Dennis: Leon, you have been releasing music since 2004. It’s such a pleasure to have you join us for an interview here. How long did it take you from doing music as a hobby to releasing music professionally?
Leon Bolier: That took quite long as back then the software (and PCs/macs available) was/weren’t up to standard to produce what it takes to get your music released – at least that’s how I felt about it as I didn’t own any hardware synths, and I started out working with tracker software, however, that journey made me learn a lot along the way. I started fooling around with music production I guess about ten years prior until I got my hands on my first DAWs in 2001, 2002 ish.
Dennis: We are really looking forward to our upcoming Soundcation in Bali with Myon, Dennis Sheperd and yourself teaching. Tell us a bit about what you will be teaching on the retreat.
Curious about the vibe? Watch our previous retreat testimonials
Leon Bolier: I heard a that there’s people that would love to hear a bit about how I mix my tracks, especially on the low end side of things; so for sure I’ll be telling a bit more about this – however, anything goes – ask whatever you want and I can at least explain my POV and how I do stuff!
Dennis: Tell us about collaborating with high profile artists like Armin. What’s the experience and differences of such collabs?
Leon Bolier: For me there’s no difference really when it comes to collaborating on tracks with whoever, it’s about vibing on something together and come to a result both are super happy with, going through the ‘I like this, but don’t like this’ kinda process together and sending stuff back and forth, as shaping up any collab would go like.
Dennis: Have you ever received career advice that first seemed not so important but you later found out it was the opposite?
Leon Bolier: Yeah, check your contracts! But you find out when you check out what contracts you actually signed back in the day.
Dennis: If you could choose to collaborate with any artist, alive or dead, who would it be and what kind of track would you make?
Leon Bolier: I always say Timbaland, as he’s a legend from a different branch of the game; be great to vibe with someone that could have a different POV when it comes to music production, and have his ideas come from different angles.
Dennis: What’s the logistics of reworking a classic under your own name such as Turn it Around? Was it anyhow connected with remix Take Me Away from 2020?
Leon Bolier: Kind of, as both originals had been released with Spinnin Records so I just went through their backcataglogue; also helped that both originals were produced by Carlo Resoort so I directly worked out a deal with him as I have known Carlo for a long time – and took it from there.
Dennis: What are some of your favorite moments in your DJ career that you will think about and talk about until you die?
Leon Bolier: I think there’s a few, performing mainstage Trance Energy was one of them as it was my first huge gig for over 20k people and a lot of people from the village I grew up in were there; my album launch party back in 09 I think in a more intimate setting was one of those moments, having my name trend worldwide on (back then) twitter during asot500 Johannesburg was a highlight, performing for a full stadium with my hit ‘Is This Love’ with Bob Marley & LVNDSCAPE in Switzerland was something special and more recently special ones were Luminosity and ASOT this year (tho I have played those festivals countless times), as I have more and more moved on to producing special versions of tracks catered for my BLR sets and at Luminosity and ASOT I have just dropped own productions, remixes, edits blended into a set made just for that very moment, experiencing those with the crowds were very special for me.
Dennis: Is producing now under your ‘old’ trance alias a process of mainly switching the sound palette, or does it require more? Do you do trance just per request or still get inspired?
Leon Bolier: A bit about sound palette but not that much I guess cuz also with BLR theres overlap – I think thats more a BPM thing, and for example with those pure trance tracks I’d allow longer breakdowns – maybe also because the BLR stuff also really is catered 100% for my livesets too where I’d want a pulse going on most of the time so the people on the dancefloor at least keep their heads nodding you know. With Leon Bolier stuff most of the times it’s about giving the OG fans something to enjoy every now and then, really, so I make those tracks just for fun – not saying I dont have fun creating the BLR and Bolier stuff, because I have never enjoyed making music as much as I am nowadays.
Dennis: The music world keeps evolving with new tech. What’s your personal philosophy on embracing fresh tools while still holding onto that core artistic vision that makes your sound ‘you’?
Leon Bolier: Go with the flow, if there’s new stuff out there that’s amazing you’d be stupid not to use it.
Dennis: What exciting new directions are you seeing in electronic music right now, and how do you think they’ll inspire the next wave of producers coming through programs like this one?
