Interview with SACHRIAS & ASLAK [2012]

"Scandinavia is blessed with four seasons, so we think that the weather has a big influence on our sound." 

-Sachrias & Aslak

Meet one of Helsinki's coolest duo, Sachrias & Aslak. Although 2007 was the year when both artists joined forces, it has been more than a decade of underground music and events promotion for Sachrias and Aslak in their humble hometown. The duo has also appeared on notable labels like Dutchie Music, Deepology, Cabrio Records, and has worked day-in and day-out to hone their highly-definitive winter-esque deep house sound. 


A couple of weeks ago, we were blessed to have been able to speak with Sachrias & Aslak themselves, and in this brief-- yet meaningful conversation, we get to find out more about this peculiar duo from Helsinki! Not just that, they are so awesome that they even allowed us to give away their 2010 release with White Zulu, "Cookie Jar" as a free download! 




Sachrias & Aslak Official Webpage

Copyright © 2012 Miguel Libre 

Finally, the day has come! Couldn't wait to interview you guys back then. Now, let's start! How are you guys there? 


We are fine thanks in snowy Finland. Helsinki has just had a one week snow storm and there is heaps of white powder snow. We are just getting back into the Studio together as Aslak has been in Kenya for a year, and Sachrias has been involved in other audio engineering projects.


Just curious, how did "Sachrias & Aslak" come to be? 


We both have a long history of promoting underground house parties in Helsinki. The memories of the initial meeting are a bit hazy, which strongly suggests that it was one of those special afterhour moments.


Your sound is quite distinct actually. Based from what I've been hearing, I'd describe your sound as chilled-down, groovy, and fresh. How did you guys come about with such a trademark sound? 


Scandinavia is blessed with four seasons, so we think that the weather has a big influence on our sound. During the dark winter times the sound tends to be more on the deep side and obviously midnight sun brings out more chilled & love vibes. 

For the tech heads here is our studio setup:

Countless plugins, Juno 106, Yamaha DX-7, Studio Electronics Omega 2, Korg Trinity, Novation X-Station, Novation Bass Station, Novation Drum Station, Akai S-2000, Fireface 400, Thermionic Culture The Rooster, Neumann 103, and some live instruments. Genelec 8030 & Genelec Sub speakers from Finland. The Studio it self is a hand built floating room.


How do you go about your artist routines? 


Usually our studio sessions take place after our daily work, so we like to have a couple of cold brews to get us out of the rat race.


We could tell you a true story of a vocalist who almost destroyed the whole studio after an excessive Cava session, but lets not go there.


Okay next one. When not in the studio or when not doing gigs, what do you guys do? 


During these winter times, first thing you do in the morning is showel your way out of your house and go hunting and gathering for food. Rest of the day is for music & leisure.


With all the artists you've worked with in the past or currently working with, who are your favorites? 


White Zulu, with smart spoken lyrics, a project with Dave K. White African refugee with no shoes but some soul.. And another ace in our sleeves, Saroa, lovely Finnish singer/songwriter. You can catch us collaborating more with these two in very near future.


Any artist you guys would like to work with in the future? 


We would like to work with labels with 100% commitment and concentration, taking things seriously and pushing our sound even further. As we all know the current status of music business is 13 labels in a dozen.


Your release "Strömsö" under Cromarti Records was such a huge success. Can you share your experiences with that track to us?


After Cromartis head honcho Abraham asked us for a track for his label, we found the groove & mood quickly.. and you know when you are on a roll things just click. We think Abharam was happy with the result as well, as he collected a quality remix pack around the original Stömsö track.

Click here to check out our very own review on Stromso Part 1!

What is your favorite brand of beer (or any liquor for that matter)? 


In our opinion the domestic lager is quite handy when getting elegantly wasted. 
Top three brands, not in particular order: Lapin Kulta, Karhu, Karjala.
When it comes to the hard liquor, it is consumed only with meals & in good company.


Where do you see "Sachrias & Aslak" five years from now? 


With the current climate of the record business five years is too far away to predict.. maybe you just send your playlists to the robot jocks at clubs of 2017.. or everything goes back to basics you never know.


Any message to our beloved readers on Soundscapes and to your awesome fans? 


For all the fans out there we have a real treat.. Cookie Jar free download. It was released on Add2Basket Records 2010 with Roberto Rodriguez and Apostrophe (Sabb’s moniker by the way) remixes. It is a special track for us, like a modern take on retro, it should have deserved more attention when released. The track is the fruit of a special session with Mr. White Zulu himself that ended up on a high..







Thank you very much for making this interview possible, Sachrias and Aslak! Cheers and may you have a fruitful career ahead. :)


Its been our pleasure doing this interview, and we are honoured with you showing interest in what we do in this small country far away.

READ MORE - Interview with SACHRIAS & ASLAK [2012]

Interview with JAVIER VAREZ [2011]

"I just prefer to smile because I know that I never will be rich in making music." 
                                                  -Javier Varez


Javier Varez isn't playing the game for money nor for fame, but he's in it for passion. Currently based in San Fernando de Henares, Madrid, Spanish producer, DJ, and label owner Javier Varez is one of the driving forces behind the A-list house music label, ALMA Soul Music. Javier manages ALMA with  D Low, Memphis and Alex Sosa and their unending dedication towards quality music can be heard in the releases they bring out. In fact, ALMA not only caters to Javier's , D Low's, Memphis' and Alex's own releases but it is also responsible for releasing material from Alvaro Hylander, Evren Ulusoy, and Satoshi Fumi, just a few of the many seasoned artists in the industry. 


Read through our exclusive interview with Javier Varez himself, and know more about his music, his label, and his insights when it comes to music. Maybe soon, we can have him over again to talk about his grandfather's grape harvest in Spain!


ALMA Soul Music Official Webpage
ALMA Soul Music on Facebook

Copyright © 2011 Miguel Libre

Greetings Javier! Thank you for making this interview possible. Without further delay, let us begin the interview. Firstly, how are things lately as a producer, a DJ, and a label owner?

Hello Miguel, is a pleasure to sharing some words with you and readers of Soundscapes. Things are cool about my work, we are really glad with the running of our label Alma Soul Music, so many great releases and several projects in clubs are coming.

Before we go to the details of your label, Alma Soul Music, let's first talk about your solo career. What inspired you to become a DJ and a producer?

Certainly I must to thank to my brother Fernando, he was my example and inspiration in the world of electronic music from I just was a little children! Years after was inebitable to focus my attention out of the commercial music, for this reason at day of today is possible to listen different influences like Jazz or IDM sounds into my own Deep House productions.

We're pretty sure that the things that revolve around you have had certain impacts on your musical career. In your case, how has Madrid been able to influence your career?

It´s not easy to answer this because I´m thankful to many people in Madrid.Certainly it´s a city where you can enjoy several types of art every day, inside and outside the music, without a doubt all people could be well influenced here... But I recognize that this is a country with a giant porcentaje of persons who prefer to spend his time and money in seeing to famous TV celebrities "playing" Mainstream music at big clubs. Definetely I think that this is not the land of opportunities... but sincerely I don´t see my life far of this sunny place.

Now, we talk about your label, Alma Soul Music. Can you tell us something about your label?

As I said, me and my partners D Low, Memphis and Alex Sosa are 100% satisfied with Alma Soul Music´s way, soon we will launch great material from important artists such as David Herrero, Ilya Santana, Siwell, Show B, Jack Pattern, Meterius Johnson and many more. In other things I must to remember that our own radioshow "Alma Dreams" is broadcasted weekly by 3 radio stations in Europe, it´s all about midtempo and downtempo music, out of our usual Deep House tunes.

Alma Soul Music: Javier's Record Label

What is or are the driving force/s behind Alma Soul Music, and what makes it unique?

Another time I gonna be sincere with you. I think that we launch just the music we like with the wish that be nice for our listeners, but I recognize that at day of today is very hard to highlight between bigger labels... Maybe one thing what distinguishes us is our visual image, we always use original designs from artists as record cover.

