ASTOR – Balancing Finance and Progressive House Dreams on the Virtual Sessions 9/25/25

Summary

Liam McNamara, known as ASTOR, brings a unique story of blending a full-time finance career with an emerging path as a DJ and producer. Based in New York City, he describes how his love for progressive house grew from festival experiences and artists like Avicii, Calvin Harris, and the Chainsmokers. For ASTOR, music follows cycles, and he believes the melodic, euphoric energy of progressive house is ready for a resurgence in the global scene.

 

Originally pursuing music as a hobby after completing his CFA exams, ASTOR quickly evolved from curiosity to club performances. His breakthrough came when he was offered the chance to open for Julian Jordan, followed by opportunities to share the stage with Hardwell and Nicky Romero. These early shows fueled his commitment to production, supported by mentorship from Mikey Ferrari, who guided him from the basics of Ableton to creating professional tracks.

 

With releases like Storm, Holding Tight, and most recently Stars, ASTOR has demonstrated consistency in hitting his yearly release goals. He explains how regimented schedules, daily practice, and goal setting allow him to balance demanding work with music creation. His success on Revealed Radar with Holding Tight marked a major milestone, proving that persistence pays off even while self-releasing.

 

ASTOR also shares his experience at Afrojack’s Wall Pro Academy writer’s camp during Tomorrowland, calling it an inspiring and transformative moment that pushed him further. Looking forward, he aims for bigger festival stages while staying grounded with small club sets, always focused on connecting emotionally with his audience through melody and energy.

 

Topics

0:06 – ASTOR introduces his background and passion for progressive house
5:17 – Balancing finance career with music and discovering creativity
9:28 – Breakthrough gigs opening for Julian Jordan, Hardwell, and Nicky Romero
13:28 – Setting annual production goals and self-releasing music
18:56 – Creating and signing Holding Tight to Revealed Radar
24:12 – The unexpected success of Storm and streaming growth
27:37 – Stars release and vocal-driven production process
33:42 – Experience at Afrojack’s Wall Pro Academy writer’s camp
38:03 – Goals of playing larger festival stages while valuing clubs
41:15 – Backstage encounters and inspiration from established artists

Connect with ASTOR

• Instagram: @astormusicofficial

[Darran]
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of The DJ Sessions Presents The Virtual Sessions. I’m your host Darran and right now I’m sitting in the virtual studios. I don’t think I ever get out of these virtual studios but it’s been my home away from home or home in home for a very long time in the virtual world and today coming in from New York City we have none other than ASTOR aka Liam McNamara.

I got it right, right?

[ASTOR]
There we go, yeah.

[Darran]
Awesome, cool. And on the and thank you very much for being with us today. Super excited to be talking with you.

You’ve got a lot of stuff kind of going on coming up and we want to dive into that and get to know you better on The DJ Sessions. You know, one of the things that you had sent over to me in the notes for the show is your focus on progressive house and the thoughts on progressive is coming back movement. Tell us a little bit about that.

Something that I haven’t, I’m not, we just launched on our site the top 20,000 DJs in the world for the research was gathered during 2024. In addition to that study we track what the top 100 DJs in the world are playing and what countries they’re from and I love house. I love house.

I know tech house is one of those bigger ones right now but your thoughts on progressive house making a comeback. Tell us about that. Are you seeing something out there in New York that I’m not privy to yet in the west coast over here in Seattle?

Yeah, yeah.

[ASTOR]
So first of all, thanks for having me. I’m super excited to be here. You know, looking forward to a great conversation.

In terms of the like progressive house coming back kind of like movement or kind of your statement, I think it’s more, you know, I’ve always, so kind of take a step back, you know, I’ve always kind of been driven towards that type of like emotional, you know, euphoric type of music. You know, the stuff that got me really, it took me from kind of listening to what I didn’t really know was dance music when I was growing up to kind of really, really falling in love with it. You know, the Avicii sound that’s sort of real like progressive house that really kind of went big in the U.S. Obviously I’m from the U.S. so, you know, I’m gonna kind of fall in love with what’s going big in the U.S. And then as you said, you know, I think going into COVID it was kind of starting to other genres, we’re starting to get more play, more airtime in the U.S. and globally as well. And, you know, I think COVID really kind of shocked the system. So, you know, the way I like to kind of think about it is, you know, music goes in cycles, right? So genres are in and then they kind of decline, they go out of style and then they kind of, you know, have this kind of resurgence.

And when they have a resurgence, they come back in some new form, right? So it’s not exactly like we’re all be playing, you know, the same sort of style that Avicii or those guys played in the golden era, quote unquote, of EDM. But, you know, it’s that sort of sound, you know, is going to come back in some form.

It’s going to be different. But, you know, I think that the cycles of the genres in our in our kind of broader EDM landscape is really dictated by obviously taste of the listeners, right? So, you know, after COVID, we had kind of a tech house surge that kind of blended, moved into techno.

I think, you know, if you want to think about it in the way of like tech house, people were very interested in that sort of minimal sound. And then they kind of wanted the hard stuff, right? They went techno.

And now we’re kind of up to 150, 160 BPM. And I think that the next kind of natural progression is we’ve gone higher, higher, higher, higher, higher. And now we’re going back down.

And so, you know, that kind of lends itself, I think, well to this kind of more melodic, euphoric, vocal driven sound, which, you know, for in the US, I call it progressive house. I think if you, you know, if you go over to different places all over the world, I think it has different different names. But, you know, I think that that sort of very melodic, euphoric kind of hands in the air type of sound is coming back.

I think it’s more of the search for artists like myself that really enjoy that searching for the sound profile that’s going to be going to be slightly different. It’s going to push that genre, you know, a bit further. Right.

And so that’s that’s kind of where I think all of us are searching within this with this genre. But I think you also see it, you know, the chain smokers, right? They’re back and they’re back with, you know, even using the term, you know, progressive house is back.

Right. So you’re seeing some of these artists that Calvin Harris, another example, right? Like these these guys who were giants, titans, you know, in the golden era and for the chain smokers, even right before covid, you know, they never went away, but they they changed their sound profile.

And now they’re going back to kind of, I think, what what they really kind of got big on, which was that sort of sound. So it’s exciting to see.

[Darran]
Yeah. What was your biggest motivation to pursue a career or an avenue in the music industry? Because you’re not in this full time.

You’re you’re a finance manager during the day.

