Southern California-based producer and DJ Nico Hartt brings a distinct edge to the electronic scene, blending his punk rock background with the high-intensity sounds of hard trance, techno, and hard dance. As the president of Trancension and host of Bloodline Radio, Nico is carving out space for aggressive, synth-driven music while building community around it. Nico talks to 6AM about his transition from punk to electronic, his passion for sound design, how horror films influence his aesthetic, and his vision for the future of Trancension.

 

Hi Nico! Thanks for taking the time to talk to 6AM how are you?

I’m doing excellent, thank you! Hope everyone at 6AM are well.

 

You’ve gone from playing guitar in punk bands to producing heavy, high-energy electronic music. What was the moment that pushed you toward electronic production, and how do you think your punk roots still show up in your sets or tracks?

I was pretty big into punk rock and electronic music in highschool. In my early twenties, I dabbled a bit with the electronic stuff but my primary focus was punk rock. I had actually moved out from Cleveland to San Diego in pursuit of getting a band going out here and during the move across the country, all of my guitars were stolen. I was in SD with little possessions. My clothes, computer and old video games. I was heartbroken about my guitars but I needed to do something with music so I took to the computer and started diving deeper into electronic music. I didn’t have a desk for a little while. Just my iMac on the floor. It was devastating at the time but one of those blessings in disguise. It launched me on my current path and so many of my closest friends were made along the way and I’m extremely grateful for where I currently am and those close to me.  

I’ve always been drawn to edgy sounds and fast paces. Hard trance and techno have that. Both of those you can get away with not having the most solid or “professional” sounding production. If the energy is there, it’s there. A lot of punk is like that. Pretty raw recordings but it didn’t matter. You could feel what the band was throwing out.

 

You have a deep interest in synthesis and building your own sounds. What’s your approach when sitting down to design something new? Are there go-to tools or techniques you find yourself returning to?

It varies on the session. If I’m currently working on a project I may be writing a specific synth part so I have a general direction I’m heading and get the rough idea and then keep fiddling with things until it’s sitting right. Some days I sit down just to play around with the synths and make some patches with no real end in mind. Most of my favorite sounds have been 50% direction 50% accident! There’s a lot of times where things just don’t make the cut to get saved but I could stay occupied just endlessly turning knobs and sliders for hours and seeing what’s gonna happen. 

I pretty much use the same tools. I use Spire mostly, a little bit of Serum and a few others I’ll open up just for some random fiddling. There’s a few new soft synths I want to check out, especially the Artuia Jup-8000. I feel I have a general same direction I steer in for certain sounds but I usually try new variants in some steps or plugins.

 

You’ve cited old horror films as an influence—how does that show up in your music or visual branding? Any specific soundtracks or directors that stuck with you creatively?

I’ve just always been a huge fan of classic horror, especially the 80s. The artwork was phenomenal as well for the movie posters back then. The Exorcist theme is beautiful. I’m really drawn to dark piano pieces. There’s so many great themes from the old stuff. I’d like to bring some of that darkness and tension into my music more. My track Drowning I think does a decent job at that. I’ve even tossed some old audio clips in that one! I’m pretty big on slashers and obsessed with werewolf lore. American Werewolf in London is one of my all time favorites. During the pandemic when I was streaming on Twitch a lot, I integrated old horror references and clips into my streams and was nicknamed the Werewolf among some of my close friends and that kind of stuck. I have werewolf references in a lot of stuff I work on and my podcast “Bloodline Radio” was named with that in mind. 

 

You’re currently the president of Trancesnsion, a So-Cal based entertainment collective focused in Trance music. What motivated you to take on this leadership role, and how do you envision Trancension evolving in the coming years?

It just kind of fell into place. A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of Trancension years ago where I met founder Jonathan Lestat and eventually a few of the guys started giving him a hand. Lockdown came and we started a Twitch channel helping to keep us connected and after things opened back up we decided to try and expand and grow our events. A few years ago Jon had decided for a new chapter and passed the reins down to me and the other guys involved.

I feel we’ve grown a lot already. We currently host a monthly Trance night that will be hosted at Spin nightclub, which is where we throw our Lucent events which are a larger scale Trance event. We have a couple boat parties coming this year and a new monthly event coming in June, Torque, which will be a bit more experimental in our programming. I’m really excited to see where that avenue leads to and see how creative we can get with that. 

Also coming this year we will be launching our record label and will have a couple podcasts featuring guest mixes from various DJs. Driftwave, which is trance focused, will have our first mix in June and another coming later this year for other styles. 

We’ve seen some great growth in our community here in the past year. Lots of new faces joining us and it’s really heartwarming to see people coming together in a space where they can freely be themselves. It’s a really loving family we are building here and I couldn’t be more grateful for everyone that comes out as well as our Trancension team. They do a great deal of work and Trancension wouldn’t be anywhere what it is without them.

 

You launched a podcast “Bloodline Radio” which showcases a blend of trance, techno, and hard dance. How do you select tracks for the show, and what do you aim to convey to your listeners through each episode?

Each episode is pretty simple. It’s just my favorite of the new releases since the last episode. Sometimes an older tune will sneak in there but it will be a new to me tune. To me, it’s the same concept of sharing playlists and favorite tunes with friends. This month, this is what’s new and  really sticking out to me, maybe you’ll like it too! Sometimes a DJ just needs to simply share their favorite songs. It’s a cycle of us all helping each other discover new music. 

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to our audience. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you so much for having me! I appreciate the opportunity to share and appreciate those who check this out!I’d just like to say BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER!! Much love!

 

Connect with Nico Hartt: SOUNDCLOUD | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK