With over a decade of experience under his belt, Greg Kantor is a veteran producer by every definition of the word and his innovative mashups under the profile 5 & A Dime even pre-date the earliest remnants of the EDM scene. “To give you some perspective of how it [the music scene] has changed, back in 2009 the EDM scene wasn’t really known as an “EDM” scene, it was more just “electronic” music, the whole term wasn’t even known mainstream wise,” Kantor shares about the earliest stages of his career as a producer.
Needless to say, the entire EDM culture has evolved and adapted a hundred times over since the beginnings of Kantor’s music career; and the same tastes and preferences that allowed 5 & A Dime to grow to the peak of its popularity have shifted in a new direction, demanding that artists adhere to the rapidly changing trends or risk being swept up in the chaos.
Observant of these changing trends, Kantor felt unsatisfied and uninspired by the repetition of creating the same style over and over, “When you release music for so long under a name there is a certain reflection that has been solidified. The music I have been releasing for the past couple years has not been what I would have made 2016 and prior,” he discloses regarding the motivations for a change of pace.
Adorning a fresh guise and a brand new vision for his music, Kantor will surely make a resounding impact on the scene. With a level of production and performance expertise that is rivaled by few, we expect nothing but great things for the new direction and are excited to see what 2019 has in store.
We were pleased to catch up with Greg directly to discuss some of the more specific motivations behind the transition, his insane talent atop a DDR pad, and a brief look at what the future will hold for Kantor.
There has been a remarkable change of pace in the EDM scene, including an immense amount of growth as a whole since you first started releasing mashups nearly 10 years ago. From your perspective, how was the electronic scene matured since your earlier days, and in what ways has it remained the same?
To give you some perspective of how it has changed, back in 2009 the EDM scene wasn’t really known as an “EDM” scene, it was more just “electronic” music scene, the whole term wasn’t even known mainstream wise. I would say the scene matured as a whole over the past decade; a larger demographic of both listeners and artists created an environment that stimulated exponential growth. With all of that in mind, the listeners had a larger catalog to dive into, and thus this created a lot of competition and a lot of “fluff” in regards to music production and music quality, respectively. The way it has stayed the same is the sense of community in my eyes. Obviously, there are exceptions, but all-in-all when you go to an electronic show, the majority of people who are there for the music/performer are all connected and treat each other kindly.
With a bulk of your career performing and producing under the moniker 5 & A Dime, what were some of the biggest motivations and contributing factors of your transition into the brand Kantor?
The biggest motivation for me was to create something fresh that reflects what I feel through my music. When you release music for so long under a name there is a certain reflection that has been solidified. The music I have been releasing for the past couple years has not been what I would have made 2016 and prior. So, now that I have created both music and a live performance that I believe is beyond what my previous moniker was putting out.
With only 3 tracks released so far under the guise of Kantor, there is much that has yet to be revealed for the new project. Is the ambiguity and mystery a component of your new profile, or are you simply planning your attack with time and precision?
It’s definitely the latter. I wanted to start off by releasing a small catalog to give a taste of what is to come for Kantor. In regards to what Kantor is about and personifies, there will be plenty of content to come in 2019 that will explain the whole vision.
Adopting a brand new direction after so many years working towards one vision seems like a daunting task. From a logistical standpoint, were there any pros/cons that you weighed prior to making the final decision to transition?
The largest con I had to contemplate was deleting or privatizing all of the past work and content I had on my main accounts. At the end of the day, I had to move on with the past and create a new beginning. The biggest pro was that I would have a clean slate for what my music and vision could be.
If you had to identify one KEY difference between your work as 5 & A Dime and your work as Kantor, what would it be?
The biggest difference is that 5 & A Dime’s music was originally based off of others and then once it became an all-original project the general feel of the music was at a certain maturity. Kantor’s music is a much more refined sound, both stylistically and engineering wise.
Walk us through the ideation and conceptualization of the ‘Live’ DDR mashup — how closely does it compare to performing your mashups live using solely Launch Pads and Ableton?
Well, the creation of the whole thing started in 2013. I told my close friend, Guy Dupont, about the idea and he believed we could accomplish the programming whenever I felt I was ready and had the appropriate music. As I refined my sound, I finally felt ready to bring my idea to light. It is a completely different experience than performing on a Launch Pad through Ableton. With a normal launchpad, you have the option to relax and just pick-and-choose whatever sample you want whenever you want, whereas with the DDR launchpad I created you have to understand how far away you are from certain “buttons” on the whole DDR platform. Sometimes it isn’t possible to jump across all 4 pads from one side to the other (specifically diagonally) so you have to really get to know what samples are whereas it’s a much more physically taxing experience than a normal launchpad. In regards to the experience on Ableton, it is also pretty different as in a normal mashup performance utilizes samples that are utilized in Ableton’s Session View and with the DDR launchpad, it is a combination of both Session View samples and separate drum pads programmed with original samples and content to create a song live.
Do you have anyone to thank for your supreme talent atop a DDR pad, or is this just a skill set you’ve always naturally possessed?
I was pretty good at it when I was young. At the age of 11/12, I was introduced to Dance Dance Revolution Max (6th Mix) on the boardwalks of Ocean City, NJ. From then I became obsessed and I bought a simple DDR mat pad and gradually went from Beginner/Basic to Expert/Oni (Challenge). After I got to that level I upgraded to a metal pad and got to the highest level in the game at the time. I was never good at most sports, but for whatever reason DDR came naturally to me.
You recently shared that “Anxiety and paranoia are a musicians worst enemy” via Twitter. Do you care to shed a bit more light on these struggles and the solutions you’ve entertained to overcome?
Most of the struggles of a musician are related to anxiety and paranoia. Especially in this current climate of constant improvement and everyone trying to keep up with each other both musically and popularity. All of my solutions are about to be released in 2019 so I don’t have much to worry about anymore thankfully. Persistence and patience are the two greatest things anyone can do when they are in the music industry.
What’s got you most excited about 2019?
All of the music and videos I have prepared! I have worked so hard this past year preparing everything and I can’t wait to show everyone!