[ASTOR]
Yeah. So I work in finance. I think the best way to describe what I do is I’m an economist and I kind of I work on a research team.

And it’s so first of all, I mean, I’ve been doing this for four years and the finance is not. And yeah, so we’re doing this came out, graduated from college, started in finance, working in kind of a consultancy, you know, move to a different firm and, you know, have loved my time there. I think it’s you know, it kind of feeds that that more analytical part of my brain.

And, you know, up until I started, you know, creating music and DJing, I didn’t even know that there was any other side of my brain other than analytical. So, you know, the long story is that I’ll shorten it is I was studying for something called the CFA, which is the Chartered Financial Analyst test. It’s a battery of three tests.

You have to take one a year. You only get one shot. If you fail, you have to retake it.

So it’s really, you know, start to finish if you do it quickly, as quick as possible. It’s three years of studying on your own and then taking these tests. That takes a lot of discipline.

You know, I was kind of committed to getting it done as fast as possible, which meant I really had no social life for those three years. And so, you know, the studying, all of that kind of became my hobby. And as I was kind of approaching the end of it, you know, I had passed the first two levels and I, you know, had about halfway through the study regimen for level three.

I made myself, you know, a promise like once you pass this, because you will, you just need to do it. But once you do, you know, you need to pick a hobby that you enjoy, that really kind of allows you to do something that is not, you know, kind of what other people would say you should do or this is how you kind of get ahead. And after going to festivals for, you know, pretty much all of my young adult life, I picked DJing, mostly just because I wanted to figure out how, you know, the legends that I watch, you know, a couple times a year at these festivals do it.

Never thought I’d be able to produce my own music. Never thought I’d be playing any clubs. It was more just like I want to know how it’s done.

And, you know, my personality doesn’t lend itself to just kind of figuring something out and then saying I’m done with it. That kind of snowballed into playing at clubs and, you know, trying to kind of push my DJ career. And then eventually I just kind of made a decision, you know, maybe I should figure out how these guys produce this music.

And again, same sort of thing, right? I just want to know how it’s done. And then that turned into, well, why don’t we start releasing?

And that turned into, let’s see how far this goes. But it really kind of, you know, I got, I got bit by, I guess, the bug. And that was it.

[Darran]
You know, what do you consider to be your biggest break that actually launched your career and all this? I mean, one can sit back and buy the gear. They can watch the YouTube videos.

They can practice in their bedroom. They can go out to other shows. They can start by networking in their local communities or, you know, having friends or, you know, the shows that they like to go to are probably the kind of music they want to go see and start exploring that.

And then nowadays the internet can reach out and get into groups and forums and contacts and saying, Hey, what’s up? And obviously now with distribution, even if you’re just the DJ yourself can, you know, put your mixes up on SoundCloud, start your own Twitch channel, your own podcast, help kind of do your own self-distribution and then make the jump into music. And now you’ve got your own self-distribution of creating your own label or, or pushing tracks out to try to maybe work with a label.

I knew that, but was there a break that said, okay, I’m out of doing this as the hobby in my own house that said, boom, this is my first stage appearance or something that gave you a break and said, okay, this person gave me a shot after that it was like, whoa, or I wouldn’t get this. What was that big break that you can remember if there was an exact moment?

[ASTOR]
Yeah. I mean, I think probably the closest thing was probably the first year, first year I was DJing, which was, I guess, 2021, 2022. I can’t remember.

But, you know, I had had my first gig, which was at a local bar that I had just like, I think I just run them down, you know, so much that they were like, just whatever, just do your own show. We don’t feel like, you know, we’ll give you the time. You can, you can do it.

I mean, it was truly a bar. It was a wine bar. They don’t do DJ sessions.

So I just convinced them to do this one night. I’ll invite all my friends. Don’t worry.

We’ll, you know, we’ll pay for it. So, so that was kind of my first gig. And, you know, after that, it became, well, that was fun.

You know, let me see about playing at actual clubs. Played a couple clubs in New York, small clubs, small events, that sort of thing. My first big, I think, moment where I was like, oh, okay, maybe I could, you know, maybe I could do something with this, you know, music hobby, was I, I had reached out to a club in Philadelphia and I just, there was a promoter there, Moises, who like gave me a shot, you know, he gave me a call and he was like, look, you know, I’d like to give you guys first breaks, you know, that whole thing.

He was like, I have a lineup. You can play, you can open for Julian Jordan, which, you know, at the time, just playing small clubs in New York, that was like, wow, you know, this is insane. And then that went well.

After that, you know, working with that, that same club, I was able to open for Hardwell, Nicky Romero, these guys that I’ve always looked up to. And, you know, being on the stage right before them, like, you know, saying hello to their team, that sort of thing, really just kind of inspired me. And then on the production side, that really, I think, pushed me to say, let me, let me see about the production thing, you know, it’s always been something I didn’t think I was going to do, but let’s, let’s try it.

And, you know, like everybody else, I think I was spinning my wheels for a couple months, watching YouTube videos that tells, you know, one tells you one thing, the other tells you something completely different. And for my personality, that is not, that’s not the way, like, you know, because I want to figure out exactly how this is supposed to be done. And yeah, exactly.

So it’s, it doesn’t, doesn’t work well. Right. But I, I just, I got linked up with a guy, a local guy here, Ferrari, Mikey Ferrari, who’s a, you know, he’s a DJ.

He’s also been like, released on Revealed. He’s an incredible producer. And he started a production academy in, during COVID.

And, you know, I reached out to him, I was like, look, you know, I have no experience, but I like, if you take me on, I promise I can, you know, I’ll work hard, I’ll figure this out, you know. And so, you know, he kind of gave me a call and said, you know, well, I don’t, don’t usually take on newcomers. He wasn’t taking on a ton of newcomers at that point, but he’s like, you know, you, you ran me down.

So let’s figure this out. I’ve worked with him ever since. And, you know, he’s taken me from literally hardly knowing how to do anything in Ableton to, you know, being able to, to, to produce the tracks that, that I do.

And that’s, that’s sort of encouragement. That’s sort of like inspiration, that consistent, like, he’s a, he’s a, he’s a coach. I mean, he’s pushing me to do better.

And that sort of inspiration is, is truly kind of pushed me to this level and, you know, hopefully will continue to push me. So.

[Darran]
Yeah. And I mean, you came out 2024, releasing your first debut tracks, Fly Alone and Storm. And, you know, how often are you producing tracks?

