Hash Hendrex’s musical path was influenced by her atmosphere as well as her passion for life. Well traveled from Florida to New York before embarking on her journey to Romania and London, searching for her own sound and on the quest of self-discovery. Her musical roots spawned from hip hop to rock, and all the in betweens. In Ibiza 2010, Hash became rooted in Techno and Deep House. You can find her either in the studio exploring new sounds, or somewhere on a beach, getting ready for the show, or if you’re lucky you can see her off the beaten path with her Pony in the pastures of Plant City, Fl. While looking forward to hear her play Friday, at Studio Martin, in this week’s insider we get to know her better by talking about her stay in Romania, music influences and future plans as a producer and DJ.
Bucharest, traveler, multicultural, frequency
Hello, Hash!
This is what feeder would like to know about you:
I’ve always enjoyed… nature.
The one thing I never doubt… feelings.
It’s always a pleasure working with… good gear 😉
A great party could always use some… water.
One of my greatest fears is… loss of hearing.
I used to listen to a lot of… Memphis rap
My beats are usually… 2 – 4 – 6 – 8 who do we appreciate.
Through music, one can… wonder.
10 years from now, I hope… to be living in a beach house equipped with nice speakers everywhere, proper studio setup and my pony nearby….
4 artists who changed my perspective upon music…
John McLaughlin – Guitar has always really touched me, I’ll never forget the day a friend introduced me to this music…
Led Zeppelin was a group I can remember having in my headphones on the bus to school or in my car… My first vinyl was actually given to me in middle school from my math teacher, he always saw me with Zeppelin shirts; and on our final class of 8th grade offered it to me… was a lovely gift and still means a lot.
Rhadoo – he was the first DJ in our scene to capture me with his mixing… spent 18 hours in my first romanian party in Ibiza… and I knew right then and there I wanted to learn, the way he was mixing the music really astonished me compared to everything else I’d heard that summer.
and of course… Moodymann. This is one of these tracks that holds so many memories for me… reminds me of places and special people – you know who you are… proper loops from/for the soul…
Hash Hendrex @ Radio Ibiza
Ana Moca-Grama: Hello, Hash Hendrex, what an interesting name you’ve got! Does Hendrex have anything to do with Jimmy Hendrix?
Hash Hendrex: Unfortunately no.
AMG: So, you were born in Florida and at one point, moved to Romania. Do you still live here? How do you like the place? While browsing through your facebook, I saw all the nice things you say about Romania, it was great knowing you enjoy yourself here.
HH: I was actually born in Australia but spent a lot of my childhood in Plant City / Orlando Florida.
Moving to Romania is by far one of the best decisions I could have made, not just for the music but I did a lot of self discovery as you can imagine, being in a country which is the complete opposite of what you are use to has so many hidden challenges but with that said it’s made me a lot stronger and I can’t wait to come back – I’ve only left to study sound engineering in London, I’ll definitely be back in a year or two.
Hash’s room
AMG: You originally came here honoring an invitation from Sunrise, and since then you’ve had a few gigs in the Country. What do you think about the local electronic music scene? Do you plan any collaborations with Romanian artists? Do you happen to have a favorite local music producer or dj?
HH: Actually, originally I met Catalin aka Tati from the Sunrise team in Ibiza and I’m sure you know Tati, the master of hosting great parties… he just gets it right every time. It was an invitation though to just come hang out and enjoy the music. I wasn’t mixing when I first discovered what was going on over there… but it was there I began collecting music, hunting online for music I like, labels, which leads to another label… collecting equipment, spending days on Ableton… rewiring it to Reason.. watching youtube videos, reading magazines about the plugins… hunting for gear I could and couldn’t afford. Keep in mind I had no idea what any of this shit was, you’re not born with this knowledge… so just trying to figure out how it all works because in the end it’s like it’s own separate language, maybe a reason my Romanian suffers a bit too these days, it’s a lot of information to process…
Local scene? So far in my journey I haven’t come across anything I prefer more… of course I’m 23, but in this moment it’s my truth…
Everything about it flows… From the DJs with each other… from the music to the people… to the locations. It’s all just right, especially Guesthouse. Geremy and Dragos have my support for life. Just thinking of the old place makes me smile.
