Interview with the DJ, producer and label owner Tyler Michaud. With his diverse and energetic sound, Tyler Michaud has firmly emerged as one of the most promising leaders of the next generation of DJs and producers. Tipped by the British 'Mixmag Magazine' as the "Talented & Confident Audio-Bully"; his impressive production repertoire has been released on numerous top electronic music labels, including Tiësto’s Black Hole, Paul Van Dyk's Vandit Records, Armin Van Buuren's Armada Recordings, and several other major commercial and independent music imprints. While having been play-listed and featured by almost every A-list DJ imaginable, Tyler has been busy crafting a style which is best described as an aggressive journey through massive electronic basslines, hard industrial guitar riffs, glitchy techno grooves, and mystifying organic melodies. This is best showcased on his own New School Recordings label, as well as his "New School Radio" monthly show, which is currently hosted on several different syndicate stations & platforms.

 For quite a long time, I wanted to organise an interview with Tyler, and I’m glad that finally we managed to have it ready to present to you. Enjoy his answers, along with his innovative, and always fresh sounds.

Dimitri: First of all, I would like you to take things from the start, and tell us which Dj’s, or electronic dance music producers, you admired before getting into the business, and if you happened to meet some of them personally. After that meeting, did you change your opinion of them??

Tyler: My first early electronic music introduction was from DJ's like Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Sasha, & Paul Oakenfold. I've met Oakenfold and Armin briefly, and they were both nice guys. My opinion of them personally hasn't changed, though my musical tastes have varied quite a bit. I'll always have a special place in my heart for the early 2000's trance scene.
 
Dimitri: Can you recall for us, your 3 most favourite classic tracks that you believe are perfect, and will be never be reached on a production level and technique, and have influenced your sound?
 
Tyler: It's almost impossible for me to narrow down just 3 tracks that I truly love, because my appreciation for various musical styles is so vast and diverse. But if I had to name 3 great classic tracks off the top of my head right now - I'd have to say 'Lost Tribe - Gamemaster', for the reason of the atmosphere being absolutely incredible.  I remember as a teen it was truly one of the first tracks that gave me chills, and took me on a journey into my own imagination. A close second, although a bit more recent, would have to be Trentemoller's remix of 'Royksopp - What Else Is There'. The track is so deep, with periods of calm and excitement - and has so many different styles infused into it, it's truly an inspiring track... Thirdly, and possibly the track that started it all for me - would have to be 'Nine Inch Nails - Closer'. It was my first introduction into any form of freaky ‘4 to the floor’ club music about 15 years ago, and I still play my own edit version in my sets to this day. The track was undoubtedly ahead of it's time, and the vocals still ring true to me.

Dimitri: You certainly manage to stand out from the rest, and get the chance to release your tracks on great labels, and you even set up your own label ‘New School’. Is it possible to describe the Tyler Michaud sound? How do you categorize it? Is it trance, prog house, techno, electro or something completely new??

Tyler:  Thanks!  I don't think my sound can be categorized. My goal is always to do something exciting, energetic, and most important of all - unique. I have no interest in ever confining myself to one genre, or conforming to any one particular style. This is part of the experience of my music, I want to offer something that cannot be replicated and transcends the 'norm', while using the most innovative of production tools that technology has made available to me. I draw huge inspiration from industrial mechanical beats, and glitchy melodies, or atmospheres that convey a particularly strong mental image or emotion - whether the final product comes out to be electro, techno, trance, progressive, ambient, breaks, or whatever, is irrelevant to me. If I was to label myself something, I'd just say - electronic music.

Dimitri: Do you have any professional training as a producer or did you learn everything on your own? Do you think that if you compare two producers, one with classical music training, and one that has learnt everything on their own, are you going to spot any differences in the quality and standards of their music?

Tyler: I've never had any professional training, and I've self-taught everything I know about production through trial and error, by trying different things in the studio.

I think you can certainly compare the two producers, and each have their own advantage in so many ways... If we're talking about production within electronic music - the classical music composer will definitely have a HUGE edge with the amount of time it takes to construct a complex melodic part of their track, but when it comes to actual sound design, arrangements, or spontaneity/"thinking outside of the box", I find that they can all too easily get lost, and confine themselves with their music theory, and put a bit too much emphasis on melody - whereas the guy who learned on his own, is more up for breaking the rules, and trying something more unique or interesting.

Coming from my side of the spectrum, writing complex melodies can often be a bit more tedious and frustrating, and for that reason, I often consider putting some effort into getting more classically trained.

Regardless of what training is involved - I think the person who ends up sitting in their room like a recluse for years and learns every trick there is to know about every instrument, and piece of hardware/software equipment they own, and then practices like crazy - can eventually be great with producing music.
 
Dimitri: Is it possible to describe to us, your current studio set up, and tell us how long do you take in your studio making music? Do you have a favourite piece of software that you think is best to make music with?

Tyler: My current studio setup consists of 2 Mac Pro's, with Logic Pro running simultaneously in rewire mode, with Ableton Live. For instruments I use a variety of software synthesizers, and I've also just added a couple new hardware toys - the Access Virus TI2 and the Monome64.

So far my favourite soft synth is anything from the East West, Quantum Leap series, which is where I get the bulk load of my orchestra string sounds. They are by far the most professional sounding collection of strings I have ever used.

I've only just recently added hardware to my collection, when I picked up the Access Virus TI2, and I have to say it's amazing, especially for construction of huge razor sharp basslines or great euphoric trance melodies. My favourite thing about it so far, are the incredible new on-board distortion plugins, I think there's about 20 of them, which totally turns me on because I'm a huge distortion-junkie.

How long it takes me to produce a song is dependant on so many variables... Sometimes it will take me about 15-20hrs if things are going really great and I can knock a production out of the park in 2-3 days. Other times, I've been known to take up to 3-4 weeks for a single track if I get stuck temporarily or if I'm working on a highly complex multi-layered production. Some projects can definitely be easier to complete than others, and the frustration that one can go through when you get stuck on one - especially when there's pressure or a deadline, is surely enough to toughen you up for other things in life!
 
Dimitri: Is there a special way of composing your music? For example some composers start from the break that they often invest a lot of time there, and then go on to the rest of the track. Can you let us know your way of producing?
 
Tyler: Quite frankly, I consider myself an absolute scatter brain when it comes to production. Just like everything else in my life, my production sessions are so unconventional that I hop all over the place when constructing a track. I’m beginning to realize that for the most part, I have the attention span of a cracked-out agitated squirrel on large quantities of intravenous cocaine, and PCP.

One second I'll be composing a string section for the big breakdown of the track, the next moment I'll be polishing a glitchy FX sample from the introduction, then 5 minutes later I'll hop over and construct a partial piece of the end/outro of the track... No rules and anything goes in my studio, I just try to go with what 'feels' right. I'm not sure if that work ethic is for better or for worse, but I try my absolute best to keep things interesting... When I get bored, that's when we have a huge problem on our hands.