Johan Tronestam

As always at CDS Towers, we are constantly on the lookout for new music – in several genres – music that we consider being a bit special. That includes listening out for new talent in the flooded traditional “Electronic Music” market – a place where those with the ability to take the listener on an exciting journey that never becomes dull or boring, and offers thrilling new experiences round every corner are the true winners  – Scandinavian Synth musician Johan Tronestam is one such artist!

The music of Johan Tronestam is like a crossover between Jean-Michel Jarre, Robert Schroeder, Vangelis and TANGERINE DREAM - a stunning mix of heady atmosphere, high-grade melody and hypnotic rhythms.

This guy makes wonderful music of such a high standard – It produces some of THE most exciting, goosebump-enducing moments I’ve experienced from a Synth music artist in a long time. 

With many other releases in this market you often feel you’ve heard it all before, and over the years those moments of listener euphoria that a “great” electronic music album delivers have tended to be few and far between now, but this guy does it more often that most!  He is a Synth Music fan’s dream … well, mine anyway, and since we ran our initial promotion, a whole lot of others have shared that opinion too.

Ups, downs, highs and lows... it’s all there by the truck-load, constantly keeping your attention from start to finish and delivering everything you could possibly want from melodic Electronic Music that has that perfect mix of all the key ingredients - atmosphere, melody and rhythm.

Drawing on the vast wealth of ideas he clearly has in his head, Tronestam’s has the knack of building - from simple beginnings - deliciously addictive central body-moving grooves and topping them off with haunting, emotionally charged melodic hooks that spiral, twist and turn through extended passages filled with slick key changes.

Colourful atmospheric backdrops of strings and other keyboard effects wash around the driving, infectious, ever-evolving rhythmic patterns and nothing ever stands still for one moment!

Everything seems to come from the heart with Johan Tronestam, with virtually all his compositions offering an air of flawless perfection, changing and evolving just at the right moment and delivering the music in a way comparable only to that of which past masters of the art have been able to achieve. Just as one striking example, think how Jean Michel Jarre’s original ‘Oxygene’ album affected you when you first heard it!

Tronestam ’s level of creativity is without question – he is definitely a cut or two above many of the other artists producing similarly styled music, so what is his secret?   Could it be that this is just someone with a huge “musical” talent that just happens to be using synthesizers to create the music he has in is head, as opposed to those who don’t necessarily have the same level of compositional skills, but through the utilization of all the wonderful technical wizardry available today, can create something similar. However, much of that is often cold and derives of any sense of real feeling.

The styles are nothing new – Tromstam is obviously strongly influenced (as most modern-day EM musicians are) by the genre’s past pioneers - it’s just the quality of his material that (for me) makes him stand head and shoulders above many other present day protagonists of the Electronic Music genre!

Just like the greats of the more melodic side of the EM world – Dyson, Jarre, Schroeder, Schmoelling, Pickford, Shreeve, TD and Vangelis to name just a few, Tronestam’s real secret is this … He keeps it pure and simple and musical …ALL the time!

Johan Tronestam may well be a new name to most people right now, but not for long!

Synthesizers , Samplers and Software used by John Tronestam:

Keyboards & Synthesizers...

Siel Opera 6 / Korg Poly 800 / Roland SH 101 / Roland Juno 1 & 2 / Crumar Bit 01 / Roland D50 / Korg Trident / Korg Polysix / Korg MS 20 / Kawai SX 210 / Kawai k1 II / Kawai K4 r / Roland Juno 60 / Paia 4700 J / Roland Super JX / Gem WS 2 / Roland JX 8P / Korg M3R / Yamaha CS 40M / Roland D 10 / Roland Juno 106 / Yamaha SK 30 / Roland JP-8000 / Alesis QSR / Roland XP-80 / Korg Kronos / Roland GAIA and more...

Samplers & Software...

Arturia V-collection / Arturia SEM / Atmosphere / Omnisphere / Halion / Groove Agent and more...