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14 FAKTS INTERVIEW WITH

AE:THER

Q: Introduce yourself

I'm a  half Italian/German musician and sound designer specialized in electronic music at the moment.  I'm kind of a sensible person when it comes to my music. I always try to give my songs a story and a soul with specific melodies and atmospheres. I sometimes still struggle to separate between passion and the business. I haven't been familiar with making money with my music my whole life. If I was rich I would probably not sell my music. Sometimes I'm not the most positive person but rather impulsive, solitaire, very shy and not always friendly. I used to live my life not too seriously and was not too much into responsibilities.

 

Q: Analog or Digital and why?

I started as a digital guy making songs but not deejaying, started with turntables when I was 12. With around 21 I began working with synthesizers to find a balance between the digital and analogue. From analogue synths you can usually get these special sounds and from some samples I used to record. If I don't have my machines with me in the studio I sometimes feel kind of lost.

 

Q: Favorite Club/Venue and why does it stand out from the rest?

I'm not really going to clubs as a raver anymore as I just started going on tour now a lot but I think that I'm kind of the warehouse dancer or performer. You could say I prefer something dark or industrial as I can identify myself with it best and also my productions. So clubs where you go for a rave and forget all your problems and reality are best in my opinion. Right now I'd say my favorite club ideas of the rave culture in my hometown are Berghain/Panorama Bar and Griessmuhle. Another great venue was at Audioriver Festival the Circus Tent where I had my last performance or Afterlife Privilege at Vista and Hï in Ibiza a month ago. I love big stages and fascinating venues with a mix between visuals and lights with powerful music. It's not only fascinating but also important for my personal musical process that can bring myself positive vibes and inspirations for my productions in the studio.

 

Q: What was the driving force that got you into DJing/Producing and when?

I was 16 when I listened to Kraftwerk for the first time and thought to myself, I want to make this type of music. So, I convinced my dad to buy me the first Roland R8 and the rest is history. My first vinyl was released when I was 19.

 

Q: If you were to have a superpower, what would it be and why?

Interesting question, I think I would choose the time machine man. Go back in time and explore the history of our world  instead of reading it in books and just live the moment.

 

Q: You’ve experienced music in different corners of Europe, from Italy, to London, to Berlin. Can you tell us more about this journey of yours?

In Italy I understood how the world works in the music business, it was kind of frustrating finding out that no-one looks on the artistic but on the financial side. So basically that if you are not already born as a famous person or you are not a friend of someone important you are nothing and nobody gives you anything so instead you need fame from the outside. Italy is kind of regressive at the moment and so its club culture and music is. That makes it hard to speak out there. I just understood myself more and that I need to go and search for bigger stimulations which I can identify myself better with which I couldn't find in Rome. In London it was very hard. I started to understand how the sweet life is but the daily life was still to work to survive there. The hard work made me stand up more for my personal goals so I started to change to make this step as a professional musician and not as a explorer, learner and listener of the electronic music anymore. It came all out of a sudden and I was ready to speak out and dive into the music business so I made my first single with Mind Against. Everything happened so fast that I it was kind of hard to handle it sometimes. At some point I had so much solid material that I realized the potential and started being more confident. Just after the single I decided to move to Berlin. I felt ready to reach out to the city not as a beginner but a a professional producer with a solid project which has already started. It's a city that can change a carrier of a person like me if you are lucky enough to reach the right people who can help you build experience and make it grow, maturity and wisdom on the projects/creativity and the man behind it. My life changed after one year of hard work, there are still some ghosts behind me but I'm fully into the music now.

 

Q: What’s your biggest fear while performing?

I used to be kind of scared before and while perfoming live but not deejaying. It's a bit less now to be hones because I think that the creativity of a performing artist develops while improvising and  facing problems, so you just need to stay calm. Anyway It depends on the act, in live set I think my biggest fear is that the DAW crushes or that I push the SIRI button on the touch pad and while deejaying that I touch the console while I forgot my pen drive.

 

Q: 1 person you’d dream to have a coffee with?

Well I dont know, it's a kind of a general question. In the present or in the past? Mmm I don’t know but If I can put it my way I would like to have one with a very important person that signed the history of arts and mankind and there are so many actually. If I have to choose someone impossible it's probably John Lennon or Jim Morrison, Neil Armstrong or Dalí but in the present I would say  Jeff mills or Jim Jarmush…..


Q: If you would have been given the chance to do a film score from the past, what movie would you choose and why?

I think I would choose “ALIEN” as the first movie because I am kind of a horror fan which is reflecting my melodies and harmonies sometimes so probably it could be easy to make something modern and classical sci-fi like… I am comfortable to make a film score very soon….


Q: Recommend a Hidden Gem in your Home country

Well, good question because most of the clubs I used to love are closed right now like Corcorico or DISSONANZE and also I am not living in Italy anymore so it's not easy to know what's going on down there, probably Goa Club and Circolo Degli Illuminati in Rome could be the choice.

 

Q: Your recently released track Arteon on Afterlife is truly out of this world. How does it best describe who you are as a producer?

I'm very prouf of this piece of work like nothing before and it was a really long process. I made three different mixes of it and the one you can listen to is a mix of all three versions together, so the project was quite huge on the computer. The first idea was to get a kind of stand up song, more epic and more mainstream than my usual sounds. I reached the melody from the depth of my heart, the bass line and the arp helped me to close the song and I gave it the epic moment and the right atmosphere I was always looking for. It's also really flexible in the live jam acting, so you can have fun with it. Honestly it describes myself with true emotions and not only with the sounds, a track who touches your soul, a mix of sad/melancholic and love feelings.


Q: Tell us about your upcoming releases and plans for this year (Exclusive release/announcement)

Sure my debut album on Crosstown Rebels will be released around October, then I am working on a collaboration with a great artist who comes more from the techno “underground” scene and something really big with another amazing well known artist, but that is nothing I can tell you about at the moment and where or when I will release those projects…


Q: Last but not least, what can we expect from your set at Five Islands Festival?

Considering that I will play probably 1.30 hours I must be quite quick and will still keep the weirdness/psychedelic vibe and raw ideas of my set with pumping/strong beats.

 

Aether Socials

Interviewed by GBS  & Naddy Dib - August.10.2019

Five Islands Festival

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