I know we’re getting, getting into some of your new stuff here in just a moment, but how often do you release a track? And like, do you have a schedule or a release schedule? You say, I’m going to do this once every month, once every two months, or are you on a timeline, like a build that’s on a structured build?

Yeah.

[ASTOR]
Yeah. So, I mean, most of my every year, I set a goal for myself in terms of like how many tracks I would like to release. Um, last year it was six and I met that goal.

Um, this year it’s eight. We’re getting late in the year, but, uh, it’s, um, you know, hopefully we’ll, we’ll hit that goal, uh, or come very close. Um, and so it’s not really a timeline.

It’s more a, you know, I have a goal sheet right here next to me on my wall. Um, and every time I sit down, it’s, it’s, you know, it reminds me that, you know, we’ve got to, we got to move here. Um, and so as, as someone, you know, still, you know, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t say I’ve had any sort of kind of break.

I mean, it’s, it’s a very, very, uh, still a lot to learn and, and, and very young in this, in this space in terms of, you know, production and, and, and, and that sort of thing. Um, it still is, it, it, it drives you because it’s, you know, I’m always pitching to labels, but at this level and everybody, I think, you know, kind of understands this, a lot of what you’re going to release, you know, the first five years that you’re, you’re doing this is going to be self-released. Um, so having that goal of like how many tracks I would like to produce and release in a year kind of forces you to like, get off of the idea that while this track is so good, I just need to find a, the, the label that will take a chance on it.

It’s like, look, if, if that’s, you know, if, if, if that’s it, then, then it’s going out on its own. Um, and I think that gives me one, a lot of creative freedom, but it also, it kind of keeps me, keeps me moving. Right.

Um, again, you know, juggling a full-time job, uh, you know, a mentally kind of demanding job. Um, it also, you know, it forces me to, to, to use my time as best as I can. Right.

So, uh, that’s, I think having that goal of just how many tracks, not really a schedule allows me to just kind of keep, keep, keep moving and keep pumping out, you know, as much as I can.

[Darran]
I mean, most people that I’ve talked to in the past, they’re releasing, you know, once a six to eight weeks, you know, to find out if something’s coming out every two or three weeks too much, four weeks, doesn’t let it sit with everyone six weeks. Okay. Eight weeks.

I got to put something new out. I don’t want to lose relevancy, but, um, you know, it’s, it’s, you know, obviously a good pattern. I had to once I scaled up once, um, and that’s happened right during, uh, what I call candy.

Um, you know, of course I had to switch my whole brand around where we were creating a lot of content of DJs streaming online. And then candy happened and everyone started streaming online and I’m not a DJ. So I was like, well, what do I do?

And nobody’s coming to Seattle. So I had no interviews, no studio time, no one to play with. If you were, you’d be canceled immediately if you had somebody come over to your house and play a set together.

Yeah. So it was going to step into that realm. So I, you know, kind of changed the format of the show a little bit.

Um, and my outreach was, you know, I was happy with doing six to eight interviews a month, getting an exclusive mix here or there. And in 2022, I went to my VA and said, Hey, we’re going to increase this outreach by 800%. Let’s dial it up.

See what happens. Yeah. Just see if the brand would even attract that much attention.

If a button was pushed to go 300 submissions, 300 invites a week, as opposed to 40 invites a week. And yeah, it worked. Uh, I had like 57 interviews scheduled.

We started this in April and in May I had like 57 interviews. Um, March, May, June, uh, was just like another 47. I think I ended up doing like about 150 to 180 interviews May to November of 2022.

And I went, well, and that was because I was already scheduled out. I had to dial it back somewhere about August. Yeah.

This is way too much. Yeah. Yeah.

But I already had it rescheduled. So now I scheduled the back, um, and made it. So it was only two interviews a day, Monday through Thursday for myself to handle.

Cause I had to handle all the other stuff going on as well. You know, I was doing four, sometimes six interviews, hour long interviews a day and publishing these, editing these and putting them out. And it’s like, what the hell?

I do believe content is King, but I went to a pattern source now and I can now manage my time much more effectively. Um, you know, and, and that happened. So we’re, you know, gearing up on our end.

It’s not necessarily music release, but having that pattern release is definitely key. And people always know it’s consistent. Yeah.

Monday through Thursday, 10 AM, 30 PM we’re going live, you know, and those episodes usually go up online within 24 hours as well. Um, but, uh, you know, we’ll be at 60 hours of content a month by the end of October is our goal. And to be at a hundred hours plus content a month by, uh, you know, early Q1 next year.

Yeah. So, um, I mean, that’s, you gotta, gotta be consistent though. I think that’s the key takeaway.

I tell a lot of podcASTORs that as well. Um, they said, well, how do you be successful? Uh, consistency, choose, choose your subject.

Okay. That choose your topic. Uh, you know, what you’re going to do, choose the day of the week when you’re going to release and stick to that date.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And build your social media and everything around that. So yeah, definitely. No, um, recently, um, not too long, just a little while back, you released a song called released a song called holding tight on a revealed radar.

How was that received to the, to the world?

[ASTOR]
Yeah. I mean, holding tight has done extremely well this year. Very, very proud of that song.

Um, it’s, you know, proud of it for a few different reasons. Uh, last year, I mean the story behind it was, was last year again, kind of going to this, you know, juggling two essentially careers at once. Um, last year over labor day, uh, you know, I, I knew that I kind of, I had a few things in the hopper, but I didn’t really have anything that I was like super, um, excited about.

And I really wanted to kind of have a couple of, you know, quote unquote arrows in the quiver. Um, and I booked a, uh, I just booked an Airbnb upstate in New York, um, packed up my studio and my dog. Uh, and I drove upstate for three days, locked myself in that Airbnb and I made the, I like made a rule in which like I would wake up every morning, you know, get ready, sit down with, um, a clean vocal.

Uh, and it has to be a different vocal every day. Um, and produce as far as I can that day, if it’s two hours and I’m not, you know, feeling creative, that’s, that’s, that’s fine. Um, but if it turns into 12 hours, great.

Uh, the second rule is you cannot work on that track the next day you have to work on something new. Um, and so I drove back to New York after that three days with three, you know, pretty, pretty good, very, very happy with demos. Um, and, you know, I think it was, you know, again, utilization of time, right?

