Read the Interview on 1.FM here: http://blog.1.fm/2015/08/14/noah-man-in-the-making/NOAH, is an American recording artist, songwriter and DJ living in New York City. His new single "Man In The Making" is the sequel to his Billboard and U.K. Music Week Dance Chart success "Keep On Movin", which spent 5 weeks on the US Billboard Dance Charts claiming the #39 spot on January 11th, 2014 and reigned in at #19 and #12 on the U.K. Music Week Club and Pop Charts! After entering the U.K. Music Week Commercial Pop Club Chart at #23 on August 3rd the single climbed to #9 on August 10th making "Man In the Making" one of the Top 10 releases of the summer of 2015. Request them on 1.FM Dance One Radio.1.FM: Where are you originally from?NOAH: I am originally from Council Bluffs, a small city in Iowa, in the center of the United States. I grew up in the country surrounded by forest and farms and later moved to suburbia.1.FM: Why did you move to New York?NOAH: I was living in London after studying music business at Columbia College in Chicago. After a year and a half of writing and recording music in London with Kevan Frost, Boy George's current Musical Director, I was invited by a long time friend to move to New York... so I closed up my London days and moved to Manhattan.1.FM: How long have you been living there?NOAH: I've been in New York City for nearly 20 years. And it is true... the love-hate relationship you hear others talk about with New York City is very real. Where else can you have such diversity in your lap? Sometimes it's inspiring and at other times it clutters one's clarity.1.FM: Why music?NOAH: Music was always my first inclination... I was very meticulous about my record collection as a kid. I created my own filing system for my music. I had quite eclectic taste a very young age... Pop, Disco, Rock, Country...you name it. I remember stringing Christmas lights in the playroom and putting on shows for my family.1.FM: You are student at New York City's premiere electronic music academy, Dubspot. Why did you choose this school?NOAH: Dubspot has been a frontrunner in electronic music education since 2006. They have been producing video content and contributing to the education of electronic artists since 2006 and have built a great community around the school. After escaping a bad record deal with a small Italian label, I decided to take a sabbatical and work on production skills. Dubspot was the obvious answer.1.FM: What are the most interesting subjects you studied there?NOAH: I have just completed the Mixing and Mastering program which has been the most valuable. The Ableton Producer course was very in depth and also worthwhile and the DJ program covered the bases with DJing on vinyl, CDJs and Digital DJing with controllers. I am not hypnotized by nostalgia. As much as I loved vinyl records as a child and CDs as teenager... I have no allegiance to them now. I own a Native Instruments Traktor S8 controller and prefer digital DJing.1.FM: You are very talented musician. Do you have a musical instrument background?NOAH: Thank you! There are far more talented musicians on the planet than I, but I do my best. When I was 11 years old my mother bought me a guitar, however, I quit playing after my guitar teacher repeatedly hit my fingers with a pen whenever I would make a mistake.... My mother then bought me a piano which became my instrument of choice. I find much inspiration with the keys.1.FM: What production tools do you use? For example, Protools, Ableton Live, etc.NOAH: I started with Pro Tools and have since migrated to Ableton and Logic.1.FM: Every artist has her/her own methods. How does your creative process work?NOAH: My creative process varies. Sometimes things hit me while I am in transit... and at other times while tinkering with sounds, chords or beats. It is my most favorite thing of all... those moments when a melody or musical idea emerges or the perfect lyric presents itself. It is very true that songs somehow seem to write themselves.1.FM: Do you collaborate with others? How often? Is there someone you would like to collaborate with some day?NOAH: My main collaborator has been Ben Dabson aka Radical Academy in Cardiff, Wales. I met Ben via Indaba, a social website for music producers and remix artists. What started as a remix for my "New York Is Dead" single evolved into a series of singles including "No More Angels", "Keep On Movin", "Man In The Making" that have gone on to become successful charting songs. Ben is super talented and I really value our collaboration.There are loads of people I would love to work with of course! Max Martin. Dr. Luke. Morgan Page. Calvin Harris. Jax Jones. Avicci. The list goes on. So much creativity and so many really talented people to work with...1.FM: How did you feel the first time one of your tracks was on Billboard?NOAH: Do you want the truth? It was a very anticlimactic event. As a record company, artist, publicist and marketer of my own brand I have had the privilege of having a front row seat to the grand process. The marketing of music is quite unglamorous. Despite the Billboard Dance Chart being very antiquated and overrated, getting on the Billboard chart is expensive. Artists just don't appear on that chart. You have to pay a promoter to push your single (and remixes) to the ~ 120 DJs (approximately) that report what they play to the Billboard magazine's chart manage. It gives the artist and the labels bragging rights to an outdated meme... It sounds good to say "Billboard!" It has a ring to it.... however, the general population doesn't care. They just want good music. The lesson here is... all that glitters is not gold, but people still love their glitter.1.FM: Music is obviously a big part of your life. Do you see yourself producing music for the rest of your life?NOAH: Absolutely. Music is intrinsic to my happiness and I am absolutely devoted to the process of writing songs and creating music. It is my outlet. This is the main reason I went to Dubspot, with the goal of becoming as self-sufficient in production as possible. There is nothing worse than needing someone else to help you express what is inside of you.1.FM: What are your plans for the future?NOAH: In addition to making new music, I plan to focus more on getting out and DJing. I'm looking into brand partnerships at the moment as well. There is so much to do and so little time, so I am working on finding and building the right network to supports my proclivities and create win-win relationships.1.FM: Is there any advice that you can give to aspiring DJs or producers?NOAH: There are so many facets to develop besides music that are very crucial to being a "professional" artist i.e. branding, image, social media savvy etc., but of course the most important thing is to develop your musical skill set and own personal style. It is ok to mimic and use others as a benchmark when developing oneself, but it is very important that you diverge and work on you... on what is unique about you. The process should compliment and honor not only the creation of music, but also the creation of yourself.Learn more: www.noahmusic.com
