How Emanuel Satie Discovered His Musical Talents
Unearthing a talent within oneself can be a potentially life-altering experience. Sometimes it happens in the blink of an eye, other times, it is a slow build that navigates trial and error under the umbrella of an underlying passion. German DJ and producer, Emanuel Satie, is a case study for the latter.
As a child, Emanuel’s parents “greatly encouraged” him to take on a musical instrument. A child subject to the will of his guardians, Satie began learning the cello. Apathy towards the cello soon shifted Emanuel’s focus to bass guitar, but that, too, would fail to keep hold of his interest.
“I didn’t really enjoy it to be honest,” Satie sheepishly shares in an interview. “But it kind of laid the foundation I guess in understanding harmonies and melodies and stuff like that.”
While Emanuel had always been interested in music, forced instrument studies did not pique his interest. His interest in music would not evolve into a passion until he discovered hip-hop as a teenager.
“I was writing lyrics all the time… Kool Savas was my inspiration so you can imagine the lyrics I was rapping as a thirteen or fourteen-year-old,” Emanuel laughed. “I actually did record,” he continued, “But it luckily disappeared.”
It wasn’t until Satie reached the club-going age of eighteen that he first heard house music. The unique camaraderie of these house music events was a striking difference from anything Emanuel had experienced before. He immediately fell in love and knew this music would continue to be a significant part of his life.
It wasn’t long before Emanuel began accumulating records, and any vinyl head will tell you just how quickly that collection can grow. A friend soon pitched the question, “You have all these records, why aren’t you a DJ?” Satie’s response? “I don’t know how.”
The following year saw Emanuel spinning religiously, practicing weekly in his friend’s basement. This gradual unearthing and fine-tuning of his musical faculties would lead Satie to the Best Producer Award at the 2016 DJ Awards in Ibiza. It seems almost poetic that his journey is one of gradual growth and progress—a trait beautifully mirrored in his expansive and patient production style.
