I am thrilled to welcome Holland’s Daniel Testas and Miss (Anita) Dominguez to the Deep Down roster. I first came across Daniel after getting a demo through our distributor, Proton. I was blown away by the musicality. I road tested the tracks at a new year’s party and the reception was great. Thus began my quest to work with him.
I was in Amsterdam recently and spent time with Daniel and Anita. As you will see in this interview and hear in their music, they are both amazing, warm, loving humans and very talented artists. It is a privilege to be working with them.
Without further ado, please meet Daniel and Anita.
Anita and I have spent a big part of our lives together. You could say that we have been a team for almost 25 years now. Going through all the ups as well as the downs in life. All these almost endless succession of moments are what our lives are made of. Impossible to hold on to. They just start and end like Passing Lights in the night. That is the feeling that we wanted to portray in this track.
DD: For fans who don’t know you YET, can you each give us a little intro on yourselves?
Anita Dominguez: DJ, producer, wife of Daniel Testas
Daniel Testas: composer/producer, DJ/performer, husband of Anita Dominguez
Anita & Daniel, a married couple, sharing love for each other and for music for almost 25 years.
Ooh and don’t forget the love for our cat!
DD: Daniel, you have been a producer across many genres for some time, playing in bands and producing solo. Can you tell us a bit about how you came to be a producer and how you came to find your sweet spot sound?
The key for me is that I don’t really have just one particular sweet spot. You know, I just really love and get inspired by music. Good, real and passionate music that is.
Daniel: Okay, you can’t get around the fact, when answering this question, that I have some mileage (and years 😊) on me.
My first steps into production were in the 80s. I was fascinated by Hiphop, Electro music and Acid House. I just needed to be part of that and I started to build my first studio. That was all hardware, of course; An Atari computer with Cubase, Akai Sampler, synths, analogue mixing desk and loads and loads of cables. I Really loved it. I spent many hours in that studio; I didn’t see a lot of daylight back then.
My first serious work came in the early 90s. Heavily inspired by the acid-trance of these days. Trance sounded way different back then. I absolutely loved that energy! I did a series of vinyl releases on UK based labels and really learned a lot over there.
I have always been interested in the live aspect of music. How can you bring electronic music to the stage, apart from DJ-ing?
Back in Amsterdam I started to experiment with live gigs. In those days (pre laptop and pre Ableton) I used to break down my entire studio and drag it on stage. The soundcheck usually took hours and after the gig, when I was all pumped up on adrenaline and wanted to start partying seriously, I was busy breaking all the stuff down and rolling up cables.
Back in the studio it took me a day to get everything geared up again. But it was worth it, I always had a great time, and learned a lot!
In the mid 90s I decided that I wanted to learn more about music and composition, so I went back to school to study music technology covering composition, music theory and production. It was tailor-made for me. I really developed into the creative person that I am today because of this education.
In the late 90s I formed a band called Project 2000. Drum & Bass music had really emerged back then and the massive energetic vibe inspired us. We set out to play at festivals with a real band, playing stomping Drum & Bass music.
It took some time but eventually we formed a band. It was massive. It really touched something back then with the audience. For 5 years we had huge success playing stages everywhere in the Netherlands and Europe. What an adventure it was!
From there, my partner Roberto and I continued (up until today) as the production duo Adani & Wolf. Making many cinematic lounge, chill and electronic jazz albums .
Since 2017, I have gone back to my old love; house music. My style and taste have developed towards the more progressive sound, although I quite love the deep and melodic techno sounds as well.
The key for me is that I don’t really have just one particular sweet spot. You know, I just really love and get inspired by music. Good, real and passionate music that is.
DD: Anita, this is your first release. Can you tell us a bit about your journey from beginning production to being ready to make your first release?
Sometimes in life things need to happen before you see that this way of thinking is not getting you anywhere and is not what life is about
Anita: Well, as you can read above, Daniel has had quite the musical journey! Me spending many years with him has made me a participant of this journey as well. I have experienced many of his creative processes up close. I was so captivated by all this that I also started dreaming of being able to produce myself.
Even before meeting Daniel, music has always been a big part of my life too. Playing the flute, singing in a funk band, writing our own songs, studying Cultural Anthropology, in which I specialized in musical subcultures and dj-ing.
Due to all kinds of beliefs I had about myself, producing always seemed a bridge too far for me. When I heard what wonderful tracks were being made, my thoughts were always ‘how will I ever be able do that as well?’ But sometimes in life things need to happen before you see that this way of thinking is not getting you anywhere and is not what life is about.
In the last year it became clear that life is mainly about living life now. Just go for it! During the Corona lockdown I learned Ableton. In this process of doing what you like in life (because it’s too short!) Daniel and I decided to get started on the journey of creating music together.
First, as we call them, we held the kitchen table sessions. Each selected a few existing tracks that we really like and analyzed them at the kitchen table. What makes this track so good? what kind of bass, synths? What is the structure etc?
