As Summer kicks off, we sat down with rising star Enamour to discuss his current tour, his musical inspirations, and upcoming plans.
You’re in the middle of your North America tour – how does it feel to see your style of deep and melodic house and techno resonating in America?
It’s been great seeing the scene grow and evolve here in America. I feel that we’re making a major transition where fans’ tastes are more eclectic and they’re open-minded to new styles. Some of the countries’ biggest artists are way more aligned with my sound than ever before, which is really promising.
The transition may have been accelerated during covid lockdowns, as fans watched new artists on livestreams–a format that doesn’t necessarily lend itself as well to gigantic builds and drops the way a live show does, and conversely makes space for deeper and more melodic shades of these genres. Similarly, many fans may have attended their first boutique/destination festival and brought newfound inspiration back to their home cities. I’m excited to see where it goes from here.
What has been your favourite venue to play on this tour so far?
That’s a tough one! They’ve all been great but it might be a tie between Flash in Washington DC and Audio in San Francisco. I live in DC and some of my oldest friends are in SF, so any time I play in either city it’s a family affair. The crowds in both cities are educated and open-minded as well. Both clubs also have well-tuned Funktion One systems which are always fun to play on.
You’ve worked with so many respected labels and artists like Sasha, Lane 8, Armada, Anjunadeep – how do those artists and labels shape your ever-evolving sound and your direction?
It’s been great working with so many artists and labels but If I’m being completely honest, I wouldn’t say that my sound or direction has been influenced by any one of them that much. I tend to just do my own thing in the studio and then afterwards find the proper home for it. Some artists/labels give more feedback and advice than others…early on Lane 8 was a mentor to me and helped me develop my sound when I was still figuring stuff out.
Most of the evolution of my sound comes from exploring hardware and software, pushing it to its limits, as well as through inspiration from other art forms and music within (but mostly beyond) my genres.
You just released an EP on Get Physical, and have a few more in the pipeline including a couple of remixes – can you tell us a little about the new music coming?
Yes, and I’m very happy to see such a positive reception for it—DJs and fans from all over the spectrum have been supporting, which I wasn’t totally expecting given it’s a bit more esoteric than my usual stuff.
Going forward, I’ve got two big remixes coming in late June and early July for Gardens of Babylon and Armada, respectively. There’s also an Anjunadeep EP coming later this year and a single on Armada with my buddies Warung. Some other stuff as well I can’t mention yet. The music for the second half of the year is a good mix of my bigger progressive sound as well as the deeper, more emotional style, but everything is club-focused. There will likely even be some tougher, faster techno out by the end of the year. All of the tracks have been huge moments in my sets this tour, so I’m really excited to get them out there.
What’s next for Enamour? Anything you’re especially looking forward to this summer?
Touring has been great but I’m excited to have a short break from the nonstop traveling so that I can spend some quality time in the studio. I’ve got so much inspiration from being on the road and have started a lot of exciting projects that I just need to get some focused effort on. The next edition of my Enamoured mix series will be coming soon too – a recording from one of my sets on this tour. I’m also continuing to develop my Patreon and Discord communities and hope to further build meaningful connections with my fans.
I’m returning to Burning Man at the end of the summer, which might be what I’m looking forward to the most!
Catch Enamour playing at Sound LA on Saturday June 4th, supported by Simon Doty – tickets here: https://enamour.komi.io . His ‘Ergot’ EP is out now on Get Physical.
