To say Andre Crom is the Bob Dylan of house music is a slight exaggeration. Yet. His record label have been providing the clubs in Berlin and elsewhere with soulful, organic, folk and rock influenced wax for the last 3 years. For the 34th volume of HMWL Podcast we got down with the big boss of OFF Recordings that recently celebrated their 25th release.
HMWL 34 – Andre Crom (OFF Recordings) by House Music With Love
HMWL: Andre, you’ve been involved with electronic music in one way of another for many years. But OFF Recordings didn’t really happen until you moved to Berlin. Do you believe Berlin is Europe’s epicenter of creativity, especially when it comes to house and techno?
Andre Crom: which other answer could i give to this question than “yes”? 😉 It certainly is the center of house and techno, even if fresh influences can come from anywhere – the dubstep/house hybrids coming from bristol or wolf & lamb / soul clap from Usa are some of the current examples for that. But ultimately, many inspired producers from around the globe move to berlin due to the good infrastructure for musicians, being located in the middle of europe, the cheap rents, the great number of good clubs etc.
HMWL. OFF in my opinion is one of the absolutely best deep & tech house labels of 2011, alongside 8-bit, Cecille and Dyinamic. How do you manage to find “the right stuff” to release in the neverending stream of demos and promos?
Andre Crom: It’s a mix between checking the incoming promos (takes ages, but sometimes you discover a gem), actively approaching producers you like and working with the people who have already released on the label before. it certainly takes a lot of time!
HMWL. How does the future look for OFF Recordings and Off Spin?
Andre Crom: Basically continuing to release great music, doing more labelnights in good places like weekend or watergate etc and looking into new ways to get our music heard and bought out there; while taking in fresh influences from current musical trends without forgetting our roots!
HMWL Podcast by House Music With Love