I mean, I don’t know, working full time, you don’t have a lot of extra time. Uh, so these sorts of, for me, uh, you know, putting in those kind of, I’m forcing myself to sit down and do this, not like it’s, you’re not holding a gun to my head. I love doing this, but, um, you know, kind of setting these regimented schedules to make sure that I’m, I’m kind of staying on track, uh, because as much as, you know, I would like to, um, get to a point where, uh, you know, I can spend 12 hours on just creative, like sound design and that sort of thing.

You know, all of that is super interesting to me. Um, it, it needs to be, you know, I need to understand that, that I’m at that point now where if I want to do that, I need to be releasing consistently and need to make sure if I’m going to be releasing consistently, I need to do it very, very, um, you know, in a timely manner. So holding tight was one of those tracks.

Uh, and I think it was one of the tracks that, you know, at the end of the day, I, there’s a couple of friends of mine, um, guys who I’ve gone to festivals with for years. So they’re, you know, kind of some of my biggest, uh, biggest advocates in this, in this regard, but, um, you know, I, I usually will send them like a screen, you know, a screen recording of the, of the track I’m making, or just a short snippet. Um, every time I send them something, I’m like, this is great.

Right. Um, and sometimes I mean, I send it to them because they’re very, you know, very honest. I mean, um, you know, for example, they will kind of give me feedback, you know, straight.

Um, and I sent this holding tight track to, uh, one of my buddies and he, um, he was like, this is, this is, this is great. I mean, I saved the screenshot at the text because he was like, this is, this is a really, this is your best work. Um, so I knew I had something and then, you know, again, I hadn’t been sound signed to a label.

It had all been self-releases to that point. And, you know, as a, as an artist in this kind of mode, or at least where I am and where I was back then, you kind of have these like little kind of steps on the ladder to where you want to get to. Um, and you know, one of the big ones is having a label kind of proof of concept, right?

The label says, this is good. We want to sign those. And so revealed signed, um, holding tight, uh, came out on, on an EP, um, with, uh, Revealed Radar and, uh, it’s performed extremely well.

It’s up over, um, 230 streams this year. So it’s, it’s, it’s been a pleasant surprise, um, in the sense that, you know, once you kind of send it to a label, you kind of lose a little bit of creative control and kind of how it’s pitched and that sort of thing, but it’s done extremely well. Um, I, you know, had a great relationship with Revealed and look forward to continuing that relationship.

Um, but yeah, I mean, that was a good start to the year and, and kind of, like I said, those steps on the ladder that they’re getting you to where you want to go, um, if you’re hitting those steps. Uh, but they also are kind of reign, reigniting the kind of fire that you, that you have, uh, at different points, right? I mean, we’re not all creative and energized about what we’re doing at every single moment.

Um, but when you get these kind of short bursts of like, yep, I, I put that on a list and I said I was going to do it and I did it. Uh, it, it kind of pushes you forward to do more.

[Darran]
I wanted to chime in there. Cause you did say that you had 235 downloads, uh, of the song and I wanted to correct you and say, actually it’s 235,000. Sorry.

Yeah. Misspoke. I was like, I think you need to have three extra zeros.

[ASTOR]
Yeah.

[Darran]
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, congratulations on that. But you know, I just was just with the Spotify while you’re doing that to check out to just to verify that number and you’ll notice storm was up there and that’s your latest release and, or sorry, stars, stars, storm, storm is there.

Yeah. I already closed the screen out of course.

[ASTOR]
Well, storm has, storm is a funny story. Um, because so storm was released. I’m trying to remember.

I think I released, I think it went, storm was an August release last year. Okay. And it was kind of the first track that I had produced where I really forced myself to, to, to kind of blend a bit of genres.

Right. So it’s got a little bit of a more future rave type of sound. Um, and it was a super fun production, like learning how, you know, different elements of a different genre.

And you know, I, it kind of was the first one that I’ve ever done that. So it, it was fun to blend and it kind of kicked off the idea to do that more often, but I remember kind of listening to it and being like, you know, I mean, yeah, it’s good. It’s a good track.

Uh, you know, I love the track, but it’s like, you have that kind of imposter syndrome of like, well, I don’t, you know, it’s not, it’s not a day to get a future rave track, but I needed to, you know, I was again, six releases a year was last year’s goal. Right. So I knew I needed to have to send it out.

It was done. I always have the kind of mentality that if you finish a track, uh, if you don’t either self-release it or get it released on a label, um, it’s just sitting on your hard drive. So who knows if it’s, if it’s, if it’s good or if it’s not good.

Right. Um, and if you made it, it should be good enough for you to, to push it out there. So lined it up, sent it out in August, um, and expected it to kind of be like, yeah, it’ll keep kind of the, you know, another, another offering to fans, that sort of thing.

But it was not going to be this like massive, you know, for me, it biggest track in my catalog. Lo and behold, it just, I mean, it blew up and it was, it’s, it, you know, talking to other artists, that’s, that’s how it works. Sometimes you just like, you have that track where you’re like, I don’t know about this one, but, you know, force yourself to upload it.

And that’s the one that, that, that hits at that right time. So, um, yeah, super happy about that one, obviously. Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, it’s, you know, hopefully we have a couple more of those, uh, and, uh, yeah.

[Darran]
Well, you know, you’re definitely hitting in those six digit numbers, which is nice for, uh, Spotify artists. I I’m not, I don’t know what the gauge is. If you say, you know, if this one hits 10,000, I’m happy.

Wow. It hit 200,000, you know, I don’t, I don’t release music. I know, I know it from a viewer standpoint of like, when we look at live viewers and we look at downloads, I get numbers on our backing up downloads of our podcasts.

I’m like, yes. Okay, cool. You know?

Um, and sometimes we see spikes in our shows just because somebody shares it or tags it or an influencer grabs it that I don’t know about. And it’s like, why did that all of a sudden just spike and get an extra 20, 50 to 60,000 downloads or something or whatever? You know, it’s very interesting how that can happen.

You never know where it kind of comes from. Um, that’s I’m in the advertising world myself. And you know, one of the sayings I heard was, you know, somebody said once I spent a hundred dollars on my advertising budget, 50% of it does something 50% of it does nothing, but I don’t know what does what, you know, and you don’t know what it is.

It’s gonna all of a sudden, you know, you might be able to track stuff, but, um, your latest one though, just came out stars. Yeah. What was the release date of stars?

How long ago did that come out?

