdown. I was glad that I was by myself in the studio at this stage, because it gave me the space to flow a bit with chords and melodies, and get into a melancholic feeling that I think really hits the mark in the breakdown.
If you ask me what chords I played, or to play the exact same thing again, I couldn’t do it, but after a couple of tries it was really nice already. I added a melodic layer and a simple bassline. Simple blocky snare on the 3 and some hiphoppy kicks and the breakdown was done. I was really looking to make a contrast between the energetic first half, and the openness of the breakdown to create a lot of space for the vocals to really shine in this part.
I felt like I needed to let go of the track for a while so I took a step back to ‘cleanse my pallet’ and let Anita do her magic.
Anita: The direction of the track was getting somewhere, but we were still a bit uncertain as to where. At the end of the second day we had an arrangement, and started to play with vocals a bit more. The middle part came out to be so sad, lyrical and dramatic – I think it’s beautiful. We added more and more layers to it. I’m very proud of this middle part, it gave this dark, lyrical and deep sense to the song.
I thought that after such a drama we should take the energy back up, a big time, so I focused on the second part which is very ravey, 90’s inspired sound. A bit of a “jungle is massive” vibe. And that was a track!
Iris: A moment that meant a lot to me, and where I felt that the heart of the track clicked, was when I worked on the vocals with Hajo. Recording with someone new is a bit of a gamble – voices are strange, sensitive instruments, and mine was tired and hoarse that day; there was no guarantee that it would go well, and given our super-tight schedule I was a little stressed. But it felt like Hajo and I were able to carve out this space where I could sing in an exploratory way, and in that hour I got to record the vocals and write the rest of the lyrics.
There was a lot more to do to get the arrangement right, iron out transitions and fix little details all over, but by the time we finished that day the track was telling the story I’d wanted it to: starting from a sense of distance, danger, and tension and breaking into the other side of that mood, into something vulnerable and raw, and flipping back again.
HOLD ME
Q: Hold me is a really euphoric track, what was the inspiration behind it?
fiftyfifty: Because it was the final song of the EP, we really wanted to make an unbelievably happy song and have the most fun possible during the whole duration of Incepted. We knew we wanted to go in the direction of the Eurodance, trancelike vibe, and it corresponds so nicely with the feeling I was chasing. But, something that’s really important for me in music is making sure that I deliver the best possible sounding track for everyone to enjoy. My mission with this track was to get people dancing, just forgetting about stuff and getting lost in the music and the moment.
Marto: As a third track we wanted it to be banging. fiftyfifty got the drums, melody and harmony laid out in one night. On the second day we were already doing arrangement, but there were 2 parts of the song – the darker techno part and the brighter trancey part. So we were thinking for a bit how we could make it work and at some point one of our mentors (Giacomo) suggested starting with the techno part, and from then on we followed the arrangement of the reference track. And then it was time for vocals.
Mæhila: To be honest, this track was quite unexpectedly made. The first day of the camp, I was working on the songwriting and vocals of the first track of the EP, but at some point I was feeling uninspired and needed to work on something new, so I decided to see what fiftyfifty and Marto were up to.
When I came into the studio, the production of “Hold Me” was already almost done, and I was directly obsessed. This helped me find melodies super quickly and lyrics just came up to me for the hook part. We wanted to write something very cheesy and create an emotional journey between dark (the beginning) and light (the end). Iris sat down with me for literally 20 mins and we wrote the first talking part of the song.
The whole vocals were recorded with a handheld mic as I wanted to keep the flow going. We only did a few takes of each part as the point was to keep the energy and the fun of it, more than having technically perfect recording. I realized how well I work with both fiftyfifty and Marto which also helped the overall process. It might have taken 6 hours total and the vocals were done. This is probably the most spontaneous and fast song I’ve ever been part of.
fiftyfifty: Coming into this program, I had no idea what to expect. 6 producers, 3 singer-songwriters, a visual artist and two industry professionals from all over the world. That’s all we knew. Nobody knew each other, so it could either go really bad or we would be lucky enough that we all really hit it off. Luckily for us we reeaallly hit it off! Making Hold Me was the most spontaneous song I ever made and all that without knowing each other before.
I really have to thank Marto and Maehila for being such amazing people to work with. I had the most fun ever making this song, and that’s what it’s all about!
