BiXX, from Birmingham, Alabama, has emerged as a distinguished trance producer and DJ. His track “Yes I Can” catapulted him into the spotlight, gaining acclaim on major trance stages for its uplifting melodies. His releases through labels like Nocturnal Knights, Outburst, and FSOE have cemented his status as a purveyor of deep, emotionally charged trance that captivates and energizes audiences globally.
His latest single, “Alignment” – a collab with Christopher Corrigan – is a top-tier mainroom trance anthem. It merges lofty melodies with dynamic energy and a monumental breakdown, embodying classic trance vibes with a sharp, contemporary twist.
Buy Here : www.beatport.com/release/alignment/4508850
How has this year been treating you?
Regarding my 4th quarter of 2023, to quote a famous opening paragraph from the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. Regarding the worst of times, I lost my father to covid in October of 2023 although he lived a very long and happy life. My father’s teachings are a huge part of my life and who I am today. In December, I unexpectedly developed a serious infection in my colon and had major surgery. It was like going to hell and back.
Also, during this time, I was experiencing what I call the worst the music industry has to offer because I lost track of my values and who I am. I started to venture down the wrong path to follow the wrong people.
Regarding the best of times, these kinds of circumstances allowed to reflect on what is important to me so I could rebuild into a better and stronger person and artist. With a clear vision of who I am and what I want to do. Which leads into the 1st part of 2024 in which I have gotten laser focused on a plan to finish and release my first album, plus several other creative projects.
Where do you think the impulse to create music comes from for you?
This is a great question and one that to be truly good at what you do, you have to understand your why. Why are you doing this? For me, my desire to create music comes from my desire to help people. To deliver inspirational messages through music. Plus, I have a very creative mind that constantly comes up with new ideas. I love the creative energy and the human connection that comes from working with someone or a team in person. I love being the facilitator.
I have been fortunate in my previous life as a leader and a businessman. So now I want to use music and my particular BiXX brand as a platform to help people figure out how to be their best self and get more out of life. To live their best life.
The other why for me is to create emotional uplifting music that acts as a trigger to turn on emotions. I personally need this to jump start my emotions. Like turning on and off an emotional switch.
How did your experience at Limelight in Atlanta influence your music style and production?
First of all, the Limelight back in its day, was one of the most incredible night clubs in the world. The ultimate fantasy world of multi-million dollar light shows, mimes, euro dance music, club layout and design. The euro dance music style was brand new for me. It took me on a journey from funk and pop dance music to a faster, more modern style of music I call Euro Dance music. The Euro Dance style of music was my gateway to melodic and uplifting trance music. It also showed me the value of high end production to create the ultimate dance party experience.
The electronic music landscape is constantly evolving. How do you stay innovative and relevant, and what changes in the scene have most influenced your recent work?
Being a DJ/producer is really no different than running a successful business. We are really an evolving body that continues to change, grow and improve while staying true to your core values and authenticity. And to continually innovate, you have to search for new and different stimulus. This would include staying up to date with new sample library sounds and VST plugins, spending long hours looking for different types of music on Youtube and working in the studio with other music producers and vocalists. I think the right kind of fan engagement is important. I sometimes get a great idea for a track from a fan.
I spend many hours listening to new music in the trance genre as well. Being in the studio with other producers and vocalists creates a strong collaborative vibe plus you learn from their skill set that is different than yours.
You have to step out and make the effort. Continually invest in yourself. Also keep taking master classes for continuous learning. The record labels will also give you feedback as to what style of music is selling. While we all need the feedback from the labels willing to give it (many will not), be careful not to lose your authenticity.
Recently the tech trance sub genre has made a very strong push. Personally, I find it very dry and without that melodic feel, but the bass lines, call and response sounds and hard energy is great to shock the crowd during an uplifting set. So I have done a few uplifting trance tech trance hybrid tracks called tech lifting.
Working with different vocalists is also a good way to keep your tracks fresh. Try to build a relationship with the vocalist first. I strongly feel through great relationships, the best work is created.
How do you see the trance genre evolving, and what role do you play in its future?
I have noticed a lot of new excellent younger trance music producers coming into the scene. They definitely raise the bar in terms of their production standards and quality of tracks. It is actually very exciting. There are too many trance DJ/producers for the amount of gigs available so there are not as many gig for newer DJ’s. The importance of branding and social media exposure continues to be more and more important to be relevant in the scene. I believe it is 30% production and 70% everything else with social media being a huge part of that.
I have noticed the style of uplifting trance is slowly becoming less popular. Although I do feel as long as we are human beings, we will continue to enjoy the right kind of uplifting music to trigger our emotions. The tracks that are template driven, cookie cutter, drag and drop tracks that are not very unique will continue to be less supported. I am also seeing less is more. Less music files in a track to give cleaner sounds with less depth. I see this a lot. I don’t necessarily agree with it. But it is a trend.
