Featured Artist 149
Head Trauma Romance
Alex Blair
Head Trauma Romance is one of the more club-oriented artists in the Audiotool EDM scene. His music is straightforward, danceable, and true to itself. He builds one dancefloor-ready track after another. His sound feels made for vinyl—modern but aware of the roots. A testament to this is his track's release on the Vinyl EP ATD24 TOP 6, the exclusive vinyl for the Audiotool Day contest, where it proudly secured second place. Although based in the USA, his style often leans towards the British EDM and bass music scene, blending influences seamlessly.
Interview
My name is Alex and I'm a TIG Welder/Manufacturer by day, Head Trauma Romance by night. I live in Richmond, Virginia.
- About Alex Blair AKA Head Trauma Romance
- My name is Alex and I'm a TIG Welder/Manufacturer by day, Head Trauma Romance by night. I live in Richmond, Virginia. When I'm not working, I'm most likely in the studio cookin' up some tracks or occasionally gaming. I'm a big fan of the night life in my city. In recent years, Richmond has really opened up to the world of EDM and there's quite a few venues I really enjoy going to with my squad of bass-heads.
- Describe the style of music you produce
- I find that I'm really attracted to big basslines and catchy melodies, so I'm a big fan of House music. I'm also a bass-head myself, so I also get down with DnB, Dubstep, and Garage.
- What is your musical background and when did you start making music?
- I remember really getting into EDM when I was 15 and for a while thought about making it. Then, my junior year of high school was when all the schools in the county first got Chromebook laptops. My buddy actually found Audiotool first and told me about it, since he knew I was into stuff like that. The rest is history:)
- How long have you been using Audiotool, and how did you discover it?
- I've been using Audiotool since 2016, so about 9 years now. I know Head Trauma Romance says 8 years, but I had another account first;)
- What is your favorite Audiotool device and why?
- HEISENBERG GANG. Phase Modulation is just way too cool and you should learn about it if you don't know what it is.
- What is your favourite trick in AT/What technique do you always use?
- I'm a big fan of the Multiband Compressor and compression in general. Recently, I learned more about utilizing the band splits on the multiband to get a much cleaner and louder sound. Also, peaking frequencies using a Curve when making a dubstep or DnB bass is a great way to make a unique sound.
- Have you ever had a writer's block? If so, how did you deal with it and what do you recommend to your colleagues?
- Of course! Nowadays, learning something new works 9/10 times for me. When there's something new to try, it always gets me excited to get back in the studio and mess around with what I just learned.
- What has helped you the most on Audiotool to improve and widen your musical horizon?
- I know having access to the community is said a lot, but I truly agree. Being able to ask questions to people that know more than me is a treat. Being able to open up someone else's track is a crazy cool feature that, I'm pretty sure, only this website does.
- What do you like most about Audiotool? Is there anything you would like to suggest?
- The fact that this is basically an underground Soundcloud is literally the coolest thing. The only thing I can think of that I'd like to see is a stand-alone pitch shifter that you could add to samples and stuff.
- Your message to the community:
- Never quit on your hobbies and aspirations! This world consists of winners and losers, and you only lose when you give up. There was a point for me when I got discouraged and almost stopped making music. I tried a bunch of other hobbies, but then I realized that my original hobby was sick, and I got back on the grind. It's ok to take breaks, but never stop doing what you love.
