earworm

17 Feb

Interview with Estroe

Posted by Chloe Harris (Guest)

Estroe

Hellooo, Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?

Hello, my name is Estroe (Esther Roozendaal) I am a Dutch producer/DJ, living in Rotterdam, Holland.

How did you get started in the dance music world and when did you decide this is what you wanted to do? Do you have another job or is music full time?

I moved to Amsterdam in 1992 for my nursing school, and I wanted to do my education just there because of the active clubbing scene. I totally combined my studies (which was a combination of school and practice in the hospital) with clubbing clubbing clubbing. (It, Roxy)

So I developed a fascination for DJs and also at that time for the light jockeys. It took me some years to gain courage to practice mixing. In 97 I met a female DJ who taught me the beginnings in a few afternoons and after that I was hooked. I bought my mixer and turntables after saving some money and practiced a lot.


Pretty soon it went well and in the meantime I also finished my studies as a nurse.

I started working full time as a nurse and DJ-ed whenever I could, but it conflicted with my shifts in the hospital, so in 98 I decided to work as a nurse for an employment agency. I could decide myself when I wanted to work as a nurse and when to DJ.

In the following years I worked really hard on my career as a DJ, with the result that I worked less and less as a nurse and in present time I am living of my music. I started producing in 2004, so during the week I am producing and in the weekends I’m DJ-ing.

About the producing: I’m auto-didact, I learned everything myself by spending all my time reading magazines like Sound on Sound and Interface and finding out all the software by just trying everything out.

And I watched how other people work.

I also co-run the label EevoNext. (www.eevonext.com) We try to release warm elegant electronic music, both for home listening but also usable for playing in the clubs.

You live in the Netherlands. Where exactly? What can you tell us about the scene there? And what can you tell us about the city? What is your favorite restaurant or bar? Or park?

I live in Rotterdam since a year. Before I used to live in Amsterdam and I was totally integrated in the scene there. The Rotterdam scene is a bit less lively. It seems that Rotterdam is more of a working city and there are less students and tourists then in Amsterdam. But it is quite nice, the people in the music scene here are helpful to each other and close, there’s a good atmosphere between them.

The city has nice architecture and the mentality of the people is very down to earth, which I like very much. But for shopping it’s not the best city. But then again, maybe I need to find the right spots.

I have a favourite restaurant for Indian food called Curries. And I walk my dog near ‘Schiebroekse Plassen’ or round ‘Kralingse Plas’.

Estroe live at Warehouse 702 Tokyo

Estroe live at Warehouse 702 Tokyo

You are just back from a trip to Tokyo. How were your gigs and how did you feel about Tokyo? (I felt like it was a city in the future!) What was your favorite memory of your journey?

I played at Warehouse 702 organized by Shinya Okamoto for his Reval opening party. (www.warehouse702.com)

I loved the city and especially the people, they were so nice and friendly everywhere. Also I was stunned by the beauty of the Meji Shrine and the park around. Tokyo is like a science fiction city with all the neon lights and futuristic buildings. I liked that, but I enjoyed the old Japanese culture that I saw even better.

(for an impression of my night in Warehouse 702 please check the site of Patrick Montgomery, photographer in Tokyo: http://www.orenome.com/ or at my MySpace: www.myspace.com/djestroe)

The organization promised to book me again next year and I can’t wait to be back!!

My favorite memory: the food! and the fantastic organization who were so hospitable.

What sort of music do you enjoy when you are at home chilling?

I am a big fan of Monolake and listen to his music a lot, but also stuff from Bola, Peter Benisch, Boards of Canada, Plaid, etc. I guess I am an electronic freak, not so much into bands except Coldplay and Tindersticks.

Who are some artists that have inspired you over the years and why have they inspired you?

All of the above and also the Detroit old school guys like Carl Craig, Derrick May and Sean Deason and Convextion. But also DJs like Laurent Garnier who I’ve been admiring for such a long time for his taste in music and for the flow in his sets.

Steve Rachmad is also one of my heroes, I really like all of his productions, from his alter ego Sterac ’till his Parallel 9 and Scorp productions. And probably a lot more who I forget and then will remember in bed tonight.

What are you working on now?

Currently I am working very hard to finish my album, coming out on Connoisseur Recordings later this year, and next to that I do some remixes too. I just finished a remix for Oliver Lieb’s label Maschine.

I’m also very busy with EevoNext, finding new music and releasing it.

Do you have a favorite place to play?

I have a residency at the Bar Weinig @ Klinch parties in De Melkweg in Amsterdam. I really like playing there because I started my career here and it feels like my home base. Next to that I often play with the ‘deeper’ DJs so I can play my deep, more obscure music, what I like to do.

Do you have a favorite place to listen to music?

In the train with my headphones, staring at the moving landscape. Or in a club with a good sound system and an inspiring DJ.

Do you have any goals for the rest of the year? How is your summer shaping up?

Well, to finish the album is my main goal. There will also be a 12″ package with remixes and am really looking forward to that.

I ’m getting ready for the festival season in the summer and work very hard to gain more international furore, some more international bookings like Tokyo would be great!

And I also like to work together with people. You and I are working on a project, I did a nice project with Sebastian Davidson also.

Next to that there are some exciting releases coming out on our label EevoNext, it will be nice to work on that too.

What do you do on your offtime?

I like to read, I read a lot, books, newspapers. etc. I also love nature, so in free weekends I like to take long walks with my dog. My family lives on the countryside and it’s beautiful there, so in free weekends I like to go there

And of course I like to hang out with friends, enjoy good food and conversation.

I’m a TV junkie too, I record TV series like Dexter and Six Feet Under and like to watch it at night. And I love movies.

You’ve been producing as well now. How long has it been and what do you enjoy using?

It’s been 4 years and I’m learning so much all the time. Every new track is a new learning project. I enjoy using Ableton live, I’ve been using it for a few years and I like the fact that I know quite a bit about this program.

I have so much energy and inspiration for making new tracks, it feels exciting.

And the big question, do you use CDJ’s or laptop to DJ?

I used to play vinyl but I switched over to CDJs because of all the promo’s and stuff i wanted to play. I was considering Serato, but the fact that I will be staring into my laptop going through files doesn’t appeal to me so much.

But never say never, I might use it in the future. I am looking around how other DJs are using programs like this.

But for now I like to go trhough my music manually, even printing out all the label artwork so I recognise the labels.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you?

That I’m a carnivore, I don’t like vegetables.

And I’m always cold.

And also: when I don’t smile when I’m playing it doesn’t mean that i am not enjoying myself. I’m just concentrated :-)

And I’m always punctual. and and and and…

What are some of your upcoming projects? Gigs?

There are several projects coming up:

My track ‘Circumlocution’ on Mina (las Minas EP with tracks from me, Masaya, Miss Jools and Dana Ruh)

My track ‘Winterdepressie‘ on the Perspectiv Family Tree compilation (Ripperton’s label)

And remixes I did from Federleicht on Night Drive Music, Franco Cangelli on Mowar and my remix for Solieb.

There’s a new EevoNext release coming up with my track ‘Anybody’

And then later this year my album on Connoisseur.

Gigs wise: There’s a nice Awakenings special in Easter weekend here in Holland where I will play techno classics that I played around ‘99-2000′ Really looking forward to that one.

And next week my birthdayparty here in Rotterdam in ‘De Unie’

And looking forward for the festival season!


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