You also asked about collabs with artists – yes, it’s true but waiting to get back and finish the things in person so we can really have a live jam.
Hash Hendrex © Khrystyna Chekhlata
AMG: What do you think about the Romanian public? How was your music received? Do you sense any differences between the local public and the international one?
HH: I think its very obvious at this point to say I adored the time I played there for Mission festival… people are so open for all types of music… and you can really go as deep as you want, the people are just happy to hear you express yourself. But with that said it’s like that everywhere, you just have to find the people who are tuned onto the right frequency…
AMG: Your musical roots go way back to psychedelic rock, like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Going from that to techno and minimal is quite a step, how did you manage to combine the two of them?
HH: What I’ve found works best is find time for both – in and out of parties.
I’m also really into Jazz and Indian music these days. I love how the flow of elements is super natural… with plenty subtle surprises, very much like the music we mix.
I now search for a contemporary artist to pull from the organic structure and apply them to my sound.
Hash Hendrex © Natalia Brutalia
AMG: You’ve been traveling quite a lot. What were the places you enjoyed the most, and, if I may ask, where is your „home”, be it physical or metaphorical?
HH: Home?… good question. I can say with absolute sureness that I’m still in limbo. I have so many friends living all over its hard for me to plant myself and claim “this is it”. I love Romania, Florida, California, New York, Ibiza, Croatia and London… so many good experiences with so many people in all different parts of the world. I think whats best for me in this point of my life is to keep focus on other things and continue to wonder until it feels right to place root for myself in this physical world.
As for Metaphorical I try to embrace quantum theory and particle entanglement through soundwaves to represent an universal home for all life.
Hash’s Pony @ Plant City Fl
AMG: You’ve contributed to the creation of a Sunday morning party, „Keep on Going”, in London. How was it received? I imagine most of the people attended it as an after-party. Any other projects you’re working on?
HH: Ahhhh good ole keep on going – what a great learning experience this has been from day one – we went from having 30 people to eventually 50- 60 people showing up, then 100… over time many more! The team always being creative with design, photos, projections and of course locations as its really hard these days in London to get a good location, sometimes even hosting them by canals, dalston roof tops – any venue we could get. Some so hot and sweaty – I believe it was possibly illegal to let the animals in that heat!! But a few times we did some parties in the parks… never having license of course… All of us DJs involved really growing and learning as a team and friendships I will cherish for life… It was an event in my eyes that was really just about enjoying each others company – ourselves, dancing for days and feeling free – absolutely no rules and still going strong.
keep on going roof top
London
AMG: Tell me a bit about how you choose the music for your sets.
HH: I hunt for music every day of my life. My environment influences the spectrum of my sound for each individual gig. Coming early to each party to get the vibe and feeling that other DJs are bringing to life. When the groove is understood I can be part of the bigger picture and help amplify the right energy. It’s not about me or my music when I play, it’s about keeping the crowd on an elevated level and never letting them go so they can let go.
I just do my best and have a good time… creating a journey and an experience for the people… this doesn’t happen over night, it’s a long road in front of me, these things take time and I plan to go till the end…
Hash Hendrex @ Electric Days, Dubai
AMG: Are you preparing any fresh releases, any new work as a producer? How about upcoming gigs?
HH: Yes, my first release coming out end of April on Cadenza Lab – Déjà vu E.P.
As to gigs, here are some coming up…
March 25 @ SLS hotel in Miami for Luciano & friends party – Miami
March 25 @ arcane agency after party – Miami
April 3 @ w/ Ernesto Ferreyra, Wise Guys Party Series @ Studio Martin – Romania
April 12 @ wet yo’ self party – room 1 fabric
July 5 @ Avantgarde, Kaschemme, Basel, switzerland
July 17 & 18 Speed pilots festival – wasserskipark geisenfield
August 16-20 @ Sonus festival – page island, croatia
All ibiza dates will be posted soon as well.
AMG: Thank you very much! Looking forward to seeing you play in Bucharest!
HH: Thank you as well – Always looking forward to being back !! <3