Following the release of his latest collaboration with Kaskade, CID talks about growing up in NY, his upcoming European tour with Galantis, and his first love–music.
During last weekend’s Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival in Las Vegas, NV, we had the chance to sit down and talk with Grammy Award Winning DJ/Producer CID before his set. We spoke about his inspirations, successes, and upcoming events, as well as a few random thoughts. Incredibly talented and humble, it was an honor to talk with him and we wanted to fill you in on our Q&A with the coveted artist.
WOTN: Did you just come in for today?
C: Yup, just got in this morning. Kind of tired, but nothing a Red Bull can’t fix.
WOTN: Currently on tour, what part of your tour are you now looking forward to the most?
C: I’m doing a supporting tour with Galantis in Europe in October. I haven’t really played much in Europe, so I’m really looking forward to that. It’s always exciting playing in new cities.
WOTN: What were your musical inspirations back in the day?
C: Well, when I’d go down to the record store when I was young I didn’t really know what I was looking for. It was more of an experience thing. There was this guy, this dude was from Trinidad and it was interesting because I was definitely the youngest person in there and he would just play me a bunch of stuff. He’d be like “What do you think of this, how do you like it?” and I’d give him my opinion and then he’d play me another one and ask me again. He’d show me like a whole ton of stuff, and I’d leave with like one or two records a week. So that kind of is what really taught me about taste and what was good or what wasn’t I guess and getting to listen to all types of genres of dance music.
WOTN: When you were younger what did you see yourself getting into? Was it music?
C: Yeah, always music, yeah. My dad had a banquet hall in New York and he’d had the same DJ play every weekend. I was just always fascinated with watching what he did, and he was kind of like a family friend as well so he’d tell me “Here, play this next song, I’m going to go dance with this girl so you just put this thing up and you press this button” and I’d be like alright and so that was kind of the start to my career really.
WOTN: You now have a track out with Kaskade. What’s it like working with Kaskade?
C: I mean, I owe everything to him for what he’s done for me over the last year. We got linked up just over email because he had been playing some of my music already and he was like “Man, I love your music. Keep sending me more” and he heard a few other things that I had done and was like “You know I really want to help you” and got me signed up with his manager and just went from there. After that we made “Us”, that’s on his album. And the same thing with “Sweet Memories” he was like “lets do this” because I had this little idea with some vocals and he just thought “Man, this could be awesome”.
WOTN: Where were you before this?
C: I was in New York, actually. I played a show with Kaskade, he played an awesome set and then I stayed until 5 and my flight was at 9:30 this morning I think?
WOTN: What was the craziest thing you did this summer? It doesn’t have to be career related.
C: Hmm… Well, I spent a month in Europe so that was pretty cool, but I don’t think I did anything really too crazy I guess.
WOTN: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. I’m looking forward to your set, man and good luck with the rest of the tour!
C: Thank you, thank you. Yeah, it was my pleasure and if you have any more questions you know how to get ahold of me.
CID performed on the Troubadour Stage on Sunday of the festival, and absolutely electrified the crowd. Everyone was moving and grooving, shuffling and hustling, I mean really getting down and dirty with his entire set. We look forward to many more performances and new tracks from the rising star, especially with the piqued interest from iconic figures in the electronic music scene such as Kaskade, Galantis, Cedric Gervais and Duke Dumont. Make sure to check out his music if you haven’t yet done so below!
CID:
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