Feenixpawl and Marcus Santoro strike collaborative gold on new single, 'Forever Young' [Q&A]

When Feenixpawl and Marcus Santoro take a stride around the electronic release ring together, they do so with a near palpable energy. It emanates on Feenixpawl and Santoro’s joint single, “Forever Young.” The trio’s creative synergy is audible, and the fruit of their collaborative labor lively: “Forever Young’s” beat races with a vigor that is matched by that of both its chords and its vocal. Two familiar elements of Feenixpawl’s toolbox guide “Forever Young” as it surges through streamers’ speakers with fluid ease: soaring ascents and sweeping melodies.

Although the Australian production pair aren’t exactly new to the electronic setting, the Armada Music signees have capitalized on 2019 as a year to further establish and assert their status as power players. Feenixpawl accordingly shared their MaRLo-assisted sensory arresting trance anthem, “Lighter Than Air,” in April. Gleaming progressive house gem, “Play With Fire,” followed in May.

EDM All Day caught up with Aden Forte and Josh Soon of Feenixpawl and Marcus Santoro ahead of “Forever Young’s” release to learn more about the record’s inception.

DA: You’ve released two stunning singles in recent months, “Lighter Than Air,” for which you convened with MaRLo,  and “Play With Fire,” which featured Rico & Miella. How did the production process of this song differ from these past two records, and what specifically were you hoping to creatively achieve with “Forever Young”?

ADEN: I suppose the main difference between this track and our previous two was the fact we were able to all be in the studio together while making the track. MaRLo tours heavily, so we had to rely on uploading stems and ideas constantly in order to work on the track, which is similar to how we did “Play With Fire” with Rico & Miella, as we don’t all live in the same city. It was great to get in the studio with Marcus and throw ideas around and come up with something special.

DA: The brand new single is a collaboration produced alongside Marcus Santoro, can you say a little bit about how the three of you got together for this cut?

JOSH: We’ve known Marcus for years, and we’ve always been good friends. We’ve discussed working together for so long but it [was] simply about timing and also finding the right project. As soon as we heard the demo vocal [for] “Forever Young” we knew it was perfect to work on with Marcus. We were lucky that we were all in the same city at the same time and were able to get into the studio together to work on it, which is quite rare these days. It was a really fun process to get together and just have fun with it.

DA: Marcus, you’re certainly no stranger to the Armada family and have released music Armada before. Can you describe your sonic style for listeners who may not be familiar with your sound, and can you also talk about how you wove your sound into this particular production?

MARCUS: It’s always great to release with Armada. I’ve been a part of the Armada family for a few years now and the fans are so welcoming and supportive! For those who aren’t familiar with my music, it generally revolves around melodies, uplifting feelings and emotion!

I always try to generate these 3 core things [in] my music and I feel ‘Forever Young’ is no exception. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with more deeper/progressive sounds but for this record I wanted to bring my signature trance/progressive vibes to the table and I feel it works well with Feenixpawl’s progressive house sound too. We’ve wanted to work together for a few years now and I’m glad this is the outcome we have to share with the world!

DA: As 2019 winds down, what’s next for both of you?

JOSH: We have at least one more original release scheduled for 2019, it’s another collaboration with our brother Harley Knox who we did a track called “Bones” with last year. We love working with Harley and we are super happy with this new record which is called “Colours.” We also have a bunch of shows coming in our native Australia that we’re really excited about and will be announcing soon!

ADEN: We’re always in the studio working on new stuff, and we’re super excited to share all the music we’ve been working on. The feedback on our last few singles has been incredible and we feel like the new music is even better!

MARCUS: For me, I have loads of new music still to be released…there’s close to 4 [or] 5 new singles and that’s not including some dope remixes! I have some other exciting collaborations and new solo material on the way including my very own radio-show, and I also will be playing some cool shows [which are] still to be announced. I’m very excited for what 2020 is going to bring,  I feel my music is as strong as ever and I can’t wait to show it to everyone!