CID has come a long way from digging through vinyl crates in Queens to winning a Grammy and lighting up dancefloors worldwide. With a sound that fuses crisp house grooves with peak-time energy, he’s worked with icons like Kaskade and Tiësto while carving out his own lane with his label, Night Service Only.
In our exclusive interview, he talks about his latest single No Phones, a punchy club track with Dances that champions distraction-free raving. He also dives into his journey from almost becoming an accountant to making global dance hits, and why keeping the club experience pure still matters.
Your journey from an aspiring accountant to a Grammy-winning producer is remarkable. How did this transition unfold, and what pivotal moments influenced your decision to pursue music full-time?
Music has been my passion for as long as I can remember. In my elementary school yearbook, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, most kids wrote doctor, lawyer, or astronaut—but I wrote DJ, haha. There have been a few defining moments in my journey, but the first was in college when I signed the very first track I ever finished to Markus Schulz’s label, Coldharbour. About six months after its release, he played in New York, and I’ll never forget the feeling of being in the crowd when he dropped my track—the energy, the reaction—it was surreal. In that moment, I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. During my last year of college, my friends kept asking, “Are you seriously not applying to any accounting firms?” But I had already made up my mind—I was going to give this music thing a shot.
Collaborations have been a significant part of your career. Could you share insights into your creative process when working with artists like Don Diablo and Kaskade? How do these partnerships influence your sound?
Every collaboration is unique! Don Diablo and Kaskade played huge roles in my career early on—they are both incredibly genuine and believed in me from the start. Working with Don was always so natural. One of us would say, “Hey, I have this break,” or “I have this drop idea,” and the other would just run with it. When we worked on our remix of Make Me Feel Better, I knew right away how special that vocal was. Don was in New York for a show and asked if I wanted to do the remix as a collab. That night, I had this vivid dream where we were in the studio, and I suggested a specific direction for the chords in the track. The next day, we sat down together, and that’s exactly how we produced it. Kind of crazy to think about!
Kaskade really championed me as an artist in the U.S. We worked on a track called Us together, and since he’s always had these incredible vocals in his music, I knew I had to bring something special to the table. That’s how Us was born. Funny enough, a lot of people assume he brought the vocal while I handled the drop, but it was actually the other way around! The track ended up on his Automatic album, and I remember there being discussions about having me support a few of the album tour shows. But Kaskade didn’t hesitate—he said, “No, we’re putting him on every show.” I went from barely having any gigs to playing something like 28 shows in four weeks. It was absolutely crazy—haha!
You’ve mentioned that early mentorships played a crucial role in your development. How did these relationships shape your approach to production and the music industry?
I definitely attribute alot of my accomplishments to random lucky encounters throughout my life. I think at the core of it, all these people saw just how passionate and dedicated to the music I’ve always been. One in Particulate is Greg Bahary, he was in a duo called Hott 22 and still owns a label called Gossip Records. He really taught me alot about the business side, and helped me along the way. I still speak to him almost every week.
Balancing touring with studio work can be challenging. How do you maintain creativity and productivity while on the road, and what tools or techniques do you rely on to produce music remotely?
I definitely attribute a lot of my accomplishments to random lucky encounters throughout my life. But at the core of it, I think these people saw just how passionate and dedicated I’ve always been to the music. One person who played a huge role is Greg Bahary. He was part of a duo called Hott 22 and still owns Gossip Records. Greg really taught me a lot about the business side of the industry and helped guide me along the way. To this day, we still talk almost every week.
The evolution of New York’s nightlife has seen many venues close, yet you’ve observed a shift towards a grittier, warehouse-style scene. How has this transformation impacted your performances and connection with local audiences?
New York nightlife has had its ups and downs, but the underground warehouse scene has always been there—it was just harder to find. With dance music blowing up over the last 15 years, people are now searching for fresh, unique experiences. That’s why so many of these new venues have that raw, gritty warehouse vibe. My next show in New York is at a spot called Silo. It used to be an old auto garage, and from the front, it looks like this tin, semicircle-shaped warehouse. It’s got such a cool, industrial feel—perfect for the energy of the underground scene.
Your remix of LSD’s “Audio” earned you a Grammy nomination. What drew you to this track, and how did you approach reimagining it while preserving its original essence?
Diplo had been supporting and playing my music for a while, and I’ve been a huge fan of Sia and Labrinth for as long as I can remember. So when the request came in, it was a no-brainer. I’ve always had a knack for remixes, especially when there’s a lot of emotion in the original track. My approach is always about finding that perfect balance—making sure it hits on the dancefloor while still keeping the raw emotion that makes the song special.
With the launch of your own label, what vision do you have for supporting emerging artists, and how do you plan to differentiate your label in the competitive electronic music landscape?
With Night Service Only, it all comes down to music I believe in and want to play in my sets. I think we’re at a point where a lot of labels are hesitant to release anything that isn’t already trending online—but I couldn’t care less about that. I want to give artists a platform, no matter how big or small they are. The ultimate goal is to grow the label to a place where I can start hosting label parties and events, creating a space to truly showcase the artists and their music.
You’ve transitioned from using Logic to primarily working with Ableton Live. What prompted this change, and how has it influenced your creative workflow?
I can’t even remember exactly when I switched, but it’s been at least six or seven years now. I used to rely on Ableton just for editing samples before importing them into Logic. But eventually, I hit a point where I felt completely uninspired in Logic, so I made the full switch to Ableton. It’s just such a more creative DAW. The real-time flexibility with audio samples is insane—there’s literally no limit to what you can do. There was definitely a bit of a learning curve on the mixing and mastering side in Ableton, but once I figured that out, there was no turning back.
In a previous discussion, you mentioned the importance of stepping away from a mix to gain perspective. Can you elaborate on how this practice enhances your mixing process and the final quality of your tracks?
This is especially true for artists who work alone without a second set of ears for reference. Once you get to that last 10%, your brain starts to lose sight of the bigger picture. That’s why it’s so important to step away—maybe work on something else for a bit—then come back with fresh ears. That can make all the difference in spotting what needs to be adjusted.
‘No Phones’ feels like a direct response to the current club culture, where screens often dominate the dancefloor. What inspired the concept behind this track, and how do you personally feel about the impact of phones on the clubbing experience?
First off, Dances is such a creative artist. When I was in LA, I wanted to get in the studio with him, and originally, we were recording vocals for a completely different track. Honestly, everything he says just feels so hooky. After I got back home, I started digging through all the vocals and ad-libs we recorded, and as soon as I heard him say, “No Phones, No Cameras, Just Dancing,” I knew—that was its own track. It’s definitely no coincidence given everything going on, but this song is really just our way of poking fun at it. At the end of the day, I don’t really care if you’re on your phone or not, as long as you’re having a good time!
The track merges minimal and Latin influences, bringing in raw grooves and live trumpet sections. How did you approach blending these elements, and was there a specific vibe or energy you wanted to capture with Dances’ vocal contributions?
Dances’s voice has so much energy, and I knew the production had to match that intensity. Initially, I focused on building the kick, bass, and groove around the vocal to really make it hit. The trumpet was the final piece that brought everything together—it was the missing element that made the track feel complete!
No Phones is out now on Toolroom
The post “My friends kept asking, ‘Are you seriously not applying to any accounting firms?’” CID interview appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.