He’s a prodigy the world can’t stop talking about. 20 year-old DJ/producerCurbi’s passion to evolve his own unique sound is stronger than ever, while he continues to prove himself as a leading name in electronic music’s next generation. Only a few short years ago, at the tender age of sixteen, Toby (from Halstead, United Kingdom)signed to the world’s leading dance music label Spinnin’ Records, becoming an instant hit across the globe. His breakthrough followed tremendous support for his debut single ‘Discharge’, which gained over 7 million plays and catapulted him into the spotlight. The music never stopped, with Curbi dropping incredible releases one after another. With his solo tracks ‘Shinai’,’51’, ‘Playground’, ‘Rude’, ‘Polar’, ‘Booti’, ‘Whip it’, ‘Blow up’ Curbi dominated the dance floors and combined all the solo tracks got streamed over 10 million times. But Curbi didn’t stop there, his collaborations such as ‘Hoohah’with Fox Stevenson(10 million plays) and ‘Let’s Go’with Lucas & Steve & Mike Williams(20 million plays) & ‘Get Down’with Quintino(5mln plays) make up only a small selection of his impressive musical achievements so far. Continuous chart success and a rapidly growing fanbase resulted in his tour schedule filling up in no time. Making his performance debut at Pacha’s world-famous Ibiza spot, the fresh-faced Brit has moved on to electrify crowds at Tomorrowland, RFM Somnii,World Club Dome, Mysteryland,Creamfieldsand many others, all the while touring across Asia&North Americawith no signs of slowing down.
Where did the name Curbi come from?
From my last name: (Cur)wen-(Bi)ngley
What are some of your biggest musical influences behind your sound?
Super hard energetic music. Hardcore really introduced me to the world of Dance Music. But now I am listening to anything and everything which helps develop my sound even more.
How were you discovered by Spinnin?
I sent tons of demo’s to Oliver Heldens in 2014, then I sent this one track: ‘Discharge’. He told me he really liked it, he then sent that track to Spinnin’ and they wanted to sign me 🙂
Your song “BRUH” with Mesto is a summer banger. You are only 18 and Mesto is only 17, that is incredible. How did this song come about and did you guys know each other before this track?
Me and Mesto spoke to eachother online for quite a while before we started our collab. He would send me his tunes on a regular basis and I really liked his ideas! Fast forward to last years ADE and we began working on a track. Now ‘Bruh’ is born! Shoutout to Mesto, love the guy!
How has 2019 been for you so far?
2019 has been reaaally good so far, and it’s already going by so, so quickly. Made a lot of new music and played so many good shows across the whole world—LOVING IT!
You’re into producing massive big-room records, and your tracks sound slick, indeed. For those not familiar with the Curbi sound, how would you describe your approach to production?
Hmm, tricky one… whenever someone asks me this question, I never really know how to answer, because I have such a weird, unexplainable sound, haha. But to fit it into best words, I’d say my music is club-/festival-oriented with a twist of crazy sounds that you don’t hear much—crazy, energetic, loud music, haha.
You’re a UK producer, and you’ve managed to pen some bangers pretty early in your life (in your teens, actually!), and you’ve been releasing on one of the world’s biggest labels for years already. From your perspective, tell us a bit about the Curbi journey so far.
This journey has been mental. I came straight out of high school to then travelling the whole world with my music that I make on my laptop in my bedroom. It has all been so sudden and crazy, but everyday I love it more and more. I was pretty shy when I was in high school, but comparing how I felt back then to now, there’s a huge difference. This position I am in pushes you out of your comfort zone and really brings out the real you. I feel so much more confident and alive; it’s insane! Not only has my music developed, but also my personality has the most.
The relationship with Spinnin’ seems fairly rock solid. Tell us how you got involved with those guys, what it’s like working with them, and how it’s impacted your career.
When I was younger and first started producing music, I always looked up to Spinnin’ so much. I saw that it was possible to have this crazy life of DJing around the world and making whatever music you wanted. Since that day, I was so dedicated to achieving that dream. I made music constantly before and after school and kept pushing myself. I sent my stuff to plenty of DJs, but no one seemed to me that keen. Until one day, I had a track called “Discharge,” which I had sent to Oliver Heldens, because I loved his stuff and thought it would be amazing if he could play it. Shortly after, he responded and said he had sent it on to Spinnin’. A couple of hours later, Spinnin’ sent me an email and said they wanted to sign me; this was the biggest shock I had ever received. I never expected anything like that to happen, but it did, and now we’re here. Our workflow together and relationship is amazing—always has been from the day I signed—and I have to give a big thank-you to everyone working there for their time and effort.
https://soundcloud.com/curbiofficial/sets/redliners-vol-1-ep
A lot of your recent tracks—like “Booti” and “RUDE,” for instance—show you really messing around with the big-room formula in some very interesting ways. Is it a challenge to find new ways to experiment and do new things with dancefloor music?
I think it’s always a challenge, but at the same time, a challenge is the best thing that can happen to you. I always make the best stuff when it’s a struggle. I push myself to try and make something fresh and not slack with old sounds. Every time I open up a fresh project, I have no idea what to do—but that’s the fun of it, and something unexpected always comes out of it!
Tell us a bit about the playlist you’ve put together.
These tracks are some of my absolute favourites from the American guys. I love the US sound so much, and I think it’s super mature. There’s a mixture of heavy and chill here, and like I say, these are some of my favourites! Always difficult to find the best stuff because there’s so much of it, but these definitely stand out to me for being slick and unique.