Image by: Hu Tran

Austrian musical prodigy and music producer Toby Romeo has been making his name known in the dance music scene with his latest single ‘Oh Lord’ with vocalist Deve. The track was released via Universal Music earlier this month and has also been accompanied by a funky and experimental lyric video that has received over 17 000 YouTube views since its release. The music producer continues to climb the music ladder, being under the wing of musical peer Felix Jaehn. This latest single ‘Oh Lord’ shares a sweet story of a boy calling out for help from the sky above, and finding solace in this process.

We chatted with this emerging music producer and found out some interesting facts about him.

STREAM/DOWNLOAD: TOBY ROMEO ‘OH LORD FT. DEVE’ [UNIVERSAL MUSIC] 

Tell us about your highlights for the year

There are a lot of highlights for me this year. The most special one is probably playing live again in general. I haven‘t played any shows in the last year and five months (probably just like anyone else), and it just feels so good to be back on stages. I‘ve got a lot of shows planned this summer, for example, Electric Love Festival in my hometown Salzburg, or Freshtival in Holland. Another highlight I‘m really looking forward to is releasing all the music I‘ve been working on in silence during this period. 

If you could paint a picture with of your sound, what would it look like?

I don‘t exactly know how it would look like. What I do know is, it would be different! A picture nobody has ever seen like that before. You’d probably get lost looking at it!

What are the 5 albums and artists that have influenced you the most?

There‘s a German singer/rapper called Cro, they are someone I am really looking up to! I‘ve been a big fan of his last three albums, they‘re so good! Simply loving the floatiness in his tunes. It‘s funny because it’s not dancing music at all, but that‘s actually the stuff I listen to in private.

On the dance music side, there‘s a lot of artists that inspire me! Of course, Martin Garrix was or still is one of my idols and probably together with Avicii the reason I‘m making dance music. He showed the world that anybody who‘s just putting in the effort and the heart can do it in this industry, no matter what age. I‘m also super inspired by The Chainsmokers, I simply love their live performances and also their writing & producing. Remixing one of their songs would be amazing! 

Swedish House Mafia of course was a big thing for me too! 

Next up of course would be Avicii. I’m in love with every single song of his ever since Levels. What’s inspiring me here is the melodies Tim came up with. They’re so special and you can easily tell if a song’s done by him by listening to the melodies. I’m also working with FL Studio which Avicii used for his productions as well.

What other artists do you really like at the moment and why?

I became a huge Kungs fan lately! I’m loving his music taste and the overall vibe of his songs! I’m a big fan of his new single ‘Never Going Home’! 

KREAM is also a duo I’m a big fan of! Love how they turn pop-ish toplines into some super smooth UK House tunes!

How did you get to your first gig ?

I remember there was that DJ competition called Rock The Island Contest here in Austria. I asked my mum if I was allowed to participate, but she said no because I was twelve years old back then. Guess what, I still did it haha. I had goals and a clear vision back then. So I drove down to Vienna for the final round where I had to showcase my skills to a jury (in the meanwhile I could convince my parents to go with me).

Tell us one interesting fact about yourself that no-one would expect.

When I participated in my first DJ competition, I had no clue what I was doing. I rented a pioneer DJ booth from a local company and taught myself DJing within 72 hours through YouTube tutorials.

What do you consider your biggest achievement so far?

Co-producing Felix Jaehn’s massive hit remix ‘Nea – Some Say (Felix Jaehn Remix)’ which ended up being streamed over 275 000 000 times on Spotify and went Gold & Platinum in several countries.

Famous last words?

They told me I couldn’t do it, so I did it.

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