{"id":17327,"date":"2015-04-16T14:36:18","date_gmt":"2015-04-16T12:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouselondon.com\/?p=7444"},"modified":"2015-05-14T13:53:24","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T11:53:24","slug":"exclusive-interview-alex-rubio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/exclusive-interview-alex-rubio\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Interview: Alex Rubio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>As one of his country\u2019s prime house and techno exports, Alex Rubio is a man who\u2019s very much responsible for repping his country on the international stage. A native of Mexico, he\u2019s spent the past few years as a sort of global ambassador for the country\u2019s scene, in the process earning major props thanks to his work at the MEXA label and more recently, Cohesion. As a producer, Rubio is still \u2013 by his own admission \u2013 still finding his feet, but early signs would seem to suggest that he\u2019s just as excellent a producer as he is a label owner and a DJ. With all this in mind, we picked his brain recently to find out what\u2019s what in his world\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>When did you start writing\/producing music? What or who were your early passions and influences back then?<br \/>\n<\/strong>I started by doing edits of random songs I liked at the moment when I was 14-15 years old, which led me to make my own sounds afterwards. I\u2019ve been producing for some time now but I don\u2019t release much. I\u2019ve always been a techno and progressive freak so I guess that has been my main influence. It&#8217;s weird but I\u2019ve never had specific influences artist-wise.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And when did you find your style and settle on it? Did you emulate others before you really settled on something?<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019ve never really settled on a style since music is always changing and it\u2019s fun to try new things or just go off on a different path. I\u2019m very versatile like that. But you\u2019ll always find some techno in my sets. Regarding emulating others; not really, I do learn from other people but I always try and do it my own way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Starting out, what were the main production challenges for you? How have these changed over time?<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019ve never played an instrument, which really bums me out because playing in key is somewhat hard for me, but practice is all it takes. Thanks to some friends, however, I\u2019ve been able to improve my \u2018in key\u2019 abilities. Another challenge is the mixdown. It can be a pain in the ass sometimes. It takes me more time to mix the track than to create it sometimes. But, like everything, with practice it\u2019s improving.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about your studio, if you would. What tools do you always lean on? And how has it evolved over the years?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt\u2019s very simple. I have a pair of HS8 Yamaha speakers, GAIA by Roland and a huge PC filled with lots and lots of fun VSTs. Some of my favorite software toys are the Fabfilter Bundle and the Soundtoys bundle, I always use them in my tracks. A close friend of mine owns a Moog Sub Phatty, MS2000, and some other cool analog synths and drum machines that I\u2019ve had the pleasure of using lately, so that\u2019s really fun.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"450\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/playlists\/71274626&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you need to be in a good frame of mind to make music? How important do you think mood is to the production process?<\/strong><br \/>\nI believe so, but it does not necessarily have to be \u201cgood\u201d. For some it\u2019s a good way to release stress and just express yourself through music.<\/p>\n<p>To answer the second question; it\u2019s predictable to say that if you\u2019re sad, for example, the tendency will be to create something more melancholic maybe or something close to it, obviously it\u2019s different in every person, but it does happens so I strongly think mood has a lot to say in the production process.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Are you usually a quick producer or a slow one? When were you at your most inspired as a musician would you say?<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019m a slow producer. I like to take my time and play around and see what I\u2019m capable of. I do think that if I knew how to play an instrument and have my \u2018in-key\u2019 abilities top notched my creative process would be a bit faster. But I can\u2019t really say when I was most inspired. It\u2019s an everyday process I have to work on.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a track that\u2019s particularly close to you?<\/strong><br \/>\nLimiting myself to the very few tracks I have released, I\u2019m going to choose \u201cShadows In The Night\u201d. I started with the drums and chords to create a groove. After that I added the bass and had a good loop going. Louie [Fresco] listened to it and sang the vocals and my neighbor played the guitar in the breakdown. After that came I just finished the structure and final details.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What track makes you happiest? Saddest? And what\u2019s the track you always use to rescue the dancefloor?<\/strong><br \/>\nI don\u2019t have a particular track for any of those questions and there are too many that make me happy or sad, choosing one would be very hard and unfair to the rest.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"450\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/playlists\/96385824&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>How important is the dancefloor to the music you make?<\/strong><br \/>\nUsually very important because I like making dancefloor tracks but there are always those tracks that are just different and maybe for listening purposes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you make music more for yourself or for others?<\/strong><br \/>\nMostly for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the next logical step for you in your career do you reckon?<\/strong><br \/>\nThere are so many things to do but mainly improve my production skills.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you think electronic music has lost a part of its soul recently?<\/strong><br \/>\nDepends on the eyes it\u2019s seen with. I don\u2019t think it has unless you let all the bullshit stand in the way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And what\u2019s next for you and the labels?<\/strong><br \/>\nI started a new project called \u2018Bareback\u2019 with a good friend and singer, Bobby Vidales. We have about 7-8 tracks finished that I\u2019m very excited for. Hope to share them with you soon. For the label, Cohesive, I have an upcoming VA called \u2018Cohesion 01\u2019 with 9 awesome tracks by artists like: Solaire, Sakorka, Rolbac, Bonaca, Carl Nev, Mario Armanino, Yellow Page, Randall Jones &amp; PAX. I also have more EPs in the making and already planned for the label. As you can see I love hosting new and unfamiliar names in my label. There are so many good things out there and I feel very lucky that these artists have trusted me with their music. I\u2019m truly honored and thank them infinitely. Also, MEXA Records is on standby. I\u2019ll soon relaunch it with a remixed EP with Mexa\u2019s greatest tracks.<\/p>\n<p><em>Words: Ian Fleming<\/em><br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nCohesion 01 will be out soon on Alex Rubio\u2019s Cohesion label, <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/cohesive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more information here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"button small\" style=\"background:#E40045;\"><a style=\"color:#FFFFFF;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alexxrubioo\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\">Artist Page<\/a><\/span><span class=\"button small\" style=\"background:#E40045;\"><a style=\"color:#FFFFFF;\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/alex-rubio\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\">Soundcloud<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As one of his country\u2019s prime house and techno exports, Alex Rubio is a man who\u2019s very much responsible for repping his country on the international stage. A native of Mexico, he\u2019s spent the past few years as a sort of global ambassador for the country\u2019s scene, in the process earning major props thanks to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":7460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3971],"tags":[4501,4502,4557],"class_list":["post-17327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","category-interviews-london","tag-alex-rubio","tag-mexa","tag-mexico-london-2","post_format-post-format-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}