World Of Caellus
Okay! Well…if anything, I can personally say that I learned a TON from this interview! The mind behind World Of Caellus is an extremely unique one…and even though I thought I knew a bit about this project and the upcoming album Genesis – I know now that I still had way, way more to learn. And I got that chance to do so through this interview…and I succeeded! The results of course aren’t just a victory for me, but for us all – there’s a ton of great ideas explained and great perspective here from World Of Caellus…you’ll fully dig this interview – check it out!
World Of Caellus Interview
SBS: Hello and welcome World Of Caellus! Stoked to have you on our pages here and thanks for sharing some time with us – much appreciated! I’ve taken some time to research you, listen to the music and find out what you’re all about…but before I give too much of my own impression away, let’s get your own impression and ideas of what World Of Caellus is all about. What separates you from the rest of the Trance music out there and how does the WOC go about creating something unique we’ve never heard before…what makes the project special and different from the rest of what’s going on out there?
WOC: Heey! Thanks for having me! When it comes to music I think it’s best for the listeners to figure out what makes us unique, we do our best to deliver beautiful music to their heads, but the last say belong to the fans. But, World of Caellus as a whole promises the listener a whole new experience, different from what other music labels out there.
WOC is a music outlet, it’s also a fantasy/sci-fi story and it’s also an art showcasing company. In July 11th the first chapter of the story will be revealed, counting with five exclusive illustrations from LEMA (Venezuela) and Aituar Manas (Kazakhstan), on top of that our first album will be released with Trance music that feel like classics, but brand new, spoiling those fans of the old days of this beautiful genre.
From there, every one to two months a new chapter will be published, of course without illustrations as those are exclusive to a music album being released, but it will make your imagination fly!
SBS: Now obviously in the electro-genre, Trance-music has been a staple of the scene for years. I’m assuming that all-kinds of electro have probably been appealing to try to make and create over the years as you refined your skillsets…so what made Trance the official genre? Was there something about this style of music that made you want to create it, or was there something that you thought the genre needed that you could bring to it…or just in general, what made you take on a Trance-style as opposed to any of the other electro-genres…why was it more appealing than the rest?
WOC: It’s funny that I get asked the same question every time, but now that I think deeply. *Sighs* I was exposed to Electronic Dance Music since I was little, I remember as kid dancing to 2 Unlimited, Billie Ray Martin and Culture Beat, now that was some great House music. Then Trance came along in my teenager years and I was instantly hooked. I think most people would say that the song that got them into Trance was “Children” by Robert Miles, it did for me a least, I remember watching this chick I liked so much dancing to it like a goddess, her moves plus that hypnotic sound… I never had a chance at escaping that sound.
By then I never thought about making music, I lived in a third world country and buying hardware was just not possible for my parents. I wanted to be a computer engineer I remember, but things didn’t work out and after doing service for my country (Colombia), I moved to USA and here I was exposed to even more Trance music, even though it was never popular here.
Then I’ve come across this videogame for Playstation, “MTV Music Generator” and I did music with it for a while, creating sounds from scratch, not with the pre-made melodies it already had, and I thought I was making pro music haha, and I showed them to my friends and my family and they didn’t bother to listen, why would they? They were cartoonish sounds, nothing like what you hear in professional music releases.
Then four years later, I met Dj Eco in a Trance forum. I showed him my stuff and he told me about “Fruity Loops”, it was amazing finding out that there was software that allowed you to create music at higher levels, and I just started making music every day, and Trance was the music of choice because it was melodic and I’ve always been great at making melodies.
SBS: Exciting times for World of Caellus is it not? You’ve got a brand-new album Caellus & Camulus Genesis coming out on July 11th of this year…a seriously wild electro-ride through fifteen brand-new songs – you’ve gotta be stoked right now! It’s like, a week away at this point! That is usually an incredible time in any artist or band’s life, so I’d imagine things are going great right now…tell me about this combination of talent between both Caellus & Camulus – what made it work so well together? How does each person complement the other when it comes to what they add into a song – are the roles for what you do or how you approach the writing of the music defined ones?
WOC: Haha, well the first thing you gotta know is that Caellus & Camulus is not a duo. It’s just me. The reason I adopted two names as my alias, is because they are two of the main characters of my story “World of Caellus”. It was only natural to assume a character name if I was going to fuse music with storytelling. It also portrays my two takes at music, which are upbeat, emotional and positive or melancholic, dramatic and dark.
SBS: How about when it comes to the ‘workload’ in general. Of course we know that making music isn’t really something we consider to be ‘work’ of any kind…even as hard as it gets, it’s still hopefully fun and something you want to do – but when it comes to how the writing went for Genesis…when it comes to how much Caellus or how much Camulus was on a track…were there any kind of guidelines? Did you both have to be a part of it for it to make the album – or if one of you had a finished track that was ready to go…would that have still been considered? Do you work alone as well, or always together?
