Andski has established himself as one most exciting rising stars in dance music. He’s won awards in the “Best Trance & Progressive DJ” category at the Bulgarian DJ Awards, Beatport Top 10’s, and Worldwide BBC Radio 1 play’s. Having support from big names like Paul van Dyk, Gareth Emery, Markus Schulz, Paul Oakenfold, Jochen Miller, we can only expect to see Andski’s music come up more and more!

Don’t forget to check out his latest remix of Ummet Ozcan’s “Timewave Zero”

Tell us something you are excited about or grateful for!

I’m grateful for my family, friends and that they’re well. That’s all that matters.

How did the name Andski come about?

Not too much around it, it’s just a play of my real name.

How long has it been since you’ve started to make music?

Started learning in 2008, signed my first release in 2009 on Pulsar Recordings so seems like it’s been a bit now.

What influenced the start to your music career?

In high school I was actually completely into hip hop, it was all I listened to and cared about. I remember a classmate coming up to me with his MP3 player, trying to get me to listen to tech house and I didn’t feel it at. But sometime after that I randomly discovered an electronic music podcast on iTunes. Through there I got hooked, did research, learned about the usual dance music suspects like Tiesto and went to see him at Cacao Beach (was actually my first DJ show too). I saw what he did and said to myself “Man, that’s dope” so the next day I started mixing in my underwear in my bedroom like we all do. Fast forward a bit I was thinking “Man, that’s dope but I want to mix something I created”. Naturally, the easiest thing to do was mashups which I sent to a bunch of DJs for shits and giggles but most of them got massive backing from Judge Jules when he was on BBC Radio 1. Then I said to myself “Wow this is dope, I want to start creating something of my own than just mashing up other peoples tracks”. So I self-taught myself Ableton through random forums, YouTube videos and just experimenting by trial and error.

If you could play at any show in the world, what and where would it be?

Cacao Beach in Bulgaria, for sure. Not only does it hold a sentimental value (as I just mentioned my first DJ concert) but also it’s an awesome venue. The name is only half misleading (it is on a Beach but it’s not made of Cacao). Parties would start after 10pm and go until morning of the next day, sometimes till noon. You get in and you don’t know when the headliner will come up but towards the end you watch the sun rise from across the Black Sea and its fucken beautiful

What do you want people to feel when listening to your music?

Orgasms? Ha, I don’t know depends on the environment 🙂

What has been the most enjoyable part of making music?

The process itself does it for me. I sit down to start working and get completely into what I’m doing, it’s just so interesting! Ideas and melodies fly in my mind, I start thinking how to implement them, what sounds to use, how to mix them and then I look at the time and oops it’s 5am

What is the most difficult thing?

Getting the inspiration to work, which is terrible when you have a deadline and can’t force yourself to produce. Also, specifically for me out of the entire music creation process I sometimes have a hard time mastering so I reach out to someone to beef up the track for me. Been using Mark Sherry recently and am pretty satisfied. Was cool to meet him in Boston a few months ago too. If anyone is wondering how he looks so amazing and in shape – ask for ‘The Ultimate Mark Sherry Workout Guide’ 😉

Do you ever get artistic blocks? If so, what do you do to overcome them?

I start working on a different track or switch up my workflow. When I first started producing I’d build the track starting from the 33nd bar or whatever after the introduction drums. But recently I’ve been switching it up by starting with the climax or breakdown and arranging everything else around it. More solid advice for anyone else struggling – reference the tracks you love, don’t copy but note the arrangement, when sounds are coming in the mix and use that formula for your own creation. And if you’re still stuck just take a break for a bit or for the entire day.

Ummet Ozcan – Timewave Zero (Andski Remix)

What’s been your favorite track produced so far and why?

I gotta say ‘Over You’. It’s sort of a generic / obvious answer for artists to say their most recent one but for me there’s good reasoning behind it. The vocal bits are actually recordings by a really good friend so gives it a more personal feel. Plus I’m overall happy with how it came out sounding even though I happened to master this one myself

What’s on the horizon for you this upcoming year?

