TATE SEDAR made a splash into the electronic music scene when his first live stream ever was for EDC Las Vegas Virtual Rave-a-Thon which followed after his opening set for Wolfgang Gartner at Avalon Hollywood. Although a new face on the surface, TATE has been incubating, earning a music degree and staying dedicated to progression for near a decade. His debut original production ‘Heaven’ offers a fresh take on house music that bursts with good vibes. Now TATE SEDAR releases a trap-meets-house tune with an undeniable hook, ‘All of Your Lovin’.
TATE SEDAR walks us through the production of ‘All of Your Lovin’ beautifully, “The key to this track’s mood was to keep that feeling of desperation throughout. I tried to do this by gluing the dark lo-fi sounds in the silence between the digital ones. The interjections of electric pianos and bells keep it analog and from being digitally dead – electronic without feeling. This runs all the way from beginning to end, and what I feel brings the track to life. And without even knowing it, I perfectly summed up my journey in the track’s structure: intro-ing in hip-hop, coming in contact with electro house at the first drop, falling back in love with hip-hop after and looking to the future in the final drop.”
Alongside TATE SEDAR’s release we took the opportunity learn a little from him about music production, discover his select tracks and what world record he hopes to break one day.
What are some things you realized or discovered about songwriting and your musical direction during the pandemic?
I hit a bit of a wall during the pandemic. Three years out of college, I’d had a decade of production under my belt, but I still couldn’t tell what level I was at. I had been doing it for a long time – learning how to produce in school in London, years on YouTube, a degree in music – everything I did sounded advanced but not professional. In April 2020, I realized I’d given up on tutorials because they were inconsistent and not always credible. I also thought producers just sat there and figured it out – how to make a hit. The truth is that these guys are all watching tutorials or sharing info with each other. But again, the issues with tutorials is WHERE is the info coming from? Where are these pros learning?
In the last five years, there has been a lot of educational material coming from places like 789ten, Axtone, Hyperbits or other masterclasses that give you lessons from accomplished producers – methods that prove success. To escape my depression, I learned there was only one thing I had to do, and that was to learn – again, but with more resourceful material. From it, I was able to wrap up “Heaven” and “All of Your Lovin’,” two projects I started in spring 2020 and finished in fall 2021.
If you could break any world record what would it be?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be the fastest. I did track & field and realized that wasn’t gonna happen. I guess my world record would be to create a dancepop album that breaks charts in a way no electronic body of work has done before. It would feature a lot of pop artists, but sound like a pop LP with the rhythm of house.
What are some steps that led to your appearance at EDC Las Vegas’ Virtual Rave-a-Thon?
To be honest, it was kind of just luck. I had friends that had a space to record and they had friends with a green screen. I just finished my first set of visuals from a live show before the pandemic, and synced those with the footage. Insomniac contacted me and you know the rest.
How did you aim to process dance music with ‘All of Your Lovin’ and your project overall?
For me, I see house being a viable format for pop. I believe a lot of what singers and rappers are doing could easily be put on a house track on radio – of course, if the pieces musically fit. “Heaven” was the start and “All of Your Lovin’” is a continuation of it, albeit a little different in tone. In the past year, I met some TikTok influencers. Electronic music is what they grew up on. It’s all on the app; they know this stuff. Them and Gen Z, the main user base of the app, know dance music of the past, Golden Age (2010-2013) and present. They’re ready for it. ‘Cuz believe it or not, they’ll be choosing our next soundtrack.
What are 5 tracks you find at the forefront of electronic music?
When I think of “forefront,” I think of recent things that push existing factors or processes of a matter. So for me, this list is tracks in the past 10 years that push the idea of where electronic music has/can go:
- “Love Songs” – Mat Zo: Everything Zo has been putting out in the past 3 years is so innovative. It’s electronic yet analog. I’d never heard anything like it and it made me realize what I was capable of within production.
- “In the Name of Love (DallasK Remix)” – Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexha: Everybody knows the original, and everybody that knows me knows I’ve overplayed this remix. It’s an amalgamation of everything popular between 2015-17 with a catchy foundation of an original. The best thing about this one was that after a year of playing it nonstop, I got to open for DallasK at Avalon.
- “Riddle” – Bad Computer: The first track I’d ever heard by Bad Computer. It gave me faith knowing the legacy of complextro still exists. I’m certain we’ll be seeing him more.
- “Take Over Control (ft. Eva Simons)” – Afrojack: I was in a cab in London in 2010 when my friend showed this song to me on his phone. This will and ALWAYS will be the song that turned me from an electronica lover (Daft Punk, Justice, The Prodigy, etc.) into an electro house one. It also just shows how a monophonic lead and prog pads can do so much – compositionally and live. I was also tempted to put “Give Me Everything” by Afrojack in this spot, but that track can’t exist without the success of its predecessor.
- “Electric Soul” – Wolfgang Gartner: I’ve opened for Joey (Gartner) twice now. It’s undeniable what him & Afrojack accomplished for electro house in 2010-2012. This track has that analog Gartner we love with a fresh drop. He’s still got a lot in the tank (watch his IG stories).
