Interview: Cristoph

Cristoph is undoubtedly one of the UK’s greatest rising stars. He avoids dance music’s relentless, and uses his talent and intuition to produce by masterfully mediating through raw beats and groove combined with his typically intricate, hypnotic arrangements.

We got a chance to speak with Cristoph about his musical roots and upcoming release on Hot Since 82’s ‘8-Track’ series. Enjoy!

 

Hi Cristoph, how would you present yourself to our audience?

Hi. I’m a House and Techno DJ and Producer from Newcastle Upon Tyne in England.

 

Can you tell us something more about your career? How did it all begin? When were you starting to get interest in electronic music and decided to choose it as a professional career?

I started DJ’ing at a very young age. My dad bought me some decks to keep me from hanging around on the streets. Growing up there was always some sort of music being played in my house, predominantly my dad’s Motown and northern soul vinyl. What really got me hooked was my brother’s collection of records from the likes of Chicago & Detroit. Once learning how to mix I began to put on my own parties for school friends and it was then that I began to realise it was what I wanted to do for a career.

 

You already have releases on important labels such as Truesoul, Knee Deep in Sound, Yoshi Toshi and Selador. Tell us something about your music? How would you describe your sound and what influenced on it the most?

I try to keep my productions quite varied but still try to tie in a certain signature sound. For instance at the moment I tend to use a lot of darker synth sounds, especially in my breakdowns. I aim to make my tracks take the listener on a journey – pretty much the same way as I DJ. This is because I like to keep people interested and I put myself in their shoes. I get bored pretty easily listening to the same sound over and over whether it be DJ sets or individual tracks. I guess its the influences from the likes of Sasha, John Digweed, Solomun and Hot Since 82 which have shaped this thought process.

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Speaking of releases, tell us something about your forthcoming LP on Knee Deep In Sound?

‘8-Track’ is a new project which Hot Since 82 and his Knee Deep In Sound crew have set up. It allows artists to showcase themselves a little more than an EP or a single track release without actually writing a full album. It’s been an honour to be chosen to write the first one. I’ve tried to take people on a journey both in each track and over the continuous mix, making it like a ‘mini-set’. There’s quite a range of genres in there ranging from deeper stuff right through to more euphoric sounding records. I’m excited for the release and hope people enjoy it.

 

How did you first come to work closely with Hot Since 82?

I actually first got in touch with Daley over Twitter. I guess I was pretty lucky. I made a track called ‘Guffaz’ and thought I would tweet him as it may be something he would support. He replied and I emailed it over and he loved it and it just went from there really. He asked me to send him everything I make and I still continue to do so.

 

What are your upcoming plans or projects for the near future?

Along with 8-Track I have an exclusive track on the forthcoming Pete Tong & Andrea Olivia compilation. After that I have a few EP’s coming on labels I have been wanting to release with for a while now but can’t quite say who yet.

 

You are going to play at Nebo Beach Yalta in Crimea, so what can the audience expect from you?

I’m really looking forward to this gig and I’ll be hoping just to play my usual style across the House and Techno spectrum. Really in to my melodic tracks at the moment so will no doubt be playing a few of those along with some unreleased records from myself.

 

When can we expect to hear you in Serbia?

Hopefully I’ll be playing in Serbia in the not so distant future. Always been somewhere I have wanted to play, I’ve heard some great things.