Having played sold out shows at Booom! Ibiza, EGG, London & Watergate, Berlin over the past few months, it’s now the turn of KOH to host his legendary sound on Friday February 19th.
Crom is a DJ whose sets move fluidly from sleazy deep underground tunes to jacking house and slow-burning groovers. As label manager for OFF Recordings he tries to implement this variety in style as well as sound. But above all, Crom and OFF release music to give people on the dance floor a good time, nothing more and nothing less.
Start us off. Tell us something we don’t know about Andre Crom!
I’m a motorbike fanatic – so much that i made the 2000 km trip from Berlin to Barcelona on the bike!
You’re making the move from Berlin to Barcelona. What influenced the decision?
I’ve always enjoyed the weather and the beauty of Barcelona. After 9 years in Berlin I felt the desire to experience something new.
Barcelona is an amazing city, the people are very friendly, the beauty of the nature and the city is stunning. When i drive through the city, i feel like i’m in a movie or video game!
You’ve been running OFF Recordings for quite a long time now. How did it all begin and why do you think it has been so successful?
It began as a platform for my own and my friends’ music. The approach has always been to sign and release the music which i’d love to play in my own sets so it’s a very dj-driven label. We just release music which dj’s love to play and clubbers like to hear on a dancefloor.
What have been your biggest challenges running the label?
The biggest one is what I am currently facing: my music taste has changed quite dramatically over the last year. While OFF has always been diverse, it got known as a label for pop-ish sample based deephouse. Nowadays, I am much more into more serious sounds, more towards techouse and techno, sometimes with indie vocals on it. To make our followers understand and come along for this change, while staying credible and believable on the way, is a big challenge. I’m confident to make this though, because there are other big labels that reinvented themselves, and I really love all of our upcoming signings.
https://soundcloud.com/andre-crom
How did the dj‘ing change throuhg the digital technology?
Well, in theory you can do much more with Traktor, 4 decks & FX than with a traditional setup. But i’m not so sure if that is necessarily better. I still prefer to listen to the music like it was made by the artist than to hear a dj working with 2 laptops, Traktor, Ableton, midi controllers etc, showing off all his technical skills but therefor maybe not having enough time to focus on the audience. Of course there are dj/liveacts who can do this in a great way and totally rock the place – but i personally mostly prefer a traditional dj set to a decks n fx performance.
Where did you have your greatest performance?
To name just three: Wilde Renate in Berlin, Rashomon in Rome, and only recently the Stompy vs Sunset party in San Francisco!
What are the fundamentals of good electronic music and what you think is the most important thing of creating electronic music?
Hard to answer as there are so many different styles which are supposed to work for different situations. So i’ll focus on my style of house music. For me good music has to be deep, which does not necessarily mean that it needs to fit into the same-named category on Beatport. It means that you have to take a little time to get into it and are rewarded for taking that time. It’s basically the opposite of what David Guetta does which is creating music that gives „immediate satisfaction“ by its simple hooks and maximal sound design.
Who is the artist who always inspired you and enjoys your respect?
Too many to mention. The initial spark that got me into quality house music was Daft Punk’s „Homework“, during my minimal phase it was Daniel Bell, and today i really love stuff by guys like MK or Hercules and Love Affair, to name just very few examples.
Where do you see yourself in the world of electronic music in a few years?
I guess i’ll just continue to do the music i love, try to select the best releases for my label, rock the place at every single gig and we’ll see where that goes!
You have been in the scene for quite a while now. Do you have other dreams, next to the ones you’ve accomplished already?
I’m really happy with the way my personal career and OFF have developed so far; the last year blew my wildest dreams. So I’m motivated to grow this career further and as mentioned above explore new ways of producing and showcasing music. Besides that, my main ‘dream’, or let’s rather call it plan, is to lead a happy and prosperous life and to be good to the people around me. The good old concept of having a family some day with one or two kids and to give them a good start into life. I feel the more you achieve yourself, the more you feel the wish to pass something on to others, to help them also to do well.