7 Questions for... Andre Crom

Before you enter the very interesting world of Mr. Crom, you need to understand the man behind the wheel. So to get you started here's a short bio taken from his myspace...

Andre Crom:
Just a guy who discovered doing music is the perfect excuse for partying every weekend and not having a real job...

Luckily some nice people seem to like the results of my lazy- and wastedness. They invite me to their places, pay me billions of dollars, private jets and 7*hotels only to make me scare their guests with some weird music. Das ist toll.

Hope this will last at least until i win in the lottery.

Ha ha ! Already, you have to love the man ! Ok, now let's get it on with the interview...

In your bio you tell us that it all started 13 years ago when you first went to a real club, can you give us a little more details about those days and how it all started for you ?
I grew up at the end of the world in the German countryside and only when I turned 18 was able to finally experience the clubs in Düsseldorf and around. This instantly got me addicted – the music, the vibe and the people were a totally different dimension than my home village and I instantly started dreaming of being a part of this scene, not only as clubber but also as dj and at some time become able to make a living out of it.


Before being Andre Crom “the DJ / producer / party animal” who were you?
Funny enough: I did 2 years of education to work at a bank! 9 to 5 in the most boring and serious job one can imagine. I hated every day of it, and just 5 days after finishing it I moved to Düsseldorf to start working for a small record label and club… later followed jobs as editor at Germany’s Raveline magazine, dj booker, client manager at different advertisement agencies… but regardless what I did, my only real passion was always the music and since I just follow this I really enjoy life.

We know a lot of local DJ’s and producer who moved to Berlin to expand their career, would you still recommend that move or you would suggest another city?
Honestly I can think of no other city that offers the same opportunities as Berlin. If you live in a foreign country or a smaller german city without a proper club and artist scene, moving here is for sure the best thing you can do if you really wanna get your career going.

Flats are cheap, parties are good, you get great inspiration from the people around and you don’t feel like an alien as a full time dj/producer. In Berlin, you live among like minded people – just do your thing and enjoy live, status is not defined by your salary here.

But if you live in a city where you have a good scene it might also be smart to stay there to keep the diversity and local scene intact – for example I really like what’s happening in Amsterdam or Frankfurt and maybe even Paris– a couple of friends who really stick together, have their own sound, stay true to their hometowns and developed their own style without of looking at “what’s hot in Berlin right now”.


Do you consider yourself and Luca Doobie hipsters?
Ha ha, that name was just a stupid idea for a new track we did which will be released later this year… to be honest i really don’t think too much of what my job makes me, it’s just what I love and am good at. If you wanna find real hipsters I guess you better search in the art galleries or fashion stores of Berlin Mitte!

The best thing to eat after a heavy night of drinking and partying in Berlin ?
A Mini pizza at Schlesisches Tor! Really the best hangover-prevention you can do, ridiculously cheap as most fast food in Berlin and very tasty, especially after drinking... or was that “only after drinking?!”

You work a lot with co producers like Luca Doobie or Danito, also your first production ever was a co production with Tigerskin – what do you like about that and how do you work together?
If the right people come together and their skills complement each other some really good things can be created that are better than what each could do on his own. It’s fascinating to see where you can push your productions if you work together with somebody in a good way…

Also, it’s much more fun to work together in the studio than just sit there the whole day on your own and feel like you’ve sentenced yourself to a single cell in jail!

What's next for you ?
The original plan for this summer was to relax and let it loose at the lakes around Berlin, but it seems to come different thanks god there’s some nice gigs at sunny places this summer!

Just started working with a new production partner called “Dekay” (http://www.myspace.com/dekay202) and we have some great things in the making… a bit later in July, Luca (http://www.myspace.com/lucadoobie) will come over for some weeks and we’ll get locked in the studio as well to produce some hot trax for the winter…

Besides that I’m working hard on getting my labels further on the spot; OFF, which is all about rough old school house music already goes amazingly well and the first ep on my more modern and techy label “VIVID” has also just been released.

And of course I’ll be rocking floors all over Germany and beyond every weekend, which is still my first and biggest passion!

Dj schedule, music & more info: www.myspace.com/andrecrom909
OFF Recordings myspace: www.myspace.com/offrecordings
VIVID Records myspace: www.myspace.com/vividrecords

Thank you for reading this wonderful interview with Andre Crom, as a gift here's Andre Crom most recent mix:

Andre Crom May09 mix

Enjoy !