Interview: In Conversation with Diverse: Resurgence, Melody and Starting Again

Swiss producer Diverse grew up with classical music, but his parents encouraged him to explore further. Jazz and Balkan music followed, before Rocket League and Monstercat helped introduce him to bass music.

His new five-track EP, Resurgence, is out today on Make Your Era. After three EPs exploring his past, present, and future, he wanted a fresh start. We spoke about the melodies behind the record, working with Cinet, and what happens when a track that works in the studio meets a dancefloor.

What first pulled you from classical training towards making bass music, and what do you remember about the first track you tried to build?

I indeed come from a classical background, but my parents always encouraged me to explore other realms of music. I played jazz, Balkan music and eventually stumbled upon bass music mostly thanks to Rocket League and Monstercat. I remember my first bass music track was a future bass track called Always, I spent countless hours working on it because it felt like something so new and exciting.

Your Toxic Wraith remix was an early breakthrough. What did that process teach you about making a track your own when its starting point belongs to someone else?

My relationship with remixing is a bit strange. In the beginning, I couldn’t start a track if it wasn’t with a blank canvas, but as time went by I learned to reinterpret melodies, sounds and rhythms. My remix for Toxic Wraith was somehow a bit different; thanks to the vocals by Luigi, it was easier to make the track really mine while still keeping the main elements of the original.

Can you pick a moment on Resurgence where a harmonic idea set the direction of a track, rather than the drums or bassline?

Most of them actually! ‘tear everything down’ started with the chords and synth patch that can be heard at 1:08, all the rest was built upon that and the vocal. ‘falling next to you’ also started with the chord progression and melody. This is something I really wanted to do with this EP, because of how melody-driven it is I wanted the harmonic ideas to be the main elements of most tracks.

You work across dubstep, drum and bass, and garage. When an idea could go in more than one direction, what tells you which rhythm it needs?

I usually have a pretty clear vision of where I want to go rhythmically with each idea I start. Actually, when I work on a drop I usually start with the drums as I feel setting the rhythmic foundation for it works best for me to come up with ideas.

The titles tear everything down, above the ashes (fly), and Resurgence suggest destruction followed by rebuilding. Was there a story you wanted those tracks to tell together?

Yes, with my first three EPs (Space Travel, Inner Travel and Lost Futures) the story was about my past, present and future. After having told these stories, I felt like I needed to have a fresh start in my narrative. Being 21 also probably fed that feeling of wanting the world to be destroyed to be able to build a better one on top.

Which part of Resurgence took the most reworking, and what did the earlier version get wrong?

I feel like ‘falling next to you’ was the trickiest track for me. It took a lot of testing different ideas out, especially because of how the vocals and synths both are the main focus of the tune. Having two main elements really opens up so many possibilities that I had to make some choices, and some parts I loved in the earlier version couldn’t be included in the final one.

How did falling next to you develop with Cinet, and what did working together bring to the track that you wouldn’t have reached on your own?

This whole track started with the chords and melodic idea. After adding the drums and their syncopated rhythm, I felt it needed a vocal to hold everything together and really tell a story. I started with a placeholder one, but quickly reached out to Cinet, which I knew thanks to Georgie Riot and her label Riot Records. She then sent me a lot of vocal takes that I incorporated in the track to tell the story I wanted it to tell!

How did the connection with Make Your Era develop, and was there any feedback from Vibe Chemistry or the label that made you rethink part of this release?

I was really happy when I got the email back from Make Your Era, because it’s a label I was following for a few months already and I felt they were growing quickly by putting smaller artists on the foreground of the scene. Their email was really enthusiastic too, which gave me the confidence I needed to go full in with the release! That’s also why I made the covers of both the single and the EP, and I really can’t thank Make Your Era enough for trusting my vision!

You began performing live in 2024 and have supported SLOTH and QZB. What has playing your own music to a room taught you that you couldn’t learn in the studio?

Performing is such an incredible experience, and it fills me with ideas every time I get the occasion to play for a crowd. When performing my own tracks I feel you can immediately feel if it works or what you need to change. A crowd is pure honesty, if they don’t feel like moving, they won’t. It can be brutal to see that playing one of your tracks has lost the momentum you built with the rest of the set, but I feel it’s the best way to really test the idea.

You’re stranded on a desert island with a turntable, a generator, and one record. Which record are you taking, and why?

1000 Miles by Machinedrum and Sub Focus. I feel like it’s the perfect balance between nostalgia and happiness, liquid drum and bass but very danceable too. Since I’ve discovered it when going through Machinedrum’s discography, I never get bored of hearing it. It is a pretty long track so it won’t get me bored too quickly either.

Thanks to Diverse for taking the time to speak with us. Resurgence is out now on Make Your Era. Listen to or buy the EP here.