Hailing from Canada Conor Patton aka Conro is an accomplished musician and singer, songwriter with a vast array of musical experience outside of the electronic scene. In 2012 he began experimenting with the concept of electronic music and since then has released tracks on numerous labels such as Revealed, Armada and Dyro’s imprint WOLV. He utilized his traditional musical background and began to harness it into developing something unique within the industry.
With a sound that many describe as future bass meets electronic, Conro holds his place in the industry with musical integrity and humility and a strong desire to continue to push the envelope with his art. With a slew of successful releases including ‘City Lights’, ‘On My Way Up’ and ‘I Wanna Know’ under his belt and much more in the pipeline Conro is a name you’re going to hear a lot more from.
Signed to the boutique Dutch firm Sorted Management who also manages the career of Hardwell it’s safe to say the Canadian is in good company. In recent years Conro has had a strong affiliation with the Monstercat family and has released a number of tracks under their imprint. Most recently Conro has developed links with Martin Garrix’s new label STMPD RCRDS and has released a track in collaboration with Disero and Alice France entitled ‘Like You Love Me’.
Ahead of the release of his debut EP ‘Connecting the Dots’ One EDM caught up with the young Canadian shortly after his set at the popular Ushuaia Beach Club in Ibiza where he was providing support for Martin Garrix’s weekly residency.
Considering your diverse musical background what made you decide to focus on electronic music?
“I don’t know that I chose it; I think music evolves with technology and I had been doing a lot of folk music which I still have a really big passion for and listen to all the time. That evolved a bit into doing more singer/songwriter stuff with bands which I still really love. Then I remember when guys like Skrillex popped up and I thought that it was incredible that this one guy gets to create all this music and it was very interesting to me. I was never that big into techno or trance but I was really intrigued. I was still doing the band stuff with electronic music on the side but it was a hard decision to focus on the electronic music and Conro. It was influenced by other artists that made me think I could do that too”.
How did you develop your production skills?
“The transition in moving from instruments to electronic is not too difficult when you have a musical background, the difficult part is learning the program but it’s really just like learning another instrument. Once you’ve mastered the program your creative options are endless”.
Who/What do you take your musical influences from?
“I have many, I admire so many artists. I love Porter Robinson’s music but also Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Milky Chance and a lot of indie stuff too, it’s a broad spectrum. I also take influence from my environment and people around me”.
You recently had a track released on STMPD RCRDS- how did that partnership come about?
“When I moved to where I live now I met this guy in a bar and we started chatting about music. We went into the studio the next week, threw a few ideas around and thought we should collaborate on something and quite a while down the road we built this track. My manager and Martin’s manager play sport together and I think Mattijs (Conro’s manager) mentioned that I had this track and he thought it would be a good fit for the STMPD label. I was very privileged to be one of the first to have a release on the label because they have a lot of music that they want to get out. It’s a great opportunity and I think the track is doing well. We’re already talking about doing some more stuff”.
You released a new track ‘Close’ on the Monstercat label recently. Tell us a bit about the track.
“I wrote the song in 2016, it’s a part of my EP which is coming out on 9th August. The track is kind of along the lines of the stuff I did in early 2016. I put it aside waiting for the right opportunity and the right vocalist to work with. When I heard Rachel’s vocals that have such a nostalgic sounding lyric and melody I knew that I had the perfect track for her. We all thought the track was great and we thought we should put it out as a pre- order for the EP on Monstercat”.
When you were creating your EP ‘Connecting the Dots’ did you consider a theme for this collection of work?
“I wrote the tracks for the EP last year (2016) and I think it’s a compilation of my feelings and emotions from that year. I think the songs on there have my style and a positive feeling. I think 2016 was my best year for my music and it’s a representation of that”.
What tracks are you really enjoying playing out in your sets?
“I really love a track called ‘Love is Alive’ by Louis the Child. I really admire them as musicians, the music is so simple, easy to listen to and it’s not overly complicated. I did an edit on it to make the drop a little more energy for my sets and then I asked if I could do a remix of the track which I think will be coming out soon”.
You’ve played some big shows this year at EDC and Tomorrowland; describe how you feel playing big shows and smaller intimate shows like your recent mini tour in China?
“I think it’s all wonderful. The opportunity to stand in front of people and play your own music is a privilege. I get to live my dream and I’m so blessed even if I’m playing to 12 people or 12,000 it’s crazy. It has taken a lot of hard work to get here and the big stages can be very intimidating but I really love what I do”.
“The China tour was phenomenal, I didn’t really know what to expect because they don’t have a lot of the social platforms that other continents have so I wasn’t too sure about the response I would receive but the fans were just amazing, they were on another level”.
What are your plans for the remainder of the year?
“This year we’ve really been focused on working towards the release of the EP. We might be doing a support tour in the fall and maybe ADE. I have a bunch of tracks signed but we just have to decide and plan on the logistics of the releases. I’ve also been working on some collaborations and I’ve done a remix. I’m focusing on doing all my own vocals, instruments and all my own productions for tracks going forward which will be interesting to see what people think”.
Conro’s upcoming EP ‘Connecting the Dots’ is available to pre order now
https://itunes.apple.com/nl/album/connecting-the-dots-ep/id1255658593?l=en
Check out CONRO’s social places:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBAmURE9e3lrrTyd29szwXQ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conromusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/conromusic
