Alex Galvan was born in California and now resides in Mexico City. Since he was young he has lived in different cities in Latin America and Europe which have allowed him to create and get to know the electronic movement in each one of them. Currently, he also runs an alternative project: CASUAL SX. Alex collaborates with artists such as Filizola, Roderic, Andru Vangal and with an extravagant catalog on labels such as RNGDS Music, Prison Recordings or Piston Recordings. Today, with his music, he continues to climb in the house, tech house, electronic, deep house genres with the inspiration that characterizes him.
We had the opportunity to talk with Alex Galvan about his musical latest news.
Electronic Groove: Hi, Alex, thanks for talking with us. Speaking about your beginnings, what is your first memory where you connect with music?
Alex Galvan: First of all, thank you very much for the invitation. My father came home one day in 1997 with a beautiful white piano that had a vintage look, I fell in love with him at first sight. My brother started taking classes and then I played based on his notes. At first, I was self-taught and native, until one day my father listened to me and told me that I was very good and that needed the guidance of a professional.
EG: Do you have any musical influence in your family that aroused your interest in dedicating yourself to this profession?
Alex Galvan: My father was always singing at home and he showed us his vinyl collection, that was the main detonator so that we all liked music.
EG: And regarding electronic music? What was that first situation that made you fall in love with the genre?
Alex Galvan: My first rave with Infected Mushroom and the concert ‘Alive’ by Daft Punk at the Monterrey Arena aroused a lot of curiosity in me to start my own productions.
“At the beginning I was self-taught and native, until one day my father listened to me, told me that I was very good and that needed the guidance of a professional”
EG: Checking your history we see that you have a long career as a DJ and as a Producer. Do you have professional studies in music or are you self-taught?
Alex Galvan: I was self-taught from 16 to 20 years old. In 2008 I decided to study Audio Engineering and Music Production at SAE Institute Barcelona, in 2010 I did an intensive course in SAE Miami of Electronic Music Producer.
EG: Let’s talk about your productions. Where does inspiration come from?
Alex Galvan: My great muse is Nina Alanis. She is a great inspiration as a woman and also everything we live together. Ideas are also inspired by the sound of a car engine or a bird singing in the morning and a good track from another producer always inspires.
EG: Do you have any procedure that you follow when producing?
Alex Galvan: Yes, I always start creating the groove of DRUMS: Kick, Hi Hats, Clap, Snare, Percussion and once I manage to have it very solid I start to create the BASS. I play or draw several lines of bass in midi on the same melodic scale to have different bass rhythms in a track. Then I start to create harmonies with synthesizers and vocals, and in the end I start to structure the track that almost always ends up being 6 to 8 minutes.
EG: Do you sometimes find barriers in the creative process? What do you do when this happens?
Alex Galvan: I find those barriers in 70% of the time I spend on producing. To solve it I have 2 options: First, I push and push that barrier until the inspiration comes back. And second, if the inspiration does not arrive, I take a break of 1 or 2 hours or resume production until the next day.
EG: Your latest work ‘Get So High’ is a remix of a Filizola track. How is your work relationship? When did you meet?
Alex Galvan: I met Filizola through Gino Rdz in Mexico City 5 years ago, we took up the relationship again in July-August 2018 and started working on the studio in our first collaboration ‘Tarantino’s House EP’ signed on the Portuguese label Piston Recordings, after that we have continued collaborating and a lot of new music is coming soon!
EG: Are you preparing new material for the current year? What can you tell us about that?
Alex Galvan: Yes, a lot of new music! ‘Midnight Voices’, 2 track EP on Habitat MX. ‘Pestalozzi’, 2 track EP in collaboration with Roderic on Dialtone Records MX. ‘2 Da Beat’, 3 track EP in collaboration with Filizola in PRISON ENTERTAINMENT UK. A new single and remix with my side project CASUAL SX, you will soon know the names! I’m also working on my 9-track album that I plan to finish at the end of 2019.
EG: Changing the subject to the career as a DJ. Where do you prefer to play, at festivals, large clubs or intimate clubs? Why?
Alex Galvan: I prefer intimate clubs and festivals. They both have something good. Playing at a festival is an unforgettable experience because you are playing for 4000 people or more. Feeling the good vibes of so many people and playing outdoors is amazing, just remembering gives me goosebumps. I have also played in small clubs for 100 or 200 people, and the difference is that contact with the public is more personal. We are at the same height, cabin and dancefloor, the audience approaches you, you cross a few words, they raise their hands for a Hi5 and you keep playing.
EG: Can you mention some of your favorite clubs worldwide? And in Mexico?
Alex Galvan: Some are City Hall (BCN), Department (CDMX), Watergate (Berlin), Casa Morelos (Monterrey) and Dinsmoor (CDMX).
EG: Do you have a planned tour for the summer season?
Alex Galvan: On May 4th I will play back-to-back with Chaty as RNGDS, this will be at Guatemala’s Empire Music Festival at Perdidos stage, where Monika Kruse, Guti, Tacko, Loco Dice and Dennis Cruz will also be performing.
In May I have my residences in Gin Gin and Department in CDMX, Casa Morelos on May 11, several dates with CASUAL SX in CDMX (AM Local, Cathedral Terrace) and we also travel to Chihuahua to present the ‘Bésame Mucho’ tour. We return to the Mexican Caribbean on July 2018 with CASUAL SX with many more dates in Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.
EG: You currently live in Mexico City. How do you see the scene in the country? What is the difference between the cities you have lived in?
Alex Galvan: I was born in San Diego, California. I lived 16 years in Tijuana, 9 years in Monterrey, 1 year in Barcelona and 1 year in Buenos Aires, I have been living in Mexico City for 6 years. The scene in the country is very good we have excellent clubs and festivals from Tijuana to the Yucatan Peninsula, just to mention that foreigners love to come here to present their shows. Mexico is a meeting point for many within the electronic music industry.
The scene in Monterrey is very well developed, although there are few clubs unlike Mexico City. They also have very good festivals. I always like to play in this city because I always find familiar faces and people who know about music. The scene of the capital is also very good, there is much more variety of clubs in different genres and many more festivals. Mexico City lives 24/7.
EG: What do you like most about being a DJ?
Alex Galvan: I like being able to express myself through my productions and with a good musical selection.
EG: And what you like the least?
Alex Galvan: The fatigue accumulated after so many consecutive gigs and staying up late.
“I like being able to express myself through my productions”
EG: Music is an intrinsic part of art. What is your personal definition of it?
Alex Galvan: Music and art have a symbiotic relationship that has always existed. Music is a channel to express human emotions and create a final product that is art in the form of sounds, in the end they are oneself.
EG: Apart from music, what other hobbies do you have? What do you like to do in your free time?
Alex Galvan: Go to the gym, graphic design, watch series of modern architecture, movies, museums, surreal art, go to festivals and travel.
EG: Could you define your sound in three words?
Alex Galvan: Deep, sexy and friendly.
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