feeder insider w/ BOg [en]

feeder insider w/ Bog

[ro]

BOg won the burn Residency Mix Off final and represented Romania in the bootcamp that took place in Ibiza, alongside Pete Tong and Carl Cox as mentors. We talked to him about this experience and found out more about him and his music in this week’s feeder insider.

Keywords: Paris, tech-house, space, bootcamp, reinvention

Hello, BOg!
This is what feeder would like to know about you:
(please, fill in the blanks)

Every time I play music… I feel happy, music helps me release negative emotions.
If I were a color… it would be black because it’s simple and classic.
I enjoy a lot… meeting new people and visiting new places.
A lesson learned about music… it helps you know yourself better, music is one of the most beautiful things possible. Be it hip hop, rnb, techno, deep or jazz, music is a part of us and we are music.
When I want to relax… I listen to jazz, take walks, look at the world.
In a few years, I see myself… doing the same thing as I do now, trying to change mentalities, sort of educating the music scene, making people happy through music. I like seeing people smile when I play music. 🙂
Music is… my way of interacting with the world.
Tomorrow will be… a new day, a new beginning, maybe another story that will change something for the better, and if the times are hard, it’s important we don’t forget that music gives us the energy we need to carry on.
3 releases I’ll always appreciate…

Trentemoller – Moan

Burial – Archangel

The xx – Reconsider (Jamie xx Remix)

AMG: Hello, BOg, I’m happy you found the time to have this interview. This summer was a real adventure, you were a finalist of burn Residency and went to Ibiza, alongside big names of the industry. How did you decide to get involved? You’ve been playing music for 7 years, what were the beginnings of your career?

Hello, my pleasure! Indeed, I won the final of burn Residency and went to Ibiza, where I met behind the scenes people like John Digweed, Carl Cox, Pete Tong. I decided to join this competition because I have something to say and I’d like people to see that. I wanted to prove that I’m not a 23 year old kid who plays music just to be noticed and because this job is “cool”. Before being a DJ, I’m a musician, I’ve been making music for almost 10 years and I try to bring something new to my sound every time, I was a ghost producer for big names in the Romanian music industry, but the credits were always taken by someone else. This is just another reason I decided to go on my own.

As for the beginnings of my career, it’s simple I come from a little town in the east of Romania called Huși, it was there that I met a handful of people who were listening to something different than what was popular at that time and were trying to bring something new in such a small town. They really had success, thanks to them I am what I am today, I want to thank them with all my heart, they’re very special people to me.

AMG: Tell us about the experience in Ibiza! How was it, getting to know artists you had admired for a long time, working with talented people? What is one of the things you learned there?
B: The Ibiza experience is unforgettable, it was amazing working with John Digweed, Carl Cox, Pete Tong and learning from them secrets of the industry and tales about their own beginnings. It was a total refresh being there, I got to know my limits because the bootcamp was intensive and tiresome, but I gave all I could and worked until the last moment. I don’t know how the whole experience looks like in the webseries with burn Residency 2014,but I can tell you I’ve worked very hard, I represented Romania at burn Residency and I did it properly, you’ll see that soon in the next episodes that will air. The series is now on YouTube, on the burn Residency Webisodes channel.

AMG: What are your plans for the rest of the year? When will we be listening to you in Bucharest?
B: Now that I’m back from Ibiza, I’ll return to the studio and finish some work. I collaborated with Atapy, a very talented Romanian artist and I’ve had a release by Bedrock Records, John Digweed’s label. I hope I’ll be in Bucharest soon, with the help of my Romanian booking agency, Cyclic.

AMG: For how long have you been living in Paris? How is life there, what do you think about the Parisian electronic music scene? When it comes to music, what does the city offer that would be harder to obtain in Bucharest?

B: I’ve been living in Paris for 10 years, when I arrived there was nothing besides events like EDM. Meanwhile, the underground events became prevalent and now it’s really ok. But I’m proud to say that in Romania the electronic scene is much bigger, the events are much better and the public is more receptive. I didn’t move to Paris waiting for a change, I went there for other reasons, Paris is a magical city, I’ve learned a lot of good things while there.

AMG: As for Bucharest, what are the best features and in what areas do you think we could make things better, when it comes to the local scene?
B: In Bucharest the events are nice, and the public is very receptive, but it would be much better if the event brands would cooperate more and stop fighting each other, because it’s not constructive. Either way, I am happy that lately I’ve been seeing lots of new names from abroad coming to Romania, which is a really good thing. Romania is one of the most appreciated countries abroad, I can tell you that because I’ve heard it from John Digweed, Pete Tong or Carl Cox, they said it’s one of the countries they enjoy visiting the most.

AMG: How would you describe your style, what’s the defining feature of your sound? What were your influencers over the years, which genres did you explore from your beginnings up until now?
B: Simple, mysterious, efficient, you don’t have to make a salad with a bit of everything for the public to be content, it’s important you create a story, and in the end to offer the crowd a conclusion. If you play music only to be seen and because it’s cool, your music won’t go past certain barriers and won’t end up reaching the public, the next day no one will remember listening to you, only that they attended a party and it was ok. Along the years I’ve been influenced by Prodigy, Depeche Mode, Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk.

AMG: How do you usually go about working on a track, what are your creative habits when it comes to producing music?
B: I never plan on working on a tune. I wait for that moment when the idea that will be explored appears.

AMG: What do you think are the most important things a good dj should keep in mind? How do you build your sets, in what ways do you reach for the ideal harmony and coherence?
B: I listen to a lot of music and I’m very selective, I listen to the tunes from the beginning to the end as I want to understand what the artist wanted to say when they created the track, and this takes up much time. If you know your music and direction it’s quite easy to play a harmonious, coherent set.

AMG: What’s the gear that you use in the studio and at parties?
B: CDJ-2000 Nexus and Allen & Heath Xone 92 / Usb / Cds.

AMG: Feeder is 10 years old. What was the impact it had in your life, and what would you like to read more often?
B:I think it’s really cool there’s a website that reunites the creative people in the city and not only, from different domains. Feeder Insider is one of the projects that collect the stories of people like me and I think it could go on at least on the same route – through content from which anyone can learn.

AMG: In the end, tell us a nice story from burn Residency.
B: An unexpected challenge, 3 in the morning the filming crew came into our room along with our mentor, Philipp Straub, who was clapping and shouting at us to wake up because we had to go and play music in 15 minutes at Privilege, Ibiza. I don’t recall how I put on my clothe, but I know I did it in 3 minutes because we had 5 minutes to prepare and arrive at the car that was going to take us to the club. I remember that Henri Matisse, the Danish participant, was so confused he took his sunglasses with him, without any reason. This challenge is in episode 8 on YouTube, right here.

AMG: Thank you, keep it up!
B: Thank you too! 🙂

photos by feeder.ro

Words by Ana Moca-Grama

Resident Advisor

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