Around The World In 80 Labels: OFF Recordings – Andre Crom

www.off-recordings.com

House music that remains focused on dancefloor groove, with more than a hint of soul and tech, has been the OFF Recordings remit for six years now. In that time the imprint has clocked up releases from Leftwing & Kody, Kevin Knapp and the bossman himself, Andre Crom, to name but a few, with the result being a burgeoning reputation for late night flavours. Needless to say then, we were happy when the chap in charge agreed to answer our questions from his Berlin base. Take a look at what he has to say below, and catch the crew in full effect this Friday, 14th February, at Egg, London.

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Andre CromOFF Recordings – Germany

 

Describe your imprint’s output.

OFF’s output is really diverse and ranges from pop-ish deep house to tech house and beyond. However, pretty much all our releases are stripped back and focused on the essence.

 

What would you say makes it different?

OFF has a ‘universally danceable’ approach. Almost all of our tracks work really well on the floor, and quite a few of them are also great to be listened to at home. Whilst our music is rooted in the underground, most of our tracks and songs do have something catchy and memorable to them, something that a lot of people can relate to.

 

What is it that makes you keep looking for new talent to expose?

The joy of A&R-ing is similar to the joy of DJing; it’s really fun and satisfying to find new music that you love and share it with the world. However, whilst as a DJ you mainly work with already released material, as an A&R you can really contribute to shape the landscape of dance music, which feels even more satisfying.

 

What’s the label’s pinnacle achievement so far?

It’s impossible to name one specific achievement, we’ve had so many great records out, label nights booked, chart positions… I think the one most important achievement is that nowadays we have a great core artist family which really represents the label and gives OFF a face in the public- Robosonic, Mat.Joe, Leftwing & Kody, Purple Disco Machine, Kruse & Nürnberg, Kevin Knapp, Teenage Mutants, Chi Thanh, and myself.

 

If people were going to hear one release from your camp, what would you prefer it to be?
The answer to this question is constantly changing. I guess right now i’d say Him_Self_Her – Heartstopper; the Andre Crom & Chi Thanh remix.

 

All being well, skip forward five years, where would you like things to be?
We’d continue to be one of the top 20 labels of the global underground dance scene. We’d have residencies and showcases at all the key events, festivals and places in the world, such as Ibiza, WMC, ADE, BPM etcetera. Personally I’d like to further evolve my DJ and production career, having an album or two released, and remixing some of my musical heroes, which range from indie bands such as The XX, really cool pop stars like Lana Del Rey, to underground dance stars like MK or Disclosure.

 

Recent stops 

UK – Ten Thousand Yen – Tony Yeti

Israel – Lost & Found – Guy J


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