Kill The Buzz, real name Adithya Nanuru, is a Breda-based producer who began making music as a young boy.
Over the years, Kill The Buzz has climbed the progressive house ladder, gaining support and praise from a number of high profile artists along the way, including Dannic, David Guetta and Hardwell. KTB made his breakthrough in 2012 with smash hit ‘Party Hard’. Since then, he has released a number of electro house tracks which have allowed him to truly shine as an artist.
KTB has also marked his territory with numerous live performances. Having performed across the world with his own show, and on some of the biggest stages, including at Tomorrowland, he has proven to be a live artist not to be missed.
We recently caught up with Kill The Buzz to discuss his music, his friendship with Hardwell, remixes and more. Check it our below.
Your first release of the year was the Hardwell collab, ‘Break The House Down’. What was the inspiration behind the track?
The track ‘Break the House Down’ was an inspiration I got after listening to a track that Hardwell played during the I Am Hardwell Gelsenkirchen show back in 2015. I started playing around with a big room kick and afterwards bringing up an energetic lead. For the break I wanted to go back in time when I was a teenager and watching the Tiësto in Concert DVD in the Gelredom – it had to be trance and euphoric!
You have a long history with Hardwell. How did you first get in contact with him, and what’s it like to work alongside such an industry heavyweight?
Hardwell and I go back over a decade. We met in a car of a mutual friend since we both had to go to the same party in the Escape in Amsterdam. He was performing there as a DJ and I was joining a colleague from my work back then at T-Mobile. His name was Paul Veth and he was a resident DJ from our hometown as well.
During our trip from Breda to Amsterdam we talked and we seemed to have a lot of mutual interests. Back then I didn’t even know who he was as an artist but then 6 months later we crossed paths again at a mutual friend’s Christmas dinner. A couple of weeks after that he called me to ask me if I wanted to join him to a couple of gigs he had that night. We toured together with me as a friend in the Netherlands and Europe for 3 years and we worked together on music in his studio.
Our friendship hasn’t changed even though we’re working in the same industry, but I do admit that it is hard work to work alongside Hardwell as his #1 support act world-wide. I’ve been around the world a couple of times now and it keeps amazing me how many destinations we fly in to in a year’s time. But since we’ve been friends for over a decade it’s a lot of fun to tour together.
Can you talk us through your production process?
My productions process is all about starting with the basics. I am a piano player, so I always start off just jamming behind the Piano. Even if it’s a remix. I just put on the vocal in loop and start playing chords and melodies until I get the right feeling for the track.
If the feeling is the way I want it I start off with adding claps, snaps, hi hats or any other drum loop to get a feeling of the groove and momentum. After that the track will always feel a bit empty so I start layering sounds until I get it the way I want it to sound like.
Getting the sound right is important for me so that when I have it on loop I can sit back and start bringing up ideas I want to add or even delete from the project.
After getting sounds together I’ll start working on the composition of the track. Where does the verse kick in and where does the pre-chorus start which ends in the chorus? While working around these elements of the track I get more of a feeling about sound design and everything automatically starts to add up and fall in place.
Mixing and EQ’ing is the last part my production process. As the track is fully layed out. I start to mix every single sound by ear until I am satisfied about the overall track. This doesn’t mean that I’m not adjusting separate tracks while working on the composition.
When did you first come to realise that you wanted a career in music?
That started when I was a kid. I was always playing instruments since I was about 7 years old. I started with the recorder flute, then piano, trumpet, drums, guitar. I always wanted to join a drum corps but since there weren’t many of those in my hometown Breda I joined a marching band instead where I learned percussion and playing the trumpet.
When I was in Junior High & High-School I started playing in school bands. As a keyboard player I was one of the guys who wasn’t into sports but more into music and computers. I played in multiple cover bands and performed in and nearby my hometown. By that time I was already a huge fan of acts like Earth Wind & Fire, Toto, John Legend, Alicia Keys and other artists and the only thing on my mind was that I wanted to become successful in the music industry myself.
I proposed to the band I was playing in by the time I was 19 that we should write our own songs and become an act of our own to play on huge festival with live music. But not everyone in the band was eager to write their own stuff which ended in the split of our band. After that I started working on my own music productions in Electronic Dance Music.
How has your roots influenced your music?
My roots in Holland have influenced me a lot. Since Dance Music is one of the biggest products in our country for more than a decade it’s more than logical that I grew with it. In elementary school we had parties where they played the early sounds of what they call Hardstyle & Hardcore these days. We were used to hearing a lot of Harddance music since we were kids. Trance, Progressive House became popular genres after that. Progressive House back then was a crossover of Tech and Minimal from now. My late brother played in a club in Rotterdam and was always listening to Electronic Dance Music when I came to visit and stayed for the night. So my roots definitely influenced me in my music.
Why did you choose the moniker, ‘Kill The Buzz’?
When my first track ‘Party Hard’ was about to be released it was #1 in the DMC Buzz Chart. I didn’t have an artist name and I couldn’t come up with anything. The Buzz around that track became so big that around the internet everybody started questioning about who the artist behind a track premiered by Hardwell at Tomorrowland 2012 was. Rumors spread that it could be a smaller artist to even a collab between Hardwell & Tiesto. So for me it was time to kill that buzz around that track, hence Kill The Buzz was born.
You’ve played on a number of incredible world stages. Do you have a particular performance highlight?
Though every show is a highlight. The most memorable shows for me have to be:
– I Am Hardwell Gelsenkirchen 2015
– The World’s Biggest Guestlist India
The reason for these shows is that the shows in Gelsenkirchen and India were the biggest shows I have ever done. Playing in front of a crowd of 38,000 people in Gelsenkrichen and even over 70,000 people in India was something I will never forget. The energy and the amount of people we get to unite in one show is definitely something to never forget.
How do you normally prepare yourself ahead of a live performance?
I usually make new mashups in the hotel room or try to figure out which tracks the other guys in the line up play. I like to give the crowd something different then what they already heard. I don’t really prepare my sets upfront, especially not while playing in a club. It depends on the crowd’s reaction which way I’ll be going music wise.
You’re on the road a lot – what are your three most essential items when travelling?
– Laptop & SD Cards: I cannot go on the road without these. It’s essential for updating my music, making music and being able to play at a show.
– Dental Kit: I like to brush my teeth and be fresh all the time
– Phone: Gotta stay connected.
As well as original tracks, you’re known for your remixes. What’s been the most challenge track you’ve remixed?
The remix for Mason – Exceeder was one of the most challenging remixes I ever did.
It was such a huge classic that I didn’t want to lose the original value of the track by just banging it all out with a no brainer. So coming up with an idea for the remix and keeping that original classic vibe was tough.
Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
If I could ever do a collaboration with Tiësto, Coldplay or Zedd that would be a dream come true.
What does 2017 have in store for Kill The Buzz?
Besides releasing Big Room and Progressive House music I will be releasing more pop influenced dance music as well.
Thank you to Kill The Buzz for his time! Keep up to date with him on Twitter, Facebook and SoundCloud.