Egg London Podcast 011 - Andre Galluzzi
A vinyl connoisseur who is living a somewhat techno fairytale. Andre Galluzzi’s career is on the verge of legendary status.
Galluzzi’s DJ story started at 14 years of age. Over a quarter of a century later and the man in question is still performing week in week out and now recognised in the top echelon of house and techno artists. Running his own label, ARAS, which is the main outlet for his musical productions alsongside Dana Ruh and Matthew Dekay, the label enables the release of creativeness within Andre’s being whilst also shouldering the responsibility of pushing Galuzzi’s signature sound to the punters. Always known for being A DJ first and foremost, his productions have established a reputation as someone who is at the forefront of his craft with his passion for the dance music world evident in everything that he creates or curates.
As a producer, organic is the best way to describe Galluzzi’s style. Old school in nature, he has always trucked along vinyl records to his gigs since the start and the way he creates his music draws constant parallels. Live instruments and vocals are always included as nothing artificial will suffice.
Heavily associated with the creative melting pot that is, he was former resident at the legendary Tresor, before moving on to Ostgut, the previous club of the infamous Berghain. With releases on Cocoon, Ostgut Ton and Cadenza, it’s safe to say Andre has done it all.
We were privileged to have the man himself down recently for Circus, we caught up with him after to see what lies ahead.
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Your set was recorded at Circus alongside Andrea Oliva and Yousef. You played 5am - 7am, how was your set?
I realy like Egg, fantastic soundsystem, nice people that know how to party hard but one thing I have to say - 2 hours play is a bit to short for me haha.
For those that don’t know you used to be former resident at both Berlin’s Tresor and Osgut before it became the infamous Berghain. Techno on the whole has undergone a huge resurgence recently, what do you attribute this to?
To be honestly,I think techno and all the other genres are always there. Of course you have some periods where focus turns. It can be house today ,minimal ,electro or techno tomorrow. But it became a industry as well and clubs got an essential influence. If you run a techno club very sucessfully, hot for the moment, techno would be the weapon.
Obviously having spent a fair bit of your career in Berlin you are well placed to see how the city has transformed over the last 2 decades. What do you think it is about Berlin that attracts so many DJs within house and techno?
Well Berlin is a very open minded city. I always feel free in Berlin. You do what you want, You look like you want or be who you want. Berlin doesn’t judge today. I think it’s caused by its own heavy history, this place was attractive to many creatives. This found a seldom mix of art & nightlife.
You’ve recently released your debut album ‘Alcatraz’. Having been a producer for so many years was it a conscious decision to wait this long to release this project?
I did two albums with Paul Brtitsh on our former label Taksi in the ’90. Since then I wanted to do a further by myself. I was just always very focused on DJ’ ing, I’m now finding a perfect balance to handle both. Thing is, the more that you play, the more you know exactly what elements you want to hear on the turntables. So you became part of the development of music automatically. I promise, you will not have to wait further years for the next album ha!
What were you trying to achieve with this album?
I wanted to produce an album which is close to my DJ set´s. With tunes for all different moments you have in a night. warm up, the middle part, prime time and the trippy moments in the morning. My inspiration to every single track was that you play all of them haha.
You play on vinyl during your sets. Would you say the art of Djing has been lost in recent years due to the amount of equipment readily available and the way people can get their music out there? What attracts you to playing on this form?
I just love my vinyl. The sound, the touch ,seeing the covers. People asking for the tracks so you pass them the cover. I show records weekly at the shop where you meet a mass of colleagues and friends. This is pure communication. More, they are my instruments and after my gigs I have to clean them. This brings you in a very warm realationship with your music.
You also run your own label ARAS, what were your original intentions for the label and what have you got planned?
The idea for ARAS started in 2010 when I decided to produce an independent sound. If you produce for external labels, your meet the expectations of others. This leads to a mix in your own composition. I did some very nice pieces with DANA RUH and various artist releases as well. To place Alcatraz on ARAS is just a consequence of a long dream which finally comes true. And the upcoming tune is already in progress.
And finally, anything else you’d like to shout about?
Well you see producing became essential to me. Indeed I did a further release alongside GUIDO SCHNEIDER called “Mario“ on COCOON Rec. Should be out this month (FEB 2015). A further massive techno release on a Berlin label will follow by summer.
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