And of course what do we want to say with it? This made it clear in which way we wanted to go. We started with little sketches and from there we developed the track. I am well aware of the advantage I have working with Daniel and leaning on his many years of experience.
In addition, I dare to say that being a DJ, listening to music for so long, going to parties, dancing on many dance floors myself, I have plenty to bring to the table as well. So yes, there is definitely much more to come, solo as well as collaborations.
DD: While many artists collaborate on releases, I am guessing few of them are husband and wife duos. How was that collaboration? How did it go? Will you do it again? 🙂
Anita: Our collaboration went very well. Before I started producing given that I was performing as a DJ, we sometimes joked about the fact we had a little music factory going on.
Daniel was working on a track, I was in another room putting together my sets and when he finished a track, I tried it out on the dance floor. And vice versa.
If he wanted my opinion on a specific sound or element in the track, I listened to it and let him know my thoughts.
We made an agreement that we would always be honest with each other. Hard but fair, to the point of annoying 😊. Daniel could have been toiling for 4 hours on a certain sound and then I came to listen and my answer was ‘I don’t feel it’. That’s, of course, very irritating but he chews on it for a while, takes it with him in the process and afterwards he agrees (or not). And vice versa of course the same applies.
Collaboration comes naturally to us. Yes it helps that we have the same taste and ideas, but I think we complement each other nicely. Daniel, for example, always feels that making the greater form and the arrangement is the hardest part. Me, looking at it as a DJ, having learned about the flow and the tension of the dance floor, I have in that perspective clear thoughts about what works.
DD: Can you tell us about your studio setup? Are you all “in the box”/ software based or do you have some outboard gear as well?
Daniel: Obviously times have changed a lot since the old days. The enormous musical and production power that lies within our DAW´s (digital audio workstations) is gigantic. The efficiency, the sound design and production tools on hand, the sampling and hard disc recording possibilities and -let’s not forget this – the sound quality of the system, it is nothing short of amazing.
At the same time I think that all this production power, all these options, all the choices to be made all the time, have not necessarily created better music.
It can be very overwhelming at times. If you have 10 gb of sounds in a pack, which one do you choose? Where to start? Do we really need 20 different EQ´s and compressors?
The limitations of the old days made you very inventive and creative. That is, by the way, a very good way to handle the option stress: give yourself limitations. For instance, say: this track I am only going to use these two soft synths, just this and this compressor and this EQ or effect, that is all. You got to work around it and be inventive. Within these boundaries, there is complete freedom. Very liberating and inspiring.
Having said that all – sorry about this grandpa story 😊 – the studio setup:
I am working mainly in the box. I have a custom-built, very powerful PC with an RME sound card. I have invested a lot in the Universal Audio Design platform which comes with its own DSP card. So, most of my EQs, compressors, effects and saturators etc. are UAD, I really love the quality of these plugs.
I have worked with Cubase all my life but have recently been working with Ableton as well. I am inspired by the sound design possibilities of the DAW.
Really important in my setup and for the sound that I am after, are the analogue synths that I have. Those are the only out of the box pieces of equipment that I use and are crucial for the production quality.
I am the proud owner of a Mini Moog built in 1972. I can honestly say that nothing can beat this synth. Especially when it comes to bass. It is solid, massive and enhances the bottom end of my productions enormously, it just lays a crucial foundation.
I also have a modern Moog, the Sub37, also a great monophonic synth. The Sequential Prophet 6 is my polyphonic analogue synth. So I have got it covered with these synths.
Not to say that I don’t use the soft synths at all, I do. But I use them for other, not so typical subtractive synth stuff. I have all the Arturia synths, I love Omnisphere, ANA, Spire, Granular synths etc. etc. All great stuff. But if I want something really to stand out, I usually grab one of the analogue beasts.
DD: What was the inspiration for “Passing Lights”?
Daniel: Anita and I have spent a big part of our lives together. You could say that we have been a team for almost 25 years now. Going through all the ups as well as the downs in life. All these almost endless succession of moments are what our lives are made of. Impossible to hold on to. They just start and end like Passing Lights in the night. That is the feeling that we wanted to portray in this track.
DD: I love that so much!!! What is next for you, individually and together as producers?
Daniel: Personally I can say that the I would like to do more collaborations. I will naturally also keep on producing solo, but I must say that I really love the track that we did so there will be more of those.
That is the beauty of a collaboration; the result is always something that you couldn’t have made by yourself. It sounds like you, but it also sounds like somebody else. That is great! In this particular case I can say that I feel that the expression: ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ definitely applies here!
Anita: hear hear!!
Daniel and Anita’s ‘Passing Lights‘ EP is out April 28 on Beatport. Their original version is accompanied by beautiful remixes by Weird Sounding Dude and Ric Niels.