The Spanish scene is thriving, and it's easy to see why. With Ibiza a short hop over the water to get to, and some truely inspiring festivals such as Sonar held each year, there is every reason for an aspiring musician to enter in to the world of electronic dance music. Uner is one such person, or at least he was at the begining of his story... a shining light and veteran of such a desire to work in a thrving environment who can now look forward to an exciting year ahead of him. Read on, and take note.
You recently joined the Cadenza family with your latest EP, how's it feel?
I feel really good! I love to work with different people and, most importantly, with artists with a big heart. I started to work with the Diynamic family three years ago and they are beautiful people. Also, I started with Carl Cox and his team in Ibiza two years ago and the same. And now Cadenza, with Luciano and his huge crew, I feel the same. I'm so proud to work with all these amazing people and it's really interesting to see how they are working and it's really inspirational for me.
Talk us through the sound of EP…
Really, I never thought about it at Cadenza or any other label when I started to work on the tracks... in fact, I never do because I want to see the music flowing and working on what I feel at any moment. I believe that an artist can develop any feeling at any time according to their mood or the way you want to feel at any time. Maybe some 'cool' guys in the industry are not prepared to listen to some styles or influences on my tracks, there are many scared hipsters if you put congas or a latin feeling in your track, but I really don't care because it's something that I feel strongly about. The one and only idea that I wanted to share when I produced 'Pallene' was to unleash my Latin background, my Spanish blood and do something fresher, like 'Bassboot', my last work in Diynamic. Maybe 'Bassboot' was dark and serious and 'Pallene' is shiny and funny? With this EP, as a musical adventure, I tried to translate the listener into another place, a trip to another level, more relaxed and shining… this place is called 'Pallene'. 'Pallene' and 'Cocoua', as in the last tracks I did, it's the 80% analog sound, with my synths, real percusions and a lot of improvisations because I love to give a natural feeling to the tracks. You can feel or listen to more stuff listening the tracks.
When we posted news of you're ‘Palua' release we noted that Luciano, amongst others, had been heard playing your tracks last Summer. How does it feel when someone with as much prominence in the electronic dance music world clearly likes what you create?
Its one of the best feelings! I've had a lot of support from really well known names since the begining and I'm really proud of it because I'm trying everyday to do my best and that answer is the best prize for me. When someone like Luciano, Solomun or Laurent Garnier play your tracks, I feel that maybe I'm doing a really good job...
In this case Luciano listened to the tracks and he started to play them in the summer. More than the promo and hype with the tracks, the most important thing is to develop some really good feelings with Luciano. He is always supporting my job and helping me with a lot of encouragements to continue working on my own, like I'm doing since the beginning.
Do you have any further plans with regard to working with Cadenza?
I have dates with Cadenza Showcases, Vagabundos in Ibiza, WMC parties, etc. For sure we will continue working together but we are also speaking (Cadenza and my team) about more things for the near future. As soon I have more info about I will let you know!
After the initial success of an EP such as yours, do you think there is any pressure to then produce more tracks on a short timetable? Or can you continue on at your own pace?
I don't like to work with pressure because music is question of feelings. But I have more new stuff ready to be released until the summer and after that on other labels with huge names and in 'Paulatine', my own label. I'm always working on new music and I don't like to have only music for the present and it's why today I have almost the whole of 2012 ready for releases with EPs and finishing my two albums for 2012/2013.
What do you think the Spanish electronic music scene is like at the moment in terms of the quality of artists that are about?
The Spanish scene is a really young scene so, I think it needs more time to grow. But some artists are working hard everyday to try to do it, people like Paco Osuna, for example. The scene in Spain is getting better everyday thanks to good artists with international success and bigger clubs and festivals. But, we need to show the new generations that the music is not a question of marketing or having more fans on Facebook than others... It's all about working and trying to do your best and your own sound.
