Exclusive Interview with DJ FRISBEE

Check out the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

DJ FRISBEE: Was born and raised in New York City til the age of 16,then came to Greece with my mother as my parents divorced. Teen years I spent in Athens and then as I grew older I would go work on the island my parents are from called Karpathos, where I reside now. Dj wise it all started at the age of 14 in a basement in Brooklyn N.Y. Will never forget the day I saw turntables, a mixer and tons of vinyl records from my friend and now High school principle Billy. Production wise I started in late 2018 but 2019 after a motorcycle accident and then the pandemic and the lockdown is when I started producing on a daily basis.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

DJ FRISBEE: No training, just self taught myself as to what sounds good and what not.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘DJ FRISBEE’?

DJ FRISBEE: Music influences range from Run Dmc, Beastie Boys, Tupac, Biggie, Jay Z, Oasis, U2, The Verve, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Guns-n-Roses, Daft Punk, Faithless, Fatboy Slim, Tiesto, David Guetta, Avicii and the latest artist I am astounded with is Fred Again. I am lucky to have listed to thousands of records and I am definitely leaving out alot of groups and artists from this list. As for the name Frisbee is has been my nickname since I was a kid cause I brought a Frisbee from America to Karpathos to play with my cousins and friends. It sticked with me ever since.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

DJ FRISBEE: The melodies, I like creating songs that when you listen to it once, it sticks in your head. The sound in mainstream in most of my songs with melodies full of feelings and vocals that are somewhat catchy. Key elements would be piano and guitars as I love working with those instruments.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as EDM?

DJ FRISBEE: As I am producing a song, I always connect to it. It’s a step by step process and I will add sounds as I go along. Having listened to so much music it is a big plus to produce, you feel the song and it leads you to where it wants to go. I started late creating music as I am a full time dj and a nightclub owner and those were my first priorities. Lockdown was the first time in my life that I was away so long from djing and music in general so it was what triggered me to produce. I listen to some of my older stuff and am like wow that sounds terrible. Ahaha, but I do think I have come a long way from then till now. I learn something each time I start a new tune.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

DJ FRISBEE: Wow, what a great question. yes I have created a few tracks based on what is going on in the world. Like my song Maidan is a song I made for Ukraine when the country was invaded. A track called Tempi, is for a very tragic train wreck that happened here in Greece with 57 losing their lives. Felt so sad that I just locked myself inside and created it in a day. I cried all the way through to this day everytime I listen to it, I get chills.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

DJ FRISBEE: Music has been giving me the meaning of living since I was 9 and I bought my first 45 record. A day without music is a wasted day. I do this production thing cause I love making something that came out of my soul. I would never expect anything more than what music has already given me. Just me giving you this interview is the answer as to what music has done for me in my life.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

DJ FRISBEE: It all depends on what comes first, a nice vocal sample I heard online, a melodic sample, a chant, drum beat. It’s never the same. I can start with whatever clicked in my brain. Yes, I collaborate with my good friend DiGi as we have released a few songs together and with singers from around the globe, with Kafeeno and Lacey being top notch vocalists and great guys to work with.

9. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

DJ FRISBEE: I must say that it is a great feeling seeing my analytic stats mostly from Spotify and iTunes. Seeing the streams from around the world. When I started this had like 1,000 in a year. I now do 1,000 streams a day and for that am very proud and humble about it. The moments have been many in my dj career, my passion for music made me into a dj and becoming a dj opened so many doors to play in clubs all around the world. Blessed as I never considered it work.

10. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?

DJ FRISBEE: In anything you do there will be people to criticize and just be negative as to what you are doing. In my case it was “yeah ok but do you make money from music”?. Like who cares man if you do or you don’t. Best payment is when someone reaches out to you from halfway around the world and tells you great song etc. Haters are the people that are jealous as to what you are doing because they either are too afraid to do it or simply just can’t.