Sandrino – Exclusive Interview
January 28, 2019Interview – Edyta Marszalek
Iconic Underground: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us at Iconic Underground Magazine, how has 2019 has been treating for you so far?
Sandrino: My Pleasure! 2019 started very smooth.
We played the last show of 2018 in Tulum Mexico before heading up north to Ottawa in Canada for NYE. I’ve never been there before and we had time for a bit of sightseeing. Did you know they have the longest skate area in the world? In the winter, when the canal is frozen, the whole city is ice-skating. Beautiful!
I never thought of Ottawa as a city for electronic music, to be honest, so the surprise was big when we entered the Warehouse where the event took place and we met this enthusiastic crowd completely lost into the music. We loved playing there. But the highlight of my trip was the moment when I came back home to my family.
We’re based in Tuscany for the winter, there are definitely worst places to live I guess ;). So yeah 2019 is treating me very very good so far.
Iconic Underground: Your journey has started in Butan club in Wuppertal when you took the residency in 2002, how do you think this experience has influenced your DJing and the music you make?
Sandrino: I think the residency had no influences on the music I or we make but it had a big influence on my DJ-ing. I played a few times before my residency but at Butan Club I really learned to play for different crowds at different hours on different floors, playing warm-ups, closing sets or even all-nighters. It gave me a lot of freedom and room to develop myself as a DJ. To play different, to experiment, to take people on a journey. I loved that.
Iconic Underground: DJ, Producer, and Label Owner, every role requires different demands, tell us what does an ordinary day in the life of Sandrino look and feel like? And what relaxes you the most?
Sandrino: I must say that I´m very chaotic as I always try to do all things at once so there is no ordinary day at all. For sure most of the time I try to dig and find fresh or new music. My new year’s mindset is to get my time better organized, let’s see if it works 🙂
Iconic Underground: Describe the biggest challenges that you currently face in the industry as an artist and a label owner?
Sandrino: One of the biggest challenges for me is this whole social media topic, to be honest. I don’t like the fact that we often evaluate an artist based on his SM activities & skills, it’s not always equivalent to quality. I have the impression that you’re obliged to post all kind of stuff just to keep it going. It often doesn’t feel natural.
During the week I want to have a normal life with my family and this is a zone I want to keep out of social media. I’m still trying to find the right balance to use the social media in the right dose, from both sides as an artist but also as a regular user.
Iconic Underground: How do you work together when making tracks, what’s key in the production process?
Sandrino: Since we work together we are kind of following the same rituals before we go in the studio and also in the studio itself. As I´m living in Berlin and Tuscany it needs a bit of planning. When I´m there we always meet in the morning for an extended breakfast and chit chat before entering the studio. In the studio, Frankey is the engineer with incomparable skills while my comfort zone is more the digging for the right sounds. The symbiosis makes what Frankey & Sandrino sounds like…
Iconic Underground: Acamar was huge in 2015, how does it feel after doing such a big tune? Does it scare you that your next production won’t be as successful?
Sandrino: We both are happy with its success and we still hear all kind of personal stories people connect to this song. For example, one couple in the Middle East used it as their wedding song. Now imagine those guys will celebrate sometime in the future their 50 years anniversary and they will relisten Acamar? It’ll be forever connected to one of their most beautiful days. It really honours me.
In the beginning, I was a bit scared and felt a bit of pressure that we need to deliver the next big thing but from the beginning, Frank & I agreed that we don’t want to repeat ourselves so I’m happy we continuously try to develop our sound without losing our signature.
Iconic Underground: Tell us about a memorable moment or story when producing this track?
Sandrino: The Idea of the song as you know it was basically ready but still I had the feeling something is missing somehow. At some point, Frankey needed to leave the studio to pick up his son from school so I used the time to browse one of our fave synths the cs-80“ until I found this sound.
I remember how excited I was about it, without really knowing what to play with it. I just knew this is it. When Frankey came back I played him the sound and asked him to play something melancholic but with the right amount of hope and so he did. You must know that Frankey is an accomplished pianist?
He sat down, he played the first thing he had in mind and that was the moment when Acamar was complete.
Iconic Underground: Your last release this month “Rough Trade” with Sasse and Langenberg under MKS moniker is your second project, can we expect more?
Sandrino: MKS was born when the three of us met 4 years ago in Sasse´s studio. He invited us to show us his latest purchases, you must know that Sasse is a collector and he has most of the big analogue synths. We never intended to finish some songs but more to have fun playing around. It worked pretty well!
Iconic Underground: How would you describe your music to your children?
Sandrino: A possibility to travel through time & space without leaving earth, or maybe we do?? But does Music really needs to be described, I think it limits your own interpretation and Imagination…
Iconic Underground: Can you list the last three tracks you played on Soundcloud/ Spotify or any other platform you use to check for music?
Sandrino: As I´m in the studio right now I haven’t really checked new music lately because of the endless repetitions of loops and grooves. But can maybe tell you some of my fave songs in general:
Queen – Show must go on, Pink Floyd – Shine on you Crazy Diamond, Oumou Sangare – Moussolou
Iconic Underground: “The future looks bright…” what does 2019 hold for Sandrino, where will your sound go, what new music you can tell us about?
Sandrino: The past is gone, the future isn’t here yet 🙂 We worked a lot on original music & on remixes lately. I do not really have a timeline but there will be definitely some exciting releases on our fave labels. We also signed new Music on our own Label. The next 2 releases will be from Imperieux & Kris Davis. Sound-wise I cannot really say, everything that gets me excited deserves a chance in my box 🙂
Iconic Underground: This is your second gig in Dublin after your 2015 debut when you took over Hangar. Can you tell us with what impression you have been left with?
Sandrino: As far as I can remember I was alone back then and I liked it. I lost my Scarf in the Club, hope to find it again as it was my fav scarf ever haha.
Anyway I’m very much looking forward to coming back and playing in Dublin for Deep House Dublin together with Stee Flyn and my host Viktor Marina at Tengu.
Interview – Edyta Marszalek
Page Design – Editing – Mike Mannix