Den 10:e oktober kan bli höstens höjdpunkt på Kalmar nation – vi förvandlar festsalen till en trädgårdsfest och flyger in discosnillet Andy Hart från Berlin för att frälsa källaren. Andy Hart har mycket på gång just nu – förutom att släppa musik på skivbolag som Dirt Crew, Freerange och Detroit Swindle’s Heist så driver han egna skivbolag och podcasten Melbourne Deepcast. Vi tog förstås tillfället att prata lite med Andy om Melbourne, musikproduktion och så förstås The After Party.
Hi Andy! We’ve been following you closely this last couple of years and are thrilled to have you play at Kalmar nation October 10th. Have you been to Sweden before? What is your impression of Sweden and the house music scene here?
Ah, thanks 🙂 I’ve never been to Sweden so I’m keen to check it all out. As far as I’m concerned, Sweden has a pretty tight house scene: Mount Liberation Unlimited, HNNY, Axel Boman, Art Alfie & Mr. Tophat, Baba Stiltz, Dorisburg and Genius of Time…
It’s hard to talk about house music in Australia without mentioning your name or one of your numerous projects such as Voyage or Melbourne Deepcast. Would you talk a little bit about how it all started and what your Australian influences have been?
I’ve been dj’ing for nearly 16 years now and have played a lot of different music during that time. I started playing house music and moved onto hip hop and jazz, soul etc. Eventually ending up back at house and after a quick stint with some trance music I decided I don’t really care for genres so much anymore. So inspiration has a lot to do with all the different music my friends and I listen to I guess. In terms of the city/country’s influence, I’m sure the overall nature of not really caring about much and not taking yourself too seriously comes through in the music.
Tell us about your latest project, Ausländer!
Ausländer was the product of Fantastic Man and I showing a good friend of ours how to do some things in Ableton. After an hour or two we figured we were onto something half decent so we spent the next few weeks finishing the whole EP together. It was an awesome project and I really love working with other people.
A lot of people would say Berlin is the clubbing capital of the world, and you have been spending a lot of time there recently. How would you compare the cultures of the two cities? Does Melbourne have something that Berlin doesn’t?
I moved to Berlin last year and after 12 months it’s starting to feel like home although I miss my friends and family in Melbourne, and the food. As far as the music and party culture goes, when I was in Melbourne last summer the vibe was certainly similar to Berlin. People want to have fun and are prepared to go to great lengths to make it happen. You have amazing parties in really cool spaces. I don’t think they’ll ever be the same, but they are two unique cities that are worth living in for some part of your life if you like music.
You are well-known both as a dj and a producer. Would you mind sharing something about your production method in terms of equipment?
At the moment I’m just using my laptop. I had a studio in Melbourne before I moved but I’m yet to set anything up here. I actually wanted to write one more EP just using my computer before I started to invest in studio equipment again, just so I could never make any excuses for not making music (“I don’t have a mixing desk yet” etc.). Specifically I’m using Ableton and sampling quite a lot but also using a lot of the ableton plug-ins as well as some Waves and D-16 stuff. I also love the Arturia Jupiter 8 VST, one of the best VST units I’ve used.
I just finished my first solo EP in over a year last weekend, so that will see a release on Voyage early next year.
Where do you find inspiration to make music?
Lately inspiration has come from dj’ing and going to listen to other dj’s play. Inspiration for harmony and melody comes from the records I’m listening to at that moment in time but the ideas behind tracks have been popping up more and more when I’m out listening to dj’s or playing myself. You might hear someone play a big percussive tool over the end of an Italo loop and you see the hypnotic state it can induce on an audience and you think “this is awesome and I want to try it”.
Shortly after your visit to Sweden you will be heading back to Australia. What plans do you have in store for the future?
I’m heading back to Australia for the second birthday of Wax’o Paradiso. It’s a party i run with Simon TK and Edd Fisher from Melbourne. We play back to back for 8 or 9 hours and the music goes from surf rock and jazz to high energy disco, funk and italo. Not a lot of house music, although in the last few parties we started playing a little Joe Smooth or Frankie Knuckles which was awesome and I guess we’ll start incorporating more.
As well as that I’m doing some shows in Asia, a few shows with Borrowed Identity in Hong Kong and a few big parties in Australia including Strawberry Fields festival (as Wax’o Paradiso) and a long b2b session with Fantastic Man in Sydney.
At The After Party, you will be playing in a dark and steamy basement. What kind of vibe and atmosphere can we expect from your set? Would you mind sharing a track?
A bit of everything I guess! I’ve just spent the last month preparing my music for the road, digitizing everything I play because I won’t be taking records back to Australia with me this time. So I’m very familiar with my collection at this point in time and very excited to play a lot of stuff I had forgotten about. Here’s a few of them! See you in a few weeks xx
Fingers Inc – A Love On My Own (Long Clb Version)
Peven Everett – Feelin You In And Out (Shelter Mix)
Nu Shooz – Time Will Tell (Late Night Club Mix)
Catch Andy Hart at The After Party at Kalmar nation, October 10th 22.30-04.00. Attend the Facebook event and invite your friends here. Read the interview with Mexican dj/producer Fedde here.