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Alex Celler Interview
House | Tuesday 6th December 2011 | Osh
Hi Alex, you come from Greece originally, it's a beautiful place, I lived in Rodhos for a little while. Why did you move to London and how long have you been living here for?
Indeed, I come from Greece, from the town of Thessaloniki. I moved to London back in 2004 as I really wanted to get involved with the scene over here and also wanted to try to make a living out of music producing and DJ-ing. Obviously ‘Can you please send me to London to make House and Techno?’, was not quite the thing to say to my parents, so I did a degree on audio engineering to make things happen more smoothly! (Laughs)
Yes I definitely know what you mean, not the easiest thing to say...! When did you first start playing music?
I guess that was in the conservatory, playing the piano for the first time around 1994.
I just realized how many of you DJs started with piano! Do you remember your first gig Alex?
Yes, my first gig was in a beach bar close to my hometown back in 2001, playing deep house and chilled out grooves.
Have you got any projects lined up for 2011?
Yeah, couple of things in the pipeline for the next few months. In December I am releasing ‘Wallaby EP’ with Area Remote and ‘Back To The Bounce EP’ on Cinematic Recordings in London in February. Also I am working on a collaboration EP for later in the year with Greek fellas Kreon & Lemos as well as a new EP with my good friend Anthea. Lastly I’ve got two remixes, one for Martinez in Moon Harbour and one for Autre in Ianus 71, the label of my Italian friends System of Survival.
I’ve heard ‘Back To The Bounce’ is BIG, but first I would you like to say something about ‘la Palma’ which was one of RA’s most charted tracks... great tune!
Glad you like it! The track was made fairly quickly in few days, it was one of those records that came unexpectedly, without a plan. It gave a very strong push on my career and I am still enjoying the results of that record.
So, can you tell us what ‘Back To The Bounce’ is and when it’s going to be released?
‘Back To The Bounce’ is the title of my new EP on Cinematic Recordings, a good friend's label based here in London. Also the main track on that EP is named likewise. It's a very swinging, bouncy and bumpy tech-house tune, with a touch of old-skool flavour, done in a fresh tech house way though. I came up with the title based on Kenlou's ‘The Bounce’. Using this title I wanted to highlight the return of our scene to the jacking house grooves of the late 80's and the early 90's.
So Steller - Terrence EP is out now and it seems to be another winner in the dancefloor.
Steller is the brainchild of my good friend Stathis Lazarides, the infamous resident of Cavo Paradiso Club in Mykonos and myself. The name came from combining Stathis + Celler = Steller. Around March 2009 we sat down together in the studio for first time and Stathis had the amazing idea of sampling this magnificent Terrence McKenna speech, recorded live in a university a few years before his unfortunate death. We both felt it carried a meaning which goes along very well with the current way of life and decided to make it into a tune. Our good friends from Amsterdam, Lauhaus & Kabale signed it for their new label ‘Soweso’ and Johnny D did an amazing job on the remix. It is our first release and we are really happy so far.
Sounds awesome! I’d love to hear the story behind every tune and this one sounds special. I've seen you several times with your ‘partner in crime' Anthea, how long have you been playing together and how did it start?
Aaah, my dear friend Anthea-Marie Nzekwu! She used to work in Phonica where I used to go (and still go) to buy records. I met her there a couple of times but it wasn't until June 2008 when I listened for the first time to her DJ set in Gatecrasher (sorry that was T- Bar!!) that I realized she had an amazing sense of groove and a great taste for house music. After that we met couple of times in Phonica as well as on Fabric's dancefloor and talked about a possible collaboration. We did our first EP, ‘The Playmaker’,' in August 2008 and since then we started working together more often. The back to back sets came naturally as a progression of our collaboration in the studio.
So what is the best party you played so far?
I know it sounds cliche but I’ve played in many amazing parties during the last year, its too difficult to pick out just one!
Which artist would you like to play with?
I would love to play with Ricardo Villalobos or Rhadoo, these are two DJs I really admire for their taste and track selection.
