Iuly.B is a DJ and music producer known for his contributions to the electronic music scene, particularly in the genres of minimal and tech house. Originating from Romania, he has gained recognition for his distinctive sound characterized by deep basslines, intricate rhythms, and a minimalist aesthetic. Emerging from the vibrant Romanian electronic music scene, he is also known for his deep, hypnotic sound and immersive live performances. We mentioned Iuly.B in a previous article about music production software. Here is the top-ten-questions interview with Iuly.B. Xenon Magazine: What initially drew you to electronic music, and how did your journey into the world of DJing and production begin? Iuly.B: Hello and thank you for the interview opportunity. I have been listening to a lot of music since I was a child. I remember those times when I was just sitting in front of a basic stereo system, because I had no computer back in the day, and I was purely enjoying music. I was curious about lots of genres but the most intriguing part for me was the bass, so everything was related to it. That’s why when I first heard some minimal techno presented through Richie Hawtin’s sets and compilations, I was completely blown away and got super interested in this genre. Long story short, the journey continued for some years, exploring other related genres from the house and techno area, making me more interested in DJ-ing, followed up by production.
Xenon Magazine: Can you describe your typical production process? How do you approach creating a track from scratch? Iuly.B: My production process lately consists in little planning ahead followed up by a lot of exploration or improvisation. Sometimes I use my personal notes to use specific sounds or grooves in a project and other times it’s pure exploration because the number of digital instruments accessible nowadays offers the comfort of just going with the flow. Diving a bit deeper into the process, I usually load a drum machine from Reason, Redrum or Umpf Club Drums because the provided samples are really nice. After obtaining a decent beat, I focus on the bassline so I can get the groove going – Subtractor does a great job in obtaining heavy basslines. With a nice looping groove I can explore whether I want the other elements like synths or pads to go into an energetic vibe or melodic vibe. It’s usually about the exploration of sounds and effects, because that’s what brings the fun rather than focusing on really specific techniques or ideas, but don’t get me wrong: specific techniques or ideas are good to apply when you feel they’re needed, but it’s not something to always start with. The synth exploration in Reason is also endless. I have used other VSTs in the past from Arturia, Omnisphere, or Reaktor but with the big updates in Reason, I can always find something suitable for a new project. The final part is going into the arrangement mode: there’s also a lot of work here to keep things interesting in order to not sound too loopy. Altering some parameters and changing the sequencer steps are key methods I use to keep things dynamic.
Xenon Magazine: How has your sound evolved over the years? Are there any specific projects or experiences that have significantly influenced this evolution? Iuly.B: The evolution of sound is mostly influenced by knowledge and understanding of how frequencies and levels work together. Of course, I didn’t know about this in the beginning, because it was about having fun and enjoying the outcome, but all of this fun got my sound stuck to a level. The desire to evolve my sound pushed me to pass from the “just having fun” level to getting interested in more technical details. It was a period of learning and applying the knowledge, which made the final result better for me and also for the listeners. My fulfillment and motivation came from seeing my music released by labels I am following and respecting: Adam’s BIte, Metereze, Synchronic, Fuse London, Visionquest, Memoria Recordings, and others. Xenon Magazine: Your debut album “Dimensions” has received a lot of praise. What was the inspiration behind it, and how did you approach its creation differently compared to your earlier singles and EPs? Iuly.B: The story of the Dimensions album is quite interesting because it wasn’t planned from the beginning. It consists of several tracks made between 2021 and late 2023 in a normal routine of expressing my feelings through music, trying different techniques and ideas along many other projects. During this period I have submitted music to other labels, but I feel that the timing was very important when I decided to submit most of the tracks to Adam’s Bite – basically, they were somehow connected and Adrian (label manager at Adam’s Bite) felt this. Xenon Magazine: You’ve played at renowned venues and festivals across Europe. How do you prepare for a live set, and what do you think makes a performance truly memorable? Iuly.B: My preparation for a DJ set consists in knowing the tracks really well and having a small playlist of around 100 tracks selected for the specific event, but also taking count of other tracks from my collection for key moments. The magic consists in improvising on the energy received from the crowd and I think that’s the main purpose: to get everyone grooving together and make a memorable journey expressed through music. Xenon Magazine: Romania has a vibrant electronic music scene. How has this environment influenced your music and career? Iuly.B: The Romanian music scene contributed a lot to my sound development because there were lots of parties to attend where I could enjoy and study the experience offered by many great local and worldwide names. Practice makes perfect and that’s not only available for the artistic side, so it was also very important for me to attend parties as a listener, to better understand what I needed to do when playing or producing music. Seeing some key artists perform like Raresh, Rhadoo, Ricardo Villalobos, and Barac made a big contribution to my sound through the years. Xenon Magazine: You primarily use Reason 12 and a Novation 61 SL MK3 MIDI keyboard in your productions. What do you like most about these tools, and how do they shape your sound? Iuly.B: Reason had a big impact on my creative process. I initially started with Ableton when I was a beginner, but that was a bit too technical as an interface and I couldn’t understand or enjoy the process. Through Reason’s visually friendly instruments, I could better understand what was happening. What I always find nice to mention about it is that it even shows the cables from the back of the instruments, as real hardware does and this helped me a lot with my technical and signal flow knowledge.
The Novation keyboard is all that I need in the current situation, the 61 keys are more than enough to play notes from a wide octave range, and the other control buttons make it easier for me to navigate through instruments and control main parameters. Besides Reason’s main instruments and effects, I also use a lot of VSTs for processing and mastering tracks, not only mine, since I have launched my Mix & Mastering services through my website. FabFilter’s effects are great tools to shape and correct different frequencies and levels issues, so anyone can enjoy a nice sound. Xenon Magazine: Your tracks often feature intriguing samples, like vocal snippets from movies and games. How do you choose these elements, and what do they add to your music? Xenon Magazine: What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your career, and what achievements are you most proud of? Iuly.B: The biggest challenge I’ve faced in my musical career was the pandemic, as it was for many of us, not only in the artistic area. Everything was going in the right direction and most of the scene had a reset afterwards. The lockdown was challenging and it got many of us to reconsider things: the hard part was maintaining the creativity because everything happened virtually in front of a device. The most valuable feedback is the one in real life, from real experiences, as human interaction is the key to our mental health. Regarding the achievements I am most proud of, I think more about the overall journey I had until now, shaping and maintaining my musical vision and the great opportunities to present it to people who enjoy it all over the world. Xenon Magazine: What can fans expect from Iuly.B in the coming months? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you’re excited about? Iuly.B: After the debut album Dimensions, of course, there is more music to be released. The next EP will consist of two tracks and will be released on the new platform Volumo. Besides this, I plan to consistently post on my Bandcamp profile: remasters of old tracks of mine, free music, new edits, and of course newly produced material, so it’s advised to stay connected to my pages. Xenon Magazine: Thank you, Iuly.B, for your time and have lots of fun while mixing on your future music! If our readers wish to follow Iuly.B’s online web presence, he has an official site, a FaceBook page, an Instagram account, a DiscoGS profile, a Soundcloud profile, Spotify, a Bandcamp page and a TikTok page.
My initial request was to submit some music for an EP, which was a playlist of 10 tracks. The answer I received from Adrian was something like: “How about we release all of them as an album?”. This was very intriguing for me and I started to notice the relation between the tracks, so it made me come up with a proper order and some track changes to have a nice listening experience.
Iuly.B: That’s a very nice observation! The idea of introducing those elements is to present some hints of what I am watching, listening or doing in my free time. It’s like a glance at the environment I live in or the concepts and ideas that I am following.
The process of picking those sounds is natural, I don’t look for specific moments. I usually have some triggers like “This sounds nice, I can present this in my work”.
