03/21/2025

PREMIERE: Night Breeze – Wanaka Springs [Magnetic Magazine Recordings]

Night Breeze returns with “Wanaka Springs,” a stripped-back, groove-forward release that delivers exactly what the title suggests: warmth, depth, and clarity. It premiered on our SoundCloud a week ahead of its official release on Magnetic Magazine Recordings, and immediately locked into the kind of low-end pocket that doesn’t need a big drop to pull you in. The kick and bass do the heavy lifting, while the melodies stay light enough to drift in and out without losing the pulse.

Before getting into electronic production, Night Breeze was a rock guitarist—and you can still hear it. There’s a clear sense of progression in the chords, and the arrangement holds together like a band would, not a loop. His influences—Radiohead, Bob Moses, Cut Copy—aren’t surface-level either. “Wanaka Springs” builds gradually, holds tension without dragging, and knows exactly when to move on.

In the interview, he talks about avoiding trends and finding his own sound. That mindset is all over this track. The groove is locked, the melodic phrasing feels intentional, and nothing about it sounds like it came from a template. It’s the kind of track you want in your library because it holds up on repeat listens—and because it reminds you that less can still hit harder.

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Who are the artists or sounds that most shaped your style early on?

Since learning guitar was what fully triggered my music addiction as a teenager, a lot of my early influences were classic rock guitarists. I was inspired by how Hendrix pushed the boundaries of sound and what people thought was possible with guitars. I was moved by the incredible tone and melodic sensibilities of Santana.

I was awed by the catchy riffs and raw attitude of Jimmy Page. I was captivated by the emotion and atmosphere of David Gilmour.

Then a big modern rock influence as I was growing up was Radiohead, who inspired me with their ability to constantly change styles and explore new sounds and textures while still being instantly recognizable and giving each project its own cohesive sonic world.

And years later, there were the acts that started drawing me more and more into electronic music. Acts that often had some rock elements or influence in their style and who often made tracks with more traditional song structures – artists like LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk, Flight Facilities, Cut Copy, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Bob Moses.

What’s the one sound or technique that you think defines your signature style?

I often say the mantra of Night Breeze is smooth, bassy grooves, and I think that sums it up well. I listen to a very eclectic range of music, but when DJing, I’m usually drawn to music built around groovy bass lines. When I say groovy, think stuff that’s a bit funky or syncopated.

So in my productions, I put a lot of thought, care, and energy into the drum groove and low end feel of each track. I also love when electronic music tells a story and takes you on a journey, so most of my songs are driven by chord progressions and melodies. But even then, the groove is always the core and anchor of the song for me, and it’s what I tend to base everything else around.

Why do you think it’s important for artists to focus on developing their own sound rather than chasing trends?

To an extent, it depends what you want to achieve. Chasing trends could maybe work if you’re more trying to produce for other artists vs developing your own artistic identity. Since trends come and go, you’re never going to find your own unique sound if you’re constantly changing it. Plus trends get over-saturated very quickly, so not only will your sound lack cohesiveness, you’ll also just get swallowed up into the endless sea of copycat music that follows any new trend.

For me personally, the artists across my life that have had the most impact are the ones who sound unique and are breaking new sonic ground. Those are the ones that I really remember and keep coming back to years later.

That doesn’t mean that I won’t still listen to new trends, though – I’m usually of the opinion that if a specific artist or micro genre is resonating with a lot of people, there’s something there that people are connecting with, even if at first I didn’t feel it. So I might listen to some tracks or artists in the genre and try to pick out some specific techniques or ideas that I like and connect with. And then maybe I’ll play around with incorporating them into a future track. You can find inspiration anywhere, even in radically different genres.

But we’re talking about a specific idea or technique applied to a different context versus mimicking an entire style verbatim.

I run a Spotify playlist, Deep & Groovy Melodic House, that gets a lot of submissions on SubmitHub.

There are a couple of specific genres where I frequently am inundated with well-produced but generic-sounding copycats, which makes me wonder if there’s a high-quality template sold online for those genres somewhere. These tracks may be well produced, but nothing about them makes them stand out from all the other copycats. I’m also not generally an AI alarmist, but if AI is going to be good at one thing, it will be churning out generic copycats of existing styles.

So all of that is to say, while it’s important to keep listening to new music and new styles, you also want to ultimately find your own unique artistic voice.

Why do you think some artists get stuck in a certain sound, and how do you keep pushing your boundaries?

It can definitely be easy to fall into routines and patterns when producing or composing. For anyone who plays an instrument, for example, I’m sure they’ll be familiar with the feeling where when you sit down and aimlessly noodle, your hands tend to fall into familiar patterns. It’s the same idea with producing.

I think the most important thing is just to keep listening to new music. For me, that’s an infinite source of new inspiration. There’s far more interesting new music out there than I could ever listen to, so I find that’s a bottomless well of potential new ideas. It’s obviously important to stay up to date and listen to the new stuff coming out in your niche, but it can also be very refreshing to just listen to completely different genres or eras.

Another approach is to watch videos on YouTube – there’s an endless amount of producing content there, and trying out new tricks and techniques is both fun and can lead you in interesting and unexpected new directions.

It can also be helpful to just mix up your creative process occasionally. If you always start with the drums, try starting with a melody. If you always start with chords, try starting with a bass line. If you always draw in your bass, try playing it in. If you always play in your chords, try drawing them in. Little changes like that can be enough to trigger new ways of thinking and working.

Working with other artists is also a good way to expand your horizons and get out of fixed patterns. Everyone has different ways of doing things, and it can be a breath of fresh air to see a new process or new techniques up close while making a new tune.