20. June 2016 | Artists | Carl
Talk-Zone #36 Interview with ALAN-LEE
Welcome Alan-Lee! You’re the artist of our new remix contest. Let’s tell something about your person and the beginnings of your producer-career, please.
Hi there, first of all I want to thank you for the opportunity to talk about me and my music and for giving me the platform on your magazine.
As you already mentioned, my name is Alan-Lee, 29 years old and I am living in a town named Rastatt. This is in southern Germany near Karlsruhe. I am in touch with all kinds of music since I was a child, which is because my father was and is a passionate collector of vinyls of many genres, so music is a part of my life since the beginning.
As a producer I started in the beginning of 2015, so I am still in „Beginner-Mode“
Are you only a producer or are you also a DJ, and if you’re a DJ, for how long do you do that? Do you have a residence-job?
Yes I am primarily a DJ. I started in 2003 with my first „gigs“ on school events with very crappy „equipment“ if you can call it even equipment. It was just a hobby at that time, but because I had a very big music-collection, more and more people asked me, if I can take care of the music on their party, and so, step by step, I became a DJ with real equipment. Nowadays I play in clubs and on public events. My greatest gig was last year, when I had my first booking abroad in Kopenhagen´s PENTHOUSE Club. At the moment I have no residency, because my last resident club unfortunallety closed it´s doors one month ago. But I am looking forward to grab a new residency.
When you’re producing a new track, do you work more on hardware-synths, drum machines etc. or do you prefer using software-plug-ins for your productions? If you use software, what’s you’re favourite tool / plug-in?
I am a guy who prefers software. Since I am pretty new in producing, I can not say I have a favourite tool, yet. For my two releases I used Logic but I am still in the process of trying out a lot of tools.
After your debut single „Give it up“, you’ve released the follow-up „Heartbreak“ together with Tesz Millan. How did you came to the idea to the lyrics and how did the collaboration with Tesz Millan come about?
Well, the track was already finished but i did not have any vocals. So i called my label (Lickin´ Records) and asked for some contacts. They connected me with DJ Scotty („The Black Pearl“) who already released a track with Tesz Millan, so he brought me together with Tesz, who is not just a singer but a songwriter as well. The lyrics has been completely written by her.
Now you’ve started the remix-contest for your single „Heartbreak“ in cooperation with Lickin Records and Noizefield. If someone wants to create a remix for you, which electronic music styles do you expect or could people choose their own favourite style?
I have to say three words: I love Music!
I do not love just Future House, or just Deep House, or Techhouse. I hate limits in music, so my answer is: Choose YOUR style and make a great Remix. That´s it. Read more about the conditions of the contest right HERE.
Where do you get your inspirations for new tracks? Do you produce everything at your own, or do you have a helping hand for mixing and mastering?
There are a lot of inspirations, like experiences from the past or things I am interested in besides music, which can give me a topic for a new single. And of course, I am getting inspired by other tracks (old or new) from any genre. In private I do not just listen to electronic music (as I mentioned before: I hate limits), so you can also get some inspiration by an Oldschool HipHop Track or a Pop Song from the 90s for example.
By now, I do not have all the tools for mixing and mastering, so I send my tracks to a professional studio to do that work for me.
Which new releases could the ALAN-LEE fans expect next?
I have a few ideas in my mind at the time, but I can not say clearly, which one I will realise next. For example I would like to use real wind instruments for one of my upcoming releases. Since I played one on my own as a kid and I am big fan of tracks by Federico Scavo for example, a track in this style is pretty possible. As I said before, you can not expect just one genre by me, in my opinion it is the variety that makes music great.
Which equipment are you actually using for your DJ-sets? Do you also use software systems like Serato or Traktor, or are you playing with CDs?
When I started Deejaying, I wanted to learn it the classic way, so I had a pair of turntables and played vinyls. Then I moved on to CDs and in 2008 I started using Serato.
Meanwhile I still use Serato DJ when I have a long playtime or CDJs with USB-Sticks when I am in the club.
Where do you hope to be in the next 5 or 10 years?
In the next 5 years I hope to get the opportunity to play on some bigger festivals and in clubs all over in Germany. In 10 years I still want the same, but also in the rest of Europe.
Now you’ve got the chance to tell our readers something that you always wanted to tell them.
Nowadays I witness, that there is a lot of hate and envy in the electronic music scene. This may come with the fact, that everyone who has a laptop and a few music files thinks he is a DJ or Producer. But I think we will have to live with that fact and concentrate on the music because in my opinion, quality is always above quantity and while time flies, quality will survive. So my last words are: Just celebrate and love music, because hate isn´t helpful at all for our scene and it is bad for your heart as well.
Thanks for taking time to this interview.
I have to thank you for having me.
Check these out!
