#liam walds

Like last year, I’ve put together a compendium of the work I did as a musician, songwriter, and producer cleverly(?)-named Liam Walds. As a Jukebox contributor and aspiring industry hack (and bad Twitter joke maker), I’ve always felt uncertain of how to market the music I make. I fear becoming one of those bots who never stops with the relentless #promo, but at the same time I want people to hear the things I’ve spent so much time on. So here they are, in order of release: my remixes and original work from 2015. Links provided; do give them a listen if you are inclined :) :) :) :) :)

Disclosure ft. Sam Smith – “Latch (Liam Walds Remix)”: The original’s slow crawl to radio ubiquity gave me plenty of time to consider how to rework it (I knew I wanted to try removing the triplet meter). When I first started this, I was thinking tropical house (hence the opening marimbas); then I diverted into hyper-sized slow trance.

Cash Cash ft. Bebe Rexha – “Take Me Home (Liam Walds Remix)”: This one is full trance-pop, and potentially one of the rare times when what I envisioned in my head (that giant synth melody) was what I ended up producing. I really enjoy the pitchbending bassline in the breakdown chorus.

Liam Walds – Here EP: What was meant to be a teaser for a fall album became my sole solo release of 2015. But I’m not upset. I’ve got things to work on, but at the same time I’m very proud of this collection. I tried on EDM-pop with “Lift Me Up,” finally put together a solid, synth-gauze song in “Think of You,” explored lonely trip hop that delved into mental themes on “Away,” and made a trancey cover of a song that means a lot to me, Lorde’s “Ribs.” Around the time of making this, I recorded loads of vocals for other songs. And now they sit, urging me to either finish the songs or rework them again. It’s not a presentable product, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. I won’t disown Here, hell no. It’s just the beginning, though.

Yelle – “S’éteint le soleil (Liam Walds Remix)”: After a break from remixing, I launched into this one in an effort to merge the sound I aim for in my original work (wistful electropop) with my remixes, which have always been more genre-hopping. “S’éteint le soleil” remains one of my favorite Yelle songs, so I enjoyed massaging its anthemic sound into something more melancholic.

Demi Lovato – “Cool For the Summer (Liam Walds Remix)”: Definitely the hardest hitting remix I’ve ever made. I’ve always struggled with how to get my club tracks to boom as much as the pros’. Answer: start with a MASSIVE kick. The mixdown, of course, was a huge struggle, but the end result was a heavy electro rework of this fantastic song that retained some nice dynamics and a synth rock breakdown.

Lana Del Rey – “High By the Beach (Liam Walds Remix)”: Dubstep and Lana. It’s like Lay’s, I can’t have just one! I was very proud of this bootleg remix, especially since it had been gaining heavy traction on YouTube, but on there and SoundCloud it’s been blocked due to Fair Use-circumventing bullshit. I’ve snuck it on an alternative site, and it’s available for listening and download. Grab your copy now before it gets shut down again.

NŌVA  – “More (Liam Walds Remix)”: A special and exciting case: this up-and-comer out of Montreal asked me to remix her debut single. It was yet another example of all the wonderful opportunities that my “Video Games” remix has opened up for me. Because it was a rare, not-unsolicited remix, I put my all into this, from the Porter Robinson-esque electro blasts to the final mixing/mastering, which took insanely long for me to do. It’s one of my best remixes ever. The original is pretty neat, too.

So this cool Montreal artist named NŌVA asked me to remix her debut single “More” (that’s never happened before like whaaaat) and so I did and now you can hear it too.