Saint Velez is a rising techno artist hailing from the vibrant streets of Brooklyn, New York. With a style that blends raw, energetic rhythms with cutting-edge production techniques, Saint Velez is quickly making a name for himself in the underground techno scene.

Drawing inspiration from the pulse of his city, Saint Velez infuses his tracks with a gritty, urban energy that's both personal and universal. His music is versatile and adaptable, ranging from hypnotic, deep grooves to driving, peak-time bangers.

With releases on respected labels such as Autektone, Gain, and De-konstrukt Records, Saint Velez is quickly gaining the attention of techno fans around the world. With his unique vision and dedication to pushing the boundaries of the genre, he's a name to watch in the years to come. He talks to SIX AM just after the release of his newest track on Modular States with a remix by Codex/IAMT label boss Spartaque.

Hi Saint Velez! Thanks for joining us. Just to get started tell us about your start with Codex and the IAMT team.

It was really an odd opportunity. I remember back in February my friend Crossbow hit me up told me that Spartaque was in the city and wanted to grab drinks. I haven’t heard from her in a while, so it was good to catch up with her, but Spartaque and I really hit it off! About a month later he sent out a post letting everyone know that he’s out to listen to demos. I wasn’t expecting him to take any of the tracks I sent…but he took all 3 and did a remix for one of them. Super appreciative not only for Rachel for the introduction but Spartaque for really honing in on these tracks, even to remix one of them.

 

Is there a deeper meaning behind any of your releases?

I always like to tie in something with every track. For Train Blitz: the working title was “L Train Blitz” and that was to pay a little bit more of an homage of my neighborhood. The L train in New York is like the main line for where all the parties are happening in Brooklyn. You can get on it and just see a bunch of partygoers from different areas and parties. It’s really like a staple of Brooklyn party scene because it’s such a staple in the nightlife here. I ended up taking the L out of it because it makes the entire name super wonky. For the better but that energy still captivates a good Friday night.

Foghead, my Codex Release, was more personal name. I have hashimotos disease which is an auto immune that messes up my brain and puts me in a bit of a fog. During the time I wrote those tracks I remember being in a fog for weeks because of it. I think it meant a lot more to me to include that as the name. I think every track I make, even if my musical direction is very all over the place, I think the names really tie into how I’m feeling during the completion of that song.

You mentioned previously that you tend to put a part of yourself in every track, does that always produce something youre happy with?

I’m never happy with my music. It’s never enough and it’s always a chore to be happy with the final product. It’s like trying to draw a face by memory. Here’s the thing, you start off with an idea or an emotion and you try to get as close to it as possible. If you’re going to be a perfectionist you will never release music, you’ll just always work on it. That’s the trap for a lot of these newer artists. There’s even a few I know that I want to strangle and be like “it’s fine! Shop it out.”

 

What are some of the others challenges in your music career that you think would help newer artists?

I think it needs to be emphasized on how brutal the grind is. It’s a painfully slow growth in some cases, including mine. We do this out of love but there’s no one out there who doesn’t want to turn this into a successful career; drop their office jobs and focus on becoming full-time musicians. I think I’m at a very safe and great place, especially with this latest release but this is also something I’ve been grinding away at for about 12 years, way before moving to Brooklyn. I think things started to come together in 2019 when I got mixmag lab, but I started djing back in 2011.

Just stick to it. I swear it’s worth it. you must make the most out of the process as well. You’re going to be deterred by social media, you’re going to make dumb mistakes, you’re going to look stupid. I’m telling you as long as you’re not this asshole no one can stand and you constantly challenge yourself to do better and then learning, it will pay off. There’s no how to step by step on becoming a successful artists but there is a chemistry to it. You just need to figure out what works for you.

If there was one “must do” for inspiring artists right now what would that be?

A simplest answer that’s been helping me is to be Mr. easy going. I got this advice from one of my closest friends and it’s pretty much mean that people are going to enjoy working with you if you. Pre-Madonna’s but a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. This is also a fine line between being respected and easy going and being walked over. I’m not saying let promoters and the business roll on you, but I will say that there’s no point on putting a bad taste in a colleagues mouth when there’s no need.

Besides that, I would also say if you haven’t made music yet, go ahead and make something bad tonight. I’m also saying you don’t have to use Ableton. Everyone uses Ableton and it’s a good start but if it’s not something you’re turning out music, at least a track a week there are always options. You should always have your preferred DAW. I don’t use Ableton, I’m a reason guy because it just works better for me.

Thanks so much for talking to SIX AM. Now with these latest releases out of the way, what does Saint Velez Sound like these days?

Haha, I think it’s a very interesting question because as I say this, I still have a lot of unreleased music that aligns which the stuff I’ve been releasing. I have some cool projects I want to get out. I also want to start exploring some slower techno. I think the techno world fell into a rut where we thought the harder and faster a song is the better, but you lose that danceability. I remember going to a set and it was around 132 bpm and I was like “Wait this is really good” I definitely want to bring the bpm back down and start exploring new ways of making innovative and fun techno. I have an idea but not something to a tee.

Connect with Saint Velez: SoundCloud | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram