Stargazers: Pierce Fulton

I’ve been involved in Electronic Dance Music for around 2 years now..it’s hard to estimate exactly how long, but to pinpoint a specific time, the summer of 2009 is when I was properly introduced to the genre. I started producing before DJing because I made hip-hop for about 6 months before I got into EDM, and the DJing followed about a year after I starting producing house. It’s kind of a funny story how I started actually, I had been in various reggae, classic rock, and blues bands throughout high school and at one particular time, there was a foreign exchange student from Venezuela who was the first electronic music DJ I’d ever met. I remember hearing him spin all these really cool records when I would watch him DJ and it really pushed me toward looking into the production styles. After getting bored with the hip-hop, I decided to take on something really new and fresh. House, and Electronic music in general, was something so foreign to me, and to be honest, extremely uncomfortable for me musically at first, but it was the best decision I’ve made because I absolutely love it.

DA: Who are some artists you have worked with andsome notable experiences in your career that you’vehad thus far?

Well I’m actually the worst collaborator you could ever imagine. I hate saying it but I just don’t work well, creatively that is, with other people. I’ve collaborated with a few of my peers, and although they’ve gone very well most of the time, I still got frustrated throughout the process…bumping heads and whatnot. The worst part is, I actually love working with other people! It always brings in new inspiration just from seeing how they take a stab at something and honestly brings a breath of fresh air. I wish it wasn’t so difficult working in groups, but I guess I just have a routine when it comes to music and it’s hard to break out of it. But to name a few, released material or not, that I’ve worked with: Axel Bauer & Lanford, Something Good, Paris FZ & Simo T, Walden, Fadi, and a few other friends along the way.

Some notable experiences I can mention have happened quite recently actually. This past summer I came into contact with Cr2 records which really was a turning point in my musical career, it just took everything to a different level. I found a solid label that I really enjoy working with and have had a lot of fun with as well. They brought me out to Europe for my first time this summer to play at The Yacht Week in Southern Croatia and stop by London and Ibiza as well. More recently, my first release on Cr2 has already picked up support from the likes of Above & Beyond, EDX, Andi Durrant, and Joachim Garraud..and at this point it’s only been out for a day! It’s just really cool to see some of my music get picked up by the “big-guns” in the scene.

DA: Who are some of your biggest musical influences inEDM? Outside of EDM?

My thing with influences is that, yes I love to listen to music when I’m doing something time consuming, but I really don’t listen to music for pleasure all that often. Most of the time I’m just humming crap in my head…but I do prize a few artists/composers that get me really excited to write music. Inside EDM, I’d have to say my big 3 are Michael Cassette, Eric Prydz, and Paul Kalkbrenner. Although I’ve been a bit more geared toward club style productions myself lately, I will always love everything these guys make. And to be honest, I have a lot of unheard music that really touch on what I love about these 3…the only problem is that they don’t fit too well with what I’ve been putting out. Outside of EDM is actually a much better question for me, because to be honest I don’t listen to too much electronic in my free time. I could list hundreds of artists but to make it easy, I gotta be that guy who puts Mozart because I think I’ve listened to the Allegro Cadenza movement of his Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major K488 well over 100 times a month. I’ll even just look at the sheet music for it, and it makes me instantly want to write music, it’s absolute gold. But some others are Debussy, Vivaldi, and Schumann..and of course I gotta mention bands like The Rolling Stones, The Doors, and The Police because that’s what my parents raised me on.

DA: What is an ultimate goal or something you’dconsider a milestone that you’ve yet to achieve oraccomplish?

Well the biggest goal in my musical career is without a doubt a college degree. I’m currently in my sophomore year studying Economics at the University of Vermont, and although it’s quite possibly the most irritating thing to balance with music, I have to finish. I just can’t quit out early from school simply because a few more people like my music and want me to travel to play instead of study. For one thing, my parents would disown me if I left school and to be honest, I have no problem holding back for a few more years. As long as I’m putting out constant music, I’m sure everyone else can be patient as well. But to conclude, despite everything going on, graduating from my university is definitely my biggest goal, I gotta do that before anything else serious can come.

DA: What is your DJ equipment of choice and why?

My DJ equipment of choice is a pair of pioneer CDJ’s (any model to be honest, they all do the same) and a pioneer DJM. I’ve played on pretty much every model of CDJ and DJM and yeah some have better functions than others but they all do what they’re supposed to do. I could never get into using a computer because a) I hate brining my laptop to clubs and b) it’s totally impersonal to the crowd. I’ve seen so many dj’s that either sit and play a few tracks or simply look like they’re excited at what’s on their computer screen. I get quite excited when I play and I just love to create a personal feeling with the crowd where I don’t seem like someone barricaded off from them. You’re playing the music for the crowd so at least “let” them into your sets you know?

DA:  What program do you use to produce? Any favoriteVSTs?

I use logic pro just on my macbook. I’ve tried a ton of different programs, Reason, Ableton, FL Studio, Sonar, Protools etc…and I just stuck with logic because I was comfortable with it. Only downside to logic is that it’s extremely buggy, but a lot of other good aspects makes up for that. For plugins, most of my projects consist of all the Logic stock plugs for basses and FX, TAL vintage emulators, Alchemy, Sylenth, Nexus, and random little ones I pick up every once and a while.

DA: What signature sounds or drums from some of your favorite artists do you find really compelling and wish you knew how to make (i.e. Afrojack drums, Thomas Gold piano, Porter Robinson bass line)?

Well I can definitely find stuff really compelling, but I’d never want to “know how to make it”. If an artist does have a compelling sound, it alway just motivates me to find the next signature tie, that would hopefully be linked with my name. I’d rather have someone describe a track of mine as a “Pierce Fulton” style track than to be “kind of like this guy”. It’s the most difficult part to creating music, wanting to make something that catches on, but in your own way. But I guess without that, what else would we be making music for? Unique qualities make music what it is. And to go back on the question, when someone like Porter has his own bass, it really just motivates me to keep searching until my signature sound is there…I guess it takes a bit longer than 2 years haha. We’ll see when that comes :)