The superstar from Catalonia brings us a massive new album – ‘Tune 432’. Exclusive interview
Interview : Dan Prince
Hey Uner welcome back to DMCWORLD. Let¹s begin with a big pat on the back for a monstrous new album Tune 432, a long player that has taken you twelve months to complete. How important was your classical training in putting together the album?
“Actually my classical training has always been very important in my music, and even more in this case, since I wanted to further develop my musical side, so I’ve been able to put the musician UNER to work many more times than DJ UNER.”
2013 was a crazy year for you touring the US, big festival dates plus an array of mouth watering gigs in Ibiza. How difficult was putting together Tune432, there surely must have been a lot of working whilst travelling?
“Yes. In fact 90% of the album was made out of the studio, while travelling and that is why it has so many influences and it’s so special for me. I’ve been able to reflect many different feelings and emotions, everything I experienced in my trips during a whole year. I’d be lying if I said it was easy, because it’s sometimes quite difficult to work in airports, planes, hotels, etc. But I can say it’s been very fun and inspirational.”
Was the album what you had in mind before you started work on it?
“I would say that the album is what I had 100% inside my soul, because my intention was simply to make music and enjoy it a lot, and make it as natural as possible. In this case, everything has turned out exactly how I imagined and felt. I’m really satisfied with the result, since listening to it you can get to know UNER inside out, aside being a musician or a DJ or you name it.”
The album is out on February 8th, please can you give us a few words on each of the outstanding 13 tracks…
Let Me Introduce Him:
“It’s the album intro. Here I improvise and experiment particularly, I think it’s a good way to prepare the listener for what’s ahead, organic, fresh and built while travelling.
Sorry You:
The first of the vocal tracks. It’s a curious story, since I contacted Negra thanks to a call for vocalists on Facebook. I listened to her and something sweet and intimate instantly flooded my mind.
Surfering:
I’ve got a degree in piano and I wanted this instrument to appear in several parts of the album. What can be heard are different classical pianos (some completely disguised), but in their most minimalist expression, blended with the electronic music that defines me best and influenced by various evenings in Ibiza.
Monday Afternoon:
One of the hardest things for me has been naming the tracks. On which basis do you name an idea that you develop a Monday afternoon, after a long weekend? It’s the road to rest, the way back home.
Stay:
My idea when I started the album was to collaborate with several vocalists with different registers, something a bit harder than I expected, but that yielded great results. In this case, I wanted to make an interpersonal connexion test with Lazarusman. We never talked about it, we just worked independently and at the end, we saw that everything matched, like in life.”
Undisclosed:
One of the first tracks I finished and that best define the story I want to tell with the album. It’s a dancefloor bomb too! Built in London, developed in Madrid. Urban intensity.
Laderas Del Sollube:
Inspiration comes from different experiences. In this case, from Basque lands and a mount named Sollube. Nature and a different, very very captivating energy. That’s how I felt it and that’s how I played it.
Tierra Hueca:
There’s a theory about planet Earth being hollow. I love this kind of secret stories, conspiracies, B sides of reality. This track turns around this idea. Like I said, inspiration for making music can be found anywhere. Also the background sounds are recorded in open air. I remember perfectly the moments I spent working on this track, an endless return trip from Croatia. Very intimate.
LFO: A collaboration with Piek. For me, absolute fun and the meeting of two lands apart but very close at the same time: Lleida and Elizondo. So they are.
UBM: Experimenting with modular Moog and arpegios. The result is what you hear. I made it home (not in the studio), so maybe it’s the most
MYSELF:
My track of the album, since it came from inside Manu, in mycomfort zone.
Flying Suns 2: I believe an electronic dance music album has the duty of blending various styles for which you must open inside out, but it must be always remembered that a DJ makes music mainly in order to make people dance. “Flying Suns 2” is a proper DJ tool, a track that makes sense both in the album and during the late night hours in a dancefloor. And with all the flavour of several train trips
Van Hallen: I’ve always been attracted to minimalism, the skill to tell a story with very few elements. Here I’ve tried to explain it with very melodic basslines (acoustic and digital). We’re surrounded by beautiful things and many times we aren’t aware of this. There are places like Tunisia where a sunrise can open your eyes to many things.