As a label owner and manager, what obstacles have you faced in the past, and how were you able to surpass these problems?

Uff... daily I ask to myself why I was not the creator of Facebook or maybe a muscled porn star who gains millions of dollars per month? LOL. But the reality is other, it´s simple, if people can get music for free, why them gonna spend money in it? The problem with piracy always will exists in our life, I don´t see a solution for this... I just prefer to smile because I know that never I will be rich in making music ;)

Let's go back to you being a producer. How does your studio set up look like?

I share a studio with my partners of Alma Soul Music, this room is called Atmosphera Studio where I usually kick our Akai MPC and touch some notes with my nose in differents analog synths. Also I record sweet melodies made with my own voice with Logic and our Rode condeser microphone (these sweet melodies always are erased instantly because my voice sucks)

The Atmosphera Studio

If there's one producer in the world you would like to collaborate with, who would it be?

My favourite artist from years ago is Matthew Herbert, would be amazing to see him working for our label!! But the true is that i never will try to make music with him, because is 100% sure that I would damage the results! He is the most original artist in electronic music in my opinion.

Any news for your followers? What's new from Javier Varez and from the guys on Alma Soul Music?

At the moment personally I only can speak about a new moniker for a different style of my productions, future releases with a couple of important labels. And about our label, I will try my partners works more, this form I will can sleep more hours!

This concludes our interview! The guys behind Soundscapes by Motionmigs would like to thank you for your time and effort in making this interview possible! We wish you all the best. Cheers and keep in touch!

I´m really thankful for this nice and funny interview, maybe another time i could speak about grape harvest in my grandfather´s town or something similar hehe!Thanks a lot from me and all Alma Soul Music components!

Here's a free download mix exclusively made by Javier just for our readers here on Soundscapes! Check it out, and have a good day! :)


Javier Varez´s Mixtape for Motionmigs.com by Javier Varez

READ MORE - Interview with JAVIER VAREZ [2011]

Interview with ALEX V

My inspiration was to create a digital platform to share quality deep house music, promote new artists and build step by step a solid and respected label.

V is for Valentin, Alex V's last name which still remains relatively unknown to most of his listeners and followers around the globe. Now that you know what V in Alex V stands for, we can move on to know more about him. Alex was born in the beautiful city of Barcelona in 1977, but it is in Tossa de Mar, where he now resides and continues to perfect his craft. 


As a passionate musician, Alex started producing at the age of 16, and from there he has started building up his arsenal of classy and elegant deep-tech sound. His list of labels where he has released material lists Night Drive Music, Acryl Music, Justified Cause, Big Mama,Sweetleaf, Deepology, Extremly House, Pulsewith, Mettle Music, Soulstar, and more. There is more to Alex than a producer. In fact, just recently, he has just established a deep-tech house label dubbed Sophisticate Recordings to give the world a taste of Alex V's interpretation of house music.





Sophisticate Recordings Official Website


Copyright © 2011 Miguel Libre




Hola, Alex! How are things going?


Things are going well, thanks. Its a very busy time for me as a producer and
label manager. There is always something to do and deadlines to achieve in this
business.


What does the letter “V” in Alex V stand for?


V means “ Valentin” which is my surname. A long time ago I used my full name
on my productions but after a while I decided to shorten it to just Alex V.


Continuing, let us talk about your productions: Can you describe to us
your sound? Also, how were you able to come up with such a sound?


My style is based on elegant and smooth melodies mixed with a touch of
underground house music. I like to use software and hardware at the same time
on my productions. Cubase is my favourite DAW and many VSTi are good to do
this task. Loving all the Arturia classics and my Korg Z1 keyboard.


How about Spain and the house music scene— how are they like?


Barcelona or Ibiza always has been a city with a huge electronic music culture,
including deephouse. The local scene is good and you can find great artists and
cool labels around Spain.


As we know, you are the driving force behind the deep-tech house
label, Sophisticate Recordings. What was your inspiration behind the
establishment of the label?


