James De Torres opens up about main influences, hosting ‘Lunar Sessions’ and more: Interview

Constantly on the rise, James De Torres is leaving his own distinct mark within the dance scene, with each of his endeavours speaking volumes of the undeniable musical prowess that he possesses. We caught up with the man of the moment, as he opens up about a vast array of subjects that have helped shape his career in music thus far.

Taking over the dance scene with each of his endeavours, James De Torres is the epitome of an act that has not only mastered his craft to the utmost of perfection, but at the same time, has ensured that his attention to detail will play a pivotal role in further cementing his status amongst the elite of our community.

Hailing from Spain, this truly versatile artist continues his ascendancy in the most immersive of fashions, and with a career pathway that has led to him gaining experience on the most constant of levels, James De Torres is the one act that most definitely leaves a lasting impact, no matter the endeavour. Having said this, we could not be any more thrilled to be joined by the man of the moment, as he opens up about main inspirations and influences, performing at various residencies around the globe, gaining recognition through accolades in the events management industry, hosting his very own ‘Lunar Sessions‘ radio show, upcoming releases and so much more.

Hello and thank you for joining us! Could you give us an insight on the main inspirations/influences that led to your chosen career pathway in music?

“This takes me really back in the past, when I played violin for 8 years. I used to play only classical music, but I think that really influenced me to fall in love with the trance scene of the 00s, the melodies, the vocals, even the lyrics. I started following Tiesto, AvB, PvD, Above & Beyond… and decided to start my production career with that genre. During Covid, I saw myself getting bored with 138bpm music, so decided to low my bpms, this took me to the progressive sounds, and the melodic techno that now is so mainstream. My relationship with Aly & Fila helped me to release on UV, his progressive label run with Paul Thomas. Obviously Afterlife started to inspire me, Anjunadeep, Eric Prydz back in the days and now we are here, making music at 124bpms with energetic drops but calmer basslines and less synth leads.”

With versatility a key aspect for any producer in the dance scene, we would like to know your outlook on adapting to a variety of genres, as well as how your signature style of play came to be?

“I would say that, when decided to produce trance I was not thinking, this is the hardest genre to produce and start making music. Basslines, Melodies, pads, vocals, drum grooves, all in high bpms. I believe that helps you to get to know structure of other genres faster, elements are similar or even less complicated. Also I am a person who loves to check everyday new releases of different styles, progressive, indie house, tech house, bass… sometimes other types of music can bring ideas to you so I would recommend to never close gates because you think is not worth it to spend time on them, they can surprise you, they can encourage you and help you make something new and different.”

Garnering support from some of the biggest names in dance scene, as well as constantly climbing the charts, we would like to know the main thought process behind your productions, and the overall message that you set out to portray through your music?

“I remember the first time Armin van Buuren played one of my tunes, I cried of happiness. Later on he chose one of my tunes for one of his albums, I was having dinner with some friends when I receive that email and nobody knew who Armin was (that is Spain lol). I learnt how to produce in NYC, in a music school call Dubspot (now is closed tho), I felt lot of happiness learning how all the electronic music sounds were made. At some point when needing help with my mixing and mastering, maybe the toughest part of production, I got in touch with Heatbeat and they became my sound engineer, they started to give me advices on my productions and we worked together. And I learnt that sometimes you may need
external help to achieve new things, sounds, a better sound quality and mastering so I started collaborating with some other producers, exchanging ideas, knowledge, and arrangement ways… so yeah you can have your own sound but always look at what your environment does because good ideas can come from sharing and caring.”

In addition to your DJ career, you have also gained recognition through various accolades in the events management industry. Could you provide us with an outlook on that part of your life, as well as the influence that it has had when looking to achieve your goals within our community?

“Few years ago I started working in the biggest backline company in Spain, that gave me access to full pro dj equipment, and started practicing my dj skills almost everyday, isn’t cool? Haha. At the same time, I get to go to most of the big electronic music events in the country, as I was running the dj area (there was more backline apart from dj devices like rock drums, guitars and amps, grand pianos for operas or orchestras, synths of all type, was a good way to get my head inside the industry).

With all these big events I met some of the most important artists like Tale of Us, Solomun, Jamie Jones, Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin… during Covid I stopped my relation with music and became a pro photographer, and still working on that during the week… but once Covid was gone I received a call from High Scream, one of the most important production companies in the world, and they offered me a unique opportunity, become the production manager at HÏ Ibiza.

I can tell a lot of things from those months, working in 120 events with the best artists in the world, you can imagine how much I can tell. But focusing on achieving my goals helped me to have a direct contact with a lot of the main artists, my influences, and now friends. I have good relations with Vintage Culture, Massano, 8Kays, Korolova, Cassian, Andrea Oliva, Paco Osuna, and a long etc.”

Hosting your very own ‘Lunar Sessions’ radio show, could you provide us with a wider look of the podcast, the variation of guests that are invited, as well as the impact that such an endeavour has had on your musical career thus far?

“I started ‘Lunar Sessions’ about 10 years ago almost, thanks to MIKE/Push wife, Caro, who got me into DI.FM to have the opportunity to start my own radio show. This helped me to look for new music, the latest and what in my opinion is the coolest music no matter who the artist is. I try to support non main artists, is a two hours show where I have the chance to
play around 23-25 tracks and may be 20 of them are not that big. I love when artists send me music personally, most of the time I will support it just because hey, they make the effort to contact me. The variation of guests normally is because I know the artists personally. Back in the days they were trance artists, now it is more melodic techno, and I am happy they participate on it. Now with Insomniac Radio and Pure Ibiza apart from DI.FM, I am getting more listeners which is good. There are not many radio shows of this type of music so, hope the people discovers it because they are going to love it and they can find it in many places like Apple Podcast, Youtube, ivoox and not only Soundcloud.”

With 2024 now in full flow, we would like to know what the future holds for James De Torres, always in terms of new music and live performances?

“2024 is the year of making music and make lot of noise. My next goals are, manager and agent to be part of my team, and to achieve that you have to prove you are really into this industry. After this 3 releases I have signed another 3, which means 5 more tunes released before the summer season. I am very excited and hope I can achieve my goal of 2024 of releasing at least 10 tracks. Hopefully even more. In live performances things are cooking slowly but they are arriving. Would love to call the attention of UK, German and Dutch promoters because I can see in my listeners stats thats where most of my fans are so, will be knocking their doors nonstop, and maybe any festival this summer is interested on having me. Never give up.”

Remarkable in every sense of the word, we will most definitely be keeping a close eye on James De Torres and all his future endeavours within the dance scene, but for the time being, you can stay fully up to date by following him on Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.