Born in Maryland and currently based in South Florida, Niel Degas has been DJing and producing music since 2010. He draws inspiration from some of the biggest names in the music industry, such as Calvin Harris, Hardwell, Daft Punk, and Purple Disco Machine.
Questions:
Hello thank you for being here, please tell us who is Niel Degas. Why did you choose the artist name Niel Degas?
Instead of running with my actual name which is super long and super hard to pronounce I took my first name Daniel, dropped the Da, which makes Niel, then took the name of my sweetest dog as a late teen, a pitbull named Vegas, dropped the V and replaced it with the D from my first name and made Niel Degas. Might be a little cheesy way of doing it but it works. Btw pitbulls got a hard rap, my dog Vegas was afraid of her own shadow.
Why did you choose the path of becoming a DJ and producer?
To be honest I actually kind of fell into DJ’ing. I have always been a huge music fan, have done something with music ever since I was a preteen, with Hip-Hop, and DnB, to Metal and Emo as a late teen. The DJ thing has been a recent development over the last 12 years, a combination of advice from a fellow musician about reinventing yourself and a cousin who was leaving a gig and offered it to me, took it and ran with it. Before that I never really even thought about being a DJ.
You have a new release coming out that we are premiering “Beginning Of The Ending”. What was the inspiration behind it?
It started off as a Live performance/jam on social media from a few loops I put together and originally wasn’t even something I was going to officially release until I let someone else hear the initial stems and little arrangement. From there I took the live performance built upon it, arranged it differently and added some different vocals while keeping a similar concept.
You have a new release coming out that we are premiering “Beginning Of The Ending”. What was the inspiration behind it?
It started off as a Live performance/jam on social media from a few loops I put together and originally wasn’t even something I was going to officially release until I let someone else hear the initial stems and little arrangement. From there I took the live performance built upon it, arranged it differently and added some different vocals while keeping a similar concept.
What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?
I don’t really have many key ideas behind my approach, I just really like experimenting and make whatever comes out or is in my head at the time. An example: I was outside on my patio the other day and pulled an idea just by hearing the syncopation and rhythm of the AC units combined with various ambient city noises.
You recently attended Miami Music Week. Who are some of your biggest influences that you wanted to see playing live?
I really wanted to see Marin Garrix opening night, heard his set was amazing, and would have loved to catch Hardwell as well. But wasn’t able to actually attend Ultra, was mostly there for industry stuff. Did manage to catch Armin van Buuren, Joel Corry, Oliver Heldens, Nicky Romero, to name a few at the EDMAs.
How do you prepare your own DJ sets? Any interesting stories from your most memorable DJ sets?
I am always digging through music, and I like to use whatever I am feeling and vibing with and build around that, underground little more mainstream, some old school in there and try and tell a story with it, because at the end of the day it’s about the vibe and the journey. Don’t really have anything super memorable or any crazy stories. But one time I was hanging out with a buddy of mine who was the resident DJ at E11even Miami, when they first opened he tossed me on the tables for 30-45 mins kind of under the radar and unannounced, but it was fun, had a blast.
If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?
This is a very hard question as I kind of like how things are musically but things always progress and evolve and always down for experimentation and defining new genres. From a business stand point I’d love to see an increase in streaming royalties.
And you know as much as its about the art and the passion and not the money, I feel that would help both the new struggling artist to focus more on their passion and grow as an artist, as well the guys and gals who have the passion, talent and dream but don’t peruse from an affordability stand point.
There’s a lot of unheard and unseen talent out there and if they were able to sustain their self’s slightly better it would benefit everyone. But thats a battle that has been raging on for years.
What’s next for Niel Degas? Any interesting projects or releases coming out in the following months?
I have a lot of stuff set to come out over the next few months but the songs I am most excited about are my next two releases, “L.A. Nights”, feat Drew Tyler, that I did with fellow producer Ricardo Geldres, big epic Progressive House track which is the first official release of a joint project I started with Ricardo we have 4 more tracks set to come out as a joint over the next year, “L.A. Nights” Niel Degas X Ricardo Geldres feat Drew Tyler, is dropping May 12th.
Next song I am super excited about is “Braveheart” where I revisited a vocalist I used in an earlier release of mine, “Don’t Need You” with Scarlett. “Braveheart” is a groovy Melodic House track about over coming life obstacles and oppression. “Braveheart” Niel Degas feat Scarlett, set to release sometime in June, official date unknown yet. Both “L.A Nights” and “Braveheart” are great summer tracks.
Follow Niel Degas on: Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify