Artist Spotlight: RIVER
With ‘Drifting Away’ being such a beloved trance classic, what was your vision when approaching the remix?
If being honest, I really struggled in the first stages of remixing the track, mainly because I didn’t want to ruin what is one of the all-time greats, but also it’s one of my favourite tracks, so it was difficult listening to it in any other way. However, I knew I wanted to make it a bit harder than the original and give it some more oomph, while still sticking to what made the tune so great in the first place. I knew I had to include that massive riff and a big moment in the breakdown, because for me, that’s what gives the song its identity and why the song’s so special. Once I figured that out, it was pretty smooth from there, just trial and error with little tweaks until it ended up being what it is now.
If you had the chance to rework other classics, which tracks would be at the top of your list, and why?
Tough question! I think having the chance to remix any of the classics is absolutely massive, however “The Dawn” by Tony De Vit is one that comes to mind straight away, I just think that tune has such a presence about it, whether people know it or not, you stick it on and it just grabs people’s attention straight away. I would also love to do more Ibiza classics like “Café Del Mar” or “Synaesthesia” as I think tunes from that era helped shape dance music, especially trance, into what it is today, and they are ultimately the reason I and loads of other artists fell in love with the genre. Despite all that, it would be very hard as I wouldn’t want to ruin them haha!
Looking ahead, what are your biggest goals as RIVER for the next couple of years?
I think my main goal is to find a sound that I love and is unique to me. Being at the start of my musical career, one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced is really figuring out my music’s identity, mainly because I love so many different sounds and styles, and I take influence from all of those. So far, I’ve been pretty all over the place with my releases, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; however, it would be great to mould a unique sound around what I love about dance music. My other goals are pretty generic, but just to keep working hard in the studio, get as good at producing as I possibly can, and build up my status in the industry through my music. And obviously get on more shows and become a DJ people get excited to go see.