Leon Bolier: I like that everything is blending, genre wise. There’s downsides to this but I like that, right now, there seems to be less snobism and gatekeeping when it comes to genres, I see artists support music cross genre just because they like the tunes, and that’s exactly where I am positioned with my BLR project. I guess this means there’s extra opportunities for new and emerging producers out there.
Dennis: Beyond your favorites, is there one particular plugin or piece of hardware that’s become your absolute ride-or-die in your current workflow, and what makes it so indispensable?
Leon Bolier: I don’t really use hardware tbh, so I’d say its my workstation. I own stuff like Moog Subsequent 37, Virus TI, Nord rack 2x and some more stuff but the only thing I use right now is the Moog – and I use it as a midi keyboard.
Dennis: When you’re designing sounds, how do you decide whether to grab a preset and tweak it, or just start completely from scratch? What’s your secret for getting that unique Leon Bolier / BLR texture?
Leon Bolier: Often I start from scratch – when I know what sound I want. When i’m not sure what I want yet it might be fun to browse through some presets and be surprised by a nice sound I hadn’t thought of!
Dennis: How do you manage to produce so quickly and efficiently? How long does a track usually take you now, and has your approach changed over time?
Leon Bolier: I have streamlined a lot of my work process – IE I have set up a template that opens up my bus and master chain + routing upon starting a project, which saves me a lot of time later on – only thing I have to do is produce into my master chain and tweak that later. Next to that I have taught myself to get rid of ideas I don’t absolutely love fast, it’s one of the biggest timesavers for me – just decide what’s worth spending your time on instantly.
Dennis: We all want big, wide sounds! What are your go-to tricks for adding incredible width and depth to a mix without making it sound messy or losing power when played in mono?
Leon Bolier: Hmmm there’s not real ‘tricks’ for me there as it’s more part of the whole production process, and deciding what sound goes where, not only in the arrangement but also in the stereofield, and also, let’s say, on the z-axis (should it be up front? or in the back?). Of course needless to say, a sound only sounds impactfully big and wide if it can contrast with other sounds in the mix that aren’t all out.
Dennis: Got any specific tips for making sure every sound in a busy track has its own clear space, so nothing gets lost in the shuffle?
Leon Bolier: To be honest, I rather choose what sounds stay and what sounds go, than have stuff get too busy. Back in the trance days I sometimes tended to keep adding sounds and ideas to a track but in the end IMO it’s better to have the ideas shine you want to shine, and maybe find space for other ideas in other segments of a track – or maybe even in a different track.
Dennis: When you’re not locked in the studio or rocking a stage, how do you hit the reset button creatively? Do any of your personal hobbies surprisingly spark new musical ideas?
Leon Bolier: Sometimes I hear amazing music in videogames – and I hear random ideas in other people’s music (often not dance music) but when it comes to producing music I don’t really need to reset, as I just genuinly love creating music – so that’s inspiring by itself.
Dennis: Have you ever finished a track and hated it a few months later? What did you do? Release it anyway, shelve it, rework it?
Leon Bolier: No.
Dennis: When you’re starting a track from a blank slate, what usually sparks the first idea? A feeling, a sound, a memory? There’s a lot of destination-references in titles of your earlier tracks. Do you still get inspired musically by places you visit?
Leon Bolier: Those destination references often are cause I started working on that track at that destination or when I just got back from there – but not a one on one inspiration if that makes sense. As said before I often get inspired by something I hear in other music, that’s why I’m always on the lookout for artists that do original, inspiring stuff rather than copycat DJ sets or productions that just follow what’s the big current thing (even tho the big current thing can be amazing, the copycat stuff often becomes bland painfully fast). And sometimes it could be something as a vocal someone sends, or a track idea – and I be like, that’s an amazing idea, but I hear a 180 degrees different direction to it. For example the track ‘Close To You’ with aname & Truetone, Daniel Wanrooy (Truetone) sent me this idea with that vocal, but the production was more of an electro-pop production but I heard this impactful moment where theres a heavy beat but a breakdown with just the vocal coming in solo hitting the audience hard emotionally, you know – so thats how that tune started and we took it from there!
Dennis: Thank you so much for taking the time and answering all of these questions so detailed! All the best for your future and can’t wait for Soundcation Bali! 🙂
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