I don’t see my role in the industry changing. I will continue to focus on my goals and what makes me happy. I don’t want to work with people who I don’t have alignment with and especially don’t have proper ethics. Watch out for the sharks. I will also be very happy to help DJ/Producers with branding and strategy advice. My philosophy is help those who help themselves.
Which artists are currently exciting or inspiring you?
Keep in mind, my business background has taught me all about team building and the need for mentoring so there are many DJ’s that inspire and mentor me. Darren Porter, a genius musical producer and the label boss of Reason 2 Rise, has been the biggest influence on me. He took me under his wing by mentoring me and teaching me so much. Ram Boon, the owner of Nocturnal Knights Music has been that guy to give me a needed kick in the butt to keep innovating. Mark Sherry is a big part of my team with his mixing and mastering skills. He has also helped me with my new Tech Lifting style of trance. Other producers I will be working with in their studio very soon are Will Rees, Paul Skelton, Liam Melly and hopefully Robert Nickson. Alan Watts has also been a big help to me. One of the nicest guys in the trance scene. Last but not least, Raz Nitzan has helped me quite a bit especially with how to work with vocalists, proper mixing in vocal tracks and to successfully navigate the music scene.
The newer uplifting or lesser known trance producers on my radar that have impressed me are N-sKing, Lee Hanlon, Allan Berndtz and Miikka L. Steve Dekay has done a great job bridging the darker edgier sounds with uplifting trance.
Some lesser known or newer vocalists I am most impressed with are Jodie Poye, Ren Faye, That Girl, Lydia and Sharon Valerona. I love working with industry veterans Natalie Gioia and Sue Mclaren.
How has your work as an entrepreneur influenced your music career and vice versa?
My experience as an entrepreneur/business leader has had a huge impact on my music career. The experience has allowed me the ability to jump start my career at a much faster pace. Experience in the following areas has helped me:
-Branding, Brand DNA and Brand Strategy
-The importance of building the right team around you
-The power of collaboration and how to create an environment for optimal collaborative results
-The importance of win win value driven relationships and networking
-How to spot a Shark
-Having the wisdom and experience to understand what is most important. To look at the big picture
-The importance of goal setting
-And understand the most important thing is the journey, not the destination. A journey of constant learning and growth.
As a mentor, what key advice do you give to aspiring trance producers?
Many young producers just jump right in by start producing music with no thought to their branding. Your Brand is everything. That includes your DJ name. But first you must go through a Brand DNA process. This is a list of questions that help you discover what you are passionate about. What is your why? Why do you do this? To be famous or to be rich is not a proper why. It is so important to understand your why. Google The 5 Why’s. This is a great exercise.
Once you find your why and what is important to you, create your brand and your brand strategy. Your strategy will be what content you put out that forms people’s opinions and views of your brand. Just like a successful company. The most successful long lasting companies have the strongest brands and the best understanding how to keep the brand strong. As a DJ/Producer you are a brand and a company.
Read the short book Redesign by Sebastiaan Hooft. It is an easy and fun read, about 100 pages. He is a former tech entrepreneur who wrote this book about building a DJ brand and the importance of building a great team around you.
Know your strengths and weaknesses. Remember, you cannot do everything yourself. There is only so much time in the day. Time is finite. Additional resources are not. You can accomplish so much more with the help of a team. Choose team members wisely.
What should we expect from you for the rest of 2024?
I have my first album coming out on a top 10 trance label. The title is The Voice of Reason. It is not formally announced yet. Expected release date of the first track, early third quarter of 2024.
A general description is a musical journey of self discovery. Each dance track will contain a major inspirational message and meaning to help the listener. There is uplifting trance, tech trance and progressive house on the album, but mostly uplifting trance. I am still working on the final number of tracks, but it looks like 7 instrumentals and 5 vocal tracks, 3 will have acoustic versions.
Here are some examples of the track names and meanings: Appreciation (the importance of using the internal power we have to show appreciation), Sense of Urgency (have a sense of urgency today or a sense or regret tomorrow), Believe in Me (surround yourself with people who believe in you then one day you will believe in yourself), Your Time Will Come (never give up, keep working because if you don’t quit, Your Time Will Come) Beauty Within (external beauty fades but internal beauty never dies), and Moment of Truth (that moment in your life where you have to make one of the biggest decisions of your life. (Will you be prepared? What does that moment sound like?).
I will also be making a few trips to Europe to work with the producers I mentioned in a previous question. Regarding gigs, I purposely wanted a light first half of 2024 schedule so I could physically and mentally recover and rebuild. This is hard to do when there is a lot of traveling. I will be playing in Edinburgh, Amsterdam, at the Unkonscious Festival in Croatia and a few other gigs not yet announced. Possibly an album tour.