Name: Yamil del Rio Calvo
Nationality: Spanish
Occupation: Spanish, songwriter
Current Release: Yamil's La Flor Colorada EP is out via Sol Selectas.
Recommendations: Book: Eckhart Tolle - The Power of Now; Graphic Artist: Laura Cruz (the designer of the artworks for my label Pieces Of Life, she is a graphic artist and painter with her own style that I love.)

If you enjoyed this Yamil interview and would like to stay up to date on his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.  



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in production and technology?

Of course, in my beginnings I have always had a lot of interest and curiosity in knowing how the songs and the sounds were created.

Then I started to get into the world of music production and I discovered a universe of instruments, tools, functions. They blew my mind as there are no limits.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness and how do you still draw surprises from tools, approaches, and musical forms you may be very familiar with?

As you say, in the beginning it is like a newly bought toy which you can't seem to exhaust.  You can work for many years with some tools, like compressors for example, and still every day you keep discovering how to make them work better and understanding how they work.

It is difficult not to keep the sense of playfulness when what you are creating keeps you in a good mood and you feel that it keeps inspiring you. In the end I feel that it is not the tools that catch you, but what you can create with them!

For your own creativity, what is the balance and relative importance between what you learned from teachers, tutorials and other producers on the one hand – and what you discovered, understood, and achieved yourself? What are examples for both of these?

In my case, I started tinkering with a DAW on my own by trial and error. I would always accompany the process with YouTube tutorials to meet my needs at the time but with the result of doing what was coming out. After that I took a short course to learn to make better use of the tools of Logic (which is the DAW that I still use today) which provided me with new insights.

But in reality, the advanced development of my sound was achieved by working hours and hours and hours on my own, putting my knowledge and my own tools into practise.

The skill is given by the hours of work, but the inspiration is in your head and you have to know how to find it.

How and for what reasons has your music set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear and software for you?

At first, in my generation, most of us started with a laptop and some "cheap" headphones or monitors but with a strong desire to learn and work. I've been like that as well.

For quite a long time, all I had little more than a midi controller until the restlessness and ambition to discover and use new sounds led me to enlarge and refine my set up. Ever since, I've been adding new tools both software and hardware. I think that above all it is curiosity that leads you to build a better studio.

Some of my must-haves could be all the Logic Pro native plugins (since I work a lot with them). But I could also say several VSTs like DIVA, ARTURIA COLLECTION or MASCHINE and KONTAKT from NI. In terms of hardware, I would say that I could not live without my PROPHET REV2.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that and the relevance of limitations in your set-up and process?

Smart words, since electronic music is infinite and gives space to infinite sounds and textures.

Let's put it this way: Almost anything can fit in electronic music but not everything makes sense. We must use the elements we have at our disposal with coherence, and we must always look for an end goal or tell a story. Music, be it electronic or any other genre, must have soul and awaken some feeling or state of mind.

I'm currently at a point in my career where I don't limit myself at all. I like to get out of my comfort zone and not follow the trends of the moment in order to achieve a pure and original sound that represents me as an artist.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, what does your current production workflow / process look like?

I’m one of those producers who thinks that the first idea that makes you vibrate is the best. And if it is a simple idea, that's even better.

Of course from the sketch of an idea to the final version, there are many tests, changes, edits and treatments of sounds that put everything in place. But I try to be strict and clear when it comes to keeping the main idea that made me vibrate intact and not change it too much.

If you don't, you can end up in a never ending process and never get to finish a song - if you change the bass, it takes you to another synth; if you change the synth, the drums can ask for other sequences, and so on… it can happen that you never feel when and how to finish a song.

I think this a common mistake of many "newcomer" producers. It's important to know or feel when a song is 100% finished because you can enter a never ending circle.

What, to you, are the respective benefits of solo work and collaborations and do you often feel lonely in the studio? Can machines act as collaborators to you?

During my career, most of the time I have worked alone. I think that you have to put in many hours of working alone to develop your skills with the tools and create your own sound as a producer. But I have to admit that I like to get together with artists I admire and especially with musicians not related to the electronic scene, it is very creative and enriching.

It is true that it is not easy to fit in the studio with any producer because each one has his own working methods and in many occasions the result is not the expected one. But everything is a learning process from which something positive comes out for sure.

And of course, at the end of the day, the machines are also collaborators. It is a fun process, every time a new machine enters my studio there are days of learning without looking for a final goal but to learn and discover new processes and sounds until you finally connect with that machine and you can work on songs.

In short, it is a process of getting to know and understand each other. So it is like a "relationship."

In the light of picking your tools, how would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

Originality and innovation are conspicuous by their absence today. The market is saturated and many producers prefer to replicate or copy the trendy tracks, thus closing the door to certain sounds and ideas because they do not follow a trend of a label or DJ they admire.

I believe that tradition is the basis of everything and we must treat it with respect. I feel that there are traditional things that are already invented and work so it's okay to use them. But I also believe that innovation goes beyond all this and is based on the creativity of each one.

Squeeze out what you have at your disposal to generate new sounds. Tradition may have created some limits already but sounds and how to use them are infinite.

What was your first encounter with the Roland TR-8?

I bought the Roland tr8 a few years ago as I am a fan of the 808’s sound as you can feel in my productions.

Honestly, it is an easy to use tool, and it has the elements that I consider essential for the rhythmic part of a house track.

What interests you about the Roland TR-8 in terms of it contributing to your creative ideals?

Undoubtedly what I like and use the most in the TR8 are the toms. There are 3 types of toms perfectly moldable between decay and tune that make it easy, simple and totally customizable to create any kind of sequences.

Tell me a bit about the interface of the Roland TR-8 – what does playing it feel like, what do you enjoy about it, compared to some of your other instruments?

I feel it's a pretty easy tool to learn to use, fast to integrate live, and I also like that you can set up your sequences in your own DAW in midi. So you can get to more complete and longer sequences than what TR8 offers by itself.

How would you describe the sonic potential of the Roland TR-8?

Personally I am delighted with the sound, they have achieved a very powerful product.

It is true that the difference with the original 808 exists but it is not far away. I had the opportunity to use the original 808 on some occasions and definitely with the TR8 they have managed to bring a classic tool to a more general public and with an impressive sound finish.

How does the Roland TR-8 interact with some of the other tools in your studio?

It interacts in a simple way as it is very easy to synchronize with the clock of your DAW. So it is easy to connect it and to be able to jam with it and with your synthesizers at the same time.

More generally, how do you see the relationship between your instruments and the music you make?

My instruments are key in my productions. In the past I loved to have all kinds of VSTs, an infinity array of instruments etc. But with time I focused on using a series of tools (organic, analog and digital) which have become an integral  part of my sound.

I am a nerd of organic and antique instruments and during my trips I always keep space in my suitcase to bring all kinds of local instruments and gadgets from the countries I visit. Among them we can find percussions, timbales, maracas, shakers and an infinity of things that can be heard in my music.

I love to mix digital and analog sound with organic instruments.

If you could make a wish for the future directly to a product developer at a Hard- or Software company – what are developments in tools/instruments you would like to see and hear?  

That Apple would make a more advanced and developed version of Logic to be able to play live. :-)