{"id":20592,"date":"2015-07-05T21:49:32","date_gmt":"2015-07-05T19:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/?p=20592"},"modified":"2015-07-05T21:51:44","modified_gmt":"2015-07-05T19:51:44","slug":"interview-hnqo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/interview-hnqo\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: HNQO"},"content":{"rendered":"

HNQO is one of Brazil\u2019s cherished and most loved producers. A man with a sound that veers towards dancefloor tendencies, his is a palette that\u2019s all about the melodies and the grooves. <\/strong><\/p>\n

HNQO (or Henrique as he is known to friends) is one of the fastest rising young stars in the deep house and indie dance scene. Years of hard work are already behind this young musician, who got his start throwing parties in Curitiba, Brazil. Young people in search of new musical horizons flocked to these gatherings, and eventually some of dance music\u2019s hottest acts found themselves sharing the decks with this ever present, ever humble artist.<\/p>\n

Ahead of his latest EP on his own Playperview label, we decided to put a few choice questions his way\u2026<\/p>\n

“I think this is a pretty massive time for us and it\u2019s sure to be remembered.”<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

Music apart, what\u2019s been keeping you on your toes recently?<\/strong>
\nHonestly, I\u2019ve been very inspired to work lately, so I\u2019m not doing much that\u2019s not music related these days, except hanging out with friends when I\u2019m free.<\/p>\n

And musically, what\u2019s keeping you excited right now then?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve recently finished setting up a new place to work. It\u2019s a better studio with some nice gear that\u2019s taking up a lot of my time and keeping me excited.<\/p>\n

How do you think this current time in dance music will be looked back on in 20 years time? A good time for music?<\/strong>
\nIt will all depend on how good or how bad it will be in 20 years I think. But if we\u2019re talking about how dance music has reached huge levels of exposure, I think this is a pretty massive time for us and it\u2019s sure to be remembered.<\/p>\n

So is most of your day music related then? When did it become a full-time thing for you?<\/strong>
\nYes, it\u2019s mostly music related, but I also do some random stuff like going for a movie or having food somewhere. I have friends too, so I meet them sometimes or they come to visit me. The agency responsible for my bookings in Brazil is in my city, so I normally take one day of the week to visit them and talk about a lot of shit and do some work too. It\u2019s pretty fun. The girls are awesome!<\/p>\n

Over the past 4 years I think music is the only thing I\u2019m 100% committed to. If not actually doing something, I\u2019m always thinking on what to do, what\u2019s the next move or what would be good for my career.<\/p>\n

And what DJs, producers and labels influenced you to make music in the first place?<\/strong>
\nAt that time Poker Flat, Minus and Kompakt were some of the labels I was following. Richie, Trentm\u00f8ller, John Tejada, Michael Mayer, Sasha Funke, Kerri Chandler, Stimming and a lot more. DJ\u2019s that I always liked were some of these plus Sven Vath, Josh Wink, Villalobos etc.<\/p>\n

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So lets chat about Brazil \u2013 how much of an influence has it had on you as a person and as a musician?<\/strong>
\nPart of who I am today is part of what I\u2019ve been able to absorb from my growth in the country. It has influenced me on so much ways regarding manners, beliefs and so on. Music wise, Brazil has been always been behind the leading countries regarding electronic music. Luckily I\u2019m quite young and I\u2019ve taken advantage of the Internet to learn what my country couldn\u2019t teach me with its clubs, festivals and parties. Brazil is very rich on some ways of music that are quite famous worldwide and I can even tell that some of that taught me a little. It\u2019s the environment I\u2019ve grown up, so it\u2019s quite natural. But I can\u2019t really say exactly what has influenced me and in which ways.<\/p>\n

And why do you think the country has developed so many great electronic music musicians over the years?<\/strong>
\nThanks to the access of what\u2019s happening in the outside world. It\u2019s so easy nowadays to listen to what\u2019s going on out there and try to create something cool using your own style and knowledge. Economically, the past few years have been good to Brazil, and that\u2019s also responsible for giving us the opportunity to get hold of some good software and hardware that is so expensive and was even more so back in the day. Unfortunately our economics are fading down again and I\u2019m not sure how is it going to be from now on, but let\u2019s hope for the best.<\/p>\n

How conductive is it as a place to write music?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m normally locked inside my room, windows closed and dark. That\u2019s the environment I write music on. I found out that this sad environment is more likely to make me inspired. Life\u2019s too good, inspiration goes away. As H.O.S.H said in an interview I saw a couple of months back. And if think it\u2019s totally true. Brazil has got quite a happy environment, so I don\u2019t think it is the best inspiration to make crazy serious music rather than happy ones. Of course this is just my opinion on the music I make.<\/p>\n

So your latest release is out on Playperview. Can you tell us a bit about it?<\/strong>
\nThe \u201cNight Shift\u201d EP got released a couple of months ago and it\u2019s part of my new full of synths moody style. Pretty cool I think. I like both tracks and the one which works best when I play it is \u201cConstellation\u201d.<\/p>\n

When did you decide to start up the label and what is your intention with it all?<\/strong>
\nThe label had its first kick by the end of 2011, with a two track EP by myself and Fab\u00f8. \u201cWe do It\u201d got released on this EP and it\u2019s one of the lets say \u201cimportant tracks in my career\u201d. The intention was to simply have our own music released without having to get it approved by someone else. It\u2019s quite the same intention nowadays too, but we want it to be more professional now. To make that imprint stronger and have our team releasing quality music on it.<\/p>\n

So what does it mean to you to have your music signed to a label like Hot Creations, for example? Are you also still looking to get your music signed to other places too?<\/strong>
\nIt means a lot and that really changed my life. I\u2019m really grateful to Jamie, Lee and Russ, who first trusted me and made it all happen. I\u2019m definitely looking to sign some tracks to bigger labels, but I\u2019m in no rush. It will come naturally as it did before.<\/p>\n

Do you have a favourite Playperview and Hot Creations release from over the years? And if so, why then?<\/strong>
\nI think Dake\u2019s \u201c20 Shades of Black\u201d on Playperview is one of my favourites. His track with The LazarusMan \u201cFrom the Hill\u201d is a bomb too. Caio Stanccione\u2019s housy vibes on \u201cI Dance U\u201d and the crazier Rolldabeetz ones are kicking it for me too. I\u2019m pretty proud of what we\u2019ve done till now and super happy with this small crew of producers aforementioned. On Hot Creations I think my favourite at the moment is \u201cChemistry\u201d by Gel Abril.<\/p>\n

What else have you got lined up for the rest of the year?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m working a lot in the studio, but can\u2019t really say what\u2019s lined up because the info is not available yet. Will let you know soon!<\/p>\n

Do you think house and techno will always remain popular? Do you ever worry that it’ll become seriously niche again?<\/strong>
\nI think and I hope so. I would not say worry, but I\u2019m enjoying that this is actually happening. Power to the people again!<\/p>\n

Electronic music aside, what else do you listen to in your spare time?<\/strong>
\nI normally listening to some Hip Hop or also Rock and Jazz vinyls I got. More chilled out stuff is what I like to listen to when I\u2019m home trying to relax.<\/p>\n

What 5 tracks are you pulling out of your bag a lot at the moment?<\/strong>
\nDast – Deep Down
\nTrve – Zephyris
\nRemotion – Flashback (Weska Remix)
\n2000 and One – Plant 1
\nCardao – The Message<\/p>\n

HNQO\u2019s Erotic Heat EP is out soon on Playperview<\/p>\n

Soundcloud <\/a><\/span> Artist Page <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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HNQO is one of Brazil\u2019s cherished and most loved producers. A man with a sound that veers towards dancefloor tendencies, his is a palette that\u2019s all about the melodies and the grooves. HNQO (or Henrique as he is known to friends) is one of the fastest rising young stars in the deep house and indie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[6293,138],"class_list":["post-20592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-interviews","tag-2000-and-one","tag-brazil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20592","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}