My inspiration was to create a digital platform to share quality deep house
music, promote new artists and build step by step a solid and respected label.

In your opinion, how is Sophisticate Recordings different from the
hundreds of labels out there?


Sophisticate is a young label that wants to contribiute and bring great music to
the deephouse scene. Personaly I don´t think that we are better or less than
other labels, we try to care about what we are doing working with passion and
love for the music.


As a relatively-new player in the music industry, what are the various
obstacles you have encountered so far? What are your solutions to
these problems?


Make yourselft know to the public is one of the most dificult task today!
Promotion is essencial to run a label and keep it alive, its always hard.
Piracy is bad for small labels but also some people believe that it can be used as
extra publicity.


If you were given a chance to work with any DJ/ producer from any
label or country, who would it be, and why?


There are so many new and classic artist that i would like to work with. Im open to
anyone, its not about “names” or how famous you are its all about music.


Any last worlds for our readers and fans from all four corners of the
globe?


There are new exciting releases and podcasts coming soon, keep close to
sophisticate and thanks to all our followers for your support!


I, Miguel Libre, would like to thank you for time and effort in making
this interview possible. May more people support you and good luck to
your label— you will have my support as always!

READ MORE - Interview with ALEX V

INTERVIEW with DJ Generous

Music without innovation can be a good track for a night on the dance floor, but if you want your music to live forever, you have to innovate!

Passion can only do so much to survive in the international dance music scene-- it takes innovation and forward-thinking to overcome piracy and to topple-down competition in the industry. The man of the hour is a perfect example of someone who embodies the above-mentioned qualities: Dima Worcestershire Jr. also known as DJ Generous. 


Aside from DJing and producing music, DJ Generous is also known as the driving-force behind one of the successful Russian dance music labels, Green Mono Music Studio. Outside the studio or off the decks, Dima Worcestershire Jr., is currently studying two vital fields of study that aid him in the day-to-day endeavors in the music industry-- law and economics. 


What does it take to make it in the globally-competitive dance music scene? Read through the interview to find out!




The Official Website of Green Mono Music Studio


Samples and FREE downloads of GMMS releases on Soundcloud!


Copyright © 2011 Miguel Libre

Good day sir! How has everything been so far?

Hello Miguel! Hi to all the readers of Soundscapes. It’s nice to be here communicating with you about music while drinking my cup of tea.

What is the sound of DJ Generous?

It’s quite a long story, Migs. Around 15 years ago, I met guys who composed tracks here using “Fast Tracker”. HAHAHA The guys I met were huge drum-n-bass producers and like a school boy, they taught me to make big sound. It was incredible, that simple software could turn my home PC into one dance machine! From there I started tweaking stuff, choosing music styles, and recording samples.

Experimenting with sound brought me house music with positive vibe—it was like the sound from a major chord. Well, the world, “Generous” appeared almost immediately that I needed not to have other alternatives. For the word “DJ”, it was from my name “Dima Jr.”

I go mad whenever I revisit my old tracks in my archive. Every time I hear them, I go “How the hell did I make this kind of sound!?” I couldn't believe what I was able to come up in my early days as a producer. Now I spend even up to a month to produce a single track (around a week for some instruments). For me it’s okay because music is my life!

[Click here to download one of DJ Generous’ first few tracks]

Aside from producing music and running the label, what other things do you do?

As most of you guys know, I’m a huge music aficionado, but I have more to life than music. In my serious side of life, I’m into Economics and Law. These fields help me in my business most especially in the design and marketing aspect of it. From time to time, Western corporations invite me to analyze and help them cut down on expenses or costs and make their businesses more efficient in the market. That’s just for one side of the coin. And the other, it’s traveling. At least once a month, I go somewhere to see new sights and have fun, of course, some time to relax too and get spend some time away from the stress of work! HAHAHA When I travel, I get new ideas for my tunes, and usually after my travel I would get back to my studio and work on new tracks with my new-found ideas.

What inspired you to create Green Mono Music Studio?

