“Paul van Dyk inspires me because he never gives up” BiXX interview

BiXX, a prominent trance music producer and DJ from Birmingham, Alabama, has left his mark on the electronic music landscape. His track “Yes I Can” gained traction on major trance stages, highlighting his knack for uplifting trance melodies. His work with labels like Nocturnal Knights, Outburst, and FSOE has cemented his reputation for crafting immersive, emotionally charged trance music that captivates listeners globally.

His latest collaboration with Christopher Corrigan, “Alignment,” is a standout mainroom trance track. It combines soaring melodies with pulsating energy and a dramatic breakdown, channeling the essence of trance’s heyday with a fresh, modern twist.

Your initial exposure to dance music was through mixing funk music at college parties. How do you think this early experience has influenced your approach to producing trance music?

The biggest carryover from my funk music loving days into trance is my love for the rhythm and melody in a track. And this, of course, helps create the danceability of the track. Other than that, funk and trance are quite different in music styles.

Reflecting on your first encounter with European dance music at the Limelight in Atlanta, can you describe a pivotal moment or track that made you fall in love with trance?

I consider music tastes a journey, never standing still. More like an evolution. Because the mind gets quickly bored with the same sounds, constantly searching for something new, fresh, and innovative. Sort of like our taste buds change over time as we get exposed to different types of food and good wine. So my evolution in tastes from funk music to Euro Dance was my mind searching for new sounds and new experiences. That journey is continuous, not just a moment in time. I knew that sometime in the future I would hear a new track, a new sound that would cause me to take the next leap. And that track was “Shivers” by Armin van Buuren and Susana. That track opened up a whole new world for me. As my curiosity flame became more intense, Paul van Dyk and Paul Oakenfold opened up more doors for me. Then of course, A State of Trance and Above and Beyond’s Trance Around the World were two of my favorite shows to learn more about trance.

You’ve mentioned the early days of Paul van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, and Armin van Buuren as important influences. How do these artists continue to inspire your work today?

Armin van Buuren continues to inspire me. But not in the traditional sense. I am disappointed that Armin has gone mainstream EDM and ASOT plays very little uplifting trance. I respect that decision because the saying “grow or die” is very true. Companies have to keep innovating and growing, or they will die. History is full of companies that did not understand their true purpose of innovation. I am inspired by Armin’s role of giving back to the industry by helping other artists improve their mental health. Armin has used his platform to help a lot of people. I think it is very important to give back. We did not get where we are without the help of others. Paul van Dyk inspires me because he never gives up. He had a near-death experience after a fall he took at a music festival. He has fought back against unbelievable odds to get back to his status as one of the top and most requested trance producer DJs in the world. Much respect for Paul. And to be honest, I have lost touch with Paul Oakenfold. He only did a couple of CDs in trance then as far as I know he moved into different styles of music.

Your tracks are known for their uplifting and powerful vibes. Can you share the process behind crafting a track that aims to uplift listeners?

First of all, my #1 goal in my music is to trigger emotions. The reason for this is I need a switch or a trigger to turn on and off my emotions. Uplifting trance does this for me. I know there are other people in the world who also need this emotional trigger. Creating a new track starts with an idea. A lot of these ideas come from tracks in other genres like “Trance at the Opera” or “Gregorian Rhapsody” or “Marvelous Universe”. Most often the idea starts with a track title. A purposeful and inspirational concept. Like “Yes I Can”, “Purpose”, “Empowerment”, “Weather The Storm” and “Face Your Fears”. Upcoming track ideas like “Beauty Within”, “Appreciation”, and “Sense of Urgency”. I take the idea and figure out the energy flow in the bass line from listening to similar tracks. But the heart of the track is the melody. It has to be uplifting and it has to help tell the story. Vocal track or instrumental? What is the unique idea about the track and what will be the unique sounds? All while telling the story of the purpose and inspiration behind the track. The last step is putting in the extra decorations and possible counter melodies to set the track apart. I always try to put what I call “The BiXX Beautiful Moment” in a track. That moment of emotion or that moment where the listener surrenders to the music. Like when you close your eyes.

You often share unique and inspiring stories with your audience through your music. Could you give us an example of a personal experience that directly inspired one of your tracks?

