About 4 years ago, Emanuel Dos Santos (Der3k) had the dream of being a singer of urban music, so he started performing reggaeton tracks. Then he discovered electronic music, a passion for being a producer was born and everything changed. Here’s how:

Hey there, Emanuel! Glad to have you here. Care to introduce yourself and what you do so our readers can get to know you better? 🙂

Hey! My name is Emanuel Dos Santos, I am 21 years old, I am from Argentina, born in the province of Misiones. I currently live in Buenos Aires and I am a student of Systems Engineering at the Universidad Tecnologica Nacional, so I am also passionate about informatics. I always liked music, especially the romantic music, but as I grew up I discovered other genres, such as pop, rock, reggae, bachata, among others.

Then one day I discovered electronic music and that was when I was sure that this genre was the one that I was passionate about, for the diversity of sub genres and artists. It was then that I had the idea to start producing. At that time I only had one home PC, started producing reggaeton when I was about 13 years with Fl Studio 8, so I grew up, watching tutorials online and practicing. At the age of 15 I released my first track called “The game started” under my artistic name “Hackro” which means “Musical Hacker”. It was modified over time – currently my artistic name is “D3rek” since my Friends call me that.

It was something basic, the first electro I had done. To date I have 55 tracks in various sub genres of electronic music, my favorite being “Unloved”. I feel that I advanced much as a producer, but I know I still have a lot more to learning and do. I’m inspired by anything I think or see, sometimes when I do not get anything by myself, I usually listen to other genres like blues, jazz, classic, funk, among others. I do not dislike any musical genre in particular. You learn a lot from them, I do not consider myself a professional, but it does not have to be a great artist fpr me to like it.

Have you ever worked with other musicians?

I made a few collaborations with two producers friends who made much of it, Jonathan Amador who did a remix of my track “Storm” (one of my first tracks) and Cheo Boadas with the track “Zodiac” that is currently signed by “Kyra”. A few months ago I released some tracks of the 8-bit / chiptune sub genre under the name “2-bits” I felt I had to do some works with that style, I always liked that kind of video game console sounds. My passion for The electronic music was thanks to many artits, mainly Deadmau5, Skrillex, Zedd, and Nicky Romero
And record labels such as Monster4t, Spinnin Records and No Copyright Sounds.

What would you say to our readers?

My advice for all those who produce or feel like doing them, is that they do not give up, keep doing what they like.

What’s your view on record labels?

At the moment I am not in any record seal, I think that still I am not ready for one, but later I will try to send some works when I feel that they are good enough. Last year I traveled to Misiones to visit the rest of my family, and decided that it would be a good idea to record a home video for a track that would return. The video is called “Follow your dreams”, my goal is to keep making music by passion and that can be heard in many parts of the world. My main goal is not to be famous or a millionaire, only that people can listen to my works and the message from them.

Currently the genres I produce are: Electro House, Progressive House, Big Room, Dubstep, Drum and Bass, Future Bass, Chillout, Glith hop, Trap, Nu Disco.
Although there are others such as Deep House, Minimal Techno and Tech House, in fact my most recent track “Too loud” is a Deep House and I plan to continue doing other genres like Happy Hardcore, House and Trance. I’m also doing courses as a DJ, since I think that every producer also has to be a DJ and not the other way around, also because it’s something that I really like.

What instruments do you play?

Currently I only play the keyboard, I always wanted to learn guitar, and I know that someday I will, but for the moment I just want to dedicate myself to my studies and continue to produce music that is what I am most passionate about.

How would you describe your style?

Well it’s a very difficult question … I would say that I have a varied style, usually my tracks do not have a pattern in common, maybe I should but I like to do different things, since I always have the same boredom.

What music do you listen to? Who are your favorite band and performers?

I usually listen to everything a little, Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, Classic, Reggae, Electronica, among others, I have no problem discovering other genres, My favorite bands are Simple Plan, Green Day, Sin Bandera, The black Eyed Peas among other.

Name a few of your music heroes:

Deadmau5
Skrillex
Sin Bandera
Eminem

What do you do when you’re not playing or writing a song?

Studying, playing with my friends.

What does it take to be a successful musician?

I think a little luck, I know a lot of artists who are not famous and still are very good, it does not need to be a professional to be a great artist.

What is music to you?

The music for me is a passion, that’s what is always there when you feel lonely and sad, is what makes the world spin.

What message do you try to convey through your music? Is there a general idea behind all your work or is every song a statement on its own?

Each clue I do reflects a feeling and a message that reflects on it.

Where do you look for inspiration? Do you have to look at all or is it always there?

You do not always need to be inspired to make a good track, in fact most of my tracks are improvised, but I almost always inspire myself in the moments of life, in every situation that happens.

Name three musicians or bands we’ve probably never heard of but are definitely worth checking out.
The box rebelion
Mayday Parade
Nanobii

What would you say to our readers?

My advice for all those who produce or feel like doing them, is that they do not give up, keep doing what they like.

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