Very few artists have had such a monumental 2020 and 2021 quite like German artist Topic. With ‘Breaking Me’, he crossed 1 billion streams, an achievement very few within the dance music scene have hit. With the pressure on him, he delivered in style with his official version of classic dance ‘9 PM’. Having just performed on the main stage of SAGA Festival, we had the pleasure of speaking to him about a number of topics, full interview below.
Hey Topic, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. You’ve just finished your set 15 minutes ago. How did it feel to be back on stage after a number of lockdowns?
Bro, so sick! Like, imagine you’re a DJ and you’re in a cage for one and a half years. And finally, you can get back out and see people.
What did you miss most about being on stage?
Mostly how the people react and put their hands up, sing your songs, and all that stuff, yeah.
You say you were in a cage. Is there anything you miss about the past year and a half?
Yeah, of course, it was nice because you had so much time in the studio and everything. But to be honest. No, I just want to tour and go on stage and have a good time.
Speaking about your music, you have recently blown up with lots of hits but you’ve been releasing songs since 2014. Do you feel your experience has helped shape your career?
Definitely. I mean, that you never know what song is going to be hit or not, but I definitely gonna say like, when you produce, you know, more and more, what’s good and what’s bad. And that’s kind of what helped me.
‘Breaking Me’ really blew up, gaining over 1 billion streams. When you were in the process of making it and before it was released, did you feel you had something special?
I didn’t feel I had something special. I didn’t feel like it’s gonna hit a few billion streams, that’s insane!
With this song, it was a blend of deep house, pop, dance, a hybrid of many styles and you’ve been the driving force behind this new genre. How does it feel to be one of the main artists behind this fresh new style?
Feels great man. I mean, to be honest, everyone making music is always looking at their heroes and what they’re doing. I was always looking at Martin Garrix, The Chainsmokers, and everyone. And to be honest, even ‘Breaking Me’ was inspired by Medusa, in a way, you know, like they pitched down a vocal, Regard pitched down a vocal and then ‘Breaking Me’, you know, everything’s just like what did he do and it’s great now that people take ‘Breaking Me’, and it’s like a different style, you know.
This is what I’d call your own signature style. From your experience within the dance music scene, how important is it for you to have your own flavor?
It’s so difficult, it’s so important to have your own sound because everyone in dance music, like, if you go now to dance playlists and listen to it, everything sounds like Medusa, you know, close to that, you have to stick out and just have your own sound.
Since ‘Breaking Me’ was such a huge hit, did you feel pressure to follow up on it?
A little bit, of course, but in the same way, it’s just like when you have such a big hit. It’s just so rare to have that. And, I mean if I have it again, it would be insane. But if I won’t have it it’s not bad.
Speaking of SAGA Festival, you’ve just come from the mainstage. How was it to perform for the very first edition?
That was insane, it was great. I was here already yesterday, it’s such a great festival, it’s so big and the stages are so nice and I cannot wait to be back here next year!
The Romanian crowd really seemed to respond to you very, very well, even early in the day, it was a really good turnout. How do you feel the crowd reacted to you?
Yeah, they were really reactive and no matter what I did, they responded to me and really liked it. They were on it.
Thanks so much for your time! Is there anything you’d like to announce with our readers?
Unfortunately, I would love to announce a new single but I don’t have it yet. I’m looking for it man, but hat’s what it is.
Check out Topic’s latest release below:
