To say it's been a busy year for Andrew Rayel this year is putting it lightly; the Moldovan producer and DJ spent the last year traveling the world smashing stages, keeping his fans dancing non-stop in the process. Rayel toured his latest album, “Moments” this year, played to thousands at music festivals like EDC and Tomorrowland, and even found time to launch a new record label, inHarmony Music.
If that wasn't enough, just a few days ago, his latest track (a collaboration with Bogdan Vix and KeyPlayer) “Soul on the Run” premiered on Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance radio show.
Unfortunately, Rayel's busy schedule took a toll on him last month and was forced to rest up after undergoing surgery. In a social media post, Rayel stated, “Sadly, touring has got to me recently and with doctors orders, I had to be rushed to immediate surgery…Thankfully the surgery succeeded and I am currently recovering at home and when I have the energy I'm in the studio! :).”
For his California fanbase, Rayel was more than ready to hit the stage again at Dreamstate, where I caught up with him before he performed before thousands of eager fans.
“Raise your hands and make an ‘A'.” Rayel at Dreamstate SoCal. Photo: Insomniac.
I want to start off by asking how you're doing. I saw your post online about your surgery and it had many fans worried.
Andrew Rayel: I'm feeling better. I had a sinus infection that caused a lot of side effects, which I had to do surgery for. The doctors did not allow me to fly for almost a month so I had to cancel a few shows. But I'm feeling much better now. I just took this long distance trip and it seems like it went fine.
I'm glad you're feeling better. You're no stranger to Dreamstate, how are you making this set different than your other Dreamstate shows?
Andrew Rayel: I'll be playing a lot of new music from my new label. The good thing that came out of being home after the surgery was that I was able to produce new music and now I get to play it for the first time here at Dreamstate. I'm really curious and nervous to see how it's gonna go.
What does that new music sound like?
Andrew Rayel: It's very trance-y, very melodic and euphoric. I've been playing music festivals for a very long time and I don't want to say that I'm bored of playing the same type of stuff, but it doesn't make me excited anymore.
Is that an implication to say that your music is changing?
Andrew Rayel: I wouldn't say the sound is changing, but compared to other festivals, at Dreamstate we focus on more trance sounds than big room festival sounds. What you will hear is new music with new elements that I've been playing with.
How do you compare the Dreamstate energy to other events?
Andrew Rayel: It's a very good energy– the people that come here are definitely here for trance music and they know what to expect. When you give them that they go crazy.
When we last spoke, you were getting ready to launch your new record label, inHarmony Music. It's been a few months now since the first release, how's that going?
Andrew Rayel: It's going really well. We have four releases already– my track “Mass Effect”, a remix of my classic “Dark Warrior”, a David Gravell track that he just played here at the main stage and the fourth one is a reincarnation of the classic track “Missing” by Mark Sixma and Emma Hewitt remixed by me and Mark. I also have a new track coming out next week that I'm excited about but I can't tell you anything yet.
What kind of talent are you looking for with your new label?
Andrew Rayel: Right now it is too early to tell what kind of talent we're looking for but we are going through all the demos and tracks that are being sent over and going from there. It's gonna take some time to see who are the guys that will represent inHarmony Music in the years to come.
You had a busy 2017 with your new label, new music and your “Moments” tour; what are you bringing to us for 2018?
Andrew Rayel: Next year, my main focus will be the label. We just finished the Moments tour, which was very intense. I'm gonna make things a little easier for me next year and do more normal shows and catch up on the festivals that I missed this year because I was focused on the tour.
Check out the latest releases on Andrew Rayel's record label, inHarmony Music here.
Watch Andrew Rayel's entire set from Dreamstate SoCal below:
