Meet Hauy, the Brazilian DJ and producer who has been in the good graces of Lee Burridge, Joris Voorn and Hernan Cattaneo.

Brazil is a country with a notorious tradition in progressive house, especially in the last decade and in the country’s South region. Clubs such as Warung and D-EDGE helped to boost the career of artists like Sasha, Hernan Cattaneo, John Digweed and Rick Ryan. In addition to this, it is worth mentioning the proximity with Argentina, a great pole of the genre in South America, and a great receptivity to deep house especially the interpretation of the style ruled by melodic atmospheres in recent years.

Within this scenario, the young DJ and producer Hauy emerges as a new exponent of the new generation of adept artists to create melodies on an international level. Native from Sao Paulo’s countryside, Hauy developed an important relationship with D-EDGE in the beginning of his career, before moving to Canada. Currently based in Toronto, Hauy has seen his profile as an artist grow exponentially in the last years, especially because of the successful releases and gigs at parties and festivals such as Spectrum, CODA, Burning Man, as well as good presentations in major electronic circuit cities in North America, including New York, Montreal and Miami. He’s just had his first appearance at Electric Island, one of the main electronic-music festivals in Canada, alongside Adriatique, Joris Voorn and Ame, to name a few.  And, he has just returned from weekend at Harvest Festival, in Northern Ontario.

After winning the trust of the British Lee Burridge and releasing good works on the labels Get Weird and Tale & Tone (both ran by Lee), Hauy achieves his most well-known and disputed imprint. All Day I Dream is one of the labels of the moment in the international scene and on its winter VA featured 13 original tracks, among them The Sage, a creation by the Brazilian. It’s worth remembering that even before releasing on ADID, Hauy had appearances on record labels like Get Physical and Warung, and the support of great medallions of the scene, such as John Digweed, Joris Voorn, Hernan Cattaneo and Booka Shade, a fact that proves how relevant his name is in the industry. We took advantage of this moment and invited him for a chat around the main points of his career and you can check out the result bellow:

Hi, Hauy, Thanks for talking with us at When We Dip!  You had your All Day I Dream debut with the track “The Sage”. How has the relationship been with Lee Burridge, which has resulted in releases on his 3 record labels?

Hi! It’s my pleasure, thanks for having me!

All the releases are very special. Step by step, I had the opportunity to keep developing my sound between the releases and now signing with All Day I Dream showed me that I’m on the right track. The relationship with Lee has been very professional. An interesting fact about releasing on his labels is that it’s usually not a fast process. We have thousands of artists and labels releasing new material every day, and often great releases become disposable or lost in between so many others. This is never the case with Lee’s labels.  I patiently waited 2 years for the release on Tale & Tone, for example. Almost same thing happened with the other releases on Get Weird and ADID – it took a long time but to be honest, this made every release even more exciting. It’s very rewarding when friends and fans from different places of the world ask about a future release that they might have listened Lee or other artists playing before the release or when they identify one of your upcoming tracks on a podcast. Also,  I would say my sound isn’t necessarily typical as most of the music that are being released on his labels, and I didn’t have to change or adapt it to sign them, which makes me happy.

I notice that your music is very connected to melodies and progressive atmospheres. Is it possible to say that developing an emotional profile is one of your priorities in the studio?

Yes and it happens quite naturally. My background is in Psytrance (more specifically the sound from Israel and Goa) and it is a very progressive and emotional genre. When I started producing music, I was already into house-music/techno and the music at that moment was very minimalistic, but the progressive and emotional influences were rooted in my head and everything I tried to do sounded the opposite of what was going on. I only learned how to balance it when I understood that it wasn’t bad to sound different and when I developed a more mature way to explore those progressive influences.

Musically speaking, how have you been Influenced by Canada since you moved in?

Going out of my comfort zone was definitely the main element that recently shaped my career. Being in a different environment allows me to have new experiences. New experiences turn into new emotions and when I’m in the studio, I translate these emotions into music. From the air I breathe to the people who live around me, all simple things can be a source of inspiration. Canada is one of the most multicultural countries in the world, I’m in touch with people from all over the world and that inspires me a lot. On top of that, the four well defined seasons that we have here bring a new mood basically every 3 months when it comes to creating. Also, I’m fortunate to have a great relationship with Toronto’s music scene and I’ve had a lot of support since I moved here. It has been very rewarding so far. I already love Canada as much as I love Brazil.

Considering your sensitivity with the environment to create, is there any inspiring journey that you would like to highlight? 

If I had to highlight an inspiring journey, I would mention the time when I lived on board a cruise-ship sailing to several countries during 9 months. From the Atlantic Sea through the Mediterranean and finally to the Baltic Sea, I had the opportunity to get to know a lot of peculiar places and cultures. During this time, my bedroom was a “little metal box” with roommates that changed monthly, some from quite different cultures – like a Japanese circus artist who barely spoke English. It was a very unique experience! However, there wasn’t room and privacy enough to make music at all. When I’m creating, I need to disconnect from the external world and focus into that present moment. Every emotion that I’m feeling will be printed into the music so I try to have the purest energy and clear my mind of any external concerns. I just had this peace when I got back to my studio in Sao Paulo and pondered what it all meant. I remember having one of the most creative moments of my life.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges in the life of a music producer nowadays?

I’d say to maintain a unique identity among so many new artists and have the ability to balance the routine of a music producer and DJ. Selling music online doesn’t pay bills anymore, most of an electronic music producer’s income comes from DJ gigs/live performances. Living at night and in parties can be amazing, but over time this environment can become exhausting if you don’t respect your body and your mind.

When you play, can the way that the crowd relates to your productions shape your music? Are you the type of artist who makes music always thinking about your sets?

I definitely don’t have the same workflow for every track. A new song can originate from a melody, a sample or a drum pattern. This makes each track have something special that will never happen again. Sometimes I try to make music thinking about my sets, but most of the time I just want to record what is going on in my head. The reaction of the crowd can tell me whether to repeat a chorus or not, or if a verse should be longer or shorter, but the main idea doesn’t change. If it doesn’t work on the dance floor, it can resonate with a personal moment listening by yourself at home or on a trip, outside the context of parties. 

The experience acquired year after year is usually fundamental in the development of an artist. How has this worked for you? 

I believe the development of an artist is totally related with his personal growth. Cultivating a vibrant surrounding and committing myself to make choices that will help me to release the greatest expression of purpose is the most important thing. Life hasn’t been stable in the last few years and I have been through many changes and challenges, but I feel that whatever makes me uncomfortable, is always a new opportunity for growth.

What do you miss the most in Brazil? Thank you for having us! 

That’s a tough one. The audience in the nightlife scene is one of the most excited I’ve seen.  I often say that playing the right track at the right time, is like scoring a goal in the World Cup’s final, the vibe is incredible. Besides that, I miss the summer tropical storms, I love the noise and smell of rain and just realized that now. Of course I miss my family and old friends too!

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