[ASTOR]
So that came out, I think it was on September 5th. Um, yeah. So, uh, two Fridays, three Fridays ago now.

Um, so yeah, first Friday in September. Um, yeah, that, that one, uh, you know, it was, I’ve been holding that one for a while. Um, and, uh, you know, it’s kind of the first one and hopefully kind of a, a list here that’s going to come out in the fall, but, um, but yeah, really, really pleased with that one.

Um, you know, it’s again, it’s, I think, you know, if you listen to kind of my catalog or if you listen to like a mix that I do with, you know, remixes mashups, that sort of thing. Um, all of my tracks typically have that sort of like vocal, um, you know, the, the kind of like, you kind of, I mean, at least for me, um, you know, when I sit down to produce, uh, I usually will start with a vocal. It’s got to kind of hit me.

Um, because you know, the way I kind of think about building a track is first, I want to kind of hear the vocal, get the emotion that gives me the vibe. And then usually I know I’ve got a vocal that I want to work with or that I can work with. If I kind of have an idea of how the melody should go, even if it’s a basic one, like, that’s not to say that I’m, you know, you see these, uh, producers on Instagram who just open up a MIDI keyboard with, you know, it’s, it’s quiet in the studio and they just punch in a, uh, a melody.

There’s a lot of trial and error in there. Um, but you know, that’s, that’s usually where I’ll start. And, and stars was one of those.

Um, I’m trying to remember when I, um, I got that vocal, but I think it was, uh, I think it was three or four months ago. Um, and so, you know, it’s been, I finished it, it was a quick finish. Um, and I held it, uh, back kind of over the summer.

It’s just going to a couple of places. I wanted to kind of, you know, uh, see what they thought and get some kind of feedback on that. And so, um, you know, I held it and then, you know, once we got to kind of the end of the summer, it was time to go.

So it’s been, it’s been a good ride on that one.

[Darran]
Nice. Oh, you produce from home often, or do you usually have a studio? Okay.

Do your neighbors ever complain about your music?

[ASTOR]
Um, they don’t, uh, you know, I actually, my neighbors right here to the, to the left are actually, um, musical as well. So, you know, they’re like, they’re in a, uh, a church choir down the street. So, you know, they’re, they’re kind of, you know, working on, on, uh, this week’s hymns and that sort of thing.

But typically, um, I’m kind of, you know, producing at, at, um, a relatively low volume. Cause I feel like it’s, um, you know, that for me, you can, you can hear kind of a lot more at a low volume than you can hear if you’re blasting it out clearly every now and then, you know, once, once I’m done for the day and I think I’ve got another, uh, you know, another banger right before I send it to my friends, I’ll crank up the volume. But other than that, it’s, you know, it’s pretty few and far between on that one.

[Darran]
Yeah. And it’s funny, you know, when you’re editing tracks, I mean, for me, I’m obviously doing video, doing interviews and things of that nature over the years. Um, I edited, I didn’t edit visual.

I edited by the waveforms. You know, my, my cuts would be cut specifically on specific areas where the waveform is dropped. So I get the right cut moment, not cutting like off.

Like some people will cut by video and they’ll cut right when, like, if I started talking, they’d cut right in, as I started talking, I’d go right before that lull, find that lull and cut right in between. So I would have that small little pause right before. So I could edit with no, like, I wouldn’t even look at the video.

I just be looking at the timeline and wouldn’t even need to know. I just know when to go back and forth and go, okay, that’s right where I want to cut it. How you can do that with music.

Maybe I guess you can.

[ASTOR]
Yeah. I mean, a lot of like in the final, like mix down, um, you know, part of the project, it’s usually, uh, I mean, obviously, you know, you’re, you’re listening to everything. You’re trying to kind of isolate different sounds and understand kind of where, where there’s, you know, low end and high end that you don’t want.

Um, you know, again, the type of type of music that I make that kind of progressive house, um, you know, uh, sound, there’s a lot going on. Right. So, you know, you’ve got, um, you know, I just, I just finished a, a, a mix down for, for a track.

I hope to release here in the next couple of months, which has like a full orchestra section in it. Um, and kind of the second break. Um, and so, you know, mixing that is, is, is, is tough.

Right. I mean, you’ve got a lot of competing frequencies. You’ve got a lot of competing sounds.

Um, and you know, there’s, you can’t kind of, at least I can’t do it yet, uh, without, you know, looking at a complete waveform isolating exactly where things are kind of ringing or where things are overcrowding, um, conflicting with other frequencies. Uh, so yeah, there’s a lot of that in there. Um, because again, your ears, it’s like an acoustic trip, right?

When everything is playing at once, it all sounds decent, uh, relatively. Right. But, um, it’s, it’s kind of when you’re, when you’re listening to it with like a, you know, an active listening, you can kind of pick out these things that are competing and that sort of thing.

But it’s hard to see that without kind of a waveform that gives you that confidence.

[Darran]
Exactly. You know, um, you do, you said you go to a lot of events and see a lot of shows, you know, but it seems like you also, um, I’d like to know more about this, this wall pro Tomorrowland writer scam with Afrojack this last summer. And was that 2025 summer or 2024 summer?

Yep. It was two months ago. Yep.

Two months ago. What was that all about? What did that entail?

Uh, I’ve heard about these things, you know, just to preface like people go over to Ibiza or they’ll go on like two week or 10 day all intensive with like 15 people in a house, all expenses, meals, stuff paid for. And then at the end of the whole thing, you go out and you go play a club or somewhere and kind of get, you know, music. They’re all intensive, like all day long workshops.

Is that something similar to what this, this wall pro writers camp was like?

[ASTOR]
Yeah, a bit similar. I mean, so, um, through Afrojack and his team have what they call the wall pro Academy through Tomorrowland. Um, it’s, uh, you know, there’s, there’s some kind of tutorial kind of videos on there.

Um, but one of the kind of big, big, uh, you know, benefits of, of, of having, being a part of that, um, is you have access to kind of, you know, a discord in which you can kind of communicate with the team. You can send demos, that sort of thing. Um, and you know, that, that opportunity came up, they kind of, you know, sent out to everybody saying, look, you know, we’re going to do this kind of very small, um, writers camp type of thing around Tomorrowland this year.

Um, and Tomorrowland is two weekends. Uh, and you know, if you’re interested, you can apply. Um, and so I was already planning to go to Tomorrowland first weekend.

