In the last year Andre Crom’s sound and also the sound of his label OFF changed a lot and Andre also release quite a lot of music during this period.
31st October saw the release of Andre Crom’s new EP (digital + vinyl) on OFF Recordings including a Remix by Whitesquare (20 20 Vision).
Hi Andre. First and obvious question – why move from Berlin to Barcelona?
After 8 years in Berlin i just felt the need for something new, and to escape the grueling winters up there. I had always been in love with Barcelona so wanted to give it a shot. After 9 months here, i can say that i really enjoy it; but it also made me realize again what Berlin has to offer. The electronic music culture is deep ingrained in the city’s DNA, and it’s a very inspiring place for an artist. So in the future i am planning to spend some more time in Berlin again as well. Your biography says that producing used to be intimidating for you, but you studied a lot and now you’re finally at your place. Tell us about that. I did many productions before, but mainly with studio partners, and around a year ago i realized that if i wanted to have a future as a DJ/producer i needed to learn how to produce my music completely myself. If you really want to develop your own style, there’s pretty much no way around this. Learning how to produce music is a constant process of try, fail, try again, and so on; and then at some point you realize that you start to know what you are doing. You have to get comfortable with this process and accept your current level, while keeping pushing to get a bit better every day. Nowadays i’m technically much better, but still working on carving out my own unique artistic voice.
Can you say that you wanted to produce techno more than house and that was the trigger to start learning the craft?
I just got somewhat tired of house, having produced, played and released it for a long time already. While house works a bit more on a „song by song“ basis, techno tracks can be blended better into each other, it’s more of a playing with energy levels, rather than playing one song after each other. That’s quite a different approach and really fascinating to me.
You are releasing an EP on your label OFF soon with a remix from Whitesquare. Tell us about that release, what is special about it?
These tracks are surely the most energetic and clubby ones i produced all by myself so far, and i’ve been playing both of them many times out during my recent sets. They represent where i was at, when i made them; and what i am playing nowadays. I also love the Whitesquare remix, which interpreted „Breaker“ in a more trippy, spacy way.
Do you plan to concentrate on music production for now, or will keep to your busy touring schedule? What is your plan for the next few months?
I’m very much focusing on productions now. I feel there is still much to learn, and as much as i love touring, going to the studio is just as exciting to me nowadays, especially because i was intimidated about it earlier. It’s very rewarding when you face something challenging, overcome your fears and eventually master a difficult discipline.
Is there a DJ mix you want to share with our readers that you think is important to listen to?
Yes, this one:
