If you like Kygo you'll probably be into Gryffin too. They surely have different styles but both have similarities starting their careers from Soundcloud viewings to playing multiple instruments. Gryffin has even been chosen as the supporting act for Kygo's groundbreaking Cloud Nine Tour.

It was only a year ago that he released his first remixes and today he stands on the main stage of ULTRA JAPAN. We feel very honored to have the chance to sit down with Gryffin who stopped by the AWA booth at ULTRA JAPAN this year! Here he is with our ambassador Mayu Sasaki!
 

Great to have you here with us today! So how did this whole dance music scene start off for you?

Well I went to school in LA at USC, that was when I started actually liking dance music. I grew up playing the piano and guitar music, did music gigs and was in my own bands and stuff like that so it was really the opposite.

So when I really started getting into dance music in college, I downloaded Ableton and started messing around making music. Then right after school ended I moved to New York for a few years and that was when all the Gryffin stuff started happening. Back in school I was releasing music for fun but then things turned around when my material started gaining traction.

I was studying Electrical Engineering at university so I never thought I was going to pursue music at all but when I started to release music in school I gradually started to gain track hits.

So when was that moment when you were like "you know what? I'm gonna do this."?

It was Senior year. Timing worked out really well because as school finished all these things like touring and gaining traction started happening. But it was the last semester of Senior year where I was like wow I can take this job where I was previously interning at summer for engineering or I can go into music which is what i love to do.



It was a terryfing in the moment of should I leave engineering and go for music but now that I've done it I'm happy.

We've just moved out of New York and are in LA for a few months. It's been a pretty interesting journey.

It must be crazy! You've been to Singapore, Bali and now here you are in Tokyo!

I honestly don't think I would have ever been here if it weren't for music. I feel very fortunate to be in this position. It's a blessing to be able to do what you love to do.
 

Now you've really took off, what do you see yourself doing next?

I'm trying to work on my body of work, like an EP or maybe an album further down the line. When I first started realeasing music under the Gryffin name, like i was making remixes for fun after shcool and when I got opportunities to do official remixes with record labels, that was when I built a whole following.
 

So even though I'm doing my own material now, I don't think I want to abandon the remixes because that's what had me going in the beginning.

Currently working on an EP which I'm trying to get it out at the end of this year or early last year once all the songs are done.

That's exciting!! But with this tour schedule, how do you balance that conflict of not having enough studio time?

Making music on the road is really really hard. It's tough.
I just had a show in Bali, took a red eye here, did the show, doing press now and I'll be flying back to LA tonight. I literally had no time to work on music this weekend. This is hard for me because a lot of my music started with the generated guitar so it's a lot easier for me to make music in the studio than working on my computer on a flight. But I'm trying to find that balance.



Do you find a lot of insipiration in the studio or does it come back later to you?

I'd say both. Sometimes I'm in the studio and an idea may come to me when I'm working for straight eight hours but also the same time it can just come straight to me. Or if I go to a new city with a new experience, the idea comes back to me even fresher.

So although it differs, I feel like the best ideas come to me when I'm on the road like places where I've never been to before. So when I come right back to the studio, the ideas just come about.

I think it does help as a creative person to have a new setting and some form of catalyst to spur an idea. Sometimes if you sit in a studio all day long without leaving it's can get nerve-racking but it really depends.

I'm off to Vegas next weekend but I'm trying to finish a track by then. 

Can't wait for that track release! So hopefully your experience at ULTRA JAPAN may connect the dots to a brand new idea?

Yeah hopefully! Actually my mom is Japanese so I've been here 5-6 times. It's my first time being here for work. My mom's always here so I try to come back but there is so much going on in the US. Even with ULTRA JAPAN, I flew in 9am and my outbound flight is at 11pm on the same day. Hopefully I can make some more time off to spend in Japan soon!

If you missed Gryffin at ULTRA JAPAN make sure to catch him at his Whole Heart Tour. There's bound to be new music in those sets and we just can't wait for that new EP!!!!

Till then tune into his latest track with Bipolar Sunshine cause it's awesome.