Today we’d like to introduce you to Tristan Manuel.
Tristan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started producing music when I was 8 years old. I had a copy of GarageBand that came with my family’s iMac computer, which I used to mess around with loops and other features. My family is extremely musical, with all three children being classically trained (myself being violin) and both of my parents being accomplished musicians. While I was very young, I was already starting to get into dance music, but it was not until 2012, when I heard AVICII’s 2012 Ultra Music Festival set on my friends’ iPod, that I knew I wanted to make and play electronic music. When I was in my freshman year of high school at Milton Academy, I started making remixes of popular artists after years of learning and practicing the craft. My remixes were receiving good feedback from my friends and roommates, so I decided I should start releasing my own music. This lead to my creating of the stage name, “OVYD” (a stylized version of the name of the Roman Poet). After putting my first few remixes on Soundcloud, I saw no real results. I maybe got 500 plays on each track. However, I kept working at the craft, and by junior year I had a solid grasp of producing, audio engineering, synth design, and had an ear for what sounded good. With this, I started releasing my own music.
I started to work much longer and harder on each song, which meant it took much longer to release. I continued to release songs with increasing success. However, in the winter of my junior year, I took the vocal sample of Michael Jackson’s “PYT (Pretty Young Thing)” and wrote a track around the song. The song became mildly popular in the coming year, reaching 100,000 listeners on Soundcloud and 10,000 listeners on Spotify. However, the summer before I went to college, while I was working, I receive notifications on phone by my friend to check Spotify. I went onto my Spotify page, and saw the song had gotten 200,000 streams in the last 2 days. I did some further research, and found that some popular DJs had played the song at electronic music festivals over the past weekend. I was elated, yet was still confused on what this all meant. I waited 2 more days, and the song reached 500,000 plays. I then realized the song had become the Spotify #1 most viral song in 26 different countries (including the USA) and globally. You can see here: https://spotifycharts.com/viral/global/daily/2017-08-13
I then started getting emails from Universal Records, Warner records, and other independent label representatives, asking if I had licensed the sample correctly so they could offer me a release. However, before I could figure out how to get the license for the sample, I got contacted by my digital distributor telling me that I needed to remove the track. I worked around the clock trying to get the song licensed, hiring lawyers and working with licensing representatives. However, the Jackson samples are notoriously hard to get cleared, meaning without the help of a top level label, I was not going to get the sample through. I am still working on it, yet right now, it is not looking like it will get back any time soon.
In the meantime, I have been working hard, and will be releasing 5 tracks this summer (some on some major labels) that I am hoping will reach the same success. I am currently a freshman at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. I am balancing being on the football team, keeping my grades up, and building my music career. Finding time to work is tough. However, I think these releases this summer will be big breakthrough.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Definitely time management has been hard. I don’t have the same time availability as a lot of producers. I am an Economics major at Bowdoin as well as a football player. Thus, I am really only able to work in my limited free time. I want to make it through school with my degree before I produce free time (if I even decide to). However, I love the stress to be honest. If I’m not busy all the time, I won’t be pressured to work as hard. Also, I work my best in short bursts. I have pulled a lot of all-nighters when I’ve had some really solid ideas. This has really become a bigger issue when I started to spend a lot more time on every song. In the beginning, when you just produce for fun, each song takes about 10 minutes. Now, every song takes 5 months.
OVYD – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am most proud of my releases on big labels this summer. While “I Want to Love You” was my most popular songs, I wrote every part of these new ones, including the lyrics and chords.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success as having other people appreciate my music. All I want to do is make music that people like, and have as many people as possible listen to what I create. There is no better feeling in the world than that.
Pricing:
- $200 PARTY/WEDDING/CLUB DJ
Contact Info:
- Address: 64 West St, Beverly, MA 01915
- Website: https://soundcloud.com/ovyd
- Phone: 978-500-9259
- Email: ovydofficial@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ovydofficial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ovydmusic/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/OvydOfficial
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
