When I was 18, getting my driver's license, receiving a college acceptance letter, and finishing high school were the only real goals. I happily achieved all three, but none of them catapulted me to international famedom. For Simon Valente, his to do list at the same age is a bit more chunky. He's working on follow up tracks to his chart blazing record, "Stunnin" and is most likely planning sets for international shows. We're sure that his fans are impatiently waiting for both to happen. Whether his artistry comes from classical music training as a child, nights spent in Hardstyle clubs, or something in-between, he seems calmly poised to make huge moves in the world of Dance Music.
Growing up in Belgium, Simon was surrounded by music from birth. Both of his parents were music teachers and they brought their work home with them, putting various instruments in Simon's ready hands. First up was the piano:
"I think I already started playing when I could barely even talk, just for fun of course. There’s some really fun footage of that by the way. You can see me as a baby playing random notes, stopping, then turning the page of the sheets & then I continued to play random notes [laughs]. When I was 4 I decided I wanted to play the cello. Apparently I told my parents ‘I want to play an instrument, so if I get older and there’s a party, I can take care of the music.'"
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From there he moved onto the guitar and voice. He didn't receive formal training, save for the cello for which he took a lesson from Luc Tooten of the Brussels Philharmonic. A music filled childhood would prove useful for him later down the road, especially when it came to producing songs that would grab attention from seasoned taste-makers in the Dance world. But what would prove even more important for his career were the subconscious notes he was taking while listening to classical tunes with his parents. They claim to be able to hear it in his productions today.
When Simon was around the ripe age of 12, he and his best friend discovered House classics like Robin S' "Show Me Love" and a deep relationship with dance music was born. He grew quickly in confidence practicing on a friend's CDJ's and a lesson from fellow Belgian DJ Dominico. His skill set and imagination quickly outgrew the capabilities of virtual DJ and eventually he got his own decks. It would prove to be a wise investment.
Early in his career, he made the rounds rocking Hard Dance clubs under the name Deviant. The scene's barometer in Belgium at the time was strongly reading Hardstyle and he gave the crowd what they were after. Given his upbringing and fondness of the club sound, it was only natural to evolve into an original music. Like most great artists, Simone followed his own progression:
"My first EP (Shadow) was really fun. I kind of made my own style in Tekstyle, combining the hard basses with playful but powerful melodical synths. After [the] Shadow EP came out, a lot of other people started making that style, which I thought was really cool. Nowadays I still have my signature melodical sound, but wrapped in a completely different style. Where Deviant was about loudness and straight 4x4 distorted kick drums, Simon Valente is more about rhythm, Deep House-ish synths and catchy bass lines."
Since going for a more accessible sound, he's proud to have earned the respect of his biggest supporters:
"Now that I switched to House music [my parents] actually really like the music I make and ask me where I get the inspiration to keep coming up with new melodies and tracks. I think my mom is the biggest fan I have."
Even if you scour the internet for days looking for Simon Valente's music, you won't find much other than his releases as Deviant, a couple of his remixes, and his latest single on industry heavy-hitters Armada. "Stunnin" is the track that initially drew our attention and we're obviously not the only ones. In the era of musical saturation, for a track to break through the noise the way this one did is truly a testament to its quality. The massive drops are certainly there but the focus is more on the groove. The progression of his songs feel more like that of a seasoned classical composer making bass music than that of the bright eyed, fresh faced Valente. He maximizes negative space in songs, adding layers of texture, allowing your feet to step to one groove as your hips shift to another. Through all the complexity and magic apparent in his work, it's clear he's a natural because his theory goes: "...simple is the key to making a good track". Easy for a genius to say...
Since signing to Armada and their Chased Management team, Simon has been juggling multiple projects. There's no telling when they'll be done because his work schedule is refreshingly dependent on his daily inspiration. It's no wonder there is genuine feeling in his music, and unlike most sleep deprived and crackly voiced producers, this young buck isn't scared to step up to the mic:
"Yep, that's me singing [on 'Stunnin']…With the necessary amount of auto-tune and voice enhancements of course, for I’m not a professional singer. I’m going to keep singing my own vocals once every few tracks, but I’d also like to use other voices for my future tracks, whether I write the lyrics or not."
Whichever way he decides to play it, the future is bright for Simon Valente. We hope he continues to evoke feeling into all of his music and we're waiting patiently for that fresh collabo with the Brussels Philharmionic.
Last Call
1. What is your favorite movie of all time?Lord of the Rings trilogy
2. As a young DJ, who was the one DJ you looked up to?Roger Sanchez
3. As a DJ, what's your biggest pet peeve?People who think I’m a jukebox during my DJ set.
4. What is your current set up at home?CD set – 2x Pioneer CDJ 2000 and 1x DM900
5. What's your favorite record of all time?Babylonia “Born Again”
Keep up with Simon Valente on his Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Bryan Hahn knows that Luc Tooten is waiting for that call to perform a House track by Simon. He's on Twitter: @notupstate.