A Conversation With Vanished and AaronGwin.
SCG talks to two new producers we’ve been working with: AaronGwin and Vanished. Here, they chat to us about what drives them to produce in the face of challenges, how they came to work with us and what’s inside their record box.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you?
Vanished: My name is Chang, and I’m 22 years old. I was born in Yunnan and raised in Guangdong, but I’ve recently relocated to Changchun, Jilin. I don’t have any music education. I’m self-taught, which is typical for many producers nowadays.
AaronGwin: My name is Jiayi, and I’m 18. I was born in Chongqing and now I’m living in Changsha. Just like Vanished, I started making music with zero prior education.
What is your hometown like? What’s the most special thing about that place?
V: Kunming, my hometown, is known as ‘the city of eternal spring’ — the perfect climate for living, and flowers bloom all year long.
A: My hometown of Changsha is not as big as Kunming or Shanghai, but I do think it's one of the best cities to settle down in, in China. It’s got a super slow pace of life. What I love the most is the delicious local food.
How long have you been making music? Why did you decide to start?
V: I’ve been making music for around 3 years. I love EDM, always have. Sometimes when I’m listening to music, I would change the melody in my head, like remixing it in my imagination — then I started writing on my own.
A: 4 years actually. It all started with a FL Studio tutorial video I found online, then I downloaded the software, tried it and yeah — all the magic happened!
Who is your biggest inspiration? What is your all-time favorite song?
V: I’ve always been inspired by big festivals. Originally, I watched how dance music superstars like Hardwell and Nicky Romero presented worked the crowd at big festivals. Nicky Romero was always a huge inspiration for me, he makes amazing music. My favorite song by him is ‘Let Me Feel’.
A: Martin Garrix (or maybe Aaron Gwin, haha). Favourite track is ‘Crime - Grey’
Does it affect school or your regular life?
V: Well, actually I dropped out of college to chase music. Making music is great, its so much fun. On the one hand, it's like this weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can finally be the person I want to be, but that all changes when it is your source of income and you have to support yourself.
A: You know what, I was always making music throughout my whole high school life. It was hard to find a balance, but fortunately, I made it.
Do your parents support what you do? Do they worry it’s going to affect your studies?
V: I’ve always been lucky to have my parents support where I wanted to go with music. They said to me “do what you like”. And so I did.
A: Yeah, they always support me. It’s hard for them I guess, but they trust me.
What drives you to keep making music? What is the biggest challenge for you to keep producing?
V: I want to share my music with the world. The hardest thing is getting over a creative block. You know, if I’m not in the right mood, sometimes it’s like you're sitting there thinking... hmm, I got nothing today.
A: Looking at what I’ve produced makes me proud. I enjoy listening to the songs all made by my hand and mind. It is my study!
How do you find vocalists and other creatives to collaborate with? Is it easy?
V: I found vocalists at SoundBetter.com, which I recommend — always been really easy to work with them so far.
A: I second that. That site has been great.
What music is in your record box? What do you like to listen to?
V: In general I’m usually always listening to progressive house.
A: There’s an abundance of different genres in my box. Mostly EDM but also rap, R&B and some pop.
How do you let people know you have new music out? Do you have a dream label?
V: Looking back, my first track was awful, I released it myself on Netease music and later deleted it. My dream label to work with is Protocol Recordings.
If you can choose any one artist to collaborate with, who would it be?
V: Matisse & Sadko.
A: Martin Garrix, Matisse & Sadko, Grey. Also Pinktong.
How did you get to know SCG?
V: My producer friend Aaron Gwin told me, ‘have you heard of SCG? The boss Cecelia is sick and you should definitely check them out’.
A: I found out about them when they brought Jay Hardway to China. (PS. I’m the 500th follower of Cecelia’s Weibo)
Which release of yours are you most proud of and why?
V: ‘Leave the light on’ is both of our favorite, this track is meaningful ‘cause we collaborated together. Both of us put a lot of efforts into it. And we’re proud of the release of ‘Hieron’, we even got support from big names like Afrojack and Dash Berlin.
Tell us one Chinese artist that you really like and you think more people in the west should hear.
V: Now Or Later
A: Clef, for sure.
Don’t forget to check out their latest collab ‘Hieron’ below:
