Alejandro Mosso is an Argentinia
Currently living in Berlin we had the chance to talk with the artist about his actual position, future projects and live performance thougths.
Electronic Groove: Hi Alejandro, thanks for chatting with us. Summer have just finished, how was it for you?
Alejandro Mosso: Summer has been exceptionally nice in Berlin this year. Great weather, lots of sun and lake swimming!
Electronic Groove: It’s been more than 10 years playing electronic music. How did you get involved with the genre?
Alejandro Mosso: Like many people of my generation, I got introduced to electronic music through artists like Autechre, Boards Of Canada and the IDM movement from the end of the 90’s and beginning of the 00’s. From there I explored different variations of experimental electronic music like Clicks&Cuts, Noise, Ambient, etc… Then I slightly moved into Micro House and Minimal Techno and finally found myself on the road I am now… which I couldn’t describe exactly, but feels great!
Electronic Groove: Can you tell us about your Live performance, how do you prepare for each gig?
Alejandro Mosso: Since the very beginning I was always interested in playing my own music instead of DJing other people’s music. I have packed enough years of experience playing live to understand (against what everyone seems to think nowadays) that it is not about the amount nor type of equipment you bring on stage, but about timing, interaction and emotion. I believe it makes no sense to bring a full modular setup on stage for just synthesizing the perfect kick drum. This gear porn is exciting, but I think it belongs to the studio work. When I play live I focus on simple tools that give me freedom and stability, allowing me to me read and react to the crowd in order to channel my feelings through the best way possible. I always look for a setup that frees me from all un-necessary or unmusical tasks like synchronizing a machine, menu diving, EQ corrections, compression, etc.
To answer your question, I have a simple setup with laptop, controller and EFX machine. In my Ableton I have a huge amount of possible sounds I can play, then before each gig I prepare a list of ideas I would like to play in that particular event, and when I jump on stage this list usually changes as I interact with the crowd and make adjust-ments to my initial idea.
Electronic Groove: Now you mention that you are changing your sound. What was the inspiration to follow these?
Alejandro Mosso: I believe after more than 10 years releasing records and touring, change becomes a necessity. That said, this change is usually a personal thing and people from the outside don’t necessarily realize it. It is not much a change of sound, but a change of approach. I guess in a way my current sound is a synthesis of two different periods of my career. The young, rebel and experimental and the adult, professional and structured. Somehow a good meeting point of the experimental and rebel approach, with the experience to actually understand what I am doing and having total control of it. These changes are also triggered by new influences or new music discoveries. In my case I’ve been listening to a lot of middle eastern and north african music. I believe these influences are starting to come through my latest records and in particular the upcoming album for Third Ear Recordings.
Electronic Groove: Let’s talk about ‘Mosso’ your own imprint, what’s the philosophy behind?
Alejandro Mosso: I started the label back in 2011. The reason for starting a label was simple, I had a bunch of unreleased music that I truly believed in, but it didn’t seem to match the sound of the moment. So I took the risk and launched the label. Now after 5 years and 7 releases I can say it was a great decision and I am very proud of each of the records. It has been a great experience, I’ve learned a lot and the best part of it is I recognize myself there, as it is truly an honest image of myself and my music. For the good and the bad!
Electronic Groove: What’s on the pipeline for the label?
Alejandro Mosso: The label plans are always short termed. I release a new record as soon as I have something special for it. I guess I will continue releasing 1 or 2 EP’s per year as long as the business side of it works.
Electronic Groove: Are you currently working on new material?
Alejandro Mosso: To be honest this year hasn’t been very productive in terms of new music. But the last 2 years were extremely productive. So I’ve been focusing on putting out all these songs I’ve written and luckily I have found great labels to release them. Over the next 7 months I have: a double EP for Hivern Discs, a very special and per-sonal album for Third Ear and compilations for Muna Musik and LoMidHigh.
Electronic Groove: You are currently living in Berlin. What was the move reason? How do you feel living now in this city?
Alejandro Mosso: I move to Berlin in 2009 and I’ve been enjoying it very much since then. It is a great city. Always changing, expanding and booming, but at the same time still very relaxed, peaceful and green. The life quality is exceptional.
The original reason to move here was of course the music industry, in particular the electronic music scene. But I’ve come to love the city for many other reasons. It has much to offer besides great Techno!
Electronic Groove: In terms of music interest, can you tell us 3 artists that has influenced your music career?
Alejandro Mosso: My music career has been influenced by a huge list of names, so naming only 3 wouldn’t make much sense nor justice. Instead, I can tell you 3 artists I’ve been listening a lot over the last years and that influenced me greatly: Burnt Friedman – in particular his use of acoustic sounds and rhythmic structures, Mohammad Reza Mortazavi – an amazing Iranian percussionist who can reach every audible frequency with a simple Tombak drum, and Djivan Gasparyan – a famous Armenian Duduk player who masters emotion and hypnotism with only a couple of notes.
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