Thomas Gold

Thomas Gold is a prolific DJ and producer hailing from Berlin, Germany and is part of the leading force in today’s EDM world! Thomas is known to headline main stages from Ultra Music Festival to Coachella and Tomorrowland, treating Ibiza and New York as his personal playground. As well as curating an energetic sound for the EDM lovers out there, he has recently been shaking things up with a groovier more organic sound which he has been showing crowds at events such as the after-hours at Pacha, Ibiza. Since his busy schedule brings him to this side of the world on March 3rd at Sky Dome, we decided to catch up with Thomas for a few words on his next projects and on last year’s fun!
Hey Thomas! How did you get involved in DJing?
When I was 7 years old, I started to learn to play keyboards. Later, when I got to 15, I got quite excited about house music and I wanted to make electronic music myself. Around that time, I started DJing as well – playing records at friend’s parties. I loved to do this and I wanted to become a ‘real’ DJ. So after a few years, I got my first weekly residency at a local club. From this point on, I worked on my music production and my DJ skills to get better every week.
How is the new album coming along? Can you give our readers a run down on what to expect?
It’s going really well! The music is almost finished, I am only tweaking some minor details on the songs. Actually I have so many tracks that we had to cut down the list. I’m super happy about the fact that I have so much new music in store right now – can’t wait to show it to my fans out there! The style is completely different from what I have done in the past. I wanted to go beyond limits with my production and with the album. I can finally realize many production ideas I have been carrying around with me for a while – it’s all new and fresh material and I am touching a lot of genres and styles…
How does it feel being from a hugely underground part of the world (in terms of partying and music) and following your own calling? How do you feel about the techno movement compared to EDM?
I am happy that I had the chance to grow up with all kinds of music, but I agree – Germany is rather a bit more ‘underground’ – especially Berlin. But anyway – I never limited myself to just one genre or one certain musical ‘area’ – I was always interested in almost any kind of music. I tried to let myself be influenced not only by the ‘German’ sound, but rather by anything I liked.
Regarding the techno movement, this has been existing way longer than EDM and it has grown much slower as well. It was (and still is) more of an ‘organic’ growth. EDM got big in a very short time, many people jumped on the train and it got huge after a few years. Now that the ‘peak’ of EDM is over and there are new sides and ‘versions’ of this genre coming up, it will be interesting to see where it will be in a few years. Techno though will always be there I think.
Your latest release “Better Versions of Myself” on Armada music shows a new side to your musical creativity, can you give us a little explanation on where you think this journey will take you?
I don’t know WHERE it is going to take me at the end, but at the moment I am excited that I can do such a different ‘thing’ music-wise than I used to! Making Better Versions of Myself was much fun, as I went for a completely new approach with the production. Fresh sounds, different ways of arranging, more of a pop track structure… After doing Magic, which was new for me as well, ‘Better Versions of Myself’ was the next step. And be prepared for more fresh stuff to come in 2017!
How has the first two months of 2017 treated you? Where have you spent most of your time?
Very nice so far! I have been touring in France, Dubai, Taipei, Bangkok, Singapore, India and I got a lot of music stuff done in the studio! This is actually where I spent most of my time 🙂
What was one of your favorite events of 2016?
Amongst some great festivals, it was playing in Ibiza! I love the island and I am excited every year to get back to hang out and to play!
What are some of your most beloved remixes and/or original productions? Do you listen to your music a lot of the time?
My favorite own remix is still the one for Adele’s ‘Set Fire To The Rain’ – it meant so much to me and it was an honor to do an official remix for Adele. Regarding my original productions, I would say that ‘Magic’ is THE one for me, because it is so different from anything I had done before, it was quite a challenge to do it. It is also kind of a milestone to me as this started my change in sound. Also, I love the vocal and I am super happy that the track is getting so much nice feedback.
Have you been working with any up and coming producers/DJs that you would like to mention?
Not in the past 12 months, as I have been focusing on my album. There are a lot of collaborations with singers/songwriters, but none of them are actually DJs. This is also a very new and fresh experience for me!
Do you have any tracks that you know you will play at your gig at Sky Garden?
For sure! I will definitely drop my tracks ‘Magic’, ‘Saints & Sinners’ and a bunch of reworks of other productions from myself! Plus a couple of new edits and mashups I’ve done! Be prepared…