This love for dance music began its growth for Stumpf in mid-2011. It wasn’t until early-2013 that ‘Treyis’ was born. Looking for something more meaningful than ‘DJ (insert noun here)’, Stumpf began brainstorming a title that would signify himself as a DJ. He then took his initials, SSS, and started pronouncing it in different ways. Out came ‘Trey-es’, which was later re-spelled ‘Treyis’, and the first of many steps was finished. But a name without tunes to back it up is just that– a name. So Treyis began building his catalog of tracks, culminating in the release of his debut EP, The Sixth Floor, which came out in the spring of 2014 as a free download.
The idea of releasing a compilation of originals at the same time was a personal milestone for me. It was exciting, but also nerve-racking at the same time. I had no idea what the public reaction would be. I guess you could say I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst, and I was very happy with the outcome of it and still am!
Even when enjoying the outcome of hours of hard work and effort, Treyis still takes time to learn from his mistakes and improve in all aspects as a producer/promoter/DJ.
One thing I would’ve done differently is more marketing and private sharing prior to the release date. Building hype for a release is crucial, I guess it’s one of those things you have to learn from experience. I didn’t hype it up enough to my networks let alone reach out far to others.
While creating and releasing various originals and collabs, Treyis also managed to spread his name with live performances. He opened for Adventure Club in Pullman last fall, featured at Volume Nightclub, and recently opened for KJ Sawka at Foundation Nightclub. One such appearance is leading to new opportunities and a collab with Los Angeles-based duo Them Lost Boys.
The trip to Los Angeles was so surreal. I’m still kind of baffled and humbled that they wanted to work with me to be honest. They were headlining at Volume back in April and I was given the opportunity to open for them and show them around town for a couple days. One of the tunes I opened with they really liked, which later resulted with them wanting to collaborate on it.
Never wasting a the chance to make the most of a good opportunity, Treyis took in as much information as he could and learned more about the craft.
Working with them though was fascinating. They know a lot more about sound design than I do so it was cool to learn a good amount from them and study their workflow. They also know a bunch about the music business so it was fun asking them questions on subjects I’m not too experienced with such as management and record releases.
http://instagram.com/p/sG5GeqOkbe/
Treyis knows that the learning won’t stop anytime soon, and that he’ll have to continue working hard to keep up with the quality artists coming out of the Northwest dance music scene.
It’s an exciting time for artists in the PNW! Some really good artists on the rise like Corporate, Eliminate, City 17 and Kai Wachi that are creating wicked originals. There are other good ones too but those were the first that came to mind.
Let us know what you think of the sound Treyis is spreading throughout the Northwest and beyond! Comment below, on Facebook, or reply on Twitter!
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