[PREMIERE & INTERVIEW] Fernando Lagreca – Rogue Planet
Spain-based electronic producer Fernando Lagreca has just announced a brand new song ‘Rogue Planet’ from his upcoming album Infamous, which is set to be released the 17th of April 2020 via Beautiful Accident.
The last single to be extracted from the new album by Fernando Lagreca comes with a more than intriguing tribute video to Ben Fodor’s alter ego, Phoenix Jones, the leader of the city’s Rain City Superhero Movement. A mixed martial artist who garnered a lot of headlines after patrolling for years the Emerald City (Seattle) acting as an American real-life superhero.
Set the tone for us. Why the arts?
Well, it is not an easy question… actually never asked myself about it 🙂 I guess it is something natural, I was in touch with music since I recall, my dad was a musician and maybe I pick some of his artistic genes?
Which comes first when you’re producing – the sound or the idea?
It depends on the track, sometimes I go to the studio with some pre-established thinking about the kind of music I should create, that happens most of the times when I am working on a remix, i.e., but when it comes to an album, the sound is the first source of inspiration and then comes the full idea.
Does your material feature any collaborations?
Particularly, this track sports a vocal feature from Chantelle R, and it has also some vocoder vocals that are mine.
What’s on your current playlist?
a bit of Techno (Slam, Rudosa, Coyu, Veerus), a bit of Indie Electronica (Affkt, Fairmont) and some old 90’s tunes (Roni Size, 4Hero, Adam F, Orbital, etc)
Tell us about the chemistry you have with your fans on stage.
I love to play live, I use to play without a computer, just hardware stuff and I prefer to play in small and dark clubs where the people can approach the artist and see what I am doing, hitting knobs and buttons for real, improvising and playing with the efx, making some sequences on the fly. The fans can check what is happening at the same time it is being generated.
What techniques do you experiment with to get your original sound?
I never use synth plug-ins, so I simply like to use hardware synths, both digital and analogue (i am not a purist here) and I like to record my tracks as if I was playing guitar in a rock/pop band and doing long takes then cutting and producing. I have to say I am not a super technical guy, I prefer to improvise and play a bit, getting a bit out of the box regarding those super plugins that make you sound fantastic, I prefer a more organic approach.
Take us through a day in the recording studio.
I divide my normal day between the office and the studio, I run a small management and booking agency based in Barcelona, focused to techno and house underground artists, so a normal day for me is half time in studio half time for the agency, even most of the times I spend more time with the agency duties… so I usually go the studio after 6/7 pm
Was there a specific moment in your life where you thought, “this is what I want to do”?
I moved to Spain in late 2002 and initially had to work in some different kinds of stuff in order to pay the bills, but I decided to make this a way of living several years before when I lived in Montevideo, my birthplace. I do not recall a specific moment but I am sure it is something I always thought.
What do you keep close by while you’re playing a set?
The mobile (to check the running time) and some kleenex / small towel (always useful in sweaty rooms)
Any emerging artists on your radar?
I like a lot a duo from Sevilla (Spain) called Beatlove.
What gets your creative juices flowing?
Some movie, some TV series photography, sometimes a book, other times a simply organic automatic inspiration coming from nothing in particular. It is a sort of natural movement.
Take us through your collection of gear, tech or software that accompanies your creative expression.
Here you go, my weapons of choice: Moog Sub37, Nord Wave, Yamaha MODX, Elektron Octatrack, Elektron Analog Four, Elektron Analog Rytm, Elektron Digitone, Dave Smith Mopho, Access Virus Snow, a TT303 and a couple of small synths such as Teenage Engineering OP1, Roland MC101 Groovebox or IK Multimedia Uno Synth, some reverb and delays pedals, and a couple of guitars.
Any side projects you’re working on?
Not at the moment, focused on the album promo and the agency mainly.
How have you refined your craft since you entered the industry?
I think I simply get more patience and understanding in general, that makes things easier and
prevent from big stress situation.
Breakdown the news for us: what can we expect from you this year?
Well, this is with no doubt a particularly weird year, so not easy to forecast any stuff properly. But I would like to say that I will be playing a lot my new album and also doing a lot of live sets in clubs and festivals… Even I know that currently is a bit utopic, unfortunately. Nonetheless, I will keep doing my stuff, and now the album is about to be released I will start to think about what’s next. I have a couple of new tracks already so I will send to some labels to check how they react, etc.
Famous last words?
“died along with his beloved Moog”
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