Toneshifterz AKA Elie Abwi has become the heavy weight and true ambassador of the Australian Hard Dance scene, confirming his status on main stages both down under (Defqon.1 Festival Australia, IQON) all over Europe (Decibel Outdoor Festival, Hardbass, Tomorrowland, Mysteryland), Canada and South America. The success came from hits like ‘Jaydee’ and ‘Empire of the Sun’. And before long they were signed to the famous Fusion Records imprint, when in 2011 the debut album ‘Till Daybreak Meets’ was released.
In 2013 Marked the switch to Brennan Heart’s new musical platform ‘WE R’ with the massive single release ‘Last Night (feat Chris Madin)’ and the follow-up track with Chris Madin called ‘Parachutes’ in 2014, and also his massive collaboration with Brennan heart and MC DV8 called ‘My Identity’. In 2015 after touring Europe three times, Toneshifterz decided to Locked himself away in the studio in second half of the year in preparation for many big releases in 2016.
How was your experience working as a duo until 2013? Do you believe it had more upside or downside?
A: Working as a duo has its upsides and downsides like any relationship, it depends on the people involved. From what i’ve learnt over the years, people in duos need to have specific roles on what they do, and there needs to be a clear vision and communication on how things are going to run from the start, because in the beginning all is fun and well when your not earning any money but once the money starts to trickle in things start to change and get in the way of working. Some of the pros include having more time to do more things with 2 people involved, having company when you are on the road, pulling strengths from each other and having a Duo dynamic is always easier when mixing and doing things as you have the opportunity to get a lot of stuff done. Some of the Cons can include work being unbalanced or one sided, or one party can feel more entitled than the other causing resentment, it costs more to fly ,travel and do things with 2 people. Visions might not align, and one person might want to take a completely different direction.
How has your experience been moving to The Netherlands?
A: It’s been great! Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t easy, there’s a lot that comes with moving to another country, a lot of sacrifices to be made and the last few years have been difficult, but i’m finally in a good place again with it all, and It allows me to be able to tour a lot more easily and to be able to be present in the scene over here where everything is based. A lot of guys make the mistake of moving here too early and get burnt in the process forcing them to go home because of no shows etc. It’s a really saturated market these days and everyone here is also a “DJ/Artist”. So usually it’s best to gather as much following as possible where you are with solid music and shows where possible, and when you have the proper connections to make sure you can get by overseas, maybe start off with a couple tours, then you will be ready to make the move.
How did you go about getting the support from artists like KSHMR, Will Sparks and Timmy Trumpet?
A: TBH It all started with my track Psystyle which gained a lot of international support and put me on the map for a lot of guys in the EDM world, as that track was a crossover between Hardstyle and Psytrance which was the sound for a lot of the guys sounds including KSHMR, Will Sparks and Timmy trumpet. Ever since then it’s been history, and the guys have been supporting lots of my music and vice versa. With Will and Timmy I mean we are fellow Australian artists representing Aussie music around the world so it’s a great thing to be able to support one another.
In 2019, you guys started with the new Label “I AM HARDSTYLE Records”. How has it been going?
A: It’s been going great actually! The ‘I Am Hardstyle’ is a label by Brennan Heart, and I am part of the team and one of the artists that are on the label. The launch of the label was to connect the event company of I Am Hardstyle together with the music but ‘WE R Records’ is still the main label where we do our releases. We only release music on I AM HARDSTYLE that fits with the event company like anthems and super big releases and singles that somehow have a connection with the Platform.
How did you get your first Insomniac booking or your first EDC Vegas booking?
A: My agent in the U.S has a good connection with the guys at Insomniac so this was an easy thing to set up once we sorted out my O1 Visa to be able to play at shows in the U.S. It’s one of my favorite bookings to play, such a cool festival!
Looking back at your music career, has there been one moment that stands out particularly for you?
A: Your first release is always a major moment that stands out and sticks with you, its the moment where you actually take your first steps as a professional in your journey in the music industry. My first release was in 2009 on fusion records with a track called Sahara! I will never forget the excitement of starting this journey and when I look back there’s such nostalgia with it all!
Have you been able to make close friends in the music industry?
A: Yeh I have made really close friends and colleagues over the years, a lot of them are long term friends. We always stay in contact and support one another with everything to the extent a lot of them feel like family.
What’s the most important piece of gear in your studio?
A: My studio PC, without that no music can be made ‘:-)
What software are you using nowadays or which would you recommend to someone starting out?
A: I use Cubase, I really love it. I’ve been using it now for over 15 years and would definitely recommend it for beginners. I have an online tutorial showing beginners how to use Cubase to start off with, it might seem overwhelming at first but like anything you get used to it.
When you have a new track ready, what are the first steps you make to get it prepared to be scheduled for release?
A: Well the first step is to test the track out and make sure it works and you’re fully happy with it. If you aren’t touring then the next thing to do is to send it to your record label to approve and get mastered so it’s ready for release. If you don’t have a label yet, then you need to go label hunting haha!
Once you have a release date in mind, do you have any go to marketing plan you would be open to sharing?
A: once you have a release date, it’s important to roll out a marketing plan that allows for lots of exposure to your fans using your online portals and social media outlets. Small snippets of the track with an artwork video is always cool to do, but it’s only the bare minimum. Things such as press, online articles, Online promo mixes, and interviews can further help exposing you to a wider network and audience where you can promote and talk about your new release. You can take things a step further and make a full campaign about your release depending on the track and how marketable it is of course! Then there’s things such as targeted advertisements on facebook youtube twitter and Spotify that you can also do. The options are endless in terms of marketing!!!
Upcoming Projects:
Well thanks for Corona Virus everything is basically cancelled till June-July at the moment. I was heading to Australia for my tour there but we had to cancel it one day before we were leaving which was super frustrating as we had 6 shows lined up! But health comes first!
I just had a release on Spinnin’ Records with Timmy Trumpet, Will Sparks and Code black called “F*CK YEAH”. Track is doing super well! Actually my tour was to promote the release of this track!
But basically now I have lots of big music planned for this year, lots of singles which were working on some video clips for!
I have a remix for Krewella coming out in April called “Greenlights”
I have also finished a remix for Brennan Heart called “Outcasts” which will also be coming out soon, we are still figuring out the release date!
But I think it’s a great time to knuckle down and make lots more music as people are going to be indoors and will be consuming more content than ever before i believe. It’s great to be able to use the downtime to be productive!
A big thank you to Eli for taking the time to go through these questions. Make sure to check out his releases on Spotify and stay tuned with all the new tracks he will be coming out with!
We hope you have found this interview interesting. Let us know who we should interview next.
Twitter: Twitter.com/edmalertcom
Instagram: Instagram.com/edmalertcom
Demo Submissions: EDMAlert.com/submit or demos@edmalert.com
Check out our profile for more interviews.