proudly presents

André Absolut
Switzerland new goodies

What will you think of first when you read this Headline? Chocolate, Watches or Snowboarding? No, it`s music that is exported successfully out of Switzerland. No, it`s pure electronic Stuff. High Quality and innovative.

One of the new upcoming Producers from Switzerland is André Abt AKA André Absolut. He lives in Zürich and is the Head of Monobasic Studios. DJ as well as Producer of his Solo Project André Absolut and his Cooperation with Eric Blade " Absolut & Blade ". Born in 1978 he was early addicted to music. Together with Eric Blade as "Absolut & Blade" they released their first 12Inch vinyl signed to SUMSONIC Records in the UK in 2002. After this successful step he met Tobi Wirz AKA Greed, the label owner of the infamous Swiss label SOG Records. Together they remixed a track from the Swiss crossover band "No Religion". Both releases made it directly into the record-cases of famous DJs like Sasha & John Digweed, Danny Howells, Antony Pappa, Hernan Cattaneo, Danny Tenaglia and many others.

ANDRÈ ABSOLUT

Since then André has released several other original productions as André Absolut (solo) and co-productions together with Eric Blade (Absolut & Blade), Greed (Absolut & Greed), Minilogue AKA Son kite (André Absolut vs. Minilogue), Downpressor (André Absolut & Downpressor) and others. Remixes have been requested by artists like Piece Process, Shiloh, Nik Karagua and No Religion.

André Absolut¹s DJ sets rocked dance floors in Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and Germany. Since 2003 Absolut & Blade’ performed several live acts which have gained lots of attention and positive reactions from the scene.

We had to talk to André to learn more about the man that is responsible for the groovy baselines and sexy sounds in his DJ Sets and Live Acts.

ABSOLUT & BLADE @ ZÜRICH // CH

Are you concentrating your power fully on music or do you have a normal day job?

At the moment I try to start-up my own little company - its based around 3 main parts: producing/playing live/ and web jobs for another company as a freelancer...So yes at the moment I concentrate 100% on my thing!

What do you do when you´re not making music?

Hmm..let me think. I listen to music! I have a girlfriend. There is also a lot of office work like answering emails, burning and sending out CDs, doing SUISA/GEMA stuff, promoting myself and things like that. I never thought that it would be so much! Soon I will need a secretary ha ha! I also love playing PC games in the free time!

When and how did you get in contact with electronic music the first time?

It NEVER was "Kraftwerk" that inspired me. I didn¹t understand their music at this time.I think it was the "Synthesizer greatest" CDs with stuff from Jeanne Michel Jarre and so on...Later it was the "Chill Out Zone" Videos on MTV on Saturday night - funny is that it was the 3d rendering videos first that inspired me. Was this the initial fire or did it last long till you started DJing and producing? I bought a little Yamaha QY-20 Sequencer for practice guitar stuff and then it ended up I was doing dance tracks with it. That was the initial fire. Later I used a synthesizer from my parents (they made a kind of other "dance-music" at this time) to do my tracks. For the tech freaks: it was a Yamaha TG-500. DJing came years later in1997. I started with producing first.

An album that you can listen to at home, but also works on the dancefloor ...

Who inspired you back then and who is inspiring you nowadays?

Because I played guitar for more than 14 years, my main inspiration was "Joe Satriani", "Steve Vai", and Bands like "Extreme" and "Harem Scarem", and of course the "usual" older stuff like Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd. Nowadays I get most of my inspiration from everything other than dance-music. I listen a lot other music. Jazz/Rock/Ambient. Artists like: John McLaughlin, Prince, Die fantastischen Vier, Nine Inch Nails, Tom Petty, Sting, Reto Burrell. There is still a lot of electronic music that inspires me like John Graham (Quivver), Tobi Wirz (Greed), Infusion, Engelspost, Piece Process, Son Kite, Descent, Shiloh, Dousk and hundreds more. All good music out there with soul and deepness!

What are you using when you play live?

I use a setup with Ableton Live, Hardware Mixer, some synths and a lot of internal and external Effects. The main idea is not to have an "introverted" Notebook Liveact. I want to have control without the PC Mouse and so that people can follow what I am do and what they hear.

Try to describe your addiction to music?

Its my essence, its my way to "mich auszudrücken", to expose myself. I think I would explode in a cloud of emotion and creativity if I don´t do any music.

You remixed a lot for Artists like Thomas Penton, Shiloh, Greed and Piece Process and now you are going to remix Haldolium and Sub 6 which are both more from the Psyside of Trance, does it make any difference for you which style the original is made in?

No not really. Sure I try to do something other than the original, to have a contrast. The funny thing is always you want to do something in one direction and it ends up in something completely different. That is the thing every musician has to deal with. We have access to it, but we never have the full control over it!

Your forthcoming album is planned on Vertikal Records in May of next year. What can we expect?

My idea is to have an album that you can listen to at home, but also works on the dance floor. Sure there will be some special dedicated album stuff, and also some cool collaboration projects.

Which Fx, VST or Hardware Product do you prefer at the Moment and why?

Still my Hardware Virus b, and software synths definitely the Albino 2 and Vanguard but basically, I could do my music also only with software! My tip for beginners: Better spend your money on 2 good monitor speakers and a nice PC or Mac!

Interview by Frederik Flanger for d-tect Magazine and Frederikflanger.com