Rodg Unveils Newest ‘Fate’ Album & Talks Upcoming Projects [Interview]

Armada Music is home to many authentic musical geniuses, including Amsterdam-born Producer Rodg. His work always seems to stand out from the rest, and is classified by his fans and other music professionals alike to be quite extraordinary. With only four months into the year, Rodg has already demonstrated his talents exquisitely through his most recent performances and latest track releases. From his phenomenal ASOT 900 Utrecht set to his upbeat album teasers like ‘The Coaster” and “Cinnamon,” it’s safe to say that we have a lot to expect throughout the months to come.

One of Rodg’s most intriguing projects of the year is the release of his second artist album, Fate, which is officially released today on the prodigious Armada Music label. His most experimental project to date, Fate explores a wide array of sounds and technicalities in which listeners can effortlessly align to. It covers everything Rodg has ever believed in, encountered, and just simply hoped to embark his fans on. Captivating a harmonizing mix of deep progressive, trance, and other sonic melodies, the 18-track masterpiece is set to take listeners on an influential whirlwind. Everything that we encounter and choose to be a part of leads us to our destination, which is exactly what Fate is meant to encompass.

“I always thought of Fate as something that life leads you to, no matter what you do or happens to you, whether good or bad, wonderful or stupid. So, in a way, life led me to writing this album. Though its different than what I’ve done in the past, I think it ties even better with the music I play in my DJ sets. It’s more experimental than any album I’ve done before, and I hope that will lead to more amazing memories and experiences in return.” -Rodg

With constant support from influential artists like Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Above & Beyond, Gareth Emery, Markus Schulz, and more, Rodg has gained the recognition he strongly deserves. During his U.S. stop at the New York City Armada Music office, we got the chance to talk to the dance music prodigy ourselves and got to discuss Fate and everything it’s meant to embody. We also got a glimpse into his music career focuses for the year, as well as his prominent role in the Armada Music family. Get a load of everything Rodg in our exclusive Nocturnal Times interview below:

The Nocturnal Times: How has 2019 been treating you so far in regards to your music, your projects, your tour traveling, etc.?

Rodg: It’s been going so well! It’s now April and the year has been going by so fast, but that’s only a good thing I think. 2019 has given me a lot of time to think, I just wrapped up my album that will be released on the 19th so I’m really excited about that. I’m planning a lot of shows as well, so I’m very excited for the rest of the year.

The Nocturnal Times: Over these next couple of months, what would you say is your biggest priority regarding your music career?

Rodg: My number one priority is definitely getting things started here in the United States. I want to get things kicked-off to a good start, I do have my visa now so I get to come here as often as I want to play here. That’s why I’m here now, to get it all started. I’ll be back in the states in June for a couple shows, and I can’ wait to play at the Esscalation Music Festival event here in New York!

The Nocturnal Times: Tell us more about this Esscala event you’ll be playing later this summer here in New York City?

Rodg: It’s Esscala’s statement event based specifically around their upcoming festival. Basically, I’ll be playing their exclusive rooftop party in Queens. It’s an all trance and psytrance festival so I’m very excited for this!

The Nocturnal Times: You mentioned that bringing your talents over to the states is a major focus point of yours. Until you’re back, where will you be traveling around or mainly settling in before flying back out here for a while?

Rodg: I’m definitely going to be back at home for the next month. I just moved to London recently, so I want to get everything taken care of back at home before I move on to my biggest projects of the year. It’s a new chapter in my life, and I can’t wait to see what it will bring.

The Nocturnal Times: Aside from establishing your ground here in the states, what other major goals have you set for yourself for this year?

Rodg: A major goal of mine is to simply keep creating and producing music. This is really my first year as a self-sufficient artist. I got rid of my office job entirely to simply focus on my music, so I hope that it can stay this way from here on out! It’s a big goal but it’s coming around pretty well with everything we have planned for the year. It definitely gives me a peace of mind to see how far I’ve come.

The Nocturnal Times: You work very closely with Armada Music, how would you describe your relationship with the Armada team?

Rodg: Well I did just mention I left my office job which was actually with Armada, so I’m definitely well connected with everyone in it. I’m still very close to a lot of the people I worked with back in the Amsterdam offices and now growing some relationships here in New York as well. It was such a big part of my life, for almost ten years. But now that I’m solely focused on music, I can say I feel a different type of connection to the team.

The Nocturnal Times: Going back to the topic of your North American shows coming up later this year, is there one show in particular you’re most excited for?

Rodg: I’m definitely most excited for the New York show. I love it here. The last time I was here I was a tourist doing all the basic touristy things. Now I’m able to be here playing a show. That’s a drastic change, a good change. It’s always been a goal of mine and here I am making it come to life. If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere and now I get to come here to play shows. It’s incredible to me.

The Nocturnal Times: Now that we’re on the topic of events, you’ll be playing in Phoenix this Friday for the ALL IN event alongside Myon. What should we expect from this set since it is a purely trance event?

Rodg: I’ll be playing a lot of new records from my upcoming album for sure. I’ll also throw in some experimental tracks I’ve been playing around with. I usually test my unusual pieces to see how the crowd reacts, and I never know what to expect but I always throw it out there anyways. Myon and I have never met in person so it’ll be fun to finally get to meet him also!

The Nocturnal Times: With your new album Fatecoming out next week, can you tell us more about what influenced you to write it to begin with? Any inspiration story you’d like to share with us?

Rodg: Well the album is titled Fate, and that word sounds very up with the fairies but its basically been inspired by my own life. The album is made up of records I’ve created over the past two years and it translates that whole period to me into music. It’s a story about everything that’s occurred in my life that has led me to where I am now. Not everyone might understand it, but it’s very emotional and dreamy.

The Nocturnal Times: You’ve only released a few tracks from the album, what made you want to chose those songs specifically in comparison to others on the track-list?

Rodg: We started off with “The Coaster”, which has been a record that I produced a while back and tested out. It worked phenomenally on the dance floor, and even people at the Armada office were really feeling it. Even Above & Beyond and Armin played it as well! The others I released were more of a test run, to see how listeners would react since they were unique and deep in sound compared to my usual tracks.

The Nocturnal Times: How would you compare Fate to the previous projects you’ve released in the past?

Rodg: My past projects consisted of a completely different mindset than Fate. The story behind my last album TogetheRR with Ruben de Ronde was that we were gonna play ASOT in the Netherlands that year, so we decided to do something special. Instead of remixing songs throughout the set, we wanted to create our own tracks that we could play for the crowd. It felt more of a rushed project for the show and ‘Fate’ has felt more like long-term flowing project. If you listen to both, you’ll see the difference in meaning between the two.

The Nocturnal Times: Is there anything else you’d like to share regarding your development as an artist now that you’ve set so many grand goals for yourself?

Rodg: I’ve been working closely with Armada University as well over the past year, I did two music production tutorial courses with them and it was an amazing experience. I really hope to continue that with them again this year, I feel like I get to help others and help myself grow as an artist simultaneously with this project.