Um, and so I thought, you know, well, I’m already going to be in Belgium, so I might as well, you know, uh, throw my hat in the ring. I applied, I got in. Um, so I ended up and it turned out that the writers camp was kind of after weekend two.

So then I had to figure out kind of what I was going to do in Europe for a week, because coming back to New York and then going back out is not, not ideal. Um, so, you know, I stayed in Europe after weekend one, um, went to Amsterdam and kind of worked a couple of days out of the stamp studios, um, which was great having a full studio there. Uh, and then we went to Belgium.

Um, so there was five, six guys with us, uh, and we were all in, uh, a lot of us were staying in the, um, kind of wall compound, uh, which is beautiful kind of estate, um, with buildings full of, you know, studios, like, you know, the best gear you can, you can find. Um, and the first day of it was they took us to the final day of Tomorrowland weekend two, because Afrojack was performing. Um, and so we got to kind of walk the grounds, give us a tour, uh, and, you know, the kind of highlight was, you know, we were able to be backstage, uh, when Afrojack played his set that night, um, on Sunday.

Uh, and it was, you know, again, these inspirational kind of moments as an artist, you gotta, when they’re happening, you know, you want to be in the moment. Um, and then, you know, right after they happen, you really want to make, like, make sure that you’re kind of, you can take a snapshot of that kind of, you know, memory because you really want to, to hold on to it and use it as kind of fire to kind of keep, keep moving. Um, and so it was a very inspirational, uh, you know, event that just that first day.

And then after that, we went into, uh, two days of, you know, meetings with, uh, you know, kind of group meetings, um, with Nick, uh, Afrojack, and then we would go into studio sessions, you know, collaborate with the other artists that were there, um, you know, work on our own music, uh, and just kind of, you know, be in that sort of creative environment, um, which, I mean, it was truly a, uh, a very, um, again, inspiring, helpful experience.

Uh, you know, it’s one of those experiences that you kind of, you look at, um, and, you know, I was driving to the airport, being driven to the airport by an Uber, uh, and, you know, I’m kind of in the backseat thinking, and it’s like, this is, you know, this is kind of, this is, this is a dream, right? Like you don’t, you know, being on that stage, um, and then, you know, spending all of your, your time and day not worried about kind of the blocking and tackling of, um, of minutiae at a job or kind of what’s going on in the world. Just, just, you know, you’re focused on that creative endeavor that, that, you know, has, has kind of inspired you to take this road.

So, so that was, that was really the, the, the, um, biggest takeaway for me. It was a truly, truly great, uh, experience.

[Darran]
Do you, do you think that put a bug in you to maybe say, which are you going to prefer to do? Do you want to do more intimate club settings, more, more closer? Like I’m in with the crowd settings or try to hit those bigger festival stages where it’s like, yes, I’m up here.

I’m in front of 10, 15, 30, 50, 250,000 people, you know, or I like the more intimate with my, you know, with my groove, maybe 600, a thousand people can actually see that maybe touch their hand. Like I see you, I can see your eyeballs.

[ASTOR]
Yeah. I mean, I, you know, the, the festival experience, you know, that playing those sorts of stages is, is, is certainly, you know, always the goal. Um, and, and I think even, you know, it’s goal for everybody, right.

But it’s, it’s even more of a goal for, for myself, because again, you know, this is kind of what is how I got into this music, right. You know, I loved the music before, um, as a fan and I know what that experience as a fan in those festival environments does, um, or at least did to me, uh, you know, um, truly kind of opens, you know, the, the kind of, um, just, it’s, it’s just a great environment, right. And so playing those sorts of environments, being the person that then is like giving that sort of, uh, emotion, that sort of, um, you know, uh, just experience to fans, to large groups of fans like that, always the goal, right.

Um, and, uh, but you know, that being said, I played a ton of smaller club, um, sets and I’ve always, you know, enjoyed them. Uh, I think, you know, there’s, there’s an argument that in some ways those club sets are a bit tougher to play, um, than kind of the bigger festival or even just, you know, small crowd versus big crowd. Um, because, you know, uh, they, they, it’s a, you’re curating a, an experience for a very small group of people.

Um, so in terms of kind of inspired, I mean, I, you know, again, kind of trying to juggle time. Um, I, I focused now a lot more on production than I do on kind of live playing. Um, but you know, festival slots, those sorts of gigs are always going to be the goal.

Um, club sets, uh, also a goal as well. Um, it’s, you know, it’s a little bit kind of, you know, which one is better. I think at this point for me, um, I would like to play some of those bigger stages.

[Darran]
And so that’s, that’s kind of the focus at this point, I guess, you know, being backstage at events obviously can have its own rewards as well, as you found out in tomorrowland, I’d love to be backstage. You know, I was supposed to be out in New York last weekend for John summits event out there on the island and, uh, got the media clearance a little bit too late and was kind of like, I don’t have any time to set up interviews. Um, it still would have been a great event to go see and go be at.

But I was like, I kind of got a mixed work pleasure when I did this stuff. And if it’s not going to work out, then now I’m going to do some other stuff. But that being said is, um, you know, being backstage is always fun.

Who’s the most inspiring person you’ve ever met backstage or at an event or in the business in general, if you haven’t been backstage a lot, they say really changed your impression. I mean, obviously working with Nick Applejack, you know, his office and his team and his crew, that’s, that’s an experience in itself. But have you ever found yourself in an environment where you’re like, Whoa, I met this person.

They were really chill. Or this person has given me some really great advice. Or just somebody that says, I really look up to this person and it’d be great to meet them one day or somebody that gives you that inspiration.

[ASTOR]
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think so I got a chance. I mean, a bit different.

I think there’s kind of two stories that kind of come to mind. I mean, the first is I, um, last year I was opening for, um, uh, Sam felt at a summer club, which is a club in New York. And, um, you know, kind of what, one of those experiences that you’re kind of, you know, you’re close, it’s a very close kind of intimate club you’re handing off the decks.

Right. Um, and, uh, you know, I, he was coming on, I was going off, uh, and this was early on in my kind of, you know, DJing career. Um, and you know, his team was right behind me and kind of like, you know, kind of telling me like, look, here’s my trumpet, he’s going to come on in five minutes, blah, blah, blah.

You’ve got like, maybe play another track or two. Um, and so again, first time that kind of, you’re, you’re kind of handing off to a different artist and they’re different teams and that sort of thing. Uh, and you know, but you’re always kind of frazzled, right?

