Feature: Uner [Interview]

As one of Spain’s most recognized electronic music talents, Uner began his career after being influenced by the sounds of Laurent Garnier and Jean-Michel Jarre. With his first releases coming courtesy of Diynamic and Cadenza, he quickly shot into the spotlight and has remained a creative force ever since. Subsequent releases on Get Physical, Saved, Sincopat, Suara, Sol Selectas and his Solar Distance imprint have only elevated his innovative process. Now fresh off a remix for Sound Avenue, we had a chance to catch up with the Spanish artist in this exclusive interview. Enjoy!

Hi Uner, thanks for joining us, how are you today? And what are your plans for this week?

Hello friends, a pleasure to talk with you. Everything great here. At home working again after an incredible week of holidays with my family. Those moments with them are what gives meaning to everything! Now the time has come to take up on the projects again.

There has always been amazing music coming out of Spain. How has living there affected the music you make?

I've always been asked about that but I really don’t have an answer with a proven basis for it but I guess the "Latin" influence is reflected in more organic works and with percussion elements. Anyway, my musical background comes from classical music, from melodies and from foreign artists, so that's what I've always had in mind when producing, looking for sensations through musicality.

The industry and how fans discover new music has changed dramatically in the last 10 years or so. How do you discover new music nowadays?

Nowadays I discover music in many ways: searching in internet, by comments of colleagues, through soundtracks of movies and series that I like (right now the soundtracks are full of electronic music) and of course through platforms like Spotify or Soundcloud. Right now there are infinite ways to discover new sounds. Before there was only one: go to the store and listen to the vinyls.

I think for a lot of artists music allows you to write a sketch of your own personal universe in a way; your travels, life experiences etc. Is this something which is true for yourself? Where does inspiration come from?

Depends on the situation. Inspiration can come in many ways, although I am not a fan of the word inspiration as something that appears suddenly, but inspiration is more the highest point of concentration during work hours than something that appears suddenly while you are dining in your house. I try to find ideas and feelings that I have gone through in my life, reading, traveling, or simply leaving my mind in blank and improvising on the piano and see what happens.

You’ve got a new remix out this week on Sound Avenue for Madloch & Subnode’s ‘Second Sight’, what was it about the original track that made you want to take the project?

The sound story and the surrounding elements that appeared in the original were the parts that made me decide that I wanted to make that remix. I always look for elements that can evoke emotion. If there is not something like that on a track, however incredible everything else is, I do not usually accept a remix.

How did you approach the remix? Can you walk us through the production process on it?

As always, I started editing those more enveloping elements and turning them into different melodies and even giving them another importance within the track. From there I worked on the rhythm (although it was clear that I had to be a rhythm somewhat "out of control" and with a quantization almost non-existent to have that organic point that I like) and then the whole melodic part, but also without too much homogeneity . With all those elements I tried several ways of approaching the arrangement and as usual I stayed with the improvisation that allows you to work the arrangement in live mode with a different flow.

When working on music is the dance floor always something that’s taken into consideration? Or does a certain vibe or flow sometimes transcend that?

No. The truth is that I never consider the dance floor. I am one of those who believes that music is not made just for dancing, but that there are many more moments of the day to enjoy it. In fact, clubs are the places where less music is heard. There are places where people are but not everyone pays attention to what is really happening at a musical level so when I work on a track the dance floor is never the main objective.

How important are track titles to you? And is there a distinct connection with all your tracks and their respective titles?

That is the worst part hahaha. I give a lot of thought to the titles and trying to find names that have an important meaning. Thank God, I have my girlfriend with me in all these moments as well that helps me a lot to find the right words for each situation, so we create the names together most of the time. What I can say is that I like to find deep connotations, not "party" "drums" or "ya kidding" ...

How much of an influence is music outside of electronic spectrum?

Many!. In fact, music outside the spectrum of electronics has always influenced my life more than electronic music itself. And nowadays it is still influences much more. Especially at the harmonic level. If I'm honest, I do not like most of the dance music that I listen to these days but if I stop to listen to deeper artists I feel that connection. The electronic spectrum is such a broad word that we should distinguish between electronics that only look for sales and charts and MUSIC with capital letters.

Tell us about your imprint Solar Distance, what’s your vision for it and how has the label evolved since you launched it in 2015. What advice would you have for artists hoping to get signed to the label?

Solar Distance was born with the intention of helping new artists to start their musical and professional journey and we continue to do so. The artists we launched are relatively new and are not big names. That was the initial idea and still is. The only thing we ask the artists is that they are able to thrill with the music and tell a story with the songs. We do not want dj tools or seek (as I commented before) the top Charts. We seek to create a musical base in which we firmly believe and where artists can remove the chains of having to make music only to be able to be in Beatport's tops.

Who are some up and coming Spanish artists to look out for?

There are many interesting names right now in the Spanish scene such as Orbe, Mootiv, or Heads & Tails (which they recently edited in Solar) among others, as well as other names that are still working without going out to yet but that will surely do so soon and fortunately we have more and more serious artists and dedicated to make the music something special.

Is there a movie you would have loved to have produced the soundtrack for? And if so why?

Any film in which Hans Zimmer has participated. Why? Just for the pleasure of being able to work by his side and learn from one of the best (to my point of view).

There are a lot of factors which affect the perception of an artist other than his music these days, social media for one, how much emphasis do you put on stuff like this? and what are your thoughts on the current state of the industry?

Today we just read together with my girlfriend an artist who said “I rather have more plays on Spotify than followers on Instagram". That should give the instagram djs something to think about. I will not comment anything else about it.

This is Music and everything will develop to where it should be. We already see artists like Nils Frahm who have left social media and we will continue to see it much more often in the next 2 years as this is going to start to be a dominant trend in our scene. What happens today with artists is something too "surprising" to believe that it will always remain that way.

This may tie into the previous question in a way but what are the biggest challenges you face as an artist in the industry right now?

The hardest thing today is to make artists remain faithful to their beliefs and their musical tastes when they see that others become famous just for their posts on social media. Just as a writer is made great by his novels, a musician is created by his music. Another thing is that you become "famous" for your private life and at the same time want to play music. That is no longer our industry. But the biggest problem comes when promoters hire “likes” in socials and “followers” instead of artists with a musical story to tell.

Is there a side of Uner which you wish to explore more in your upcoming projects?

Yes. More than a side of Uner, I would say to explore more of Manuel Garcia. Uner is just an instrument. I am myself. Whatever I do, with the name I do, it's me who is behind it and that's the good part of that. You can wear all the different shirts you want with all the different colors that you want in the form of different artistic names but the essence is always you. Why an artist needs to be stacked always at the same style or kind of music when we grow up and our mind is always flying around different moods and emotions?
We are working on other projects apart from uner that nobody knows yet and that will show at the precise moment. I like to work in music without the pressure of having to be always the same although I am always behind different "costume".

Thanks for chatting with us today Uner!

Thanks to you guys!

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UNER (Solar Distance)

www.unermusic.com

www.facebook.com/unermusic

www.soundcloud.com/uner

www.solardistance.com

Management & World Wide Bookings: alex@analog-a.com

North America Bookings: angel@sleepinggiantmusic.com

Uner's remix of 'Second Sight' by Madloch & Subnode is out now on Sound Avenue, you can purchase the release here: https://bit.ly/2KFl12Va>