“Polar” came out a year ago. Time goes by pretty fast, doesn’t it? The year is slowly but surely coming to a close so I thought I’d write a few introspective words about how 2016 was.
This year has been slow in terms of releases; there’s only been two EPs under my real name, Janne Hatula, on Lightless. There’ll be an EP by an artist called SDS on Lightless dropping on Nov 25.
I said in early 2016 that I wouldn’t work on an album this year, and I really meant it. Continue reading Year 2016 – introspection →

It was a great weekend in Berlin – one of the best weekends all year, and it’s hard to put into words how great the inspirational vibe we all got to experience and share during those three days at Funkhaus was. We all met numerous likeminded people from all over the world, all of whom were here for the same reason: making music. Big thanks for that goes out to Ableton.
Some of the highlights and points I’ll be taking home: Continue reading Loop 2016 – thoughts →

(This stemmed from reading on a music forum a post about a producer feeling exhausted and “lost” with his [only] genre.)

Ever feel “lost” making your music genre?
My tip: don’t just stick to one genre.

I can say that in my career, I’ve definitely experienced the pain that comes from trying to force one style too much at one point. I have also seen that in many others, who I’ve later on tried to encourage to do whatever. And every now and then I hear “a D&B producer” break out of his shell and “loving making music again” etc.

I guess on one level one part of you has reasons for pushing one style (maybe it’s gained you some recognition, you realize you have the talent for it, or maybe one particular style has gained you a few bucks) Continue reading If you feel “lost” with your musical genre →

First, a few words about me in case you are not familiar with what I do, as it is somewhat relevant in terms of this blog post.
My name is Janne Hatula, and I have been making electronic music for around 25 years. I have made and released most of my music as Fanu, and I also make a bit of hip hop as FatGyver and some slower tempo electronic stuff under my real name.

In addition to making music, what keeps me busy is being a mixing and mastering engineer and running my own company for it. I am also an Ableton Certified Trainer. And I like to blog/Instagram about music stuff quite a bit. So all I do has to do with music; it is a situation I have worked a whole lot for, and that makes me happy.

I have been out there as an artist for a good while; my first proper release came out around 2002. I started making music in 1992 as far as I can recall. So it has been a journey, for sure, and it ain’t stopping.

That is why I receive questions relating to making music often, and one question I get asked a lot is, ”What tips would you give to a new producer?” Continue reading Advice for young producers →

Hello, all music makers!

Many of those who have been yours truly probably know well I’m really into using Ableton Live.
Also, what I know about many music makers out there based on asking them what’s challenging to them about making music is that many of them often say that finishing a song is one of the hardest parts when it comes to making music – or, coming up with enough ideas so that the song would be easy to finish. Seems many are struggling with 16-bar loops (or loops of any length that are not forming into songs).

I wanted to share with you what’s been helping me tremendously in terms of actually being able to write songs instead of those frustrating loops. Continue reading Productivity: easily create songs with Ableton Live’s session view →