Andres Moris [Interview]

Based in Argentina, Andres Moris has been one of progressive music’s more prolific artists over the last two calendar years. This steady stream of output has served the Cordoba resident well, earning continued praise from genre tastemakers Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren and Guy J, while showcasing his key projects via Deepwibe Underground, Meanwhile, Movement Recordings and Or Two Strangers. Now, fresh off a remix for Sebastian Busto and Clubsonica, Andres unveils his first Bandcamp Exclusive release, a four track showcase entitled 'The One', which has already earned support from Hernan Cattaneo, Ezequiel Arias and Guy J. We had chance to catch up with Andres for an interview leading up to the release. Enjoy.

Hi Andres, thanks for joining us. What is your current mood and what was the last piece of music you listened to?

Hello guys! Such a honor to be interviewed by you. My current mood is on summer mode, very hot days awaits us here in Argentina. The las piece of music that I listened to was a new track made by Cubicolor, part of their new album, such great tunes got me inspired.

 What are your plans for the coming week? And for the impending summer season in Argentina? Are you looking forward to this?

This coming week I've got a lot of work to do, I'm currently teaching music production so my week is full of classes. I’ve worked a lot this 2022 and for this summer season is going to be very chill for me, at this time of the year I always like to take a step back and think of my upcoming projects with a clear mindset. Really looking forward to spend my time with friends and family.

Can you name five tracks that were important in your musical development and why they are so significant for you?

This was a hard one for me, I'm all over the place when it comes to music, but I guess I can try!

1. Guy J – Stay Cow
This piece is what I like to define as true non-temporary track. The feeling that has on every each sound of it, it’s just so ahead of time. This was the first progressive house track that I discovered, so it changed my perception on how to approach my tracks along the way.

2. Way Out West – Tuesday Maybe
This is an iconic track, I remember listening to this on a Saturday morning dropped by John Digweed in one of the most crucial parties of my life in Salsipuedes, Cordoba. That party lasted till 9 in the morning and was very special for that moment, the sun shining, my friends around me smiling, all captured in one moment with this track lifting us up. This really made me get the mindset of giving each track the emotional charge it deserves.

3. Armen Miran - Reborn (Volen Sentir Sunset Mix)
I think that everyone in the world should listen to this track and research how Volent Sentir works on production. The quality in the sound, the feelings put into this vibe, it just gave me peace. When I found out that this duo records every sound for their tracks, I was shook. From the moment I listened to this track I knew the direction that my productions would take.

4. Sebastian Sellares - Garden of Eden
This track is what true Progressive is all about. Dancefloor grooves, steady drums, melodies that seem to be part of a utopian place where only love exists. I knew Sebas from his Monje aka, but this is the best track I’ve heard from him. I'm always wondering, what goes on inside a producer’s mind to make a track like this? The answer was given to me when I saw the constant work that every artist puts on their work, it reminded me that hard work and love for what you do, does have a reward.

5. Cornucopia - Holding You Tight When The World Collapses
I first heard this track live from Guy J in Rosario. When I heard the melody I was in such a high state, each sound carefully comes together with every other sound that is in this piece. I learned that music needs to come together in all aspects, the perfect combination of every element can make a work of art like this one. Making music should be very important for every artist and we should become aware of the impact that we have on the world when we release it, it’s not something to be taking lightly, so this changed my whole perspective on how to treat every track.

How did growing up in the Argentina influence your music taste and direction? Or did it at all?

I think it influenced me in a mayor way, we Argentinians treat every part of our lives with passion and driven responsibility. This perspective of life got me deep in my heart and made me a strong person, it made me realize that if you dream of something, you have to work with heart and soul to get it. I was very lucky with the people around me, they gave me great support and trusted in me on every step of the way. Besides the emotional side, we are always trying to get the best out of every situation, staying positive through hard times and always having time to spend with each other by coming together with music.

When we ask most artists what is responsible for the popularity of progressive music in Argentina the overwhelming answer is Hernan Cattaneo, would that be your feeling also? And if so please speak on that, also to add to that, who else from Argentina inspired you when you first discovered the music?

Hernan had a very important part to make the progressive scene grow here, but I think that everyone is taking just one point of many to make that statement. The most important thing for me is the people, we are always looking out for something that make us feel more and more. Let’s not forget that people choose to give this genre a spot in events and its popularity to me is the way we feel the music. I have not found the same vibe in other events of different genres, we as progressive people come together in one same feeling and only giving importance to one thing, what music makes us feel.

What are your favourite venues to play or attend events at in Argentina and why?

For me since I started this journey I got to visit a lot of great venues on Argentina as a clubber. One that will always pop up in my head is Metropolitano in Rosario. That place is one of my favorites in the country for the sound system that it has, and obviously the vibe of the people in this city. Next up would be Forja as it is a dream for any dj in Cordoba province to play there, nothing better than a local party! Both places are produced by local event makers that always top any party that they do.

When you were first getting started in production did you have someone help you or are you completely self-taught? And what would you recommend new producers do to help with the learning curve of production?

I started to have interest in production as soon as I got into djing, I think every dj should be a producer to get a better understanding on music. When I decided to learn I knew Berni Turletti from a nearby city called Villa Maria. He taught me the basics in understanding Ableton Live and music theory on the Pulsar academia. From then I’ve been learning by myself with a very good base to improve and start releasing music. It took me more than 1 year to decide myself and get into the market.

The advice I can give to people that want to start producing is the next one: build up your patience and try to have a specific esthetic in mind for your tracks, be true to that esthetic until you gain an identity in your sound. Know your DAW very well to make things easy. And at last, practice practice practice!  Try new things each time you sit on the studio and ideas will come to you.

You have a new EP ‘The One’, out this week as the first release on your Bandcamp page, first off tell us about the release, how do these tracks showcase your current sound and please walk us through the production process on one of the tracks, whichever you like.

Yes, this new concept started by the need to release music that i had saved and didn’t think of any specific label to send it. I thought of it as a series of only original music, every EP will have a different take on my production faces. This time I was having a lot of unexpressed feelings that I needed to put on music, all the tracks came for sketches that I used to teach my students, starting a track from scratch until its ready to be released. “The One” is the first track that came out of one of those classes. This track was really special because one of the students gave me the challenge to make a track that would fit the dancefloor but also be very sentimental. This is the reason why this track is very calm on the first part, but in the second part becomes more accelerated and open to create these two types of moments in only one track.

This is your first release on Bandcamp without an official record label, tell us why you chose to release the tracks in this way and will we be seeing more of this from you in the future?

Bandcamp is a very powerful tool for artists, I highly recommend to release some music on it and try it out. For me it was very helpful because I wanted to release music without the take that labels usually do on their releases, as a way to try something different and of course be more exclusive.

What does your set-up look like? Do you favor physical gear over digital? And what studio tools featured heavily in the writing of these tracks?

My setup is very simple, I have 2 Mackie R8 studio monitors, a Novation Impusle 25 and a TD-3-RD from Behringer (This is an acid sequencer, inspired on the Roland TDR-303). As I started not too long ago, im currently getting more gear to have a physical take on music. I think physical will always be important to improve your sound and make it more unique, we can always work only with digital, but the difference physical gear makes in the sound of your tracks is truly amazing. Not only it humanizes more each track, it also gives sounds that warmth that they need.

For the EP I used the TD-3-RD a lot to make the basslines, I wanted to create some tracks with unusual basslines that still give the track meaning so this tool was perfect for that. I also used the Impulse 25 to create all the melodies in each track, some of them are improvised and came up really entertaining.

Let’s talk about production for a moment, where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play? And was there anything that inspired the tracks which make up your ‘The One’ EP?

My impulse comes mainly from my feelings and also the feelings that I want to create on the listeners as well. I always try to show a part of myself in every track, being a remix or an original. I think electronic music was made to be danced and uplift our vibes to the maximum, that’s why most of my tracks have that ‘happy’ vibe.

On the EP it was all about specific people in my life that created those feelings in me, just expressing my joy to have them in my life and help me improve my thinking, my way of life and always doing it by supporting me every time.

For you to get started on a track do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called ‘visualizations’ of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

I usually start my tracks on the drums and basslines, if there’s no connection with those elements I delete the idea and try something new. For me those elements are highly important for the idea to flow naturally. I think every idea is already in us, we just need the correct elements to make it a full track. Finding this balance will make every idea that gets to the finish line a great track.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

Music is a tool to express yourself, whenever you are feeling extreme sides of emotions is the right time to sit down and make music. My ritual is to try to be as true as I can to that feeling and at the same time make it something that I enjoy in the end. Coffee will help you to concentrate but in the final stages of the track, a clear mindset is what defines it.

For me the workspace needs to be as neutral as possible to give you that calm feeling. It needs to be a zone where you can be yourself and free the mind. Every artist has a different take on the setup, but if you look closely you can see that every studio has the “calm” vibe to it.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practice? And who is someone you share your new music with first for feedback?

