Ceci interview: ‘Peace’ album, guitar spontaneity and three years at ADE Sekora

Behind the melodic house project sits another life. For a decade, Ceci has also played guitar in Guns Celebration, a Guns N’ Roses tribute band that has performed across Europe. That guitar-first foundation feeds into the studio work, powering a spontaneous, instinctive production style that has landed him on labels including Songspire Records, Sekora, Manual Music, Worlds Up Records, Hathōr, Blue Magenta Records, Saifam Group, Monowave Records, Golden Hour Recordings, Kumo Collective and Artist Intelligence Agency.

The catalogue has picked up real momentum along the way. Some tracks have surpassed 1.5 million Spotify streams, and support has come in from Tiësto’s Club Life radio show (who played ‘Chase It’), Deeparture’s Melodic Deep Mix Series, and Martin Garrix Radio on Spotify. Beyond that, Ceci has played the Sekora showcase at ADE three years running from 2022 to 2024. We caught up with him to talk ‘Peace’, guitar spontaneity, the ADE Sekora years, and what comes next.

Let’s go back to the beginning, you picked up a guitar for the first time at 16. What drew you to the instrument then, and can you take us through how that early passion eventually led you into melodic house production?

The first time I picked up a guitar, I felt like I wanted to become a rock star. It might sound ridiculous, but after hearing AC/DC for the first time, that desire and stubbornness pushed me to really study the instrument, the electric guitar, in depth. After a few months of lessons with a guitar teacher, and after learning my first songs, I joined my first band. We were all young guys, and together we fed our passion in rehearsal rooms, having fun and dreaming a bit. And right from the start, I felt a need: to write my own music. That passion for the guitar soon led me to start playing live, but deep down it wasn’t enough for me: I wanted to find out what it was like to create music “with a computer.” I wanted to know what it felt like to dive into that “electronic” world, so different from rock, at least in terms of approach. And that’s how, at 18, with a desktop computer, FL Studio installed, and after hours of tutorials watched on YouTube, all I wanted was to experiment and create something that, maybe, didn’t exist yet. My very first compositions were made in Guitar Pro, but then I moved to FL Studio because I wanted to try out the electronic sounds of virtual synthesizers. On top of that, Avicii, Deadmau5, and Skrillex had a hand in it too, with their productions, which I listened to non-stop, and producing music became like a drug for me, one that led to not-so-great grades at school, but a whole lot of fun (making music). Over time I developed a passion for chill-out, ambient, and house music, as well as for big leads and synth plucks. That whole listening background eventually led me to specialize in melodic house, the genre I still favor in my productions today.

You still play guitar in rock bands today. How does that ongoing relationship with the instrument shape the way you approach your electronic productions in the studio?

I think the thing that shapes this relationship the most is being, fairly, instinctive. Let me explain: in the way I play guitar, regardless of the genre I most enjoy playing, there’s a high dose of instinct and spontaneity. I’m not an overly technical guitarist, even though I consider myself a good one. And I bring that into the studio: I hum something that just happens, without really thinking or “preparing” it beforehand. That spontaneity in playing the instrument is the thing that translates best into my productions. Even though these days I try to keep a certain artistic and technical maturity in the studio, in order to create tracks with a complete arrangement, a lot of the elements in them are born from the same approach I use when playing guitar: spontaneity.

Your discography spans some of the most respected labels in melodic house, Songspire Records, Sekora, Manual Music and Sommersville Records among them. How did those relationships come together, and what do you feel each of those homes has brought out in your sound?

Some of these relationships came about the classic way, by sending demos. Others were born out of personal encounters, some not even planned. Obviously, after that, it was one thing leading to another. Let’s just say I owe a lot to these labels, because they let me into a musical and artistic circuit that I admire and respect a great deal. And they gave me the chance to go to Amsterdam for 4 years in a row for ADE, 3 of which playing the Sekora showcase, a place where you can do a lot of networking and connect with so many artists. Over the years, these labels have often tried to bring out the best in me, sometimes suggesting artistic paths and choices different from the ones I was used to following, maybe even through collaborations I wouldn’t have considered otherwise.

Getting picked up by Tiësto’s Club Life radio show, Deeparture’s Melodic Deep Mix Series, and Martin Garrix’s official Spotify playlist, Martin Garrix Radio, is no small thing. Do you remember the moment you first realised your music was landing in those kinds of rotations?

Yes, I remember it. The first time was with Tiësto: I was at home when a friend messaged me saying he’d heard my track on his Club Life show. At first I didn’t believe it, I had to check the episode myself to be sure. With Deeparture and his Melodic Deep Mix Series, it was different: more than a shock, it was confirmation that my sound was finding its audience within the melodic scene. With Martin Garrix, discovering the track on his official Spotify playlist made me realize just how far music can travel once it leaves your studio. Three different moments, but they all left me with the same feeling: that I was no longer just a kid producing in his bedroom, but an artist being listened to and taken seriously by people I admire. I never take that for granted.