The plan of putting up an electronic music label was something I had in mind years before GMMS even started. I first brought the project to life with the idea, and then the logo, then the website, and the overall sound of the label. I spent many sleepless nights of listening to music from other labels! Also, I was able to meet new people because of the business, and we talked about music and other things related to the venture. And then one day in February 2009, Green Mono Music Studio came to life. . .

What makes Green Mono Music Studio unique from all the thousands of labels out there?

Melodic House Music. This is the sound I’ve been perfecting for years, and will continue to! Most people who release stuff on my label also listen to jazz music like I do, but they still find a way to incorporate melody to their productions…and that positive vibe!

The sound of Green Mono is not only for the dance-floor. It’s everyday music— people can listen to it in the car, in the subway, or even at home just to relax. There’s more to club music when it comes to the releases of the label.

What is your stance on the controversial issue of pirated music or illegal downloading?

In the early days of Green Mono, we could say that music piracy was one indicator that there’s a huge demand for our tunes. For illegal downloads, I can say that free music is good, and it’s nice to see people being happy with free music, but on the other hand, it’s very bad for our sales. In the short-run, piracy was clearly killing the music. If one day everyone would just pirate music, there will be nothing left. Labels would stop releasing, and the music will stop playing.

How do you cope up with music piracy and technology?

Here in Russia we have an appropriate proverb: “One guy is not yet a

warrior”, we understands there is no way to kill the piracy around of our label

by ourself only. There was a huge discussion inside of a label which has been

realized in a short resolution: “Free chunks”.

Now Green Mono publishing the chunks of each release is for Free on a

numbers of websites. It means you can listen and even download a few minutes

of the release right from Green Mono and decide about buying the whole release

with remixes and different editions.

That way helps us to increase the listeners and fans. The pirates now

downloading the same chunks and even helps us to go up.

We Russians have an appropriate proverb that kind of goes “Not everyone is a warrior.” We know that there is no immediate way to eliminate piracy by ourselves, and we have had huge discussions regarding this in our label and what we did is that we now offer free chunks of music for download.  We now upload edits for people to download for free, and when one is interested with the other versions and with the full version of the release, then that’s when they have to option to purchase the whole package. This allows our sound to spread more efficiently around the internet without having to worry of huge losses due to music piracy.

[Click here to download DJ Generous- Wonder Why (Radio Edit) [Play Digital Records] ]
[Click here to view the review]

Can you name us your current favorite five tracks?
[Click the links to view the review]

• Orbital – Halcyon

• Armando Biz - Caffe Macchiato

• Golopapas – Preference

• Fresh Produce – Chinese Dream

• Camy – Perfectamente Imperfecto (Ryan Sullivan Remix)

What advise can you give to aspiring producers?

Innovate! This is my only advice to all aspiring producers out there. I listen to hundreds of tracks each month and even if most of them are great, they don’t have innovation. Music without innovation can be a good track for a night on the dance floor, but if you want your music to live forever, you have to innovate! Here’s one of my most favorite tunes, and I keep on going back to this track because of its creativity and originality: Orbital- Halcyon.

What can we expect from you and your label in the near future?

In the near future you can expect something new from us. As we cope up with the rise of smart phones, we will be launching a smart phone-friendly website where you can conveniently access our website through your phone as easy as surfing the net on normal computers.

Aside from that, we’re trying to reach new limits when it comes to our promotions. We want to tap more markets out there so that they’ll be able to listen to our sound.

We have forthcoming releases! The teasers of these tunes can be found on our website and all other portals online. We have filled the release schedule until September so for producers who want to debut on Green Mono by this year, make it fast!

I, Migs Libre, from Soundscapes by Motionmigs

(www.motionmigs.com) would like to personally thank you for your

time and effort in making this interview possible. Good luck in all of

your endeavors!

READ MORE - INTERVIEW with DJ Generous

Interview with ALVARO HYLANDER [2011]

DeepWit [Recordings] is made out of passion and love. 