Nice, hopefully I will see you soon back to back then! Many thanks Alex and all the best for your future projects!
Indeed, I come from Greece, from the town of Thessaloniki. I moved to London back in 2004 as I really wanted to get involved with the scene over here and also wanted to try to make a living out of music producing and DJ-ing. Obviously ‘Can you please send me to London to make House and Techno?’, was not quite the thing to say to my parents, so I did a degree on audio engineering to make things happen more smoothly! (Laughs)
Yes I definitely know what you mean, not the easiest thing to say...! When did you first start playing music?
I guess that was in the conservatory, playing the piano for the first time around 1994.
I just realized how many of you DJs started with piano! Do you remember your first gig Alex?
Yes, my first gig was in a beach bar close to my hometown back in 2001, playing deep house and chilled out grooves.
Have you got any projects lined up for 2011?
Yeah, couple of things in the pipeline for the next few months. In December I am releasing ‘Wallaby EP’ with Area Remote and ‘Back To The Bounce EP’ on Cinematic Recordings in London in February. Also I am working on a collaboration EP for later in the year with Greek fellas Kreon & Lemos as well as a new EP with my good friend Anthea. Lastly I’ve got two remixes, one for Martinez in Moon Harbour and one for Autre in Ianus 71, the label of my Italian friends System of Survival.
I’ve heard ‘Back To The Bounce’ is BIG, but first I would you like to say something about ‘la Palma’ which was one of RA’s most charted tracks... great tune!
Glad you like it! The track was made fairly quickly in few days, it was one of those records that came unexpectedly, without a plan. It gave a very strong push on my career and I am still enjoying the results of that record.
So, can you tell us what ‘Back To The Bounce’ is and when it’s going to be released?
‘Back To The Bounce’ is the title of my new EP on Cinematic Recordings, a good friend's label based here in London. Also the main track on that EP is named likewise. It's a very swinging, bouncy and bumpy tech-house tune, with a touch of old-skool flavour, done in a fresh tech house way though. I came up with the title based on Kenlou's ‘The Bounce’. Using this title I wanted to highlight the return of our scene to the jacking house grooves of the late 80's and the early 90's.
So Steller - Terrence EP is out now and it seems to be another winner in the dancefloor.
Steller is the brainchild of my good friend Stathis Lazarides, the infamous resident of Cavo Paradiso Club in Mykonos and myself. The name came from combining Stathis + Celler = Steller. Around March 2009 we sat down together in the studio for first time and Stathis had the amazing idea of sampling this magnificent Terrence McKenna speech, recorded live in a university a few years before his unfortunate death. We both felt it carried a meaning which goes along very well with the current way of life and decided to make it into a tune. Our good friends from Amsterdam, Lauhaus & Kabale signed it for their new label ‘Soweso’ and Johnny D did an amazing job on the remix. It is our first release and we are really happy so far.
Sounds awesome! I’d love to hear the story behind every tune and this one sounds special. I've seen you several times with your ‘partner in crime' Anthea, how long have you been playing together and how did it start?
Aaah, my dear friend Anthea-Marie Nzekwu! She used to work in Phonica where I used to go (and still go) to buy records. I met her there a couple of times but it wasn't until June 2008 when I listened for the first time to her DJ set in Gatecrasher (sorry that was T- Bar!!) that I realized she had an amazing sense of groove and a great taste for house music. After that we met couple of times in Phonica as well as on Fabric's dancefloor and talked about a possible collaboration. We did our first EP, ‘The Playmaker’,' in August 2008 and since then we started working together more often. The back to back sets came naturally as a progression of our collaboration in the studio.
So what is the best party you played so far?
I know it sounds cliche but I’ve played in many amazing parties during the last year, its too difficult to pick out just one!
Which artist would you like to play with?
I would love to play with Ricardo Villalobos or Rhadoo, these are two DJs I really admire for their taste and track selection.
Nice, hopefully I will see you soon back to back then! Many thanks Alex and all the best for your future projects!
