Rob Tirea is a DJ/producer and songwriter from Los Angeles, championing his own uniquely mesmeric perspective and format to the dance music landscape. With scope across an array of musical outlets, from vocals and guitar to bass, piano and drums, Tirea elicits his own compelling strain of electronic music through the authenticity of these traditional instruments. Expanding on the deep house genre by incorporating alternative rock, experimental and indie-pop sensibilities, the Huntingdon Beach native is decisively carving out his own musical path and building on a discography defined by originality.
Officially launching his career in 2018, Tirea signed to 2Dutch with ‘Imagine’, a single that was circulated across festival season following a premiere on Nicky Romero’s weekly Protocol Radio show. 2019’s ‘Blue’, a collaboration alongside deep house duo Revelries, and singer/songwriter Kayrae, was another seminal addition to his flourishing back-catalogue, garnering over 4 million Spotify streams a little under a year after its initial release.
INTERVIEW
CR: Hello Rob, Glad to have you on Canadianravers how are you doing?
RT: Doing really well thanks! I’m stuck in quarantine, as many of us are, but other than that things couldn’t be better.
CR: Your recent track ‘The Storm Front and the Sea’ and your upcoming single ‘For You’ both feature your own vocals, did you have a passion for singing as a kid or was it something that developed more recently?
RT: It was developed more recently. I played ice hockey as a kid (yes very Canadian) but I’m not actually from there. I didn’t really get into music on a more serious level until I was about 18. I’ve been singing a bit for the past two years now. If you’d heard me when I first started you’d be like ‘please, please turn this off’ but now it sounds a little bit better, I hope, and I’m just excited to share more.
CR: Tell us a little bit of the story behind the track ‘For you’, the writing and producing process, as well as the certain connection to the lyrics.
RT: I started writing it on my guitar with this very interesting tuning, I call it DADGAD. The tuning is D/A/D/G/A/D, it’s a really interesting tuning and I wrote some cool chords on it. I wanted to write something about not seeking validation from others. The song ‘For You’ is basically about someone who tries to seek validation through career success because they feel like their friends, peers and family don’t view them as successful. But through the process of seeking that, they become more and more lonely and realize that they had their support from the beginning and through that process, they begin to detach themselves from family and friends until they realize it was futile, to begin with. It’s kind of a dystopian topic but I feel like a lot of people go down that tunnel and don’t do things for their own happiness but to impress others.
CR: Your music is deeply emotive, do your songs always stem from personal experiences and emotions?
RT: Yes sometimes, the songs that I sing on come from personal experience, but the features sometimes come from the vocalist’s perspective and as long as it fits into the narrative that I want to tell, it’s a combination of their feelings as well and I think it’s good to have this collective idea behind your music.
CR: What is the best advice you have received while pursuing your career as a DJ/Producer?
RT: The best advice I ever received was ‘don’t do it’ - haha no I’m kidding. Just to be resilient and not to take things personally. It is quite a cut-throat business but if you’re doing it because you enjoy the music and achieve happiness from it, that’s the best reason to do it. But yes being resilient and not being sensitive to criticism or rejection are the most important things to remember.
CR: Since you are in the studio a lot this summer, what genres have you been listening to get some inspiration for your debut EP?
RT: I’ve been listening to a lot of stuff within Pop and alt-rock in particular. I actually grew up on the alternative rock with bands like Coldplay, the Editors, Interpol, and MGMT, and still listen to those bands to this day. Phoenix is putting out some new music and the Tame Impala stuff was great! But yea, I’ve been listening to all sorts of stuff outside of dance music and a lot of it inspires me in my own music. Really enjoying Sam Fender at the moment too – the list goes on!
CR: If you were not a producer/DJ what would have been your career choice?
RT: Well I’m still working and have a ‘day-job’ in advertising and media, so it would probably be that. It’s quite difficult to get to the point where you’re completely making a living from your music and very few artists ever reach it, but it’s a process of learning how to build a solid fanbase that you can monetize and build a career on.
CR: Do you like playing in larger gatherings or smaller intimate gatherings and why?
RT: They’re both fun. I was in this duo a long time ago and I played this pretty big college show. I went to UMASS Amherst in Western Massachusetts, Boston and we opened up for 2 Chainz and played in front of like 10,000 people which was pretty crazy, I mean the rush is amazing. But I’ve also played smaller club gigs as well, one with Fedde Le Grand in June of last year in Vancouver, which was about 1500 people - that was a blast too. I think they’re both great, I mean obviously the big festivals are something really special, just to see a sea of people in front of you on stage, I could only imagine what that’s like.
CR: Is there a track that never leaves your personal playlist because it has a certain emotional connection to you?
RT: Yes! ‘Talk’ by Coldplay, probably one of the best songs ever. I mean I know they didn’t write the song, I actually believe it’s a Kraftwerk song, but the way they redid it, it’s so emotional and moves me every time. Their stuff is next level to me, it has such a broad emotional appeal and I can only dream of recreating anything similar to that.
CR: Any message for our followers that are trying to get into this industry?
RT: Yeah I guess to try and make something that’s uniquely you. It’s such a saturated market now that it’s really hard to break in but I think if you can really find your audience and build from there then you have something. I would also say don’t put out your first piece of music out until you feel that it’s at least 80% as good as the people you aspire to be like.
Lighting Round
1. Texting or talking? Talking
2. Coffee or tea? Coffee
3. Hard liquor or Wine? Depends on the night. Hard liquor is for forgetting and wine is for when I’m feeling classy.
4. Cake or pie? Ice cream cake is amazing
5. Hot dogs or hamburgers? Hamburgers – In-N-Out in California is amazing.
6. Xbox or PlayStation? I grew up on Xbox but PlayStation has some awesome games as well
7. Movie theatre or arcade? Movie theatre – I’m too old for the arcade
8. Guitar or piano? I’m better at the guitar but the piano is such an emotional instrument so I’ll have to say piano.
9. Marvel or DC Comics? Marvel
10. Dog or cat? Dogs – I just think they’re nicer.
11. Hot weather or cold weather? Hot weather would rather sweat through a t-shirt than freeze.