Isn’t lovely how music festivals bring all walks of life together, from Olympic athletes, brain surgeons, the Librarian and now we tell the story of the Dentist, Leo Gretz. Music production continues to call Leo Gretz into the studio, and bursting with creativity and a scientific approach to releasing euphoric vibes into the world, Leo finishes ‘Without You’ in collaboration with the beloved top-line vocalist, Robbie Hutton.
The beach house tune harps on nostalgia, for his demographic nostalgia consists of memories of Avicii‘s ‘Stories’ and Kygo dropping ‘Firestone’ in 2015 or Thomas Jack’s ‘Atlas Hands’ in 2014. ‘Without You’ holds those feel good, mainstage vibes but with Leo Gretz’ powerful touch from Tijuana.
Press play to bring in the spring and get to know what the Dentist is thinking in the studio, Leo’s Top 5 Tracks, more deep rooted Mexican music and we finally get the answer to whether or not toothpaste is actually good for you.
What was the first album you bought?
I think it was ‘Californication’ by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, followed by Limp Bizkit’s ‘Chocolate Starfish’. Back in the day I was very much into Alternative Rock and Nu Metal. I was in a band, playing the electric guitar and these were inspirations that started shaping up my liking for different genres and for mixing them up.
How was your collaboration with Robbie Hutton initiated?
I randomly stumbled upon Robbie’s work on social media, and loved his composition style. So I reached out and we started the conversation about adapting some lyrics that he had, to Without You’s early-production stage (when the project didn’t have a name yet). Then we went back and forth, completely remote, making changes here and there, until we ended up with the actual vocals for ‘Without You’.
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Can you share some of the production techniques you used to produce ‘Without You’?
Absolutely! We spent a lot of time trying to get the synths right, because I wanted to continue the genre-blending style, influenced by Avicii and Martin Garrix, but with a slight tropical twist. So we kept changing and adding layers with Nexus and Spire, trying to get the right balance and blending them into a single ‘unit’. Some of the things we threw in the bus channel were parallel compression, transformer saturation, sidechain and your regular eq, reverb and delay, to make them all come together.
For the vocals, we stacked a lot of takes for the buildups and the drops, and we blended Robbie’s vocals with some background vocals from Yours Truly to come up with a bigger, wider sound.
What is something interesting or new you learned in the studio lately?
I’ve learned that a lot of times, less is more. If something sounds good by itself, it’s better to leave it without overproducing stuff up. Many times I used to automatically open up an effect or vst for a sound that didn’t really need it. So, we’re trying to focus on the bigger picture now and keep things simple, rather than overcomplicating every single channel or instrument. With simplicity, comes clarity.
What are 5 tracks you find at the forefront of dance music?
I believe we’re living an interesting phenomenon with Electronic Music lately, like the EuroTrance/90’s Dance comeback, which has a lot of people dancing to it and asking for more. Nostalgia for the win!
Favorite local food?
Tacos! Haha. One of Tijuana’s lesser-known qualities is its strong food game. You can’t go wrong with an authentic Baja-style shrimp taco or a Carne Asada one, with freshly-made corn or flour tortillas and guacamole. Yum!
Favorite singer or band from Mexico?
Natalia Lafourcade. She has so much musicianship to offer, which is the main thing lacking in today’s contemporary music. She also brought a modern twist to traditional Mexican music, which has awarded her many Grammy Awards.
Does toothpaste actually help your teeth?
Haha absolutely! It’s not just about minty breath, but about protecting the teeth and gums from decay and other dental troubles. But more importantly, it’s also about the way you brush: doing it three times a day is not going to help if you’re do it incorrectly (follow me for more tips on brushing technique, haha). As always, remember to hit up your regular checkup every 6 months, and don’t think you’re in the clear because “nothing hurts”. Consistency is key for a healthy smile!
Any new announcements or insight into your project that you would like to reveal with our readers today?
We started working on a follow-up track already, and we’re remixing one of our songs for the very first time. I’m really looking forward to keep on bringing more music out and share it with you guys
