#160: Ali Story on Investing In Your Career & Balancing Work with Music

The EDM Prodcast

EDM Foundations → https://edmfoundations.com This week, Ali Story sat down to chat for the EDM Prodcast. Marie aka Ali Story is a Tech House producer based in Northern Ireland, who is known for infusing her songwriting chops into a groovy dance music context. In this episode, we cover how she really invested into her career during lockdown last year and how it paid off. She covers how she went all-in after losing her job and that once she had momentum, things kept growing. We talk about her recent releases, Smile, and Higher Love, and how she uses the classic piano house sound in a modern context. During this, we talk about how she got signed to Axtone (Axwell from Swedish House Mafia's label) by being persistent and trying to get signed by many different labels. Marie's story is an inspirational one of persistence, collaboration, and going 'all-in', and as you'll notice, she's very switched on with the business and promotion side of things, thanks to her background in marketing. So if you're a producer who's looking to grow your music project, tune in. Links: Smile → https://axtone.lnk.to/SMILE Higher Love → https://loveother.lnk.to/HigherLoveLO Addictive Keys → https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/addictive_keys Spotify For Artists → https://artists.spotify.com/ Connect with Ali Story: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/alistorydj/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/alistorydj Twitter → https://twitter.com/AliStoryDJ Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ek5ExkJLsIHouFsiQyPpx?si=c68679b54952448d Soundcloud → https://soundcloud.com/alistory Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:58 Interview start & Ali Story's background 7:58 Do you need classical training? 11:25 Going 'all in' on music 15:40 Did working in marketing help your own social media and promotion? 19:02 Keeping your sound diverse 21:54 You don't have to be the best at everything 26:34 The last 10% of the track 30:45 Objective feedback vs subjective feedback 32:38 Combining underground and mainstream influences 34:25 Writing with the club in mind 38:05 Your sound evolves over time 39:50 The success of 'Smile' and working with Axtone 43:12 Spotify for Artists and editorial playlists 46:51 'Higher Love' and working with vocalists 50:35 How the 'Lily Mckenzie - Lovers & Friends' remix opportunity came about 55:38 What's coming up next? 59:36 How do you balance music and work? 01:01:49 Listening to audiobooks 01:05:47 If you have a time machine, what would you go back and change? 01:12:24 Where can people find you online? EDMProd: Website → https://edmprod.com Instagram → https://instagram.com/edmprodgram Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/EDMPsite Soundcloud → https://soundcloud.com/edmprod Spotify → https://sptfy.com/edmprod Aden Russell (Artsea): Instagram → https://instagram.com/iamartsea Facebook → https://facebook.com/iamartsea Spotify → https://sptfy.com/iamartsea Soundcloud → https://soundcloud.com/iamartsea