HYPETRAK: A Conversation with Cyril Hahn

With a penchant for ‘re-fixing’ classic tracks, Cyril Hahn’s brand of head-bopping house anthems are the hipster tunehead’s wet dream. Soundcloud successes like renditions of “Say My Name,” or “Don’t Save Me” put the Vancouver native on the map just last year, but after founding a label, Hahn’s goals have changed. “It’s just every R&B sample has been done in a remix” he states in his interview with HYPETRAK, delving into his staunch opinions on the state – and future – of electronic music. The Canadian brings a refreshing perspective to a quickly saturated genre, somehow avoiding making a blasé impression. Enjoy key excerpts below, then head over to HYPETRAK for the full transcript of this insightful interview.

So are you are done doing remixes and bootlegs for the moment?

I wouldn’t say I’m done. It’s not really something I’m thinking about. If there’s ever a song that comes out and I think, “I’d really like to bootleg that,” then I’d bootleg but I feel like every song is already bootlegged these days, especially R&B songs.

Not to flatter you, but how did you get so technically adept so quickly? Your first song was the Destiny’s Child Remix that got a lot of attention on the internet very quickly. Did you have a background in production, beforehand?

Sort of. Not so much straight up electronic music, but I used to play piano and guitar. In high school, I would play around with recording my own demos but it was sort of instrumental post-rock, like Explosions In The Sky or Sigur Ros. I was making songs like that. They were very bad, but I still had fun with it. When I started university in Canada, I sort of just stopped playing music. I didn’t pick up my guitar or piano anymore. I would just sort of not do it for awhile. Sort of took photos instead and other different creative outlets. After awhile I missed it and came back to it. It was just that year that I started doing electronic music. “Touch My Body,” and “Say My Name,” were the first two songs I made. There were tools for me to learn the [music production program]. I had no idea that they would have an impact. I worked on each song for 2 or 3 months and I would just learn as I would go. I watched a lot of Youtube tutorials just to learn the ins and outs of Ableton Live and different sorts of things. It was surprising to me to, obviously just because they were more like tools. An exercise I guess.