I’m finishing a collab with Adrian Alexander. We got our first ASOT play last year with his remix of my track Scars featuring Charmy and since then knew we had to make something together. I also need to get working on another vocal this time with Jessika Dawn. We’ve been Twitter friends for years and finally decided to do something together. Lately, I’ve been pretty frustrated with labels and release dates – depending on the labels backlog your track might not get released for 10+ months. That’s how much I waited for The Light with Jesser and Dominick Marketta to be put out on Abstractive and Sony Music. So I’ve also been playing with some unofficial remixes that I can just put out whenever I finish them, hopefully soon. Gig-wise I have some shows in April on the 15th headlining a secret outdoor party, on the 20th opening for Gareth Emery at Ascend and there’s one more that will be confirmed and announced soon. I almost single handedly put together the Boston in the Mix 3-day broadcast. Everything from organization, planning, promotions, partnerships were on my end and I’m stoked how it turned out. And I was asked by the Boston festival ‘Together’ to produce a track for their compilation which will be out in May.

Who are artists you think will be big this year

Tali Muss, Adrian Alexander, Danny Chen, Dallonte, FloE (and his Entrancing Music imprint), Jesser, Nikhil Prakash all these guys have been doing great so I’d put my money on them.

What would be the dream collab?

Wonder how it would go down in the studio with Dj Khaled! But actual real answer would be Anske – we often get confused on Twitter so I think collabing with him would really mess people up. Andski & Anske ☺

Favorite track of all time?

Darude – Sandstorm 😉

Favorite food in the world?

Any food is good food 🙂

If your house was on fire, what would you save?

Easily laptop because of all the work in progress tracks. I’ll also try to grab my sample drive. Would take forever to recover the collection I have from the past years.

Favorite place in the world?

Hard to say, but Castle Island in Boston is definitely up there. It’s pretty awesome on a nice summer day, I produced there a couple of times on my headphones just soaking up the sun and atmosphere.

If you weren’t a producer, what career would you pursue?

A bread scientist or a cat behavior consultant. I had a cat for a year so I feel I’d be pretty good at the latter 😉

Tell us about a guilty pleasure of yours.

That Taylor Swift song ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ was a massive guilty pleasure when it came out! Don’t think I have any now.

Do you have an addition? If so, to what?

Addiction to hunting for dope new tunes 😉

Describe yourself with 3 words.

Some interesting questions as if you’re setting up my Tinder or OKCupid profile 🙂 Probably dedicated, sarcastic, goofball.

If you could go back in time to meet someone, who would it be?

2pac

Neon Owl is all about giving back to charities around the world. Is there a specific charity or cause you feel passionate about or would like to see us work with?

No specific charity but I’ve been involved with Rotaract / Rotary for almost 10 years, volunteering different events they are involved with. Most recently we helped with the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day race, hosted fund raisers for young kids in poverty and schools in Benin, Africa

What could the music industry use less or more of?

Less big room kicks, less triples, less ghost producers, less champagne showers and cake throwing. More talented driven people, more quality and good music.

What could the world use more or less of?

Less negativity, crime and violence. More generosity, kindness and helping people in need

Any last words for your fans?

Damn, thanks for checking out the whole interview. Take good care of yourself and the people you care about and enjoy life.

What’s the best way for them to connect with you?

facebook.com/andski
twitter.com/andski
instagram.com/andskimusic
youtube.com/andskimusic

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Check out Andski’s EXCLUSIVE Neon Owl mix!

Tracklist:

Anatoliy Davudov – You Know (Tali Muss Remix) [Azima Deep]
Julian Bak – Color [Novel Music]
Mr Rogers – I’ll Take You (Solidisco Remix) [Big Beat]
Johan de Kock – Sky’s Grey [CDR]
Andski – Over You [Entrancing]
David Allen – Modus [Art & Music]
Too Many Artists – Spaceman Slam The Fusion Saga Tonight (Andski Fucks Your Brain Edit) [CDR]
Andski – Go Drunk You’re Home [Entrancing]
Too Many Artists – The Miracle Kraken Lazer Beams (Andski Fucks Your Brain Edit) [CDR]
Andski & Jesser feat. Dominick Marketta – The Light (Danny Chen Remix) [Abstractive / Sony]
Ilan Bluestone vs Tomcraft – 43 Loneliness (Andski Touch) [CDR]
Fedor Smirnoff – The Universe (Dallonte Remix) [Pleasure]
Dan Ginolfi – The Valley (Adrian Alexander Remix) [Elliptical Sun]
Ron Alperin vs Markus Schulz & Delacey – Knockout Destiny (Andski Edit) [CDR]
Ben Gold & Standerwick – Vindicta [ASOT]
Dennis Shepherd feat. Mark Frisch – Come Alive (Eric Rose Remix) [Tribute to Life]
Sodality – Twilight Rising (Sollito Remix) [Entrancing]
ID – ID