As we end another year filled with ups and downs, we took some time to look back and read one more time the many interviews we made during the year. Some artists gave a real insight into their lives, music production, touring, the pandemia, social issues, political views, and even let their imagination fly with some dream riders.
Here we selected 21 relevant quotes (in alphabetical order) that made us laugh, think, and inspire.
Anabel Englund (on her dream rider)
“A pack of puppies either pitbull or golden retriever or dachshund. Honestly, there’s no wrong pack of puppies lol. Fresh Thai coconuts with someone there to cut them open for me. Fluffy pillows & blankets, hot chai tea oat milk lattes, someone to give me a massage after my show…that’s all I can think of for now… (laughter).”
“Electronic music is a way of connecting with feelings and the soul. You can progress from melancholy to joyfulness. Every piece of music is composed of overtones, tones, and melodies that awaken a certain feeling in the listener. At the mental level, they produce different modes such as euphoria, and that feeling that makes you wanna dance… Wow! And have a great time.”
“We are competing with events that have huge budgets for productions and music talent so it’s becoming extra challenging to deliver a product that it’s both true to his core values and yet consistently interesting. But, as I mentioned before, we pay special attention to the musical side of it, booking talents that don’t necessarily have a massive following but who certainly are breaking the mold in terms of productions and DJ set, thus creating a line-up that doesn’t rely too much on huge names, but talented individuals who are truly in this for the passion of creating forward-thinking music.”
“I am very interested in technology and everything that is new. I love progress and like to use software and new things in general. I find new developments and possibilities exciting and I like to use them on my own time. Especially with music. I am a real software freak and produce everything on the computer. I don’t have a single piece of hardware equipment in the studio. Electronic music is also part of the new age because it is made electronically. I found that exciting back then, and to this day, I still do.”
Christian Loffler (on Beethoven)
“I experienced unbelievable moments of joy and unity while traveling the world and playing music. I’m also interested in other art forms and I’m also a painter, for example, but music is the most accessible form. If I could go back and meet him in person I’d probably just ask him if I can sit down and watch his process while working on new music. Of course, it was way more theoretical, especially in the phase he was losing his hearing. But I bet there would be so much to discover and I’m just curious about that.”
“The world is constantly changing, and if you think you can use old techniques for the rest of your life, you’re probably wrong. We humans always have to evolve, find new ways, that’s what keeps us alive and creative. With all the difficulties the music and events industry has been through, it’s painful for me to see colleagues lose their jobs and the work of a lifetime, but we have to move on. We were lucky it happened now and not in 2005, imagine how we would sell music? No streaming, no real services, nothing. There has been a lot of trial and experimentation to find new ways of consuming music and events, a lot of it won’t catch on in the long run but some good approaches will continue to be developed and give us a lot of pleasure in the future.”
“Social issues can also produce art that will stand the test of time. We can only see what the future will bring. There will always be societal challenges for us to face, how we face them is another story.”
“I don’t really care what the ‘scene’ is doing… by the time something becomes a scene it’s usually played, and it’s the usual suspects of male models and huge festivals playing the same song (usually trance, but they call it whatever they call it) and it’s no fun. I bet it IS fun for the kids at the parties, I remember going crazy to wild music and not knowing what any of it was. That was great. But I wouldn’t do anything like that for fun these days. For me, I am personally on the same mission I’ve always been on – Learn all you can, make music, and play live.”
“One day in Ibiza I met Carl Cox by chance on the beach. He listened to me playing, so he went to my mom and said to her: ‘Let him play. The way he puts his little hands on the decks is crazy. Don’t ever think that music is not a job.’ That was a really inspirational moment!.”
” I think people nowadays are very used to getting stimulated on multiple different levels. And I guess the visual sense is one of the most important ones. So, people maybe need a visual connection, even when the art is purely acoustic. I honestly believed for many years in the romantic idea that quality music will or should be enough. But that’s simply not the case and I’m rather happy to see how – since starting to work closely with an excellent team – our appearance as a bonded entity has evolved to complete the great picture in the best possible way.”