Trumpets & Flowers: The cherry on top of the cake, another vocal track with a curious story behind, since we found Kafele in Youtube. He’s got a warm voice that feels like you’ve been listening to it for years. It soothes you. I composed the track some time ago, during a trip to NY. And there it was, waiting for the perfect moment. And here it came back to life so Kafele could have his space.”
So a new year is upon us, the first part of the year I imaginbe will be out on the road promoting the album around the world, where are you heading off to these next few weeks?
“Yes. At the moment we have the calendar almost full till the end of the summer. But like you said, the album tour will be from early February till end of April. We are starting on the 8th at “The Villa” in Oslo, flying to Berlin for a Boiler Room on the 12th, Bellevue (Zurich) on the 14th and Teatro Albeniz (Gijon) on the 15th. After that, will land in Reverse (Madrid) on the 21st and Watergate (Berlin) on the 22nd, Caesar (Amam) the 27th, Blue Marlin (Dubai) the 28th and then London, NY, Montreal, Washington, Miami, Athens, Barcelona…and it continues!”
The album is coming out on Diynamic, a label that has played a big part of your life for the past 4 years. Did any of the label crew play any part over the last twelve months when you were constructing Tune432?
“Just the 2 advanced tracks. We did an EP with 2 of the tracks 2 months ago but nobody listened to the album till the end. It has no sense for me to listen to the album track by track. It’s a complete history with 13 tracks. And it was super intimate stuff for me and was important to keep the secret till the end and feel the reactions. But of course Solomun and Adriano were the first ones and Solomun is playing some of the tracks on his shows at the moment, like me, of course.”
Away from the album, what is next ahead for you studio wise?
“New stuff will be published in the next months through Visionquest, Darkroom Dubs (original tracks on each label) and Snatch (a remix for Riva Starr with an amazing guitar melody) – and there’s a new label we’re working on. We are trying to work hard on it and the idea is start releasing the new label before the summer but you know sometimes it’s a little bit crazy, touring every week. But we are on it.”
How do you think your sound has developed over the last 12 months?
“I’m focused 100 on my classical training. I mean, I want to make music, not just to dance to or for clubs. With the album I tried to listen myself again, like when I was a child, maybe 10 years old. Just focusing on the harmonies, the classical elements, the melodies and trying to find the perfect feelings with the music. The rhythms come later. And I’m in this mood at the moment: music to dance to, but also music to listen and of course music to fly…”
Tell us about the club/festival plans you are looking forward to hitting this year?
“As we said before, we are traveling almost every weekend 2 or 3 times. You know how many festivals we have around the world, it’s really difficult to attend most of them, but we will be playing in a lot of Spanish festivals (Dream Beach, Freelive, Techno Flash, Electro Weekend, Sonar etc.) and of course international (18hrs festival, Extrema, Pacha festival etc.). As for the clubs, we are touring around lot of amazing clubs, returning to the likes of Watergate, Reverse, Blue Marlin Dubai, The Egg, Space Miami, Ego in Hamburg, etc. Also new ones for me like Bellevue, Caesar in Amam, Space NY, Stereo Montreal, Playground Athens and The Arches in Glasgow. And we will try to do everything in a very special way.”
Ibiza always plays a big part in your diary, last year Sankeys, Space and Pacha all received the full Uner treatment. Is there any news on the summer for you yet?
“We are fixing Ibiza at the moment, but I can let you know we will be concentrating on 1 or 2 brands and putting all my energy on it. Of course it will be a full on energy summer with a lot of dates on the island, and I hope to see you there Dan and maybe share some great sea food!!”
What was your best night in Ibiza 2013?
“Really, every night is special in Ibiza. I love the island and the magical energy you can feel there. But if I have to choose one of them, maybe the Ushuaia Closing. It was so special for me because it was the end of the summer with all my good friends with me sharing all of the last energies and last summer moments. But I am super happy now because it means that a new one is coming!! And I’m sure it will be BETTER!”
Who are some of the young up and coming producers we should be looking out for this year?
“I have been speaking a little about these recently and always say the same two names; Piek and Baum. Piek is doing a collaboration on my album and for me is one of the hottest young producers at the moment…we will see what happens…”
Uner’s Album ‘Tune 432’ is out now on Diynmaic
You Can buy it here – http://www.beatport.com/release/tune432/1224314
Watch the Video here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqGx4QgQ0i8
Uner plays at Egg London on March 1st as part of his album tour