What are some hip-hop infused dance music releases you enjoy?
Boombox Cartel and SAYMYNAME are trap artists but threw out a couple tracks that blend hip-hop and house seamlessly: “Dem Fraid” & “Moon Love” by Boombox Cartel and “Wanted” by SAYMYNAME, one of my favorite dance weapons. I also like “Bad Company (ft. Stush)” by Afrojack & Dirtcaps, “Rude Boi vs HITA (Afrojack Mashup)” by FIGHT CLVB & FlipN’Gawd ft. TITUS and “Get Busy (ft. TITUS)” by Matisse & Sadko. An honorable mention in pop is the remix of “Die Young” by Ke$ha. For those that don’t know, Cirkut is a pop wizard that gave us instrumentals for lots of Ke$ha’s and Katy Perry’s hits. The instrumental edits he makes on this remix under Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa’s verses are so fitting & dynamic yet kept the track’s momentum intact.
Unlike this remix, there are a lot of dancepop records that feature a rapper like Snoop Dogg or Pitbull and the production never really looks into hip-hop sounds. I always look to UK garage because the rappers in that scene grew up with electronic music like they did pop. Dizzee Rascal, Skepta, Tinie Tempah, Example, Tinchie Stryder, N-Dubz – they pump out grime (garage subgenre of rap & electronic instrumentals) and it feels like hip-hop and garage all at once. I think the US rap market is definitely proud of its genre origins and characteristics, but never really ventures out. It’s obsessed with trap beats, but I’m curious where it’ll go next.
Can you tell us about the message or inspiration behind your latest release ‘All of Your Lovin’?
The hook pretty much speaks to the track’s message. It’s the desire we get from being alone and realizing the lover we’re not with anymore is not just the one we want, but the one we need.
I will say – the inspiration is a little more interesting, and that started when my friend Danny (Kuazu) and I finished watching our San Francisco 49ers get crushed in the 2020 Super Bowl (I was born in San Francisco and Danny is from Gilroy). We went back to my closet studio and decided to open up Logic to mend our psychological wounds. We started pulling all these samples together that really felt like a story of, personally, what I went through as a producer. I started with hip-hop, like most producers do, but eventually turned to house. Before I was a teenager, I’d discovered electronica and that hip-hop and house both had producer/DJs at the center. “All of Your Lovin’” felt like the culmination of all of that – all of my inspirations. We left the track unfinished for a year. Life catches up with you, and I was at a time in my life where I could afford to be more in front of a computer than Danny could. He was totally fine with me finishing it and still has a credit & split on the track.
Can you tell us a little more about the sound design and music production for ‘All of Your Lovin’? How did you get connected with Kuazu?
I met Kuazu through a friend in the Bay Area. Our scene for commercial house is pretty small up there (mainly tech house), and we all attend each other’s shows. We became friends instantly and I consider him to be one of my closest in California.
When we got to the DAW after that Super Bowl game, our track began with those fragile, little bells. After we added the 808, bass and trap snare (two different snares – one panned left, the other right), we knew the track needed a hook that encompassed the feeling so far: everything felt like emotions of desire but within isolation. So from there, we got a vocal that was just right and, in it as well, our hook/title. The build followed easily because the drums were all in the same family of the trap section. But what really brought an element of surprise next was the supersaw lead. It’s been making a comeback in tech house, and that’s what Kuazu makes. And it also catered to the exploration of my influences, the supersaw lead being a big hallmark of early 2010 dance music (think “Turbulence” by Steve Aoki & Laidback Luke). I added an AOM Limiter to the lead for a modern, “brick-wall” sound and Kuazu & I finished working together after the first drop.
A year later, I replaced the drop drums with electro & bass house samples to fit my style. The call & response in the first drop felt too aggressive, so I added some of my vocal chops in the response part. I process my vocal chops in a certain way the keep them human and familiar to a commercial ear – a bit of a trademark I’m developing. These and the same plucky signature bass I used in “Heaven” anchored the track into a both festival- and radio-friendly space.
At the second breakdown, I wanted to bring in a new lo-fi element. I brought in the lo-fi bell right before the first drop ended in the last measure. The trick of a new element coming in at the end of a refrain and start of a new section is an old pop one that probably hasn’t seen the light of day in a while but I thought fit without thinking twice. And then after, I took an unused drop preset to craft the trap lead.
I knew listeners would get tired out from hearing the supersaw again, so for the second drop I had to get creative. I made a pluck and felt like it was moving; the reverse reverb really does this. The drums from the first drop fit perfectly. But what really made the drop stand out was the female chant. There’s like this “in-the-middle” of time feeling it gives: it respects 90s rave but it’s all under a modern sound blanket.
Do you have any more sets or new releases in the near future?
I’m aiming to release my next track “Find A Way” on January 21, 2022. I feel like this is one of the most wholesome and cohesive things I’ve made and also remarks on my musical history. I also have a couple sets I’ll be posting in the next couple of weeks. I just released my last set from Academy and another comes out next week. Check out Facebook for that and everything new!”
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