Cyril Hahn is the go-to source for the moment’s most moving re-works. Injecting a dreamy sense of nostalgia into his music, his intelligently layered electronic tapestries feel timeless and hypnotic.
Favourited by The XX, Annie Mac and Diplo, scoring the number one top spot on Hype Machine and racking up 600,000 plays on his Soundcloud account, 2012 was a good year for newbie producer Cyril Hahn. Appearing out of nowhere, he instantaneously became an international sensation, with the release of his Destiny’s Child rework Say My Name. striking a chord with classic R & B and dance music fans everywhere, his tripped-out sound is on point, stirring and very sexy. i-D caught up with the fast rising, Swiss born, Vancouver based trap artist to find out how he balances student life with making trail blazing tunes. Check out his latest remix of Gabrielle Alpin’s Please Don’t Say You Love Me here first. Look right.
From Cyril Hahn…
“First thing I do after waking up is pour myself a coffee. I really cannot function without caffeine in the morning and never leave the house without my coffee fix. I’m not a big morning person so the caffeine probably makes me a little more bearable to be around. I sit down and go over my emails and listen to some music on my headphones. On some days I have lectures throughout the day and take the bus across town to my University.
The weekdays I have off school, I usually spend at home either working on music or doing homework. My flat is where I feel most productive and focused. Luckily my roommate is a musician as well so it’s nice to be in a productive and creative environment together. During the day is when I usually finish up songs. It’s the time when I work on details and the right mix of a song. Nighttime is when I feel most creative and come up with new ideas or songs. A song usually just starts out as a small loop and I keep adding on different elements until I’m happy with it. You know you’re working on a good song if you look at the clock and it’s suddenly 4am and you have no clue where the last six hours went.
If I am done for the day I try and cook a nice dinner. I love cooking and it’s something I don’t really have much time for anymore, but it feels great to eat a home cooked meal after a long day. Some nights I meet up with friends at a bar and we catch up or I go out for dinner with my girlfriend. Lately I have also become extremely addicted to Seinfeld and it’s how I end most of my days. I never watched the show when I grew up in Switzerland but I’ve been watching it chronologically over the last few months. Other nights I just try and catch up on new music.”
Catch Cyril on tour, see dates below:
26/02/13: FiftyOne27, The Thekla, Bristol
27/02/13: Le Lieu, Bulls Head Moseley, Birmingham
04/03/13: NQ Live, Manchester
05/03/13: Killer Kitsch @ Buff Club, Glasgow
06/03/13: The Button Factory, Ireland
08/03/13: Sidings Warehouse, London
08/03/13: Audio, Brighton
soundcloud.com/cyrilhahn
Introduction: Milly McMahon