One of my more popular tracks is called “Yes I Can”. Most of my life I have been told you can’t do that. You’re too young or you’re too small, you’re not experienced enough, you’re not smart enough, or you’re too old. I learned a long time ago that when someone tells you no, that is when the fun begins. This is an opportunity to commit your mind and your resources to figure out how to make it happen. How to accomplish what others think you cannot do. I call the “Yes I Can” mindset. Because if you think you can’t or you think you can, you are right. So in “Yes I Can”, the melody is super catchy. The kind that gets stuck in your head. Just the way, a “Yes I Can” mindset needs to get stuck in your head.

Collaboration with vocalists like Christina Novelli and Roxanne Emery has produced some memorable tracks. What do you look for in a vocalist when planning a collaboration?

The first thing is I need to love the vocalist’s voice. This is entirely personal. A vocalist may have a great voice, but if the frequency range of her voice does not align with what my brain and ears like to hear, then it is not a good fit. The next thing I look for is alignment. I ask other people who know the vocalist, are they a nice person? Are they easy to work with? Do they have a good work ethic? For example, I go to the Amsterdam Dance Event each year. If the vocalist is attending the event, I will invite her/him to lunch. Mainly to get to know the person better and to find out what inspires them. How do they like to work? What is the best way to bring out their best? Set some communication norms. Very important to understand how each likes to communicate and the frequency. As I continue to learn and experience the process of working with vocalists, I enjoy the process and the experience of working together to produce something great. Without proper alignment of shared values, it is difficult to produce something great.

Can you tell us about the inspiration for your new single Alignment?

I mentioned when working in a vocal collaboration the importance of Alignment. This is important in any relationship. Proper alignment of each person’s values is so important. For example, if you have a person in a relationship that is not a high achiever or does not work hard, and the other person works extremely hard, then this kind of relationship is doomed to fail. The late great Steve Jobs said it best. High achievers don’t like mediocre achievers and mediocre achievers don’t like high achievers. Because the work standards by each will never line up. There is alignment of values such as family, morals, communication, personality, etc. Generally, I focus on 3 important things for me to see if there is Alignment before I work with someone. I have admired Christopher Corrigan’s work for many years. I learned that he is a father, husband, and a good family man as well as a hard worker. Our musical styles were very complementary. So we had really good Alignment, thus, the name of our track.

With over 1.5 million listens on Spotify for “Sound of the Alarm” with Roxanne Emery, how do you gauge the success of your tracks? Is it more about the listener numbers or the personal satisfaction of creating something you’re proud of?

Now this is a great question. I don’t rely on music to be my main source of income. I am also a big fan and listener of 8-time Grammy award-winning producer, Rick Rubin. Rick states a true artist gets satisfaction from creating something he truly loves. A piece of himself, like an offering to God. Once it is created, the artist has no control over whether somebody likes it or not. Only the control that he or she put his heart and soul into it and he or she loves it. So my measure of success is do I love it. Some tracks I do truly love and others don’t come out as good as I would have hoped. Don’t get me wrong, sure I love it when a track gets more streams. I used to go look on Beatport to see how the track was charting. But the longer I do this, the more I focus on what I like versus how I think the track will do on streaming platforms. You mentioned “Sound of the Alarm” in your question. That track was rejected by 3 labels and did not make the Beatport top 20. And it is my best streaming track.

As a mentor, what key piece of advice would you give to aspiring trance producers looking to make their mark in the industry?

Many young producers just jump right in by starting to produce 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 of 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.

Looking forward, are there any emerging trends in electronic music that excite you or that you believe will shape the future of trance music?

The great unknown. In the music business, the more I think I know, the less I actually know. Fans can be so fickle and chase whatever is new and hot. And many artists do the same thing. There has been a recent trend among uplifting trance producers to bring tech trance sounds into their tracks. I have done some of this. I call it techlifting. There is a trend to where less is more. Fewer musical elements to create a cleaner sound in trance. Something that sounds better on club speakers. There continue to be more trance DJs than there are Trance events to play. Regarding the future of trance, I don’t see it growing into a much bigger genre. However, trance fans are extremely loyal and the age is older than mainstream EDM. Trance music is like a drug to them. Future successful trance events will need to piggyback off the success of Luminosity Beach Festival. Now we have UnKonscious Beach Festival in Thailand and Croatia. Create events that are in beautiful places so fans from all over the world will want to attend. Regarding trance in the United States, I really don’t know the future of trance. Insomniac has created quite a monopoly in the larger events and bigger clubs. The future of trance in the USA is whatever Insomniac decides to do. There will continue to be smaller more intimate events outside of the larger events promoted by Insomniac.

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