Devaux or Matthew Wesney is a twentyfour year old edm artist born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He has worked alongside many artists from leading industry heads to independent artists over the last ten years as a producer. EP ‘Identity’ on Straight Up! Music/Exalted Tunes is set for release in Nov 4th! He has several collaborations to look out for too! (Back2Rave, Laura LaRue, Clear-vision, and many more!
SUM: Hi Devaux, glad to have you here with us. Let’s begin with your age and where are you from?
D: I am twenty four years of age and I live in Columbus, Ohio.
SUM: How is the support towards your music from your country, and how is the support from your country to Progressive House in general?
D: Believe it or not I have way more listeners outside of the U.S. than in the U.S. But I do know there is a strong presence of Prog-House lovers here, it’s really just a matter of getting my music across the right fan base now.
SUM: Tell us how “Devaux” came to be? How would you define your style and who/what are your musical influences?
D: Well first off I have adopted quite a few names in the last couple years as well as sound styles too. And I feel like the type of music and who I am as an artist is spot on for the first time. The name ‘Devaux’ or De Vaux is my families last name too so it was kind of a no brainer when I picked things back up in 2011. Influence for me has always came from a select few artists and their craft. To name a few: Armin, Justice, Eric Prydz, Kaskade, Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto, and just recently developed a fanboy status for Hardwell.
SUM: How many hours a day do you see yourself doing your magic in your studio?
D: I typically spend anywhere from 4-8 hours daily (sometimes much longer) working on music/mixing/or just messing with plugins making presets for future projects. Time literally flies whenever I’m pumping jams out so my sound library is enormous to say the least!
SUM: Currently you have an EP released in our sub-label “Exalted Tunes” .Do you want to tell us about the tracks? Also, Please describe shortly the creative process of that EP , what inspires you and what tools you use Software/Hardware that helped you to do this original production a reality.
D: The two tracks on ‘Identity’ were the first two track I had written since early spring and am pretty happy with the sound. Tools used to write: I use FL studio & Ableton but I do favor FL studio so most of my work is written on that daw. A few plugins I absolutely love are NI-Massive/Rob Pappens-Albino/Imageline-Harmor and a few small plugins…As far as hardware goes: Vestax mixer/M-audio Keyboard/Behringer B-control rotary(one of my favorites) and a few Korg & Akai midi controllers.
SUM: Who was the first colleague to tell you, that you were born to make music and has supported you ever since?
D: Name dropping time! My favorite! For several years the lovely guys over at DivKid -or- Lung Filler Records have been the drive factor in why I kept pushing forward.
SUM: If you had the opportunity to collaborate with one artist of EDM, who would it be and why?
D: This is legit one of the hardest question someone has asked me in a while. Not the question its self but the fact there can only be ONE. R3hab and because the versatile style he has.
SUM: How do you see Progressive House evolving the next coming 5 years?
D: Well its already dying down a tad I’ve noticed. So really Progressive House may not even make it five years. But on the other hand the new generation of producers and listeners are just making their way to the scene so its kind of up in the air.
SUM: Weeks ago, you mentioned that your other passion is cooking, what’s your special recipe?
D: I’ll throw something really basic on the table! The best smoothie: 6 to 8 pieces of ice, one banana, six strawberries, 15 blackberries, 15 raspberries, 1 1/2 to 2 cups of milk, 2 – 3 TSP of sugar (or taste as you go)
SUM: What has been the longest romantic relationship you ever had in your life? Are you still with that person?
D: Music, we’re still going strong too!
SUM: If you were able to have your own TV show, what would it be about? (Exclude Music and Cooking Related)
D: This isn’t too far off from what I could have actually done. Cartoon series on AdultSwim or a network similar and it would be like Space Ghost Coast To Coast!
SUM: What was your favorite thing to do during your summers as a kid?
D: As a kid I was fortunate enough to have several ‘best’ friends so summers were packed with activity that I can’t really pick as a fave. The memories that stick out the most would be spending all night playing video games with one of my best friends , Chris. Not that we were gamers either…ha
SUM: What are your top 3 favorite tracks at the moment?
D: Top three in order- Major Lazer – Bubble Butt (Dada Life Remix), Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike vs Sander van Doorn – Project T (Martin Garrix Remix), and Jumper – Hardwell
SUM: Are you a social network addict? How many hours a day do you spend a day in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter? Who wins in the battle between the two last mentioned in your opinion?
D: Wouldn’t call it an addiction, it’s important to have a strong presence on the web these days to promote and network with other industry peeps. And I don’t spend as much time as I should on any network. Not much of a presence on Facebook but a decent following on Twitter so I have to say Twitter wins the battle!
SUM: Message for your fans?
D: Just a few years ago you couldn’t convince me I’d of come this far and for that, I love you guys! :)
