You might not have heard about ALIGN yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Hailing from Chicago, the talented producer and DJ has been building an incredible career in the EDM landscape, penning tracks that hit hard, yet retain tons of melodious character and poignancy.
‘When You’re In My Head’ is the biggest evidence of that: a dreamy and lush banger, the record develops over an ethereal blanket of female vocal samples and brilliant textures. The result is a single that’s dance-inducing, uplifting and cathartic.
Anticipating an upcoming EP, ‘When You’re In My Head’ is deemed to be the last piece of the puzzle. Celebrated by a plethora of industry media and with a healthy list of TV syncs to his name, ALIGN seems rather unstoppable. Intrigued by the project, we caught up with the American creative to find out more about his artistry and future goals… Interview below!
Hey ALIGN, how is it going? we had a good time listening to your latest single ‘When You’re In My Head’. Dreamy and ethereal, yet punchy and dance-inducing. How proud are you of this record? 🙂
Thank you so much! My goal with this one was to blend something ambient and dreamy with something more dance-oriented. I loved how this one turned out and it’s definitely been one of my favorites to make. It took me somewhere else when I would listen back to it, so I’ve been extra excited to share it!
Your production skills are obviously excellent; can you shine a light on your writing and creative process? Do you usually work alone or with others?
I appreciate that. I often work alone, but I love collaborating with other producers and singers. I decided to work alone for these recent singles as well as this EP to write more chill music. I have multiple tracks coming up with other artists and singers for 2025, so I like to mix it up.
Now here’s a question for all the tech heads reading the article: What’s your production setup like? Do you work mainly in the box or with external hardware?
I often work in the box and use Ableton and lots of plugins. For this track, I recorded my guitar. I often use voice notes on my phone and take audio samples from places I travel and add those textures into tracks too.
Going back to ‘When You’re In My Head’ – your latest single. How does it relate to your activity as a DJ? Do you stick to the same genres and vibe, or would you define yourself as a more eclectic disc jockey?
I write a lot of really ambient music and I love making that style, but when I DJ I often play a lot of different genres. I always play my own music when I’m playing a show, and I blend in similar styles as well as things that I’m excited by at the time. My sets are starting to range more from my sound to a lot of other genres that are more uptempo and hit a little harder too.
Is there an artist that motivated you to pursue music? What are some of your biggest inspirations?
When I first started making music I was extremely influenced by artists like ODESZA and Bonobo. I love those 2 right now, but I’m always looking for new music and new styles that pop up on the airwaves. Sometimes the most inspiring sounds come from songs with low amounts of listens but are just generally cool ideas.
Your career has been flourishing for a few years, and deservedly so. If you had to give a piece of advice to a younger producer starting out now, what would that advice be?
Work hard! The more music you make, the more you’ll understand about yourself and your process. Things rarely happen overnight, so the best thing to do is put your head down, be a student of music, and keep pushing to achieve what you want. Nothing is going to fall into your lap without you putting in the effort.
Artistically speaking, what challenges have the last two years presented you with?
The world of music is always changing, which is what makes this an exciting thing to be involved in. I think my challenges have been deciding what I want to make and how I want to express my vision. Finding a sound is key, but then showing everyone what your music means and why you make it can be a difficult task. At the end of the day being genuine with style has been something I’ve learned to lean into, but it’s easy to be distracted by all of the exciting things happening.
What are the next steps for your project? Anything exciting on the horizon?
I’m releasing an EP this month! It has a lot of styles and ideas that I’ve wanted to share and I’m really excited for it. I’m opening on tour with Laszewo, and I’m also going to be playing EDC Orlando as well as Hijinx festival in Philadelphia. Next year I have a collab release with Big Gigantic and some upcoming singles that I’m really excited about.
