The Nocturnal Times Exclusive Interview: Thomas Gold

Thomas Gold filled The Nocturnal Times in on his forthcoming LP and sheds insight on his studio sessions

As the Armada Music producer and DJ puts the finishing touches on his upcoming debut artist album, Thomas Gold made a stop in New York City where we met up with him at the newly opened Armada Music office.

Following a rainy gig in Staten Island, NY on early Sunday night, Thomas Gold was eager to chat about his recent single release, “Saints & Sinners,” as well as his forthcoming studio album, which h4e reveals, has been a long time in the making. Initially slated for an October 2016 release, the LP was pushed until early 2017, partly due to there being too many quality singles included on the track listing.

The humbled musician is just as passionate about doing what he loves as he was years ago. As far as Thomas Gold is concerned, this is only just the beginning of what’s to come. When somebody possesses passion and dedication towards mastering their craft with ease, such as Thomas Gold, it keeps things fresh and exciting, for both the listener and the creator.

Discover what Thomas Gold enjoys most when visiting New York, an inside look at his studio sessions, details about his upcoming artist album, new single releases, and some of his hobbies, all in this The Nocturnal Times exclusive interview.

The Nocturnal Times: Did you get your start as a DJ or a producer?
Thomas Gold: I actually started out playing keyboards at age seven, if you want to consider that the start of my production career. I started DJing when I was 15, before I even got my first synthesizer. At the time I started playing at trance parties. They happened just about the same time.

The Nocturnal Times: Do you believe that all DJ’s should also be producers and that the two go hand in hand?
Thomas Gold: Now it’s very common for a DJ to also be a producer. It even seems in order for a DJ to be successful they also have to produce. I think it’s like that now because there are just so many DJs out there. I think even 15 or 20 years ago many big DJs had been producers and put out their own tracks because that always drives their career. There have always been a lot of good DJs that weren’t producers, too. They just made their name by delivering great sets, and are real entertainers. Actually, it just makes sense if you’re a DJ and a producer as well because it fits together. You produce the music and then you go out there and play the music. You might also know more about the music you’re playing when it’s your own.

The Nocturnal Times: Do you prefer DJing or producing?
Thomas Gold: It’s really hard to say. For me, I love to be in the studio. I love spending hours and hours just making music and playing around with stuff. I’m also like a tech geek that’s after the newest plugins and the latest stuff. On the other side, I just love to play music. I love the keyboard sounds and the piano sounds, and then I get to play it. Even when nothing comes out of a studio session, it’s just fun for me. Aside from that I love to travel and play for people all over the world. I really get direct feedback for my own material and get to work with the crowd. It really is the icing on the cake when you make something in the studio and then get the chance to go out there and play it. Very often I produce by myself, unless I’m doing a collaboration or a vocal session, which doesn’t happen super often. It’s a good thing to compensate that by being out there and playing for the people.

The Nocturnal Times: When you do a collaboration, do you find that most of the time you work in the same studio with the collaborator?
Thomas Gold: It really depends. When I did my collaboration with Dirty South we went into the studio together. We did bounce ideas around before we ended up going into the studio together. The same thing happened when I collaborated with Deniz Koyu because he’s also from Germany. For example, when I did my collab with Lush & Simon we didn’t get a chance to get into the studio together. We were trying to catch up during our tour, but we didn’t get the chance. I think it is more productive when you get into the studio together because there’s instant feedback. If you get stuck with something, the collaborator is right there with you to move the project forward. In my experience I also learn a lot from other DJs because I like to see what their techniques are. Maybe the end result is the same, but it’s nice to see that there’s different ways of getting there.

The Nocturnal Times: You played at Staten Island’s Tiki Island Lost Dayclub yesterday. How was that experience for you?
Thomas Gold: It was good! I didn’t know what to expect from a show in Staten Island. I’m staying here in Manhattan and with traffic it took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the venue. Once I got into the car, the promoter texted me that it was going to rain. He wanted to see if there was any way I could start my set earlier to beat the rain. Because it was nice all day and then started raining, I was supposed to go on at 8 p.m., but I ended up starting at 7 p.m. The funny thing is: It really started to rain, but the people all stayed. It was actually really packed with a lot of people there, it was a good crowd. We actually had a power cut about three times too, but the people didn’t even care. It was a good time and one of those fun gigs.

The Nocturnal Times: You’ve just released your new single “Saints & Sinners.” How did this first come to be and how did you go about choosing the title?
Thomas Gold: When I was in Los Angeles back in January for about two weeks when I was working on my album, which is coming out next year. During one of the studio sessions in LA it took about two or three hours to finish. I came up with some core progressions and played them for the guys. We came up with the Saints & Sinners concept quite quickly and the guys starting writing lyrics on top of it with some arrangements of chords at the same time. I think we started recording after an hour and the basic layout was done within about an hour again. The rest of the time we spent tweaking and adding layers of vocals. It was a really good studio session because it was fun and productive. Sometimes sessions take a lot of time and even five hours just to prepare with the singer/songwriter. This time, we were all happy and we only needed another hour studio session after for some harmonies and stuff. I spent about one or two weeks editing and mastering the track and then had a guitarist come in because the whole mix is very organic. There’s also a lot of strings on top of the guitar.

The Nocturnal Times: What can you share with The Nocturnal Times about your upcoming artist album?
Thomas Gold: We actually pushed back the album release to February 2017 because we have so many singles that we want to put out before. We want to lead up to the album with four or five different single releases. My next single is being released at the end of September and it’s called “Magic.” This one is really going to show how my sound is changing because it’s going to be at 105 BPM.

The Nocturnal Times: Is the new track going to be a vocal or an instrumental track?
Thomas Gold: It’s a vocal track with a female singer/songwriter. It’s actually a full song that I don’t have a club edit for yet, just a radio mix—and maybe an extended radio mix. I might do a version that I’ll want to play in my sets because it’s slower. This single will set the pace for the next releases. I might have releases that are even slower than that. For the album, I believe there are 10 tracks so far that we are definitely including on the album and then there are about four or five tracks that we’re deciding between. I’m constantly working on all the tracks at the same time. I just finished up “Magic” and now I’m working on the next three or four tracks.

The Nocturnal Times: How often do you get to be home in Berlin?
Thomas Gold: It really depends. I just got back from vacation with my family at the Baltic Sea. I’m going on tour in September, so I’ll be away from home for about three weeks.

The Nocturnal Times: What can you share with us about the upcoming tour?
Thomas Gold: We’re going to be playing at Exchange LA, Coda in Philadelphia, and Patio in New York. I’ve also got gigs lined up in Asia and at Creamfields.

The Nocturnal Times: Where do you see yourself five years from now?
Thomas Gold: I see myself still traveling and doing DJ gigs. Who knows what kind of music it’s going to be at that time? I definitely want to be producing and traveling as a DJ. I might do some new projects, but it really depends. This album will be the first step into making more albums. I like the idea of spending a year working on one project and working together with my team and management. I have so much material, I can easily start making another album. It’s really nice because it’s not really all centered around one specific genre.

For more information on Thomas Gold, visit thomas-gold.com.

Photos by: Natascha Romboy