Like, you know, I don’t want to play for another, I gotta pick a song that’s not going to play for another seven minutes, right? It’s five minutes. I can’t cut it off in the middle.

So, uh, it goes off without a hitch, but then, you know, I’m kind of walking down the stairs and he’s kind of walking up and, uh, you know, I shake his hand and say, you know, I’ll have a great set and I’ll mASTOR it over for you. And he said something to the effect of, you know, I know who you are. Um, which was, which was really kind of, you know, I didn’t, I didn’t know that, that, that was, um, you know, that my, that I had any reach that would reach these sort of artists.

Um, and you know, a similar interaction with, uh, with Victor from, from Dubvision, that’s a bit more like, it was an opening for him. I’ve just kind of seen him around at different events, whether it be Miami Music Week or ADE. Um, and you know, these are artists that, that we at this level are still looking, always will kind of look up to, right.

And say, you know, uh, like I’m trying to find that, like that sound that they make, or like, I want to play the clubs that they, that they’re playing, the festivals that they’re playing. Um, and in a similar situation, you have to, you know, the second or third time you keep introducing yourself and then they say, you know, I know who you are, you know, like I remember we met, you know, and that, that sort of thing I think is, is, uh, is again, I mean, I think it’s like, there’s not really a lot of time to get that like advice from them, but like just the kind of confirmation that you’re doing something, um, that at least that, you know, they’re kind of these people in your space, they know who you are. Uh, now are they listening to every track you send them or listening to any of the, you know, it’s like, well, maybe not, probably not.

Right. But at least, at least like, if you do have a track that blows up, they’ll be like, okay, I know who that is instead of being like, who, you know, who was that? So I think those are, those are probably some of the moments that, that I kind of have held kind of, you know, close to me.

So, um, and, you know, again, I think also a lot of that has kind of inspired the way, um, you know, I interact, uh, with, with people either at shows, but, you know, most, most importantly, I think on, on, you know, social media, um, now I don’t have, you know, a huge following by any stretch of the imagination. Um, but you know, it’s, uh, it’s one of those things, you know, we were mentioning kind of Spotify stats and this sort of thing. I’ve kind of always taken the approach that, you know, if my music, what I’m doing makes someone feel something, then I’ve done my job.

I don’t care if it’s streamed once, right? Like if that one person was like, this is like, that’s what I’m looking for. I thought they get the feeling that I was getting at these festivals, then I have done my job.

Um, and so, you know, I kind of take that, like people are DMing artists all the time, they’re commenting on, on, on stuff. And, you know, you can tell when someone is genuine and they, they truly kind of are, are, are, um, are excited about what you’re doing. Uh, and, you know, I, I try to make sure that every time, um, someone DMs me with something like that, who, you know, follow me, they just kind of found me on Spotify or they found me on Instagram.

And they’re like, I love this song, you know, make, start a conversation, right? Because, um, we all have those artists that, you know, you DM or you’re, you’re commenting and there’s no, there’s no response. Right.

And so I want to make myself accessible because it’s, you know, our product is the music, but also our product is really a feeling, right? So, um, that feeling is not great. If you then respond to the feeling or, or, or act on the feeling and get, get nothing in return.

Right. It’s like, well, okay. You know, if it was a one to 10, I got to an eight.

I didn’t get the rest of it. So that’s kind of why I try to try to be as open as possible.

[Darran]
Yeah. Do you listen to any, uh, podcasts or live streams, uh, habitually that you follow? And if so, what are the, like the top three that you listen to that says I always am here because they’re like right on top and it doesn’t necessarily have to be financial podcasts or anything like a music podcast, obviously or industry podcast.

Are there any that you kind of really follow to stay up to date with what’s going on in the news and the world or just musically to date with what’s going on? What would those top three be?

[ASTOR]
Yeah. So I think one that I listen to like literally every week it drops is, um, the artist coaching podcast with, uh, Joey Suki, um, Jay Hardway, uh, and Ralph from Bassjackers. Um, it’s, it’s a music industry podcast.

Um, you know, it’s, it’s a, it’s a well-run, uh, podcast. You know, they’re always super helpful. Um, you know, they take questions, they talk about kind of what’s topical in the music industry at that time.

Um, and so that’s always, you know, whenever that drops, I think it’s on Wednesdays or whatever. Uh, I’m usually listening to it by Thursday. Um, so that’s, that’s one, that’s kind of my music quote unquote podcast.

Uh, the second one, which I listen to every, every day, most mostly is, is the daily New York times daily, and that’s more for current events. Um, so, uh, you know, that’s just kind of the, to, to dive deeper into whatever issue they’re, they’re deciding to kind of pitch to, to listeners that day. Um, and that’s a short one.

It’s like 30 minutes, but it’s, you know, it’s a good one. I think, you know, even if I wasn’t in finance, I would be listening to that or, uh, you know, just to kind of keep current. Um, and then, so I’ll give you, I’ll depends on the time of year, but, uh, currently with the Steelers season underway, um, I listened to a Steelers podcast, um, pretty religiously.

Um, so, you know, that, that is like is, uh, it’s locked on sports. Um, and so there’s locked on sports dealers or whatever. Um, so I listened to that pretty religiously, but in addition to that, um, I also listened to, uh, big history buff, uh, as well.

So currently I’m listening to the American revolution and there’s 400 episodes of that. So it dives very deep. So, uh, yeah, but, uh, those are, those are my podcasts.

[Darran]
You binge much. I mean, how long are those episodes of the revolutionary podcast?

[ASTOR]
I think they’re like 30 minutes. Um, but you know, I mean, I think if it’s any takeaway from kind of my, my history, like, you know, studying for, for these, these tests, uh, you know, for my, for my, um, my day job, uh, thinking I was just going to pick up a hobby and then completely like focusing on production and becoming a, you know, a world renowned, uh, producer and DJ, um, or like listening to the American revolution. Once I start getting interested in something, I need to know like every piece of it, uh, you know, before I can kind of move on to something else.

So that’s, that’s just kind of how I’m wired, I guess. But, uh, you know, um, but yeah, that’s it.

[Darran]
And doing all this, how do you balance your work, DJ career, producer, DJ producer career with your daily life? Is there, you find it tough to balance or you have a very regimented schedule? I mean, and other obligations in your life.

