Today we at PP exclusivly give you an interview with Swedish progressive giant Alaa. We know he is a busy man, always with new stuff on the way. Either his own productions or for Nellie Recordings. Take the opportunity to read about his thoughts or learn to know thing about him that you didn't know before.
Hi there Alaa!
We are truly happy that you wanted to do this interview with PP, we know you are really busy so we are really glad you could take some time making this.
First of all we all want to know how your music career started? Have you always been in too it or is there any main influences that “made it” for you?
I started as a DJ in my brothers nightclub. At that time I was very much into trance, and Hard Trance. DJ's like Armin van Buuren and Tiesto were my gods, and Armin was the DJ and producer that gave me the inspiration to start DJ and to produce my own music.
What about making a track, how do you start when making it? Is there any typical “Alaa way” for making a track?
Well, I used to start with the beat. The kick and the bass are very important in house music. In 2009 and 2010 I've been working more and more with vocal tracks, so when there are vocals I usually load up the vocals and work around them. Trying sounds/melodies etc. In 2010 I think the my tracks/remixes will have very much focus on vocals and pianos.
What equipment do you use when working in the studio?
I just switched to Mac. So today I work with Ableton Live and Logic. In Ableton I make beats and create some ideas very quickly, but then I make the final tweaks, mixing and mastering in Logic... now on my new setup I also stripped down my plug-ins. Sylenth, Predator, Nexus and Minimoog are the main plug-ins.
Your last 2 releases have been in collaboration with Kristoffer Ljungberg, is that something that we will see more of from you or it’s just something that happened?
Soleil and Lune just got released, we also did a remix for Dezza. The thing about my collaborations with Kristoffer is that they just happen. It's almost always the same pattern, he does something in his studio, then he sends it to me and if I like it we start sending stuff, building the tracks and switch ideas. So we'll see, I got loads of productions going on at the moment so I don't think we'll have time for a new collaboration before this summer.
As we all know, you and Kristoffer are the guys running Nellie Recordings, to us a favourite label for sure. It’s always quality stuff from Nellie. How did it all start? Were comes the name Nellie from?
It started in 2007. i was trying to get signed but only got in touch with small labels. So I thought that I'd try it myself. I started the label and got a contract with a distributor for all the mp3 stores, Beatport etc. In 2008 I was about to shut down Nellie and got my first release on Armada (Summer Days with Santiago Nino). Then I got to know Kristoffer and he helped me out with promos and after we signed Audible, things got much better, and here we are today :)
Nellie is the name of my doughter!
In recent times Nellie have released tunes from Audible, EDU, Kaspar Kochker, Claes Rosen and many more of the big guns on the progressive scene. What can we expect in the nearest future from your great label?
We will try to keep it in the same way. We do have great support from leading artists/DJ's and we are very happy with that. I think we will be more focused on our own artists in the future and not signing so much new names, but that always depends on the music, there are very much quality stuff out there ready to get signed! Both EDU and Kaspar are doing great at the moment and I think we can expect much more from these two guys in the future.
Next month we will also launch our own podcast, watch out for that one!
What artists would be a dream come true to make a release from?
We have to think of what fits the label. I can say Swedish House Mafia members but the isn't really the sound of Nellie. i don't know what Kristoffer would say, but if I could pick one artist for remix or original release it would easily be EDX.
U also work a lot as a DJ, what do you prefer, to be in the studio or running the floors?
Easy one, the floors!
List the 3 – 5 tunes that you think always works when you are out playing, what makes the crowd go nuts?
Just posted a top 5 on my blog, so here they are:
01 John de Sohn & Nick Wall ft. Christina Skaar – Unleash My Love
(Alaa Remix)
02 Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed
(AN21 & Max Vangeli Remix)
03 Bob Sinclar – New New New
(Avicii Remix)
04 Nanchang Nancy, Pork & Fitch – Walk With Me
(Axwell vs. Daddy’s Groove Remix)
05 Junior Caldera ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Can’t Fight This Feeling
(Avicii Universe Mix)
As a manager for a label, what are your thoughts about the illegal spreading of music that is well-known. There are loads of blogs, forums etc. doing it, is it killing the music industry or can it in some way help? Give us your thoughts.
My first reaction is that most of these people are kids. The bad this is that they are growing up with this, so they will never learn to buy music until we force then to. And what I mean by forcing them is making a really good protection so mp3:a can't be shared, I don't know if that will ever be possible, but some kind of protection is the only way I think.
Also we need to know that today, people downloading our music will never have bought our tunes anyway. That's what I think. I might be wrong but this is a big issue and we can talk about it for hours and hours.
But, on the otherside, blogs like Pure People might never ever heard of me if it wasn't thanks to all the blogs talking about and spreading our music.
Today if you wanna make money working with music, you need to promote yourself as a DJ also. So for me, I don't really care anymore, get my music, for free or buy it, as long as my name grows then I'm ok with it.
If you only are aloud to name one producer that is your favourite at the moment, who would that be and what is it that makes this producer so special from your point of view?
I'd say Axwell first, but that might not come as a surprise but then I also want to mention Avicii. I have very much respect for Acivii and I love his sound!
We from PP wants to thank you for taking your time, it’s an honour for us! We wish you all the best in the future with many more releases to come.
Thank you guys and good luck!
If you wanna read more or follow Alaa and what is happening about him, the link to it is HERE!
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