WOC: In split personality mode, Caellus and Camulus do the same amount of work, the album has a combination of emotions that could only come by two entities, it’s just both of them constantly flow within me to express all types of feelings and emotions (I was joking about the personality disorder).
SBS: One thing I had noticed when I was listening to the advance copy of Genesis…was that with the exception of the intro-track, every single one of these songs has ‘(Original Mix)’ right beside the title. So that suggests a couple things to me…and I don’t think it has anything to do with you simply wanting music journalists to type longer when they write reviews on your music; I have a feeling it’s much more of an indication of future-plans for the World Of Caellus…like maybe there are a bunch of remixes out there planned for a second release? It’s not entirely uncommon for the electro-genre, or any other to be truthful, to make multiple versions and variations along the way…and all these ‘(Original Mix)’ brackets & labels are making me think you’ve got a lot more in-store for these songs still beyond the life of Genesis. I could be wrong…but you tell us what’s up with the ‘(Original Mixes)’ – is that an indication that there will be remixes or more singles coming to support the new record further down the road?
WOC: Yes indeed, most of the tracks in the album will be released as singles with remixes.
Such as “Dei Milites” coming out in July 25th on Beatport.com exclusively, it has been remixed by Nathan Red (Ireland) and Sacred 7 (Sweden).
Then a month after that “Ethereal Beings” with remixes by Danny Legatto (Poland), Dr. Clarke (France) and Synfonic (USA), and a month after that “Yahweh & Adonai Clans” which was remixed by 9eek (Japan), Sebastian Montano (Colombia) and Solewaas (Algeria). The list goes on but trust me when I tell you that each and every one of them will rock your world. 😉
SBS: I suppose I should ask as well…because let’s face it…you’re still new as of last year and I want to make sure I’ve got this all sorted out personally, and for the people out there as well. There’s Caellus, Camulus…and there’s also an Akoni listed in the members. At first I thought it was maybe a last name…but maybe there’s actually three of you? The bio even mentions how you’re looking for a ‘triangle of different type of artists’ – and of course, a triangle has three-points/sides and not just two. So clear that up if you can…I suppose especially in regards to the new record with it just being labeled with Caellus & Camulus…is it just the two of you, or are there more talented artists on here as well to complete that triangle? And taking all this a step further…how is it that the label itself becomes the World Of Caellus and not the World Of Camulus – know what I mean? It kinda suggests one is playing a much more intense role in the music, production and career of it all than the other is, doesn’t it?
WOC: Akoni is another character from the story, a very powerful “Dei Milite” (Celestial Warrior). A few months ago I discussed with an artist about the possibility of adopting that name, we are working together in some music for my second album, but he is still undecided on whether taking on a new alias is a good move for him now. So that name is vacant as well as others such as “Jazz”, “Bran Sha Holls” and “Kaden Telum” to name just a few. I can’t say anything about Caellus and Camulus other than to read the story to find out. J
SBS: Give us a highlight or two from the recording sessions of Genesis! Somewhere along the way, there had to be some new, exciting breakthroughs or just general good-times…what memories will you take away from making this album and what did you learn throughout the process that will help you next time around when you go to record the next record?
WOC: The main highlight is that the album only took six weeks from conceptual arrangement to finishing all fifteen tracks. This album is a milestone for me because I’ve always wanted to compose one and I kept self-sabotaging for the most trivial reasons, not enough money, not inspired enough, too many problems, were some of the excuses I had to never go for it. I produced Trance non-stop as “Der Mystik”, putting singles that I’m proud of as well as remixes, but I never did the album. Then I quit music in 2013 to fulfill another dream, which was to form a family, I fell in love and did my best, but it didn’t work out at the end. So after the grieving and feeling sorry for myself for an entire year, I wanted to find something that made me happy, to fill the hole, and well, there is nothing else that makes me happier than making music, so I said “I wanna do this again, but this time I’ll do everything I didn’t do.”, and “World of Caellus” was created, the story was written and the whole idea of fusing music, with literature and art was also born.
SBS: You’re in the world of instrumentals as well as being a part of the electro-music scene…so tell us about expression without words in music if you can. Are you able to express the emotions that we feel inside without having to add lyrics to music? Furthermore…when going this route, do you feel like you can get the full-ideas or concepts across without ever having said a word…or do they become like…half-expressions in a way…like we’re left to fill in the blanks with our own imaginations? I guess what I’m asking this time is whether or not you can say it all without saying a word when it comes to music…do you think that’s the case? Why/Why-not?
WOC: If there is any music genre that you can totally express feelings, emotions, thoughts and/or believes without words is Trance music. I can’t say the same for other EDM genres, but with Trance sure you can. In fact, I will give you ten track titles to listen to, and if you don’t feel anything after listening to them fully, with no rush, with your eyes closed and the volume up, then you can come to me and tell me I’m a bullshitter.
