Joining us at the KEF popup sound studio in the Nexus Lounge, Amsterdam, we spoke with Tensteps about his love of electronic music, the benefits of digital downloads and music distribution, and his debut album Infinite.
With support from artists like Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten, Tensteps is a trance DJ/producer who brings nothing but pure passion to his music. Known for “Carry You Home” and “The Way We Fall Apart,” as well as his remix of NASH’s “Sometimes,” Tensteps has a handful of excellent singles under his belt, and now he’s finally taking the next step, and putting his debut album out into the world.
Infinite represents Tensteps at his best, with seventeen outstanding tracks already garnering support from fellow DJs and fans alike. In his own words:
“The album just kind of caps off the first five years of Testeps. In a way it’s like the closing of a chapter. It kind of recaps everything that I have been and everything that I am right now up and till this point. It just starts to take a sneak peak into the future of what people can expect going forwards as well.”
When working on a track, Tensteps says he’s very goal-focused. He’ll have a clear vision of where he wants to get; the challenge is creating that exact sound. Musically, he says, he doesn’t struggle to find the melody. Still, the real work comes in on the technical side – particularly when making minor refinements with elements like EQ and compression.
Now, every artist has their inspirations, but only some can pinpoint the single track that inspired them to become a musician. For Tensteps, however, the track “Sun and Moon” by Above and Beyond did just that.
“It was just incredible to me. I had never really heard of trance music, or really dived into electronic music at all. I had done some open-format DJing in the past but never really focused on dance music. And that was a turning point for me… This makes me feel something that no other music ever has.”
Living in the age of easy access to digital downloads, many artists take their stance on how the widespread change in format has affected the music industry. Tensteps took a positive view when asked, stating that “Distribution is a good thing. Music is not a finite resource. It should be widely available to people.”
If you’d like to learn more about Tensteps, his favorite social media platform, and the music genre that’s become his recent guilty pleasure, then check out the full, exclusive Nexus Radio interview.