I always try to give my music time, the first time you feel like its finished is not the final one. As producers we understand that every track could be different as we move on and learning new techniques or new ways to make each element. For me the important thing is to find a balance in being satisfied but also letting go of the ideas. When the track is coherent with the story you wanted to tell and is sounding as you expected to, that’s the time to let go of that piece.

In practice I would say that as you move on you give more time to each idea to build up. You have to like it, you have to feel it the same way you feel other artist productions. I have a group called PROD Community, this is my go to group for feedback and in that group is more than 100 upcoming producers. This is key to my projects because there’s different points of view and different ears to take some advice from.

What is the task you enjoy the most when producing and what would you prefer someone else to do?

I enjoy every step of producing, from making the drums to mastering the final track. But if had to choose one thing that I would like someone else to do, I would say the mixing part. It takes too long and sometimes gets tedious but if you practice and make it a routine it becomes easier.

What would be a musical extravagance for your studio you would pay for, if you were very wealthy?

Picturing the perfect studio, I would get all the Prophet line of Sequential, all the main Roland synths and drum machines. I will have that one day, just baby steps now and learning to the fullest each gear that I get.

Now let’s talk about DJing for a moment, it’s a unique discipline at the border between presenting great music and creating something new with it, between composition and improvisation to an extent. How would you describe your approach to it?

Djing is a true art on itself, I think improvising is as important as knowing how to composition a set. In live sets is really different than the sets you make at home, you have to read the dancefloor to achieve a journey for the clubbers. In home sets you can be free and accurate on how to approach each mix to make the most out of it. Every Dj has their own style and they show it more on the live sets. Knowing about music production can help you a lot in improvising and music theory helps you to make a harmonic coherent set. It’s all about being creative in every way you can to create a journey in every performance.

What were your main creative challenges when starting out as a DJ and how have they changed over time?

The most difficult task for me was to build an identity as a DJ, there’s a lot of people doing the same thing and it’s a very busy job line, therefore you have to stand out in any way you can. The technics in Djing are very straight forward, the thing that gives you an identity is what you do with the basics to elevate them.

Over time I think what changed in the view of mixing is my way of doing it, I have a very specific line to follow that I’ve developed over the years of practice. I try to get to all the emotional stages of what a club night would be, starting with intros and finishing with outros, having all the moments in between.

Can you tell me a bit about how your work as a DJ has influenced your view of music, your way of listening to tracks and perhaps also, your work as a producer?

As a Dj you understand more about time, rhythms and ways to match a beat with another one and how to create a fine transition between them. As a Producer you learn more about how music works and how to be creative with it. Knowing both things changes the way to look at music drastically, you become more sensitive to the mixes and how a track is developing in its duration.

If you could set up an event with a line-up of five artists of your choice, who would you book and what set times would you ascribe to the artists?

This would be my dream event
Martin Garcia – 3 hours set
Simon Vuarambon – 3 hours set
Hernan Cattaneo – 5 hours set
Guy J – 5 hours set

If I could make an event, it would be this one for sure!

Current top five tracks?

1. Kostya Outta & Bodai - Imagine (Original Mix) [Deepwibe Underground]

2. Nugen - Deliverance (Forerunners Remix) [Pure Progressive]

3. Ezequiel Arias, Nacho Varela & Cruz Vittor - Meloram [Melorama Música]

4. Madloch, Subnode - Seeding Plants (Navar Remix) [Protoplanetary Records]

5. Guy J - Fire [Lost & Found]

What’s a book you’ve read or film you watched that has left an impact on you, and why?

For me it was a movie called “Groove” in which John Digweed selects most of the movie’s soundtracks and appears as a cameo in an underground rave. The music in the film is amazing and it was a great discovery for me. Finding Bedrock Records and listening to that music gave a lot of inspiration.

What is one superpower you would like to have and how would you use it?

I would love to have the power to fly, I think it’s kind of funny thinking about it. Maybe to cliché to be honest, but flying wherever you want must be a hell of fun.

Apart from music, what makes you happiest?

Mostly the people around me, my family and friends and making sure they are living their best life. I’ve always been a giver and that truly makes me happy.

What does 2023 hold for you? Anything you can share with us?

All I can say is that you’ll have to be ready for many originals and a drastic change on my sound, many interesting collaborations and tracks that I’ve been curating over the past 6 months. I think 2023 will be my big step into music.

'The One' is available for pre-order now via Bandcamp: https://bit.ly/3gGA3H9