- Airbase – Escape (Der Mystik Final Chapter)
- Rank 1 – 7 instead of 8 (Original Mix)
- Gaia – Tuvan (Andy Blueman Remix)
- Insigma – Open Your Eyes (Alex M.O.R.P.H Remix)
- Solarstone & Sirocco – Destination (Original Mix)
- Angel Ace – Gate 4 (Hoyaa Remix)
- Emanuele Congeddu & Nicolas Marriott – Lands Of Arcadia (Original Mix)
- Dreamy – Scar (Original Mix)
- Der Mystik pres Caellus & Camulus – La’ Kreinto (Original Mix)
- Airwave – Light Years Away From Here (Original Mix)
SBS: You’ve come up with such extraordinary textures, atmospheres and sounds throughout Genesis. Where do you find all these sounds? What kind of equipment are you using and what inspires you? Let’s take a track I loved as an example…I thought “Elohim Race (Original Mix)” was a completely awesome journey in sound and a real highlight in just how many different ideas you incorporate into the music…tell us about how that track came together, what inspired it and what made it come to life!
WOC: Thank you very much for your kind words, it makes me really happy. I produce everything in my computer, I never studied music, I can’t play a single instrument, so everything you hear was put together click by click, and of course those ideas were born in my mind first. They were produced with my favorite two VST instruments, Sylenth1 by Lennar Digital and Nexus by reFX, and some sample libraries I bought at Beatport.com, my favorite library vendors are Fox Samples, Bluezone, Best Service and Black Octopus.
Elohim Race is the toughest (musically speaking) of the bunch, I layered multiple instances of Sylenth1 to create that fat bass and as a sub bass I looped an electro bass, cutting all its high frequencies and boosting its lows to the max. The bass is the main event so I created everything you hear in that track around it (except the vocals). It was pretty intense but really exciting to make. It had to represent the part of the story that talks about the Elohim as a race, a superior civilization in every way than humans which they genetically created, their ferocity, their power, the corruption among some of their clans and the benevolence of the majority of them.
SBS: Are there plans for you to get out on stage over the summer to support & spin Genesis live for the people – or have you got other plans and ideas in the works for the remainder of 2016? Once Genesis officially comes out – what’s the next move for the World Of Caellus?
WOC: At this moment I can’t gig nor I have the interest in pursuing that, maybe if the opportunity presents and if I see that it would not be an obstacle to fulfill my short term goals, which are to get ahead in the writing of my story and finishing my second album. After the singles, in around February or March, I’ll release Genesis “Retold”, all tracks of my album remixed again but this time into Bass music genres, Dubstep, Trap, Liquid DnB etc. I have seven confirmed artists remixing one of each track, combining fresh talent with old, such as Ohmaniac, Callum B (coming back for one last ride as that alias), Kritex, BliZard and Armage to name just a few.
SBS: Are there any expectations surrounding the upcoming release of Genesis as far as the results go? I definitely know what it can be like out there as far as listens, downloads and plays go…it can be tough to get the results you want even in the most stunning situations for any artist or band. If Genesis didn’t rack up a ton of downloads or plays etc. – would that discourage you or lead you to change directions in the future? In contrast…if it succeeds wildly and people can’t stop listening…will that add pressure to your recording sessions later on? How do you think the album will be received by the listening audience out there…what do you assume will connect people to this new record of yours?
WOC: It will not discourage me nor will it put pressure on me. Fans should treat “World of Caellus” as they would a book series. There are tons of music labels out there putting music that is on high demand now, music that pleases the masses. With WOC I want to tell a story, so the direction of our music and story won’t be affected by what fans want from us. It’s not arrogance, it’s a vision, I want to offer something completely different and I cannot do that, if I let the outside world to influence in the direction I want this ride to take.
For instance, this started with Trance music, but I won’t release Trance music only. We are interested in melodic Bass music, Orchestral, Downtempo, Progressive House and Epic Electro.
I’m sure there are people who will love our concept even if there are only a few tens. I’m doing this because it makes me happy, because it fills my hole; everything else is a bonus, if we are successful to the point of making a living off it that’d be great, because it will allow us to give even more to our fans and the world.
SBS: Alright my friends…thank you so much once again for your time! As always, I want to leave you with the ability to say anything else at all that you’d like to at the end of this interview in the ‘SBS Open-Floor’ where you’ve got the freedom to mention anything else at all that you’d like to that we didn’t get to bring up in this interview, or anything else on your mind that you want to say to the people! All the best to you my friends – and best of luck with the official release of Genesis! Thanks again!
WOC: Thank you! Be grateful, be kind, be honest, be positive, and be perseverant. Don’t let others put you down, but do it with class and integrity. Love like this is your last day; tell someone how great he or she is because tomorrow it might be too late. Special thanks to my family, friends, the people that helped “World of Caellus” become a reality, you know who you are, and last, I want to leave you with this awesome quote.
“The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions—the little soon-forgotten charities of a kiss, a smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment in the disguise of a playful raillery, and the countless other infinitesimal of pleasurable thought and genial feeling.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Find out more about World Of Caellus at the official links below!
Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/label/world-of-caellus/55585
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/genesis/id1122692393
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/038ijQww834ZwN8hJrEezs
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