Keeping on the Spanish theme… to our international users, those who's Spanish clubbing experience may be limited to Ibiza, what are the highlights of the Spanish scene?
We have some of the best festivals in Europe (Sonar, Monegros, etc...) but the clubbing scene 'til now was a little commercial. Now I think everything is changing. The clubs are starting to book underground line ups, huge names, and the clubbers have best the clubbing culture every day. For sure Ibiza is one of the best showcases for Spain, and the island is the best place to show the people what sound is around. But we will see what happens in the future... I think now we are better than 7 years ago, but we need more time to develope in a really professional industry and try to grow the spanish club scene up. We are working on it!
You have an interesting approach with regard to your live performances, could you tell us about that?
Yes. I'm continuing to work on it. The idea is to play a live set only in big venues, festivals, etc because it is a whole idea working with audio and visuals and it won't make sense only with the
music. It's a complete history! Every live set is different so I need time to work between different acts.
The idea now is about controlng myself, also the video with two more iPads (at the moment I'm working with three, synths, Ableton...) and in the near future I would like to add more analog
equipment because the final idea is try to develope an analog live set in the next 2 or 3 years.
Many people, I think, started on the road to having a career as a DJ or producer by just playing with programs on their computers or with a simple set of decks. You, however, had some professional training didn't you?
Yes. I started to study music and play the piano when I was only 4 years old. I was studying since I was 24 years old and I finished the complete studios (solfeo, piano, harmony, camera). Everything with a classic formation. During this time my parents bought me my first synth and I fell in love with it. I started to produce and do my live sets when I was 15 years old and I did it 'til I was 24 when I started to play DJ sets. I did my first one in a club. I never had a DJ setup at home and I don't have one still! Nowadays, I have a lot of hardware in my studio and will love to continue working in this way. I love that sound and that's the idea for my future live set; try to come back to the 'past' playing only analog stuff with laptop support
When you started out on this career path, was it your intention to end up doing what you do with this kind of music?
Not at the beginning. I love classical music, so this was not my idea. But I started to listen to some electronic music like New Order or Jean Michel Jarre and I started to think that those sounds were like the music I was studying but with a synthetic sound. So in my mind appeared the idea; I want to do the same Develop my classic formation with this kind of sound! And here I am.
What did you want to achieve?
My first idea was try to work only with music and base my live performances on it, so I think my first one is done! I would like to continue working on it because the music is part of my life. But I don't like to think in the future... I prefer to live in the present, think about what I want to do in every moment and enjoy it because if you have too many goals to do maybe you can have a huge deception if you can do it. So I prefer to put only near goals; my immediate goal is to finish my two first albums and continue working on my own style and sound and play around the world. For sure, I would like to grow up but always doing my best and working hard, not with gifts.
Aside from Ibiza, what are your plans over the year in terms of DJ'ing?
Aside from an amazing expected summer in ibiza, I'm playing around the world... I Have dates in Spain in clubs and huge festivals like SONAR, gigs in Germany, Switzerland, UK, north America, huge venues in Miami like the Cadenza Showcase with Luciano, Larkin, Reboot, Dietz and Oliva at Space Miami among other good venues... Really busy year, almost booked 100% 'til mid-summer at the moment. Now we are working on some other tours during the summer and after that and will try to do a little break just after that to finish some new stuff (all I have preparing during the journeys)!
So... Sonar!
Yes! Just had the official confirmation. I'll do the closing set in one of the sonar night stages. I'm reaaaaally excited with it because it's one of the most important events in the world speaking about the electronic music and more excited because is in Spain and near my home. I'm really proud to be part of it this years because is a little prize for me because in Spain who doesn't want to be there!?
And what about Ibiza? Where can we expect to see you play?
We are talking about it. But I will play some Vagabundos dates during the summer with the Cadenza guys. But I'm waiting more confirmations like the past years. Hope to come back to Space Ibiza with the Carl Cox family like the past 2 years and some other big venues. I will keep you posted with everything!
