DJ-Vocalist NYTRIX Discusses His Recent Music, Highlights of The Year So Far and Much More!

DJ-vocalist NYTRIX has only been on the dance-club music scene since 2015 and he’s already collaborated with EDM superstars Neon Hitch, Dave Aude and DEV, and he’s performed around the world with hit-makers like Afrojack and Kesha. His first two singles quickly hit the Top 10 on the Billboard dance chart and his self-directed music videos – which are a trance of ecstasy and escape – have raked in over 4.5 million views on YouTube.

His new single, “Love Never Died,” is quickly climbing the Billboard dance chart in America as well as the Aria dance chart in Australia. Nytrix will continue to DJ massive festivals around the country through 2017.

Learn more about Nytrix in the following All Access interview:

What are some words you would use to describe 2016 for you and your music? What were some of the  highlights?

2016 was a pretty big year, with releases. I had a track with DEV called “Electric Walk” that had big support from DJ’s Ookay & Blasterjaxx. A video that passed 1 million views, and  really fun collab with singer Neon Hitch. The biggest highlight of 2016 though, was when I was watching Blasterjaxx’s live stream of Tomorrowland Brasil, and they dropped our track for about 50K+ people and the 100’s of thousands of people that were streaming it online, I was kinda like, “woe, that really just happened”

What are you most excited about for 2017?

I’m really excited about my new single Love Never Died, and the journey the song is currently on. It’s gotten a lot of support from some of the biggest DJ’s, Laidback Luke, Afrojack, Sander Van Doorn, W&W, Timmy Trumpet, Sam Feldt and more. I’m also excited about a summer tour I’m beginning to put together as well.

Growing up, did you always want to be a musician? Can you recall your earliest musical memory?  Could you see yourself doing anything else today?

I’ve really been surrounded by the arts since a young age, and began messing around with “recording” in middle school, when I begged my mom to take me to this hole in the wall studio down the street from our house to cover random pop songs. I also used to make my own “mixes” by holding
a mic to the radio and recorded songs I liked on a cassette tape… I’d make this random mega mixes… (life before iTunes playlist was a struggle though haha…)

You have been around the dance-club music scene since 2015 so I am curious to know what you think has been the biggest lesson for you? How do you think you have grown as an artist since then?

I snuck into a club in New York when I was like, 15 or 16, and the first song I heard walking in the club was “When Love Takes Over” by David Guetta, and then that pretty much made me fall in love with it all. When I was younger, I have to say, I really always like the “remixes” from the CD,
and would always prefer the dance mix over the regular radio Top 40 version.

The biggest lesson I learned, was to release music with as wide variety as possible. Sometimes I will make a really big melodic track, that really has no relevance to a club platform, so in that case, I came up with a strategy to release everything as a “Remix EP”, with really extreme contrasting mixes. So that way, the spirit of the song can survive in festival, club, underground and radio platforms. If you go through the full releases of Stay Here Forever, Love Never Died, Electric Walk & Take Me Higher, you’ll notice a huge variety of sounds to cater to a lot of audiences.

In terms of how I’ve grown as an artist, I think I’ve really come a long way as a songwriter, melodically and lyrically, and really found a place where I am comfortable with my “sound” which has become this… majestic melodic dubstep, future bass, sound.

You have already collaborated with many EDM superstars. What experience has been the most memorable to you so far?

To be honest, meeting Blasterjaxx was really incredible. Thom, is probably the most humble person I have ever met. He is such a star, and their music is just inspiring. Him playing our track at “Electric Walk” at Tomorrowland, was the most memorable experience in my career and maybe life.

“Love Never Died” is your newest single. Can you talk about the inspiration for this song and what it was like putting it together?

Love Never Died is a song I wrote in 2014 when I was totally going to just give up on music. Originally it was just a vocal top-line, over a recording of me pressing the C note on a piano, it had no production quality to it yet. I knew it was a very special song, that had a lot of
potential, so I really wanted to build more of a base of music and following before I released it. Big Room House and Electro House will always be the root of many tracks I will release, but I knew it wasn’t the direction I wanted to go in with Love Never Died. When I created the track Stay Here
Forever, and made this really huge melodic atmosphere with it, a light bulb went off, and i really found what was the direction for the future of my tracks. So then, that’s when I took the Top-line (from 3 years go) and put all this production around it.

I understand that you self-direct all your videos. Can you talk about doing that? Has this always been something you are interested in doing? Where did you learn to direct videos in the first place?

I do direct my videos, as well as… edit, style, produce, set design, VFX supervise, and cast them. It’s a bit ridiculous to be honest, and most people that watch me work on set think I’m totally insane haha, but in the end, it comes out great. I really feel like the visual aspect is so much an extension of who I am, so I really like to mold every facet of it, like I do the melodies, lyrics, and productions of my records. And yes, videos are totally something I have been interested in doing (even for other artists). I really am self taught when it comes to the software, filming editing / directing side of it. I used to make music videos in middle school and high school with iMovie. Film my friends dancing, in different places, cut it all together to some dance track, and make these really bootleg videos. But all that was a really great rehearsal, cause a lot of my videos have now played on MTV, and REVOLT TV, so been a bit of crazy 360 experience.

What are some festivals that you are excited to DJ at this year? What has been your favorite DJ experience?

I’m putting together a tour this summer that I can’t release too many details on yet, but it’s going to be in a bunch of different cities, with some possible guests, so it’ll be like my own touring festival in a way. I have a show in Orange County at a huge theater that I’m really excited
for as well coming up in June.

Who are some of your favorite musicians? What musicians would you love to work with in the future?

My favorite musicians are a bit all over the place. I think Rufus Wainwright, James Blake, Damien Rice are just incredible songwriters and composers. Lowkey, huge Britney Spears fan, her albums are amazing, shout-out to Blackout, Circus & Femme Fatale for changing the game. 😉 Obviously, a big fan of DJ’s – David Guetta, Blasterjaxx, Moti, deadmua5, Seven Lions and R3hab.

I would really love to work with Kerli, Alexandra Stan, Kiesza, or NERVO I think those girls are the coolest.

At the end of the day, what do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people take away from your songs?

I’ve always been a music listener that, when listening, I really love going to another place, and just being transcended somewhere. Whether thats dancing on top of table to a club banger, or just sitting in your apartment looking out the window, listening to some real melodic stuff, I would just want the listener to be able to fully escape. I think the library of mixes and tracks I have provide for both moods 🙂

Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers about yourself or your music?

I have a new track I’m in the middle of mixing, and it may be my favorite to date. If I can get 2 more songs completed, I think an EP will be done by beginning of June, unless a dance label winds up taking a song from it or something, expect an EP for end of May beginning of June.