By Aurora Wetherill, of LightsOn w\/ Aurora, Thursdays@10pm.<\/p>\n
So, Thero is amazing. \u201cWho is Thero?\u201d you might ask. Well, he\u2019s the man. He\u2019s producing some of the most innovative and invigorating tropical house music to date. He\u2019s the man out-doing his heros. And you definitely haven\u2019t heard of him yet.<\/p>\n
You might also be wondering what tropical house music is. It\u2019s house music characterized by synthetic bongos, steel drums, and flutes, and it floats somewhere around 110 beats per minute. It essentially makes you feel like you\u2019re lying in the shade of a palm tree sharing a cool drink with the love of your life. If you don\u2019t like it, you probably don\u2019t like anything lovely and you probably don\u2019t use your vacation days either.<\/p>\n
Thero, which is the tropical house moniker of Connecticut-born TJ Sarda, has been twisting lesser songs into full on badass sax-infused low-BPM tropical bangers for about 6 months now, although he has been producing for three years. He says he really only found his sound this past Spring, and that he was heavily influenced by tropical house innovators Kygo and Klingande. He has no formal musical training, but he has an obvious comprehension and proficiency with his material. He began producing after he saw Avicii play at Red Rocks (in CO) back in 2011– he says something just clicked, and he knew he needed to make music.<\/p>\n
So this guy is pretty young. He only graduated from Notre Dame University this past May, with a degree in entrepreneurship. He\u2019s got a day job as an innovation consultant at a small firm, and says that music is just his \u201cside hustle.\u201d I asked him if he felt like he was about to get mega-famous, and he responded with great humility: \u201cI\u2019m just doin what I love and people dig it. What more could you ask for?\u201d<\/p>\n
We talked a little about the state of music these days, and how there\u2019s really only money in live performance. He gives all of his music away for free on his Facebook and his Soundcloud, by the way. These days, people don\u2019t just want to see their favorite artist perform; they want to see him blow their damn minds with insane lasers and confetti and champagne showers. I asked Thero if he was ready for it, to which he responded, \u201cif people want to see me play, I\u2019ll play. That\u2019s how it\u2019ll be.\u201d Thero is going to do Thero and he doesn\u2019t care if the world isn\u2019t into it. But for reference, the world is totally into it. He\u2019s got over 800,000 plays on Soundcloud.<\/p>\n
Thero\u2019s two all-time favorite bands are the Dave Matthews Band and Slightly Stoopid. I asked him if he would assess himself as a \u201cbro\u201d and he gave me a hard \u201cmaybe.\u201d I think he would have been an IBNM major if he had attended Dickinson. His current jam is the sweet soul song, \u201cComing Home,\u201d by Leon Bridges, and he says he\u2019s been into Filous and Snbrn lately as well. He also mentioned that he\u2019s a dog person, which he followed up with \u201csorry.\u201d He\u2019s definitely not sorry.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m personally a mega-fan of this guy, and when I nerd out to him, he always responds to my messages and sometimes he sends me his works in progress. The man knows how to build rapport. Thero gained a fan for life.<\/p>\n
I asked Thero how he keeps it tropical on frosty days like today, and he gave me some truly wise words: \u201cJust remember to smile. People get so caught up in life. Sometimes you just need to step back and appreciate everything.\u201d Keep it tropical, folks.<\/p>\n
Oh, and in case you were wondering, he’s got plans for a Spring ’15 tour. You can find out more and download all of his sweet tropical beats here:<\/p>\n
Thero’s Facebook<\/a>, Soundcloud<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n I highly recommend his mix of “Comes and Goes,” by Greg Lasswell<\/a>, and his mix of “Mrs. Cold,” by Kings of Convenience.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Don’t forget to follow him on twitter! @TheroMusic<\/a><\/p>\n