AydinAT;01: "Difficulties have taught me to work harder and never give up"
Tehran-based DJ and producer Aydin AT;01 has been a key figure in the underground music scene for over a decade. After a hiatus due to personal struggles, he returned with a new style, focusing on the melodic sounds of techno, house and indie. His recent releases have successfully charted in the Top 100. In 2024, he became the CEO of Techno Tehran Records, one of the leading labels in the Middle East. His commitment to musical innovation is supported by global artists such as Pete Tong, Armin van Buuren and Richie Hawtin. His commitment to pushing the boundaries of music and creating original sounds continues to resonate with audiences around the world.
Your new EP "Eruption in Silence" released on Wout Records has a very evocative title. What does this project represent for you, and what do you hope listeners take away from your music?
This EP and project is very sensitively designed. I always have this motto that the producer should create what is in his/her being.
The mood of the tracks from the beginning of the EP to the end of each track has sounds related to the previous track and the feeling of emotional melodies that have a happy and danceable atmosphere can also make you think and thinking and being happy along with emotional melodies can give the listener great.
You’ve undergone a significant artistic transformation, transitioning from psy-trance to genres like melodic techno and progressive house. What led you to this shift, and how has it influenced your creative process?
Since I was a teenager and I loved this genre, and the main genres were trance and paichdelic, I initially focused on these genres. Because of the problems we had, my friends and I always had to not release songs or work underground.
After a few years and the popularity of new genres, which I think were created from the skeleton of the old trance and deep house and old techno genres, genres like melodic house and melodic techno, increased my passion for releasing works.
I think we should see the emergence of several main genres that are empty and sub-genres, because the creativity of artists has increased and the themes and styles of a genre have increased drastically, because the tastes of listeners have changed.
And finally, since we were talking about genre, maybe in the future I will create projects in genres like deep trance or, for example, melodic trance, or Afro-melodic.
Navigating the strict music regulations in Iran must have been a major challenge. What are the most important lessons you learned during that time, and how have they shaped your approach to music today?
My friends and I, who work in a shared studio, have to work hard and enjoy listening to and making music., and I can work much harder.
And finally, our audience and listeners in our country also have problems buying songs or listening on Spotify and unfortunately we have poor support. But overall, I saw the difficult situation of the listeners and I think it’s okay.
Gaining support from high-profile artists like Armin Van Buuren, Pete Tong, and Above & Beyond is a huge milestone. How has this recognition impacted your career, and what does it mean to you as an artist?
As you know, the support of great artists encouraged me. Maybe at times these difficulties would have made me stop producing. But when big names support you and they promised me that you can definitely reach unconquered peaks, this support made me even more excited to continue on my path.
And the great artists of our time have always been supported by other greats who have helped make their names shine.
Dubai offers a very different environment compared to where you started. How has your new base influenced your sound and your vision for the future of your music career?
I went to Dubai to be able to see the competitions of artists on a global level up close. In my genre, when I was studying the performances of great DJs and analyzing their performances, I learned a lot of valuable tips from famous artists in the DJing section, but for production, I had to return to my country again, because the land of Persia has been the creator of the best musicians since previous civilizations, even before Dubai.
I decided to update myself by studying Persian music so that I could use the art of the greatest musicians of the land of Persia, who were the creators of many instruments and the creators of oriental music genres, in the field of electronic music.
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