Listening to Sigala's upbeat, cheerful music, you'd never guess which was the first dance record he ever bought.
That was a CD that contained a Clubland X-Treme Hardcore compilation, one of many that were instrumental in popularizing hardcore techno, acid house, gabber and other fast-paced genres after the series' inception in 2003.
His formative years in music were spent immersing himself in the raw, unfiltered electropunk energy of The Prodigy and the ferocious drum & bass of Pendulum and NERO, among other highly influential electronic acts. Now, after nearly a decade of painting dancefloors in the pastel hues of dance-pop, Sigala is dipping back into the pulsating side of club culture that once fascinated him as a child in England.
For those who have become accustomed to their many Platinum This evolution into a dance-pop creation may cause whiplash, but for nocturnal creatures who thrive in the strobe-lit chaos of the underground, it will feel right at home.
Sigala's shift, which his label has billed as the beginning of a “bold new era”, is like watching a mad scientist in action, delightfully unhinged and hungry for more. We caught up with the hitmaker to discuss his next chapter and the “liberating” experience of making music for the rave rather than the radio.
EDM.com: Let’s go back to the beginning. What artists and sounds deeply inspired you growing up in Norfolk?
Follow her: It sounds like a made-up story, but I discovered electronic music when I found a CD on the side of a road in Norfolk, England, where I grew up. Back then, CDs were shiny, cool objects, so I picked it up. I had no idea what it was, and it turned out to be a CD. Clubland X-Treme Hardcore I mixed it and it blew my mind.
Honestly, I had never heard anything like that. I was a kid at the time and my parents were into bands and rock music, so that was all I had ever heard. I hadn't really listened to much in terms of electronic music. I got really excited and obsessed with the CD, then I started discovering other artists from different genres. I was listening to a lot of drum & bass from people like Sub Focus, a lot of Fatboy Slim, NERO, Prodigy and Pendulum – an amazing time for electronic music. So those were my first years of getting into dance or electronic music.
EDM.com: Fast forward to 2024, a year that is said to mark the beginning of a “bold new era” in your output after seven Platinum-certified global dance hits. What inspired you to move towards a more rave-inspired sound?
Follow her: Honestly, I get bored of doing the same thing over and over again. I know there are a lot of purists when it comes to gender, but I don't think gender has to be so black and white. I think it can be much more fluid.
I'm always looking for a new sound or a new idea that I'm excited about and can showcase at my next show. I also think it's really important to keep pushing yourself and try to break the mold or break the perception that others have of you. Plus, I love rave songs.
EDM.com: Do you feel a sense of creative liberation now that you're experimenting with a more club-oriented sound? How does it compare to creating hits for radio?
Follow her: It’s definitely rewarding in a totally different way, because I always have to do edits for the stuff I do for radio, for clubs and festivals, to make sure it works in a club environment. Pop stuff is never written with the club or live performance in mind, so it’s been really fun to make music that’s designed purely for live consumption and being able to see a real-time response.
It's been really fun to approach it in a different way and think about a different audience and a different experience, which is liberating in its own way.
EDM.com: Looking back at Easy Love, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year, can you discuss the evolution of your production approach? Beyond the higher beats, what has changed?
Follow her: I don't think my approach to production and music creation has changed. I guess it's just my taste, which will always continue to evolve. That being said, I think it's important to never stop learning, and I still buy nerdy producer magazines and spend money on new synths that I'll never use!
EDM.com: From a technical standpoint, are there any music production epiphanies you've had along the way that you wish you could go back in time and implement into that debut single?
Follow her: That's a very interesting question! Perhaps one of the things I was very guilty of when I first started producing was layering sounds unnecessarily. A big lesson I've learned along the way is that sometimes “less is more” and you can achieve a bigger sound with fewer parts or fewer layers. That's something I've had to be strict with myself about and something I try to avoid doing.
Now I try to make every sound as good as possible before I start adding more, because I can probably make it work with what's already there. That bad habit probably also arose from a lack of confidence in my own abilities; now it's about being brave and saying this It's the killer sound people need to hear.
EDM.com: Your music of yesteryear used to explore the search for love and the emotions that come with it. From a lyrical perspective, will your shift in sound bring any surprising themes or subject matter?
Follow her: I've lost count of how many of my songs have “love” in the title, but I guess it's such a universal feeling that everyone can relate to it. I try not to think about that stuff too much, though. When it comes to lyrics and concepts, it either resonates with me or it doesn't.
It's really a case of “Does it make me feel something when I listen to it?” If it makes me feel something, then usually that will be passed on to other people. However, the lyrics definitely have an impact on how I approach the style of the song, so with exploring new genres there will definitely be a change in lyrical content.
EDM.com: You’ve worked with a wide variety of artists, from Kylie Minogue to The Vamps and now 24kGoldn. How do you adapt your sound to suit different collaborators without compromising your signature style?
Follow her: It's one of the reasons I love working with other people – it gives me more freedom to experiment with other sounds. I would never have made a disco-inspired record if it wasn't for Nile Rodgers' involvement on “Give Me Your Love.” I loved working with Fuse ODG because I was able to experiment with mixing Afrobeats with my own style, and the same goes for a lot of my songs.
I love that you asked that question because I really don't want to be known for just one genre or one song.
EDM.com: What's next for you? What's the most exciting thing you can offer our readers in the Sigala project without getting into trouble?
Follow her: Haha! I don't know if I can reveal it. More great music that you should listen to at full volume!
Follow Sigala:
X: x.com/sigalamusic
Instagram: Instagram.com/sigala
Tik Tok: tiktok.com/@sigalamusic
Facebook: facebook.com/sigalamusic
Spotify: smallurl.com/5e2z8ehm
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