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Alex Under - guest of the Reflection series
Интервью · 15.11.2009
By 44100Hz
On 21 November, as part of the Reflection party at the Shanti club, connoisseurs of electronic music await an important guest from Spain. After a couple of successful releases on Trapez and several records on his own label in Madrid, Alex Under has deservedly taken his place among the leading tech-house producers of Spain, and then of the rest of Europe too. Especially for his Moscow fans, Alex agreed to an interview ...
44100Hz: People know your music, but almost nothing is known about you as a person. The numerous biographies of Alex Under online are one solid list of releases and labels. Do you deliberately avoid the public eye?
Alex Under:
No, I have never deliberately hidden from the public's attention. It is another matter that, it seems to me, no one is interested in the personal details of my life. The main thing is the music; everything else is unimportant.
44100Hz: Tell us how you started out, what helped you form as a musician?
Alex Under:
I have been making music practically all my life. I started out playing in various metal bands, then, already as a teenager, I switched to electronic music. Back then I listened to the most varied styles - metal, jazz, techno - and all of it influenced me one way or another. At first I had to earn a living doing things unconnected with music, but at some point I got completely fed up with it, and I opened my own music shop in Madrid. I worked there for five years, until I decided to concentrate fully on my labels.
44100Hz: How do you spend your free time, do you have any interests unconnected with music?
Alex Under:
Whenever I have the time, I try to spend it with my four-year-old son or to see friends and relatives. As for hobbies - I don't know whether it is a good thing or not, but my main hobby is work. Work and family are the two pillars my life rests on.
44100Hz: As a musician and DJ you travel a lot. Do you enjoy being on the road, or do you treat it as an inevitable part of the job?
Alex Under:
It is a terribly hard way of life that demands an incredible amount of energy. And since I have a family, I can't just rest and recover on weekdays. But I love my work, and in most cases it is worth it. The hardest part is, of course, being apart from my son, but here Skype helps me out a little.
44100Hz: What instrument did you play before you took up electronic music?
Alex Under:
While I was playing metal, I took up now the drums, now the bass, now the guitar. It's a good thing I at least didn't sing - I'm a downright dreadful singer.
44100Hz: Electronic musicians, as a rule, fall into two groups - some «program» their tracks, while others, on the contrary, «play» them. Which category do you belong to?
Alex Under:
I do both. Modern electronic music is good precisely because in it you have to combine playing instruments with programming. That is what makes it so rich and full-bodied compared to other genres.
44100Hz: What do you think of the current Spanish scene? Is there such a thing as a «Spanish sound»? Which of your compatriots could you single out?
Alex Under:
No, there is no Spanish sound. Our country has a very rich and varied scene. It would be strange if all Spanish musicians sounded the same. But I have heard the phrase «Madrid sound» many times; as a rule it referred to what the musicians of the Net28 label do. That said, I don't agree with that term either. Of those whose tracks I genuinely like, it is worth singling out Tadeo, Paco Osuna and Xpansul.
44100Hz: Spain has become an important part of the European club scene; artists from all over the world come to Spanish clubs and to festivals like Sonar and Benicassim. How has that affected the Spanish techno scene?
Alex Under:
Yes, the Spanish club movement has a rich history. It all began back with the disco parties in the eighties. And now Spain remains one of the best places in Europe, one that many people flock to. Sonar really was very important; it bound Spain inseparably to techno. Lately, though, it has gone thoroughly downhill, but during the days it takes place something indescribable happens in Barcelona - it becomes the capital of the world.
44100Hz: Nowadays many musicians are switching to digital formats - they put out tracks as online releases and play exclusively from digital too. Do you think vinyl will survive this battle?
Alex Under:
I too stopped playing from vinyl long ago - a few years back I accepted the digital format as a given, though I do like records as a collector's object. The battle of vinyl against digital is over, but now another one is underway - legal downloading against piracy.
44100Hz: Then another question: part of the music community claims that the album format is long obsolete. Do you agree with that?
Alex Under:
It's true. There is no point releasing an album in a situation where listeners buy individual tracks. An album is a conceptual work that has to preserve its integrity. But the rules of the game have completely changed here; we have to learn to think differently and adapt to how the situation is developing.
44100Hz: How do you see the future of techno?
Alex Under:
Right now techno repeats itself more and more, cyclically passing through the same points of development, but I still see the future differently. Movement should happen in a spiral - each time returning to the starting point, musicians have more experience and knowledge, and so on each turn they ought to add something new. The most noticeable changes in music now are happening at the level of sound design; I think things will keep moving in exactly that direction.
44100Hz: If you were offered the chance to make your music part of a comprehensive art installation, to accompany it with photographs, video, sculpture, text - which form would you prefer?
Alex Under:
I have already done this several times, and right now I am working on just such a project for a museum in Madrid. It will be a soundtrack to the classic cartoon "Alice in Wonderland".
44100Hz: Do you put any message into your music that you want to convey to your listeners?
Alex Under:
No, for me music is simply music, an absolutely self-sufficient form. If I wanted to convey some message to people, I would be better off writing a book.
21 November, Shanti, 22:00
Reflection
DJ: Дольщик
Live: Alex Under
