Gabriel Ananda is the German producer from Cologne who shot to the top off the back of some huge underground techno hits. Now also the boss of the Soulful Techno Records label, he has worked with the likes of liebe*detail, Kamarouge, Landomat 2000 and many others. His tough and loopy techno style made him so in demand that a few years ago he took a step back from the limelight. Now though he is firing on all cylinders once more. Soon he plays Oranjebloesem 2017 in Amsterdam along with the likes of Ame, KiNK, Bicep and Jungle By Night, amongst many others, so we caught up with him to find out more about his remix style, his studio set up and what you should expect from him at this festival.
Interview by Rob Chadwick
Welcome to DMCWORLD! How has 2017 been so far for you?
The year was really good so far. I found my way back to the studio on a regular basis and do enjoy playing a lot. Personally I am going towards 40 and things change. Playing at night gets really drainung so I have to do workout to stay fit. And I´m about to go into different musical styles like melodic dubstep. That’s a lot of fun and took some balls to spend my precious studio time on it since techno makes my living and the new project is totally into the blue.
Tell us about your new remix compilation – why did you decide the time was right to do it?
I just figured that many of my best productions of the past years are remixes and that they are spread out all over the place. When I listened to them one after the other I realised they would make a really nice album and that they deserve it. They are all really personal and not just redoing of an original with some extra beats or so. They feel like my own tracks. And now you can listen to them in a row and in the end it’s not the single tracks which make it, but the whole story between the lines. It really makes you feel good to dive into that world.
How did you decide what made the cut? What defines a good remix to you?
In general it must be original and timeless. I am not interested in functional club material which you forget one year later. Since this is my goal all the time I almost took all of them. When a remix or track in general isnt something special for me, I cancel it. I trashed tons of remixes and tracks. Tons and tons.
When you start a remix, do you have any rules about what you can and can’t do to the original? What is your aim with them?
Not really. I try to translate the original on a level where the message gets amplified. If it’s groovy, then make it groovier etc. It can also be a title which brings ideas. With the 1492 remix it was extreme. I just took a hihat and one little effect sound and made a completely new track. Same with some others. But then I could ask myself: why the hell didn´t I release it under my own name? And sometimes I regret it a bit. But anyway, that’s life and the selected remixes album brings all together.
What gear do you use to make your music, hardware or software or?
I use some hardware, especially the Roland 101 and Korg Polysix. But its a lot of plugins too. I use a lot of Nexus strings and Pads, different TAL synths, most of them are for free and I started to dive into the world of FM synthesis with FM8. Thats a really interesting world. You don’t have a signal and then filter it, you can really alter the waveform with automation so much, that the sounds come to life in an entirely different way than substractive synthesis like all the analogue gear can do. It is definitely worth to use external fx, it’s gives completely different rooms to the mix. It can even be a cheapo fx.
DJ Hell has recently remixed you, right? How did that come about? What was it like to hear what he did with the track?
The Dippelwhipper remixes were a never ending odyssee since 5 years or so. I cant even remember what happened, I think Hell felt like doing a mix and asked. I was very proud since he is one of the pioneers of techno, without him the scene would be different. Many people dont know how much the scene nowadays still benefits from the work of pioneers like DJ Hell. So I said yes of course. Then the label changed many times and we ended at truesoul (they also needed almost 2 years to release it, haha) and the Hell mix didnt fit to the label. I felt so embaressed that I gave him all the rights to do whatever he feels like and he recently released it and happily it was pretty successful.
You also recently worked with Reinier Zonneveld. How different is it working with someone else than just solo?
It’s very nice to work together when the workflow compliments. I love to compose but I really dont like mixing and finalising tracks. So Renier sent me a track which was half finished and asked me if I can make it a bit like “the space between us”. It was not so harmonic that I could put a catchy melody on the foundation so I decided after a couple of days of thinking to change the foundation (bassline) into a pop theme and put something on top. So I gave him the raw composition and he put everything into shape. Was fun!
You play the Oranjebloesem festival in Holland soon – will you prep anything for it? Any special edits or new tracks?
I always prepare special stuff here and there, so yes! Its probably going to be more fun anf alive sound. I can’t stand the trendy melodic stuff anymore. Take a long bass sound, play 3 notes and put an arpeggio on top. So boring. I love groovy beats a lot again.
And how different do you play at a festival vs in the club? Do you play bigger, more immediate cuts or anything?
Festivals have so much space that a lot of the energy disappears in the clouds. So I always make it 2 to 5 bpm faster (like from 125 to 129 or so) and play more powerful records with a lot of grooves and complexity. Outside you dont have many reflections so the sound is much much more transparent than in most clubs, I love that. When you play bassline stuff with soft melodies and little hi hats it works in the club but puts you asleep on open airs.
What else have you got coming up/are you working on?
I work a lot on melodic glitch hop and dubstep, might be an album in the end. A collaboration with John Digweed is going, a remix for Olivier Weiter just came in, more Soulful Techno events, more of everything. Thank you!