I mean, obviously people have to stay in shape too.

[ASTOR]
Yeah.

[Darran]
That’s what do you do to stay in shape? What do you need to break the monotony all the time? Usually every episode is like, what are your tips and tricks for staying healthy or staying motivated or whatnot?

I just bitten back in the chair. I told you pre-show I just sat back in this chair four or five months ago and I put on 30 pounds in this chair for a day. You know, it’s like 7am to 5pm.

I’m doing two interviews and I got to edit and do all my other backend stuff as well. Um, you know, I’m not up and about as much and I do need to, I started working out in a VR program. So I’m like, all right, cool there.

Yeah.

[ASTOR]
Yeah.

[Darran]
How do you balance it? What do you, do you have, did you have a regimen before and then say, I’ve applied the same here or did you have to develop that along this, along this pathway over the last few years?

[ASTOR]
Yeah. Um, I’ve always been relatively regimen. Um, you know, I, uh, I’m, you know, I’m a big list guy, right?

So like everything that I need to do is written in the list and I don’t feel like I can relax until the list is done. Right. Um, but in terms of like, you know, my kind of day, exactly.

Yeah. That’s the same thing.

[Darran]
This is just from May.

[ASTOR]
Yeah. Yeah. And some people get anxious about, you know, a lot of things I get anxious if the list has something that’s not crossed off.

Right. I mean, that’s, you know, that, that’s how I’m wired. Right.

Um, and so, you know, I think the, well, I mean, first of all, kind of on a regimen, I mean, usually what I’ll do is I’ll, I’ll get up work out in the morning. Right. Cause I want to get that out of the way.

And, um, that is mostly because one, I think it’s a great, great way to kind of start the day. Um, the two, you know, then as the kind of day wears on, I don’t have to worry about it. I’m usually going to work.

Um, I work in the office, you know, four to five days a week now. Um, and, uh, and then after that, you know, again, the, the kind of not forcing, but it’s like the we’re doing this. Uh, I will usually kind of try to force myself to sit down in front of Ableton regardless of how creative I feel, even, you know, after work day and just do 30 minutes, even if I just sit there and play with a delay plugin on one note, if it’s 30 minutes, it’s 30 minutes, that’s fine.

What usually will happen is no matter how uncreative I feel when I sit down, you end up being like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Just, just like, you know, just one more hour. And these 30 minute sessions can turn into three hours.

They can turn into, you know, whatever, but making sure that you stay current with that. Um, and some days look, I mean, I’m not going to say that, you know, not as anxious that like I have to do it every single day. Some days things get in the way.

Right. But, um, but that, that at least keeps me, you know, kind of centered on that. And then obviously the weekends are extremely important for me at this point in my music career.

Um, so, you know, Saturdays and Sundays, pretty sacred. Um, you know, my, my wife’s a big marathon runner. Uh, she’s also my biggest fan and advocate.

Um, but, uh, she’s a marathon runner. And so, you know, her hobby, uh, is training for these marathons and completing them. And she’s very, very good.

Um, and so, you know, what she’s doing on Saturdays and Sundays is training for those marathons, which, um, she started actually doing when I was studying for those tests for work. Uh, she’s carried it forward. She’s continued it, which has helped me then free up some time.

You know, it’s, it’s, she’s got her thing on the weekends I’ve got mine. Um, and so, you know, that I think has really, really helped, uh, open up that, that kind of, that band to, to, to produce music. And, you know, again, I think people have asked me before, you know, well, does, does work get in the way?

And sometimes it surely, it feels like it’s, you know, uh, well, I’ve got to, I’ve got to finish this track, got to finish mixing this track, but I can’t because I’ve got to cover something at night or whatever. Um, but I’ve also had the thought of, you know, if I didn’t have, uh, a day job, um, that regimented schedule would go away. And I know that’s been, I’ve always had that regiment schedule, right.

That’s, that’s gotten me to this point. I mean, can’t prove that that’s what got me to this point, but it definitely didn’t, didn’t, uh, you know, detract. So I think that, um, that’s, that’s a big part too, is just kind of knowing what, knowing what I got to do and sitting down and doing it.

[Darran]
Absolutely. Well, Liam, is there anything else you want to let our DJ Sessions fans know about before we let you go?

[ASTOR]
Uh, I think, you know, honestly, I mean, the only thing I’d want everybody to know is, you know, we’ve got, got a couple of good tracks coming out. Um, you know, Stars out on Spotify came out two weeks ago. Super proud of that one.

Um, and, uh, yeah, I’m hoping to kind of, um, release a number of kind of tracks over the next couple of months, uh, get those out and, um, you know, more, more, uh, good Astor music on the wet. Awesome. Where’s the best place people can go to find out more information about you?

Yeah. Best, best place is probably my Instagram. Um, it’s at Astor, uh, music official, um, and Astor is spelled A-S-T-O-R.

[Darran]
Astor music official, A-S-T-O-R. Check them out there, follow them, check out all those new tracks coming out here up in the near future. And check out some of the old library as well, you know, and, uh, definitely we’ll be following up with you and staying in touch with you.

I always like to see rising stars come up and, and follow their career, you know, and, uh, watch where they go. And maybe we’ll see you at AD once this time, maybe I’ll see you in New York here soon as well. You know, I love coming out there.

Um, probably been out there once when I was a few years back, but loved it. I wish I had made it out there this past weekend, but I know I’m going to be being out there a lot more.

[ASTOR]
Yeah, definitely. And really appreciate, uh, you guys having me. Um, it’s been a great hour.

Uh, and, uh, yeah, look forward to staying in touch.

[Darran]
Absolutely. Thank you very much, Liam. All right.

On that note, don’t forget to go to our website, thedjsessions.com right there. You can find out over 700 news stories a month, all our socials, 2700 past episodes, live interviews like this, exclusive mixes, look for our new music section coming out here soon. And we even got a VR nightclub and VR chat and our new mobile app coming out here soon.

Version 2.0, some minor updates. There’s always bells and whistles, always sprinkles on the cupcake. That’s the way I like to say it at thedjsessions.com.

I’m your host, Darran coming to you from the virtual studios in Seattle, Washington. That’s Liam McNamara, McNamara. I got it wrong.

[ASTOR]
That’s it. Yeah.

[Darran]
Aka ASTOR, A-S-T-O-R for the DJ sessions. And remember on the DJ sessions, the music never stops. Peace.