5 Years in a row ranking in the DJ MAG top 100, Tenishia hold his own as the most successful DJ/Producer in Malta, selling arena shows and appearing everywhere from TV to mobile phone adverts. Winner of ‘Best Newcomer Award 2005’′, ‘Best Live Performance 2005’, ‘The International Recognition Award’ and 3 years in a row ‘Best Dance Tune Award’ at the Malta Music Awards, Tenishia has proved to be an Icon to the young generation taking the clubbing scene by storm and building up enough fans to hold his own Tenishia in Concert events.
Where comes the name “Tenishia”?
This is actually a very common question we get but yet it proves the whole point why we chose the name. It really doesn’t have a meaning at all but sounded very catchy to us when we were looking for a name for our projects almost 10 years ago. One can say that it is actually a girl’s name and in fact Joven called his daughter Tenishia after we started using the name for our projects. So I think the only reason behind the name Tenishia is that it sounds interesting and catchy./em>
How would you define the style of the music that you produce?
We definitely like to produce emotional music, with emotional melodies. We definitely prefer eyes closing rather than hands in the air. Obviously, trance is one of our favorite genres but it has changed so much now, and it has become so vast that it goes from one extreme to the other and we have to admit that we do not like some of it. Progressive was always our favorite though. Dark, emotional and aggressive would be our main ingredients.
You have years of experience as a producer and DJ. How did your career start?
I started Djing in 1997 as a radio DJ at first when I joined a small radio station in Malta but only a year later I found myself spinning the wheels at this club I used to attend as a teenager. I used to hang out on the DJ Booth door watching the Dj until one day he turned on me and asked me if I wanted to learn how to DJ… A question which I obviously answered yes. Being only 16 years old and showing great interest, the owner of the club saw great potentiality in me and took me to a bigger club he owned where I became a resident DJ for 6 years where I gained a lot of experience.
Does performing to such different scenarios affect your set?
A DJ is also an entertainer and, even though we believe one should stick to whatever sounds he or she likes, it’s important to know how to adapt to different crowds in various countries, time slots and events. It might be that some tracks you usually play might work in Argentina, but will send a crowd off to sleep in China.
Some tracks might be suitable for warm up sets or opening slots, but do not exactly fit in peak hours. Your set should also change depending on who is headlining that particular event, particularly if you need to build up for the headliner. This is where most of the upcoming DJs fail. Most people think that to be a good DJ you just need to pump out the good tracks that everyone knows. However, it goes far beyond that. If you hear a DJ playing hit after hit at 10pm, when the club has just opened, then probably he won’t go too far in his career.
What is the biggest challenge when trying to get the crowd into the vibe?
The most valuable skills a club DJ should have are music selection, crowd reading and the knowledge of a lot of music to flow a good set. Mixing music fits somewhere in there, too. It’s psychological, most of the people won’t even notice what you are doing, but using all these elements correctly should get the crowd going. Catch the crowd in your rhythm and you’ve got a great night ahead.
What is EDM for Tenishia?
EDM stands for Electronic Dance Music and it once meant exactly what is says – an umbrella genre that also included trance, house and techno under its umbrella. But, nowadays, it’s also a genre in its own right that – if we’re honest – we are not particularly fond of. It goes by various names – EDM, progressive house, trouse…
This genre does attract a lot of criticism. What is Tenishia’s take?
We can’t really blame the critics. Even though EDM has opened doors for other subgenres, the mainstream sound is pretty immature. I still can’t figure out why so many radio stations play such a non-musical and noisy genre, but refuse to play tracks that are full of emotion. Is it a passing trend? Maybe, but whatever it is, it’s far from knowing beautiful music. It’s true that music is very subjective and usually we are very tolerant of other people’s tastes. But we can’t help asking the question: where is the actual music in some of the tracks nowadays? To us it feels more like it’s more about trash talking and looking cool.
https://soundcloud.com/tenishia/tenishia-summer-2016-mix
You’re known as Trance artist. Where do you get your inspiration when you’re making music?
I think we have been building our inspiration from a lot of sounds and DJs that we have listened to throughout the years… Sasha had a big influence on US with Airdrawndagger Album and so did Tiesto in his Trance Years. Others sound that we surely like are also Cosmic Gate.
What advice would you give your sixteen year old selves? And what advice have you got for local up and coming DJs?
Stop fooling around chasing the girls and get to the studio now! Hahaha. I wish I knew what I know now when I was sixteen, although we cannot argue about breaking into the international scene late as we still are quite young. The new generation has it much easier nowadays, firstly because things like computers and software are more available now, and secondly, I think we have broken the ice with that low self esteem approach young local musicians/DJs have towards the international scene. Besides, the more we grow in our career the easier we’ll be able to make it for local rising talent to breakthrough. So my few words of advice is that if you really love music and you are not doing this to get the girls or show off, go for it and don’t let anyone else tell you any differently. Do it in steps, one after the other, and you’ll succeed.
What are some fun facts that Tenishia wants their fans to know that we probably don’t?
I’m a sucker for Boxing and Muhammad Ali. I love the guy to bits, I love his quotes and his funny moments, besides he is the greatest of all time! He is my total idol!
