His name is Dejan aka Lyktum, and he is from Serbia Belgrade. His first encounter with Trance was back in the year 2000, as his older brother was playing it loud in his room, “I couldn’t resist but to enjoy it myself as well, it was like: “woah, what’s that kind of music?, I love it, bro! ‘It’s Psychedelic Trance’.” From then on, the passion just elevated itself above all his musical preferences, was love at first sight, within a year he started producing electronic music, he was 11 when he start.

What is it that you think connects you with this music?

What connects me with it is just pure expression of order and randomness at the same time, same like natural law. Nowadays the connection is so much stronger, as throughout my journey of music production, I’ve learned that concepts are vital for creating something “new/fresh”, It’s a process of an esoteric perspective that I’m super driven to, hence the connection of love and honesty towards it, a passionate experience with an intelligent depth.

Your first steps in the business? How and when did it all start?

I was sending my music to some record labels A&R and getting it released as a first step, but I’ve had a good practice of music making before my first official release. It was around 2007/8 with my long gone project, I got to play quite a few times here in Serbia & travel 2 times internationally with it, I was 18 at that time.Soon as things started to look good, I lost all my data during a thunderstorm, all projects were ruined on a hard drive, as the genre I produced also collapsed entirely a few months after my data loss. Soon after I had to start working on something new and Lyktum was created, without looking back and gripe over 7 years of lost work,thank God for that lightning that struck my substation that changed the course of my life forever, it’s like Universe turned a page for me, I released a debut Lyktum EP, called “Light Force”, in respects of that thunderstorm, and it was a success. The light of that lightning was felt by many.

Is there a specific artist that made you want to get in touch with this type of music? 

I was and still am a fan of Astrix, a very humble man who has opened many new paths & perspectives inPsytrance space, to many of us producers he is a bigger brother that knows music at its heart. I’ve had the honors of flying one time with him to Brazil; it was an enriching moment for me and so fulfilling to meet the very man who inspired me to start my own music project. I stand grateful for all that has happened ever and thank him for playing my music on his T4N mixes.

What does inspire you?

The force of Nature, Love, traveling, likeminded people, beautiful women, the real ones, good vibes, 4:20 on my watch& peace.

Is there a process that you follow for your songs or do you experiment every time?

I usually start from scratch, meaning always a new Kick &Bassline [it’s one of my hobbies to make] and then experiment with all kinds of sounds, analog & digital, really there are no limits in music production, except limiters [geek joke inserted].

For you, what is the process for a song?

Countless hours in the studio crafting ideas, full devotion to the flow and concept of creating one whilst figuring out the artwork/cover for it, as when working on both at the same time can inspire the concept itself more efficiently.Then comes the paid mastering service with a sound engineer toget your final result of the track/song. Sending it into the system of releases with a Record Label and that’s pretty much it.

What are you trying to give to your audience through your songs?

A vision& imagination, inspiration, connection with the soul, an absolute journey through sonic space untime travel. Ιt’s pure Universal energy that is, the one that shines in each of us and resonates with love. An experience where we all connect as one.

Do you remember some event in which you played, that is unforgettable for some reason to you? If yes, which one and why?

There are many unforgettable ones that really made me fall in love with our scene, but if I had to pick one, Universo Paralello in Salvador/Brazil is the one that took my experience to a higher level. Love is so omnipresent there too, paradise on a long beach with the people I loved spending time with.

With which record labels are you working with right now?

I mostly work with “Iono-Music” nowadays for Lyktumproject. Also I’m A&R Manager at our brand new label called “Iono-Lounge”, where we specialize in releases of quality ambient/chill out music. I’ll launch my new ambient project“Sky Soul” on woman’s day and give a sweet tune for our beautiful ladies!I also release as Nertum project together with Nerso, for “Sourcecode Transmissions” [Zen Mechanic’s record label], we’ve just released our debut album and it ranked Number 1 in CD charts.

How is the life of a music producer-dj?

Music Producer, studio time 8 hours a day minimum, sometimes more when the flow is flowing. Gigs on weekends, travelling, seeing old friends, exploring as much as possible adventurously, hectic airport lonely time, making music in hotels/voice memos, hanging out with other artists& having legendary times, always capturing continuity and up to speed with music doings. A family, few close friends and animals to stand by. It’s a bumpy road, but with focus& love, everything is possible.

What do you think that characterizes your songs?

Hours spent in and devoting my truest self to writing them, while always on the look to bring something new that reflects on us in each song. Theme/concept & storytelling within a soundtrack is crucial to it, as it can live up to its maximum point of awe, where we may feel much more rather than we only listen to.

How long are you in the business; Do you see any differences in the music scene through the years?

I sure do see one thing that’s been on my mind for some time, it’s like there’s a generation pattern that switches every 2-3 years as trends tend to live that long. So It constantly changes and evolves to some new goodies we can see and hear. Growth in creativity is definitely at its peak on festivals, good people make great work, great work makes a difference.

What does music and dancing mean to you?

Music means infinite heaven playground for me, dancing means expressing the joys that are within my body, soul sensate and wants to play like a child and dance for life.

Apart from being a musician, what else is there in your life; What do you do in your spare time?

I love to do gardening in Spring & Summer, keeps my mind and body connected to Earth as I’m her son, doing ‘down to earth’ stuff literally, I do some philosophy, Text writing, Label managing, Artist&Repertoire, Artwork designing, answering interview questions like this, and most favorite of all I take walks and play with my female dog Rottweiler “Sky” (hence the name of my new ambient project“Sky Soul”).

How would a perfect day be for you?

A perfect day for me would be where I give my best to be a humanitarian and keep on being humble to the world as it has humbled me so many times by the goodness of the people. In April I hope the gig in Nepal -Kathmandu will go smoothly, as there’s a charity festival happening ‘Omkara Festival’, basically a good deed for children of Nepal who have lost their school in an earthquake, this is something I fully support, and also the endeavor of Doctor Strange to Kathmandu.

How do you see yourself in the future? Do you want to play music forever?

I think music is playing me at this point, I’m 17 years in production world already and passion is stronger than ever, I don’t like the term future and do not want to see what it holds. I’m being what is within me and wake up tomorrow to a new day and see where it takes me and where the moment drives me. Simple is good, future knowing is not.

Is there something that you would like to say to your fans?

I hope you’ll trust in trance and art, as it’s the love of our universe.