Signing his first publishing deal as a teenager, Swindon-born Theo Altieri – professionally known as CHANEY - has gone from strength to strength with his melodic sensibilities and affection for the Great British Rave sound, earning him over 70 million global streams.
The young talent has signed a string of house and disco signings to such revered indie and major labels as Edible, Insomniac, Toolroom, BMG and Warner, and the radio airwaves haven’t gone unaffected by the CHANEY bug either. His tunes been dropping thick and fast by Mistajam, Majestic, Sarah Story, and Danny Howard went one step further to collaborate with CHANEY on the ‘This Beat’ EP on Howard’s Nothing Else Matters label.
On the DJ front, CHANEY has been rocking festival and club crowds around the world at Ministry Of Sound, EDC Vegas, Studio 338, Academy LA, and Nocturnal Wonderland.
CHANEY’s star continues to rise with the release of new single ‘Always (Me & You)’ on in his return to London indie, Perfect Havoc. Characterised by euphoric hooks and roof-rattling beats, CHANEY has crafted yet another feel-good floor-filler. Stream / download the new single here: https://perfecthavoc.lnk.to/Alwaysmeandyou
Hi CHANEY, it’s great to be talking with you. Can you start by telling us about your music style, and some of your main influences?
I really listen to a lot of different styles of music and always discovering new music or old forgotten gems - there are so many. From disco through to soul, house, techno, hip hop, rock, pop; I really love it all and think you can hear it in my music.
Where are you currently living, and what’s your opinion on the local music scene?
I currently live in Swindon which doesn’t have a big music scene but conveniently situated close to Bristol and also London, where I spend time outside my home studio.
Talk us through your studio set-up, and if you prefer software or hardware equipment for making music?
Logic X is my DAW of choice. I’ve been working with it for years now and I think it’s great. I use Native Instrument’s Maschine as a big part of my workflow - mainly for drums and patterns. I’ve got a few weapons of choice also in my setup including my SH01A, Korg Prologue, TB03, and all of my guitars and bass. It’s not super packed with analogue gear and I don’t consider myself a proper analogue head - it’s more just having a few bits of equipment I’ve really learnt inside and out. I also use a lot of virtual instruments and plugins - but try and keep it within reason rather than having thousands of weird plugins you’ll never use. Limitation is a super power!
You have a new single out called “Always (Me & You)” on Perfect Havoc. It would be great to learn more about the track and the concept behind it?
It really all started with a vocal sample I chopped from an acapella - and the “Hey” sample you can hear throughout the song. This one really built up around a little pattern in Maschine and that vocal which felt really emotive. I actually built the verses/intro first and tried various different ideas of the “drop”. Months of going back and forth with production changes, I finally found a place where it sat.
You signed your first publishing deal aged 18. Talk us through how that came about.
I grew up playing drums, guitar and singing in bands when I was younger and after going solo to focus on myself as a singer/songwriter, I was picked up by the A&R at Warner Chappel who showed interest at one of my gigs. I was always into the production side of things and when I was around 15/16, I started to really experiment and grow as more of a producer as well as a songwriter. I actually signed my publishing deal just after my 16th birthday.
Do you think you’ve “coined” your sound now, or do you feel it’s still evolving?
It’s always evolving - just as my music taste is. I’m always learning too - even after 10 + years of producing - so even though there are times where I think I’ve really “coined” it, I always know I’m going to make something better. But there’s definitely a few gears to my sound, which you can hear throughout my music. I just try to keep things fresh and interesting rather than getting hellbent on sub-genres - it’s all about the feeling.
Your DJ supporters reads like a VIP guest list: Denis Sulta, The Blessed Madona, MK, Pete Tong to name a few. What does it mean to you to know that you have the support of such highly regarded artists?
It never fails to blow my mind when I receive that level of support from people I look up to in the scene.
What else is coming up in your schedule, any new releases or gigs you want to tell us about?
I have a big release scheduled this summer. I actually only said to my manager last week; all of the music coming out this year is really the kind of music I love and completely represents me, musically. I’m genuinely very excited to put out some of the music I’ve been working on over the past 6 months.
Thanks for your time, CHANEY. Is there anything you would like to add before we finish?
Thanks for having me! Watch out 2024!
CHANEY