In depth with….Henry Saiz
Henry Saiz has always done things slightly different from everybody else, from his crowd sourced album, to his take on house and techno in general. He has now put together a compact, yet fully functioning live band and he has been making some serious waves with his performances. Prior to his visit to Dubai for Plus Minus Arena, I caught up with Henry to discuss his band, release schedule and how he juggles a DJ schedule at the same time as his band….
Very nice to met you Henry, how has things been going for you so far this year?
Likewise, guys. Thanks for having me. So far things have been going quite crazy to say the least. Regular touring, working on a new Henry Saiz and live band material, hosting the weekly radio show, finishing Hal Incandenza’s album, and on top of that I am also currently working on my new album project, which is going to be risky but huge at the same time. I am going to give more details very soon, but the whole idea is totally crazy and it takes most of my time now, but this can be the biggest and maybe even the best thing I’ve ever done. It is something totally different from a general artist album concept, that’s why it’s so risky. But I think the final result can be absolutely amazing. I do believe in the project and I’ll do my best to make it so that all my fans can see that too. So as you can see things are going a little hectic, but I’m not complaining, I am a little terrified but also extremely excited about everything that’s happening, all the plans and I cant wait to share them with all of you.
With the band really taking off, have you found yourself wanting to give up djing to concentrate on the band? Or is it easy to manage the two?
The idea to give up djing hasn’t really crossed my mind so far. I can’t say that it’s easy to manage both, but I normally take the road less travelled. Yes, it is exhausting at times as it requires double effort and takes more time than just one of those activities would do, but music isn’t just a job for me, that’s my passion, my art, something I want to be remembered for and sometimes it requires a little sacrifice. And I’m going to make that sacrifice, because I do something that I truly love and that will always be well worth the effort. Nothing comes easily.
How did you find the transition from the studio and DJing to live performance?
All three are interdependent for me, as both studio work and djing help to make the live performance as it is. When preparing the live show a lot of studio work is done, lots of rehearsals, lots of trials and errors, but that’s what you have to go through in order to deliver something decent to the public, something unique and special. Same goes to djing techniques, they help to make the whole thing a little easier and give the opportunity to experiment with sounds and layers in order to make the whole listener’s experience more complex and truly memorable.
How did you find it translated from the studio to the stage?
Studio work makes a big part of the live performance. All the live shows are carefully planned, organized and rehearsed beforehand but always leaving some space and a certain amount of improvisation for a live performance itself. All the new equipment that we’re buying regularly also needs to be tried and ‘incorporated‘ into the show, so yes, studio work is of utter importance for the live.
Is the material that you perform during your band sets written specifically for the band or was it adapted from your previous tracks?
That would be both of those. Most of what we´ve already played would be an adapted material of course, but there are also tracks that you can hear only during our live performances as they aren’t released yet and maybe will never be. We are regularly renewing the live show and it’s always good to have some secret weapons to keep the audience excited and surprised.
What do you see the future of your live performances being? What is the next step for you?
Of course we’d like to make the band more wanted and demanded, but this process takes time and even more time when you’re dealing with 3 other projects at once. But I’m confident that eventually we’ll get to that point, maybe a little slower than we’d like to but we surely will. So all we can do for now is keep up the pace and perfect the quality of the live show as there´s always room for improvement especially with such a huge amount of choice on the scene. The audience needs to stay entertained and satisfied and that´s what we´re going to be aiming for.
On top of that, we have a band that nobody knows about, as it wasn’t really launched yet. That is a completely different project from the live band, the only thing they have in common is the participants 
We’ve been working on it for the last 6-7 years and we’re just waiting for the right time to get it out to the world. So that can count as one of the next steps too.
What events do you have coming up with the band that you are most looking forward to?
Clearly the Dubai debut as this is our first time there and those are always exciting. And Glastonbury this summer, which is also our first time, but the size and the scope of this festival is so big that it even leaves us a little nervous. But that’s a pleasant nervousness; we are so honored and delighted to play along so many amazing artists for so many amazing people. So yeah, roll on summer
What do you have planned release wise for your own material?
As I’ve already mentioned the main focus at the moment is at the album, so there are a lot of things to sort about even the preliminary stage of the project. With the official announcement of it somewhere in May-June this will make more sense to everyone, but for now that’s all I can say. And of course there will also be some singles and remixes coming out from me, so keep an eye
What do you have coming up on Natura Sonoris?
There´s some Marzenit remix album in the bag, some new Damabiah and a few yet to be heard names that i´m quite excited to release. Things have been going a little slowly this year with the label due to all other things happening, but the material we have is good enough for the listeners to bear with us. They say quality over quantity, right?!