It is because of his love and passion for deep house music that Alvaro Hylander keeps on going. Although currently based in Denmark, Alvaro's early manifestations of his passion can be traced back in his years in Southern Spain where he started DJing and producing at a very young age.  As time passed, he had found a stronger connection between his sound and his identity as he developed his personal style in producing deep, sexy, groovy, and organic house music. 


Alvaro's  unfaltering efforts in delivering untainted deep house music in Denmark has lead him to appearing on various labels worldwide like Acryl Music, Alma Records, Balance Alliance, Behaviors, Etoka, I Records, Solardish, and Stratospherik. Alvaro Hylander's greatest manifestation of his passion; however, is just about to see light-- and that you will find out in a while. . .


Alvaro Hylander's Official Website


Copyright © 2011 Miguel Libre



Greetings sir! How are things so far?

Hola Miguel, Things are going great in cold Denmark. Looking forward to the
spring after such a strong wintertime. I really think is the most inspiring season
of the year not just for music, but on every aspect of life.

I heard that you are launching a new record label soon? Can you share
with us some information about it?

Yes!! DeepWit Recordings and I am extremely excited about that. Deep house will be the main ingredient on this venture, with a twist of tech or lounge on occasion. Combining some of the artists we know today on the genre with fresh and upcoming artists. We expect to be “on-air” sometime between February and March with the first release. The best way to stay tuned with what’s going on is to sign up for our newsletter. As well as following us on Our Blog, Soundcloud, Facebook and all those social networks we are all addicted to.

[For demo submissions, send them to: deepwit@me.com or via Soundcloud]



DeepWit Recordings "Snippet" by DeepWit Recordings


What inspired you to create DeepWit Recordings?

Miss Sierra Maydell, She’s the key and engine of DeepWit Recordings.Sharing my love of music is something I have been doing for several years now.I started by djing then gradually started producing and this just felt like thenatural next step. I knew it would be a lot of hard work and preparation andalmost impossible to do by myself, but the work and inspiration she providesgives me the time to concentrate on other matters, such as production.

Do you have any particular artists in mind that you would like to
appear on DeepWit Recordings? 

Ideally it would be wonderful having all those artists I personally love and that’smy approach right now since DeepWit is made out of passion and love.Unfortunately we won’t be able to reach out to each of those great artists yet,but step by step we hope to add more and more artists I enjoy.

Let’s talk about. . . the world. In which countries do you think your
label would successfully thrive in? 

The universe? Well… that’s what it always says in the contracts. Hahaha.But definitely in all those countries where deep house is thriving and starting totake root like Eastern and South Europe, North America and hopefully in manyother places as people come in contact with this great moving style of music.

Alvaro Hylander- Feels Right EP [Alma Music].  Click here to read the review!

Label matters on the side, what to you is the sound of Alvaro Hylander?

Organic, groovy, sexy, deep and moving. Those are the most common feelingsI have while working in the studio. Also that’s the desired outcome through myproductions to those who come in contact with my sound. The way I combinethese elements make it unique, as well as the fact I do a lot of sound design foreach production. This is what makes every work and project exciting for me.

If there was an Alvaro Hylander in the parallel universe, what would he
be like?

I think he would be exactly like this one or at least I hope that he wouldn’t be anevil mastermind! Mwahahahaha!! (evil laugh)

What can the people expect from you and your new and upcoming
deep house label, DeepWit Recordings? 

Well… Until now we haven’t said much about DeepWit as we like to keep thingssecret, but DeepWit Newsletter will be a way to stay up to date with what’sgoing on. We are also preparing our first Sampler for Spring 2011 with some realfresh and inspiring sounds. All that together with some serious releases along theyear not just for DeepWit, but for me as well.

There is coming a first taste of the label’s sound (Alvaro Hylander – WeavingDreams) for free to all of our followers on the different sites such as Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/DeepWit-Recordings/104823792916714And of course to our newsletter readers: http://www.deepwitrecordings.com

I, Miguel Libre, would like to personally thank you for this opportunity
to conduct this interview. Good luck with your new project!
Soundscapes by Motionmigs will support you all the way.

READ MORE - Interview with ALVARO HYLANDER [2011]