You’ve played the Sekora showcase at ADE three years running from 2022 to 2024. What has it meant to keep coming back to that stage, and how has your relationship with the Sekora family evolved over those editions?

Playing the Sekora showcase at ADE for 3 years in a row made me feel part of a family, one that helped me and invested in me. Coming back to that stage meant seeing again people I’d built a real connection with, the kind that only music can create. The best and most spontaneous part, though, was sharing moments of fun together. After all, ADE happens once a year, and it’s one of the few chances to see the whole melodic house scene together in one place. Needless to say, the relationship with Sekora has grown and solidified year after year. Our bond is still going strong: on August 7th, in fact, a single, “Falling in Love”, came out via Sekora, which I’m really proud of.

Your new album ‘Peace’ arrives in August on Sommersville Records, and it collects tracks from the last five years, almost a portrait of your artistic journey so far. What was the process of pulling those years of work together into a cohesive body, and why did the word ‘Peace’ feel like the right title to sit at the heart of it?

Honestly, pulling five years of work into one album wasn’t really a plan, it was more like looking back at a pile of tracks and realizing they were already telling a story I hadn’t noticed while I was making them. The title came later, once most of the material already existed. There’s no grand narrative connecting every song on purpose; it’s more that, listened to in order, you can actually hear me change, the sound shifts, the choices get bolder toward the end. That distance is what let me see the coherence, not something I sat down and engineered from day one. “Peace,” to me, is about the freedom to keep moving forward even through the hardest moments, and the clarity that comes from knowing you can face them. And it’s in that clarity that the real strength lies.

Is there a particular track on ‘Peace’ that captures the emotional heart of the album for you, one that unlocks it for the listener?

“Ethereal Traveler” is the second track on the record, and it’s a solo journey through space, with that progressive signature that leans a bit toward Deadmau5: pulsing basslines and hypnotic arpeggios built layer upon layer. Through constant tension, growing at times, you can feel the cosmonaut’s solitude, inevitable, in that space between isolation and wonder. It’s a bit of a metaphor for a journey you have to take alone, to discover yourself.

How much of the guitar-driven, rock-influenced side of you made it onto ‘Peace’, consciously or otherwise?

I’d say it’s always been present, in a way, even if I’ve always kept it a bit behind the scenes, sound-wise. In one of my latest released tracks, which will be part of the EP, Feel Alive, you can hear the guitar at the end, but generally I use it mainly during the production and writing stage of a track. It’s curious: I use that rock spirit unconsciously to write, but then I end up creating soundscapes that drift away from it, not on purpose. Maybe it’s exactly that escape that helps me stay stimulated in both genres.

Melodic house is a genre that has evolved massively over the last few years. Where do you feel the sound is heading, and how do you want your own artistry to move alongside it?

The artists in the melodic house scene I follow and listen to have a strong, identifiable sound, and I think everyone’s experimenting more and more these days. Listening to new tracks, I notice some of them have faster BPMs than usual at times, or new sonic characteristics that lean more toward ambient, organic house, and Afro house. I think it’s a genre that’s become an established pillar by now, more than just a passing trend, despite the different shades it embraces. I hope my own art keeps moving spontaneously, the way it’s always tried to. I don’t want to force myself to keep pace with the genre. I’ll definitely keep my own style, and we’ll see where inspiration takes me! This is definitely a period where I’m experimenting too, and I’m really motivated.

Looking beyond ‘Peace’, what’s next for Ceci creatively? Where do you see your sound and your live/DJ project heading through the rest of 2026 and into next year?

Great question! I’ve got a lot of ideas floating around, but I’m still trying to zero in on the exact direction. I already have some productions in the works that’ll come out this year, in a style close to the album’s. Over the next few months, though, I mainly want to experiment: new sounds, maybe even higher BPMs, who knows, I might try speeding up my sound a bit. Maybe I’ll bring the guitar in more prominently, sound-wise. We’ll see! On the live and DJ side too, I’d love to bring some of this exploratory phase into my sets, with sets that better reflect this drive to discover new things. In a way, I feel like I want to get back to being more curious, the way I was when I first started out.

‘Peace’ lands in August on Sommersville Records, with Ceci continuing to build out both sides of his catalogue in parallel: melodic house on record, guitar-driven rock on stage. His new single ‘Falling in Love’ is out August 7 via Sekora, and upcoming EP ‘Feel Alive’ teases the direction his sound is heading. Follow him for what comes next.