MUMBAI: Music has the power to define an entire individual. When we talk about Troy Henry, who’s popular as TroyBoi, it is not hard to define him or his sound. The multi-talented musician dedicates himself in astonishingly one of its kind tracks where he fuses various textures from several genres and brands it as ‘My Style’. The man behind tracks such as Afterhours, Do You Love Me, Soundclash, Showbiz, has recently released a banging track What You Know (27 July) from his upcoming album Left is Right, which is set to be released on 25 August via T dot Music.
After having performed in Delhi (21 June at Kitty Su) and Mumbai (22 June at Kitty Su), Troy finished his ‘Mantra’ tour with a gig in Bengaluru on 23 June at JW Marriot. During his India debut tour a week ago at Kitty Su, Mumbai, Radioandmusic got the chance to have a chat where he spoke about his earlier days, his sound, upcoming album, his dream collaboration and more. Buckle up and get all set to be taken into the world of TroyBoi.
TroyBoi, who put everyone on fire on 22 June at Kittu Su, along with his banging set, did not possess a great amount of technical knowledge about music. “I was very passionate about music similar as any other young kid, and I think the point in which I knew I wanted to become a music producer, I was in school, I was probably thirteen and a half or fourteen years old. I was introduced to music production into the school curriculum,” says Troy.
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The then-teenager joined the music program and played the drums for six years in school. The bossman of Trap/Hip-Hop first got into production through a friend. He states, “One day I saw one of my friends, who was in the upper year, sitting in front of a computer, a keyboard and stuff I had never seen before. Inquisitive me wanted to know more about the setup. So, I watched him, he played a piece of piano, and then recorded on to the computer and next, he did a drum beat, recorded and pressed play. That was his product and literally something just clicked and I was like this is exactly the thing I want to do. Ever since then I am obsessed with creating music.”
TroyBoi is without a doubt one of the cutting edge producers in the game right now and it’s quite clear from his work that his style is not forced, not rushed. “With my music, sound, everything I have done, it happened in fact naturally. I have not set myself to be like, right, I want to be the best, it is more like enjoying creating music and what happens with each creation and take the next step from there. My music is more personal for me; it is more of an art form. If people interoperate, it is a blessing,” says Henry.
It takes a lot of time, effort, experiments to actually ‘grow’ as a music producer. Talking about his artistic approach, Troy shared that he reads and keep an eye on various computer magazines and he has been doing that since he was a youngster. “I found out about Cubase way ago, which was the program we used to have in school. As the program was evolving I moved to Logic 9 in 2007, and literally moved to Logic Pro X in the beginning of this year and here we are. I always start with the drum, as the rhythm and the beats are the roots of any track. I never like to force any idea as I have learnt from Michel Jackson that, one should not concentrate on the music, let the music ride itself. I have taken that approach and that’s exactly how it works for me,” states Troy. He also shared that if he doesn’t have any good ideas for the day, he steps away from the computer, and gets back after a couple of hours, it may take a few days or weeks too!
Not only Troy fuses and takes different elements from different genres, but the musician also finds the idea of blending world music and popular music very appealing. For example, taking traditional Indian instruments such as sitar tabla, and put it in with hip hop, or an African vocal mixed with a house track or even an orchestral symphony and then make a relaxing RnB track. “All of these come with years of experimentation and being comfortable with what I want to do my sound. Whenever I make, it is a true expression of what I want. So, for me even if someone else doesn’t like it, it doesn’t matter. For me, it is my own articulation. You can’t ever put me on a downer because this is me. This is me doing me always,” he confesses.
Coming back to his upcoming album, Left is Right, he states that this album is going to be his first ever complete body of work where you can hear different elements, distinct vibes, and things you haven’t heard before. Radioandmusic asked him how he sees the approach of Trap and Hip-Hop music in India. Responding to that, he states that he has been getting overwhelming supports, reactions and he was literally weighed down when he witnessed fans singing together while he was behind the turntable.
About producing, Troy says that professional training is not really mandatory, however, it does help. An understanding of sound, numerous instruments, and some knowledge of know-how music, scales, rhythms and technology solve a lot of things as no one wants to go out of tune. “The more trained you are, the more knowledge you have and knowledge is power and you can use that to your advantage while creating sound or beats. I can play the piano, but I can’t read a single note. If you put a sheet of notes in front of me I would not understand anything. I just know by my ear,” he states.
A lover of Rasmalai (One type of Indian sweets), an admirer of Bollywood films, and film stars, Troy has watched Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan starer blockbuster Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham almost 100 times with his mom, who happens to be an Indian. Troy also considers himself as half-Indian. That’s right. “My mom was born and raised in Kolkata. Though she has Chinese, Portuguese descent, she is an Indian. That’s where the connect and love for India and Indian music comes from. I love the instrumentations, textures and the vocal tonality of Indian musicians,” he says elatedly.
Sharing some of his dream collaborations, he told us that he would like to work with one of his mentors Pharrell Williams. “He has been my personal mentor throughout. I used to listen to a lot of his productions while growing up. Also, Priyanka Chopra is killing it right now; I would love to work with her on a project.”
“This India trip is also an educational trip for me, I would like to explore the Indian music scene and I am open for anything as long as the music sounds satisfactory to me,” he signs off.