“It is true that a lot of music these days has a shorter shelf life but true quality and music from the heart and soul still stands the test of time. We do think that perhaps the pause we have had in the scene events-wise could lead to some more positive outcomes, such as local markets supporting their talented local artists more, and more boutique events with the right intention of becoming prominent again. Hopefully, as in the bigger picture of life itself, the electronic music scene will strip away some of the glitz that isn’t really about the music and get more of the right events and music coming from an authentic place.”
“We worked with one of our mates on the groove, which came together very quickly. When that happens and you start moving your shoulders in the studio, you just know you’re onto something.”
“Ai is interesting in music and many of my colleagues at CalArts are working in this field. However, I find the unexpected happy accidents are a major factor in creating music and I’m not sure Ai is taking that so much into consideration. Apart from that, whenever I use some type of random in my music, it doesn’t feel as satisfying as having done it myself. For me, that’s kind of the point of working on music. I suppose at some point if I’m only writing the rules for what’s to be created that is another interesting way of writing, but I find generative music to get boring pretty quickly. It is however important for the development of new and exciting music tech to come.”
“With social media being so dominant in the way people perceive the credibility & authenticity of an artist makes it too easy to fake talent and manufactured superstars. The other side of it to a certain degree is some big DJs / promoters don’t really care about the artist who makes music and they rather put on friends to play for them and others just have the right contacts. This makes it hard for artists to break through and get the exposure/s.”
“I think a lot of us ravers, clubbers…we go to the clubs and festivals to profess love, we go for the communion of souls. These are OUR mantras. Where we find ourselves.”
“Take chances when producing. To me, making a track is challenging your mind, how to be a bit more creative than previous tracks, what to remove and what to add. You can always keep adding, but less is more. Just like cooking, a hint of salt is nice but not too much. Cooking became very important to me during lockdown, therapeutic in a way, I would play the tracks while cooking and hear it in a different way, with a third ear, if that makes sense.”
“I believe in equal rights, social justice, and accountability from our leadership just like everyone else. I also have a PhD in being Black and always under white pressure, so there’s that. I absolutely do not believe that just because the world is opening back up that things are going to magically get better, beyond people being able to earn again. Change begins at the top, and our political and financial top is overrun with institutional racists defined as conservatives who are twisting the knife on the change that every day people need regardless of race, color, creed, gender orientation, religious orientation, or cultural background.”
“The real changes always begin from an individual level and each one of us must face the question for ourselves regarding what we can do to improve the situation. The lesson that Nelson Mandela left for us is that we must always try to unite people and bring society together, and it seems to me that unfortunately, some debates have the opposite effect. Our children’s education is the key to making a difference in the world, they hold the power.”
” If dance music sticks to live to streams as heavily as it is right now I think it will be the death of the industry! Parties are the whole point! Sweat! Smoke! Filth! This online culture is only an accessory, for me anyways. I think streaming might supplant traditional radio as the go-to online platform, but honestly, I don’t get the point of watching people DJ in their bedrooms. I never looked at the DJ at parties, so why start now? I was always more interested in the freaks on the dance floor. That’s where the real show is. I want the freaks back. “
“Musical styles are always very daring to make predictions, but I think we can change a lot in our scene: we should care for more diversity of gender and skin color when it comes to signing artists to a record label, lineups, and working in the music industry in general. We should keep clubs and festivals plastic-free and focus more on sustainability. DJs should stop playing pre-recorded sets. The guests should leave the phones at home or in their pockets.”
“The benefit from drinking from multiple sources of inspiration is that it never gets boring. Sure, I have to work harder to avoid getting lost in too many directions, but I’ve kept on drinking from those same sources for the past 20 years. Sometimes I lean on a specific kind of sound for inspiration more than the others, and that goes on for a while, but generally speaking, I don’t think a lot has changed since my very first track.”
