SAYMYNAME has made a name for himself with his hardstyle roots and then transitioning to the hard trap sound. He has been in the scene for around a decade now and his sound has continued to evolve with the ever-changing electronic music landscape. When talking to him at Decadence Arizona, that was the theme for him in 2024 as well as he transitions from trap to more electronic and dance music. SAYMYNAME has embraced this change and after hearing his new set at the festival, it seems his fans have as well. The producer has a lot of new stuff coming along with this new sound which you can find details for here in this interview.
SAYMYNITTI ft. Midian – Can’t Find My Friends | Download |
TSS: So 2023. It’s been a year of touring and stuff for you. You haven’t really come out with the music this year. I saw you just recently tweeted that you have some stuff cooking and that you have a new set coming out for 2024. What’s involved in that?
SAYMYNAME: So, yeah. I took this year to kind of rebrand and redefine my sound, find myself again. And I found myself in a different lane, you know, like being like a trap artist is like coming up as like, you know, the foundations of like the harsh rap DJ. Now I’m just playing dance music. I love dance music. Like my next single I have coming out is with Nitti this month. And it’s like that euro bounce, like the nineties brave feel 140 bpm, just like good vibes. But, for the rest of the year, the rest of the solo SAYMYNAME songs 128 to 140 BPM, just dance tracks. That’s where I’m at right now, just dance music. 2023 was quiet, but 2024 is about to be a storm.
TSS: Do you think that’s a way, the industry and trap is moving towards, that higher BPM, the dance, and kind of away from what we heard from the 2010s when trap first started coming up, like “Original Don” sound.
SAYMYNAME: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Trap is still there, man. Shout out to ISOxo. Like obviously we have artists like ISO still crushing it. Like FrostTop, like RemK, the new generation is crazy. I think for myself and my fan base though, there’s a shift, you know, and I love it, I’m embracing it. Before I was making trap, I came from the EDM world, you know, the trance world and like I’m embracing it. I’m excited for it and it’s been great. You know, the new scene, it’s just fire.
TSS: When you’re kind of coming up with this new music, this new style, what do you of say to your original fans who might resonate more with your old sound versus this new sound? I know a lot of times the rebuttal is, “well artists grow and evolve, so it’s just part of the game, part of music,” but what do you say to them and what’s your thoughts on that?
SAYMYNAME: My fans have made this transition, so good. I’m doing some new stuff, but I think I’ve already set the pace, you know. I’ve had the two Afrojack collabs, those are 128 just dance tracks. And I think they know that I’ve bounced around from genre to genre. So now I feel like this year just being like, “Hey guys, like I’m doing more trance, I’m doing less trap, more dance music, more big room, more EDM.” They just back it. And I haven’t gotten any criticism and I owe it to the fans. They’re the ones that push me.
TSS: Going back to the Afrojack collab, could you imagine when you first started out collabing with Afrojack? Who back in the time, I know he’s kind of more in the legend status now, not as big of a name in the industry per se, but when you first started out, he was one of the biggest names in dance music and now you’re collabing with him. So what are your thoughts on that and how that came to be?
SAYMYNAME: So he found one of my remixes and he made an edit back in like 2017. He was playing it at Ultra and all these festivals and he DMed me. He was like, “hey bro, I have this edit. Let’s re-release this a new collab.” And I was like, “F it.” The edit. He made the remix, he like remixed my remix. And it was like, after that we did the first collab and then a couple years later we did the second one. Afrojack has been a huge inspiration and I didn’t see that, that’s like a wild card on my bingo card. I do think that helps set the pace for, you know, just putting my brand in front of dance music fans, his fans and, you know, out of the trap scene and more just like in front of the dancer, you know?
TSS: Now, going back to like the New Year and to your set. Yeah. How would you say your set tonight went? Was it more of your new sound? Your old sound, a mix? How would you describe your set tonight for those who weren’t able to make it?
SAYMYNAME: Was new. It was all the new stuff. I’ve shared this with my team and like my close family. This new set, it is like mind blowing, like a shocker. Like the new set has one trap song. But it doesn’t feel like that. The new set has only one trap song and it’s not even my trap song, the new set has a lot of my new dance tracks. Like a lot. I’m just debuting my new stuff. Like, you know, I want it to feel that way, I want to put the spotlight on my new stuff. Obviously I play some of my older stuff too, but I wanna play all the new stuff. I’m excited.
TSS: Awesome. I caught that vibe from it. Definitely dancier from when I first saw you at EDC almost a decade ago.
SAYMYNAME: I appreciate it, man. I’ve been following This Song Slaps for a minute. Even before I was SAYMYNAME.
TSS: Oh yeah, dude, that’s awesome, thanks for the support. Now back to New Year’s. So any New Year’s resolutions for you?
SAYMYNAME: I think like one of my biggest resolutions is to just release more music, you know, coming from like a quiet year 2023. That’s the focus right now. Release more music, just stay happy, stay healthy.
TSS: And any crazy memorable New Year’s Eve stories that you’re able to share?
SAYMYNAME: Yeah, so one of the most memorable new New Year’s moments I’ve had was going into 2018. I played a show with Myanmar, 2017 going into 2018. Spending New Year’s in Southeast Asia is completely different. Was one of the craziest moments of my life. I’ll never forget that. You spend New Year’s all your life at home, but you go like 14 hours ahead of time and it’s just, it’s a different experience.
TSS: That’s sick. Not a country that you hear a lot of people going to.
SAYMYNAME: Yeah, shout out Myanmar.
TSS: And now for your New Year’s sets, I know you played in Vegas yesterday too. Do you bring something different to those sets versus your normal set? Or is it kind of more like your usual show?
SAYMYNAME: I’m always looking for new music to play. I think the energy stays consistent, but it could be an hour before the set, I can hear a song on Spotify and I’m like, “I wanna play that!” And I’ll just go and add that to the set. So it’s spontaneous.
TSS: You ad lib your set, just go with the flow.
SAYMYNAME: Yeah. It’s always spontaneous. But it is always the energy, it’s what my fans like, they know, they know what to expect. I think diversity, that’s the consistent piece.
TSS: Awesome. And then reflecting on 2023, how would you describe the year for yourself and how you grew and what you learned from it?
SAYMYNAME: This was a year of the transition. Still a phenomenal year of touring. I got to play Korea and all over the world. Went back to Myanmar, did the first set of my Nitti tour. Working with Nitti has been incredible. And we have some crazy stuff coming up this year. But I would say it was the year of the transition for me. And it set the pace for 2024. That, and it was a fun year of growth too. Personal growth, musical growth, it’s been a great year.
TSS: Awesome. And you’ve already kind of dove into it, but what can we expect from you in 2024?
SAYMYNAME: Yeah. New music, new dance music. We’re getting off the year with a new Say My Nitt track coming in a few weeks. And then after that solo SAYMYNAME tracks and then Say My Nitti, more collabs. Just more remixes. It’s gonna be a fun year.
TSS: Awesome. We’ll be looking forward to it. And last question, just anything else that you want to add and tell your fans.
SAYMYNAME: Yeah, I wanna just say, shout out to This Song Slaps. Thank you for having me on this interview. I’ve been following the blog for years and it’s an honor. And for the fans, just expect a lot of music, high energy, come to the shows, come to the sets and dance.
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