From the time Romanian born BOg based out of Paris DJ/Producer released his first ever tracks on the dance scene, I couldn’t help but notice this fresh faced friendly (who I have had the pleasure of meeting once) and it’s really easy to fall for his musical sensibilities. Attending a gig he was playing at one point if I closed my eyes I was immediately swept in to his DJ set, telling myself “Hot damn I am listening to John Digweed?” but then a few minutes later his tracks veer off in to his individualistic soundscapes, and you know immediately he has cut a niche of his own.
And then of course somewhere along the way – “Rewired” on the mighty Bedrock label happened and a star was born. According to many this was the defining moment and then some.
With productions such as – “The Other Side Of The River, “Rakuten” and “Shila” on Monaberry recently BOg has flown out further to collaborate with Tim Engelhardt on the massive ‘No More Words’ for the Innervisions highly-anticipated annual compilation ‘Secret Weapons Part 9’. A release on Diynamic’s Four To The Floor 10 followed as ‘Why Should’ became an key feature of Solomun’s +1 party at Pacha. Now his music breaks clubs and festivals across the globe and there’s that feeling that he has truly arrived and cemented his reputation as an exciting ground-breaking artist of immense talent and depth.
The space between sounds is one of the most striking qualities of BOg’s music. He makes Techno and Melodic House sound that has textures of car tires buckling gravel stones. The voids he creates at will, between loops and percussion feel like inhalations.
His exclusive FRISKY Artist of the Week set, featuring mostly unreleased music, is airing on October 23rd at 2PM EST [convert timezone] and will be available to listen on-demand anytime / anywhere with FRISKY Premium & FRISKY Mobile Apps.
Over to the man of the hour –
Hey there so good to catch you for a quick chat. I read somewhere that you are a massive Trentemoller fan, what kind of music were you listening to when you were growing up and did you try at your hand at DJing or production first?
Hello and thank you for having me. Well I grew up with bands like The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Depeche Mode and also Massive Attack and then after a while Trentemoller made his breakthrough on the electronic music scene. At that time he came with something very fresh and different than what other electronic music producers were doing. He has been a big influence on my career for sure. He’s truly one of a kind musician.
Was the club scene good in your home town, enough to inspire you?
There was no club scene back in the days in my home town. Actually I and my friends built a club scene in there. It was a small town in the east side of Romania. People were not ready for such things there back in the 2000’s but we were hungry to party and to bring something new to our small city. It worked for a few years then we all left and moved to different countries around the world.
The first parties I played were the ones we organised in my home town. It was a small party but the location was insane. We managed to get this old underground ex-communist prison that was transformed in to a bar and we did parties inside. Those were good old times and everything seemed much more natural back then. It was a beautiful time of my life for sure.
I’d love to know your thoughts on the world going digital?
It’s called evolution. It can be a good or bad thing of course but it’s up to you as a human to decide what is good or bad for you. Nobody is forcing you to go digital but these are new possibilities for us as humans and we should use them. To stay healthy you need to know how to balance things I think.
You were part of the Burn Residency competition and how did you feel when you met one of the pioneering greats of dance music John Digweed and how did the association to get signed on his label come about, can you give us the low down on this high point in your career which started the ball rolling, so to speak?
I’ve been a fan of both John and Sasha for a long time. It was nice to have the chance to speak with him and get tips about the industry from a guy that actually shaped the industry during those years. I signed some of my first tracks on Bedrock and I am truly grateful for that. I think from that moment the ball started rolling and I know that many of the big producers and DJs of the current lot, currently has at some time been helped by John Digweed and Bedrock at the beginning. You have to appreciate John for that because he is always open to give new talents a chance which is rare case of late.
If you were to choose two of your favourite tracks that you made, ones that you are emotionally close to, which would they be?
I am not emotionally attached to my music. I don’t like getting stuck in the past and to be nostalgic about things but if I were to have a favourite probably it will be the remix I did for John Digweed’s track – ‘Emerald’.
How would you describe your DJ style, would you say mixing a across genres don’t matter as much in the underground scene, as long as the story and vibe fits?
It depends. A lot of factors can influence my DJ style. If it’s a daytime party I would definitely play different, if it’s a night time party then it’s another story. I always liked to say that I am playing electronic music. I think you as a DJ, you can blend different kind of genres and build a good set in key and still stay coherent.
I am interested in knowing what makes you tick behind the console, are there any traits or preferred techniques you apply to mixing when DJing?
I don’t know to be honest. Everything comes natural during the night. I am not considering myself a born with it talent, neither a gifted DJ/Producer. There are two different categories to both. Some that are born to do this and they get there very easy with their charisma and talent and some of them are just hard working to get there. I think of myself that I am just a hard worker and as long as I still find pleasure in doing it I will do it. When the pleasure of doing this disappears I’ll stop but for now I feel like doing this forever.
What projects are you working on; can we get a sneak peek at upcoming productions, anything you’d like to share?
Everything at the right time… 🙂
What’s your standard way of making a track, could you run us through the start to end process?
No special rituals. I usually spend my time doing melodies and when I have something that I really find attractive well then I start the process of “creation”, so to speak.
What are your favourite pieces of production equipment currently?
My new couch in the studio is very soft and I like sitting there with my headphones on doing melodies. 🙂
Any other pursuits apart from playing music?
Not chasing anything just living in the moment. I like to have a clear mind and to focus just on what I have to do now. Other opportunities come with time and then I’ll still focus on what comes up.
Where can your fans find you in the next few months, any gigs that you’d like to talk about?
Around the world, arooooound the woooooorld, around the world arooooound the woooooorld.
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