CJ Bolland Interview: Techno Legend Talks Electronic Music Production and the Gear He Loves
Honeysmack
15,661 views
Legendary electronic musician, DJ and techno producer, CJ Bolland sat down for a candid unscripted interview in my studio in the first week of 2023 discussing his approach to making music and how it has evolved over the years, through to revealing the synths and drum machines that have shaped his work.
CJ Bolland is a pioneering techno artist from Belgium who first released his seminal early techno tracks on R&S Records in the early 1990s. Since then his electronic music production and projects has him weaving through a combination of techno, pop and electro genres over the past 3 decades. He provides insight to how he creates and the music technology that he loves. CJ also reveals a few hidden gear secrets! Has a little jam in my studio and there's even a surprise guest.
Tracks featured in this video:
📡 CJ Bolland - Golden Dreams 1990, R&S Records
https://music.apple.com/au/album/gold...
📡 Magnus - What It Is 2017, Universal
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Axzi...
📡 CJ Bolland - The Fire 2020, Harthouse
https://www.beatport.com/track/fire-o...
📡 CJ Bolland - Horsepower 1991, R&S Records
https://music.apple.com/au/album/hors...
📡 Honeysmack - Entity, CJ Bolland remix 2022, Awesome Soundwave
https://open.spotify.com/track/7yUKUq...
*All tracks used with permission for educational purposes only.
CJ was in Australia for some shows in late Dec 2022 and we recorded this chat in the first week of 2023. Mr. Bolland has been a great friend of mine since we first met at the end of 1999. He's always been upfront, genuine and humble about his career for as long as I've known him and he knows I can be a professional idiot at the best of times 🤡 Thanks again to CJ for his time and friendship!
🕹 Follow me here:
Instagram: _honeysmack_
Facebook:
honeysmacked
This channel is supported by my Patreons, become a member here: Patreon: honeysmack and yes I also offer one-on-one tuition/lessons/coaching on making and performing live techno.
This video contains copyrighted material used under 'Fair Use' for educational and research purposes. All rights reserved to its rightful owner. No copyright infringement intended.
#cjbolland
#techno
#electro
#electronicmusic
#electronicdancemusic
#acidhouse
#acidtechno
#tr808
#mc202
#honeysmack
20 Comments
CJ Bolland Interview: Techno Legend Talks Electronic Music Production and the Gear He Loves
Honeysmack
15,661 views
Legendary electronic musician, DJ and techno producer, CJ Bolland sat down for a candid unscripted interview in my studio in the first week of 2023 discussing his approach to making music and how it has evolved over the years, through to revealing the synths and drum machines that have shaped his work.
CJ Bolland is a pioneering techno artist from Belgium who first released his seminal early techno tracks on R&S Records in the early 1990s. Since then his electronic music production and projects has him weaving through a combination of techno, pop and electro genres over the past 3 decades. He provides insight to how he creates and the music technology that he loves. CJ also reveals a few hidden gear secrets! Has a little jam in my studio and there's even a surprise guest.
Tracks featured in this video:
📡 CJ Bolland - Golden Dreams 1990, R&S Records
https://music.apple.com/au/album/gold...
📡 Magnus - What It Is 2017, Universal
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Axzi...
📡 CJ Bolland - The Fire 2020, Harthouse
https://www.beatport.com/track/fire-o...
📡 CJ Bolland - Horsepower 1991, R&S Records
https://music.apple.com/au/album/hors...
📡 Honeysmack - Entity, CJ Bolland remix 2022, Awesome Soundwave
https://open.spotify.com/track/7yUKUq...
*All tracks used with permission for educational purposes only.
CJ was in Australia for some shows in late Dec 2022 and we recorded this chat in the first week of 2023. Mr. Bolland has been a great friend of mine since we first met at the end of 1999. He's always been upfront, genuine and humble about his career for as long as I've known him and he knows I can be a professional idiot at the best of times 🤡 Thanks again to CJ for his time and friendship!
🕹 Follow me here:
Instagram: _honeysmack_
Facebook:
honeysmacked
This channel is supported by my Patreons, become a member here: Patreon: honeysmack and yes I also offer one-on-one tuition/lessons/coaching on making and performing live techno.
This video contains copyrighted material used under 'Fair Use' for educational and research purposes. All rights reserved to its rightful owner. No copyright infringement intended.
#cjbolland
#techno
#electro
#electronicmusic
#electronicdancemusic
#acidhouse
#acidtechno
#tr808
#mc202
#honeysmack
Btw, if one is untrained in music theory (like me), and one has a melody in their head, that they want to get down, the thing to do is to take one note at a time and find it on a keyboard with whatever sound and just draw them in as a start. After getting all notes down, one can press play (and stop in between to avoid fatique) and then adjust placement, length and velocity according to what feels right. One could also instead practice playing those notes until it's there. Luckily Ableton Live (if using that) has "capture". This approach will gradually make it more intuitive to play melody ideas over time.
Could also overdub one note at a time, but then one should have an idea of how long the sequence should go for. Maybe have a ballpark starting-point, and then adjust as things evolve.
Personally though, I prefer intuitive mode, with no musical ideas and go by feel 😊