Balance Selections 285: EMPHI

EMPHI showcases why he is such an exciting prospect…

It’s been four years since Sweden’s EMPHI announced himself with a release on Yotto’s Odd One Out imprint. Since then, he has filled his portfolio with a list of releases that read like a who’s who of progressive labels and artists.

What makes it even more impressive is that he hails from a city where prog is borderline non-existent: “You often don’t get booked for progressive sound here as the genre has no real scene in Stockholm.”

But fortunately, the global community listened and embraced him. His collaboration with Amháin, the Hallen EP, is a distillation of what makes EMPHI such an exciting prospect: deep, enchanting grooves and melodic flourishes that are borderline soothing.

Featuring tracks from Alex O’Rion, Tonaco, Andrés Moris, and EMPHI himself, this highly entrancing Balance Selections mix ebbs and flows with the confidence of a veteran selector.

Name: Johan Guillet Härdin
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Alias/Producer name: EMPHI
Labels affiliated with: Mango Alley, Meanwhile & Balance
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I took hip hop dance classes, my mom loved trance and euro dance, and my aunt was a drummer in a rock band. So the genres varied a lot which I think is a good thing today for when I make music.

It definitely came from my mom listening to a lot of electronic music. Tiesto, Paul van Dyk and those types of producers in the early 00s. I remember when I watched clips from Sensation White on YouTube and the music was banging!

I don’t really remember the very first time I was in a club, but I do recall the bigger shows I attended, like Avicii, Alesso, and SHM. In those days, the DJs who warmed up the dance floor made me really appreciate slower house music more than EDM.

I also have a good memory from when I discovered a more melodic and progressive type of house at a Jeremy Olander gig in 2018. It was after that EMPHI came alive after producing EDM in another name.

Based on what I produce today, Guy J is definitely the biggest inspiration. But I also like to listen a lot to Simon Vuarambon‘s mixes, he’s great at controlling a dance floor that fills up.

If I look a little further back in time from when I started, it is probably Avicii who was the biggest influencer for me. He got big pretty quickly but I appreciated his older songs which were more clubby.

The last I purchased was EANPs EP on PlattenBank. Really good club tracks, especially ‘Drome‘, floor killer! Besides that I get promos from many great labels. One release I love recently is Kebin van Reekens EP on Mango Alley. The tracks are called ‘Luminal‘ and ‘Sound Particles’.

I actually only have a desktop computer and a completely normal keyboard. For sound I use the popular DT 1990 Pro from Beyerdynamics. I also have a small pair of Genelecs that I barely use for producing because my acoustics in the room are not good.

Not that much to be honest. I did a lot of remixes before and always had a couple of releases after one another. But now I’ve become more selective about what I agree to and it’s because I want to focus on making more originals and invest more energy in promoting when the songs themselves are released.

I also don’t have much time to make music as I work a normal job 8 hours from Monday to Friday. What I can tell you though, is that I have a remix in a package where the original producer contacted me and two other very good producers and proposed to do three remixes for his original and after that send them to labels. It was an invigorating proposal that I really wanted to be a part of.

Then I also have a newly opened label on the hook that is managed by one of my absolute favorite producers out there, so I hope it works out!

I’m quite silent on the performing/DJ part of being a producer. I’ve tried to get some gigs where I live in Stockholm, but the scene is quite complicated here and you often don’t get booked for progressive sound here as the genre has no real scene.

Most of the time when I DJ, I play different music than what I produce to fit the specific venue I’m DJing at. It’s very fun as well but I would really like to have more ‘EMPHI-gigs’ like the one I had in the Netherlands in February this year. That memory will stay with me forever!

My idea was to do a mix that I could play in a club. But first I wanted a nice intro and to warm up with 2-3 tracks before transitioning to more clubby vibes. Key mixing is important to me, but I didn’t want to play too many tracks in a row in the same key and lock myself into just one key.

I used reverb, filter and at some places a little longer transitions which I think is a really good technique for key switch. Coming towards the end, I played 4 tracks of mine. Of course the tracks from my EP on Balance but also some unreleased gems.

I think it’s my own ID that I mentioned in a previous question. It truly is something special to play a track no one knows apart from me and get a great reaction.

I’m like many others my biggest critic and get tired of my own tracks pretty quick but if I had to choose any song it would maybe be:

Let’s go with Pomme ‘Je sais pas danser‘. A beautiful french song that I discovered recently. My dad was French and this song makes me think of him.

I’m bad at watching movies but one that I really like is Shutter Island. I’ve seen it twice and what blew my mind was that I had forgotten the ending so it had a strong impact on me both times when the plot twist was revealed

Amercian Horror Story or Vikings.

Lets go nostalgic: Jard Sur Mer in France. A small village by the coast where I spent most of my summers in my young years with my father and sister.

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