Andre Crom: 5 Years Of OFF Recordings

Off Recordings has proudly met their half decade mark and with Andre Crom at the helm they are currently embarking on a journey to celebrate with their amazing followers. The European tour sees them hit the heights on Germany, Austria and here in the UK, headed up with gigs in Manchester and at Egg London. Label head and enforcer Andre Crom is currently promoting his latest EP with fellow producer Chi Thanh and vocal hitter Kevin Knapp. Further more Leftwing and Cody will be next in the firing line with fellow duo Kruse  & Nurnburg. However, right now this is about celebrating the turn of the illustrious Off Recordings 5th birthday. Here DT chats with Andre about the history, their current ethos and what tickets the boxes for a production on the of the major players of 2014.

Tell me about the 5 Years V/A package that you’ve just released. It must have been a difficult choice to pick only the guys you did? 

Actually it was easy, I wanted to feature only of our 9 core artists and I did not want to have too many tracks on it, as I feel that takes the attention away from each single. So I asked my artists to team up and produce some collaborations for the compilation. I’m really happy with the result, it’s clearly a DJ’s compilation, all of the tracks are very much made for the dance floor. 

And you’ve done a track with Chi Thanh and Kevin Knapp on it, right? How did that one come about? 

There’s a funny story behind those vocals. We wanted to do a cool dance floor track with some slightly weird vocals, something that sticks in your mind and makes you think. The weekend before we recorded the vocals I had one gig where the dance floor was more interested in taking photos, checking their facebook or doing whatever on their smart phones, instead of actually listening to the music, dancing or communicating with each other. For a DJ that’s really annoying, so we decided to write a track about this to wake people up a little bit. 

You tend to really value the collaborative process. What is it that you like about working in pairs? 

While I do some productions on my own, I feel more secure as a DJ and label owner working with others. I really like to work with people who are more accomplished in the studio than me. Right now I’m working a lot with Chi Thanh, who just launched his solo underground DJ and producer career, after producing for a lot of different people and styles. The combination of Thanh’s technical and musical skills and my sense for simplicity, catchiness and the dance floor works out really well. 

How much of running a successful label in 2014 is about running it from a business side of things? Who do you look up to in that perspective? 

You need to fuse your heart and passion with a business sense.  When you grow as a label, it becomes increasingly important to keep the business side in mind. You will need a label manager, graphic designer, 

mastering technician, account manager, maybe a label administrator too. Also like every one else you need to make sure to make a living at the end of the month. You also need to professionalise your structure to make sure to keep costs low and earn as much money as possible with your music, but as an underground label you should never compromise on your musical vision. When it comes to professional structures I think Defected would be a good example how to do it right. When it comes to a clear vision that fuses amazing music with a consistent branding, I’d name Innervisions or Life & Death as labels I really look up to.  

Does it usually feel like a job you love doing then? What’s the most stressful aspect of it all? 

Yes, absolutely! I’m feeling very privileged to be able to follow my biggest passion and make a living from it. Of course there are also downsides though, touring as a DJ lets you see the world and you meet hundreds of new friends but it also makes it much harder to have a girlfriend, or to stay in touch with your friends at home. It does feel quite exhausting and lonely sometimes and running a label is a constant challenge. The technical conditions and musical trends change all the time, so you really need to stay on your toes to stay on top of it, not to become obsolete. That’s also what keeps it interesting for me. 

What advice would you give to somebody starting out a label in 2014?  

Find your niche, understand what you want to stand for and stick to it. Also find a good name, invest in good graphics, especially at the beginning. If you can, spend some money on good remixers and depending on how underground you wanna be, maybe a good PR agency to make yourself a name fast. 

And what would you attribute the success of OFF to? 

We have found our niche, stripped back music for the dance floor, which is focused on the essence, its simple, but not anal. Our output is really diverse, from a pop deep house vibe to energetic tech house. We will get even more diverse in 2014, but all our releases share the stripped back and focused on the essence“ attitude. In music, as in life, I really dislike clutter so if I  get a demo with a great hook or vocal, but too much background elements around it, I would always ask the producer to take the unnecessary stuff out, to let the essence of the track shine through. 

Do you think too many people start labels these days without realising what’s involved? Did you have to invest a lot of your own money in it at the start in order to get heard? 

It depends on what you want to achieve, if you just want to get your music out somehow, it’s easy and costs you virtually nothing to start a digital label these days. However I guess the people who aim at creating a really big and established label know what they are getting themselves into. 

What one EP are you most happy with in terms within the history of the label? 

That’s impossible to answer, there are so many and usually I always love the latest EP’s the most as my taste continuously changes. 

And are there many that got away that you wished you’d signed? 

Yes, I have kicked myself a few times in the last year I have to admit! However luckily, more often than not I know pretty quickly if something is right for OFF. 

If you were to play three tracks from OFF’ back catalogue, what would they be? And why?  

Robosonic – Worst Love

This was our first massive hit back in 2012 and had a big part in lifting OFF to the next Level. An irresistibly catchy sample, perfectly worked out in Robosonics intricate production style 

Leftwing & Kody – You Were 

The second L&K EP on OFF, a massive garage-house dancefloor bomb. Maybe one of my most played tunes ever, it has never failed to rock the crowd. 

Him_Self_Her – Heartstopper 

I was really happy when this demo came in. I have been loving their “Gone Too Long” track for a long time and this is a worthy follow up. They offer magical vocals on a fresh acid-tech house original with a deeper remix by Chi Thanh and myself. 

Lastly, what sort of legacy do you think OFF has left on electronic music over the past few years? 

I think we had our part in shaping the current sound of house music. Maybe OFF did not promote any radically new sound, but I would like to believe that our musical core values, simplicity and accessibility without banality had an impact on many producers, DJs and dancefloor crowds.

Andre Crom will perform at Egg London Feb 14th on the Off Recordings 5th year anniversary tour. Visit  www.egglondon.net for more details.

Check out the tour teaser video and grab your tickets for their london date below:

To buy tickets for this event please visit the events page: Egg presents…OFF Recordings 5th Birthday: Andre Crom, Leftwing & Kody, Mat.Joe, Robosonic tickets from Skiddle.

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