We had the opportunity to have a chat with producer and DJ Cyazon, that you might already know from his hits Neo Soul and Shadowrunner. Cyazon’s music always builds immersive futuristic worlds with dystopian and dark cinematic auras. His sound is unique and effortlessly blurs the line between EDM and Synthwave music. In our Cyazon interview, we talk about how it all started for him, his influences, what he has been listening to recently, his favorite Scifi movies, and much much more! Cyazon also recorded an exclusive guest mix for us featuring some amazing, unreleased new material! The mix is a transporting blend of Dubstep, Melodic Bass, Synthwave and everything in between. Without further ado, get to know Cyazon in our interview below and enter his cyberpunk world in the guest mix at the bottom of the page!
Hey Cyazon! Thanks for taking the time to have a chat with us! Really looking forward to your answers!
A pleasure!
First of all, nice to e-meet you 🙂 Please tell us how it all started for you in the music industry? Tell us how/where your journey began.
I first started to make music in 2012 and was trying to learn to craft of producing music on and off until about 2017. That’s when I took it more seriously. From 2016 to 2018 I met and became friends to this day with two talented artists in the industry, Xilent and Au5. Mainly through having conversations online and meeting them at shows little by little. Also throughout that time, I took some mentoring lessons with a few other artists too. I then decided to move to Los Angeles in 2018 for Icon Collective, a music production school for artists. That’s my journey in the music industry in short.
Talk to us about “Inception”, “Dystopia” and “Hyperdrive”. How/where did you start about music producing and finding “your sound”?
Inception, Dystopia, and Hyperdrive I would say is the beginning of the Cyazon story. If you look at each of the artworks they each tell something about the story. Inception is about the beginning of finding the city. Dystopia is about being in the futuristic city. Hyperdrive is about finding a car in the city. These tracks were laying down the foundation in my story-telling and what Cyazon is all about.
I briefly touched on some details about how I started producing. To be more specific, I started in college in 2012 when I was into Krewella a lot and learning about how they produced. From 2012-2017, a lot of it was me learning and just making music when I could. Watching tutorials, watching Xilent Twitch streams, and getting some mentoring.
Finding my sound took some time. Eventually I was able to combine my influences from the sounds in Tron Legacy and Bladerunner and Xilent, Au5, and Seven Lions to make a hybrid sound out of all of it. Now I’m evolving my sound again into more Synthwave and Synthpop with a mainstream EDM/Electro sound too. I still plan on continuing my current sound for a while.
Did you have any other releases prior to these ones? Perhaps under another alias?
I did have some Soundcloud releases prior to those tracks, but it was very beginner-sounding. I took all of them down after Inception. A few of the alias I had were Kennson, which was a duo alias in college and Jeff MT, which was my own alias while learning how to make music.
What is the biggest inspiration / influence to your sound?
I briefly covered this above, but to get into more detail. So I would say my inspiration/influence is changing slightly. I still love the melodic Dubstep sound from Seven Lions and Au5. My inspiration for Bladerunner and Tron will never change. I would also add Stranger Things as a newer inspiration for my sound even though it kind of has always been there since the start of that TV series. For the Synthwave and Synthpop sound I’m trying to learn now, I would say The Weeknd, Chvrches, and FM-84 for right now along with a lot of other music I have saved on Spotify.
What is a day like in Cyazon’s life? What do you do outside of Djing/producing?
So I have a second part-time job. So I work there two to three days a week for 6 hours during the day. I try to run for exercise for 30 minutes every other day or every day sometimes in the evening. A lot of my life is making an effort to make great music, watching YouTube for inspiration, and hanging out with friends here and there.
What is the electronic music song that made you fall in love with the genre?
A few songs I will list. Days to Come and Strangers by Seven Lions and Infinity by Xilent definitely are songs that stand out for melodic Dubstep. For Synthwave, How Do I Make You Love Me? And Hardest to Love by The Weeknd. Falling by Timecop1983 and recently the upside down by SubTrailss and Becko since it has a very Stranger Things sound while maintaining a Synth pop sound.
If you could eternally be stuck in one year’s music scene, which year would it be?
Definitely the 80s since I do feel that a lot of the Synthwave and Synthpop that’s coming out now is inspired by that. As long as the Synthwave music I listen to now was in that year’s music scene then I would be fine haha.
Name one track that never gets old for you no matter how many times you hear/play it?
Definitely Strangers or See You Again by Seven Lions
Do you have a favorite destination? To perform? Just to enjoy?
I don’t have a particular place to perform, but Ultra music festival in Miami would be fun since I would used to watch the live streams in 2015-2016. To enjoy, Iceland or northern Europe would be nice.
What genres of music do you usually listen to? Are you strictly electronic? Give us a few tracks that you’ve been hooked on lately.
Usually more Synthwave and Ambient music. I do listen to electronic music, but not all the time. Definitely what I said above about the track the upside down by Suntrailss and Becko. Ignite by Nine One One is great too. It is in a Disco Pop compilation album I found on Spotify.
Do you have a Pop/mainstream music guilty pleasure? ^_^
The Weeknd and more recently I have been getting into Chvrches.
Are you by any chance of fan of Sci-Fi cinema? Your sound is always so futuristic and cinematic, does cinema has an influence on it? Or perhaps video games?
I’m a fan of Sci-Fi cinema yes. I’m very particular with what I watch though since I do not watch movies all the time. So it’s hard to pinpoint particular movies. Cinema definitely has an influence on it. Fantasy movies I feel influence my sound too somewhat since I’m trying to tell a story with my music. I don’t play too many video games, only on some occasions.
Favorite Sci-fi movies (except Blade Runner)?
Tron Legacy, Ready Player One, Arrival, I Am Legend, and definitely Jupiter Ascending.
Have you ever produced a completely different genre of music? If not, is it something that is of any interest to you?
I have tried making Synthpop and ambient music. I definitely can see myself maybe moving towards the pop direction further down the road once I have had success and more experience with my music career. I definitely will still keep an element of EDM, futuristic sounds, and Synthwave in my music.
What are your plans for the near future and what do you want to focus on for the second half of 2022 and 2023?
I have three big collaborations that will be out next year more than likely on big labels so that is exciting. For the second half of 2022, my goal is finish more music to be pitched to the big Dubstep labels as well as continue progressing with refining the Synthwave and mainstream EDM sound. I also want to focus on getting shows as well for 2023 and the second half of 2022.
Thanks again for having a chat with us!
Check out the Cyazon – Exclusive EKM Guest Mix below!
Follow Cyazon
Instagram.com/cyazon
Twitter.com/CyazonOfficial
Beatport.com/artist/cyazon/886555
