Mar 30

Mar 30 CANSON INTERVIEW

Culture, Music, Dj/Producer, Creative People

Recently my friend Nektarios ( What Festival?) of ReSolute played a set by Canson and immediately everyone was asking about the music. So obviously I got in touch with Amar Derradj aka Canson who was born and bred in Zurich to find out more on what inspires him and where he will be touring this summer.

Canson took up an apprenticeship in machine design, later got into audio engineering and then sold electronic music in a record shop. In 1993 the techno virus got him, thusly it was only a matter of time for 17-year-old Amar to buy his first synthesizer. Influenced by the deep minimalism of Maurizio, Amar ventured along. In 2000, he released his first record on Stattmusik under the Anatol moniker, a joint project with Cosili. First live gigs took place at the Rohstofflager club in Zurich, later on Anatol played at presitigious international venues like the Robert Johnson in Frankfurt, the Batofar in Paris and the WMF in Berlin. In 2002, Derradj debuted as Canson with his record "One Call“. His first releases on his own label Handheld garnered enthusiastic responses (de:bug: "Oh my god, the Swiss!“), and more records ensued on Sub Static and Morris Audio.

The rest is a chapter written in the books of Swiss minimal history: With releases on labels such as Cityfox and GS, Canson further established himself as the exceptional Zurich producer he is. His kicking and melodic-romantic club sounds proved to be ever-successful on the international circuit: In October 2010, the Danish label TicTacToe released for instance a remix for Mark Henning. And now, after a ten-year pause, Canson is touring scenes again as Anatol. Canson has just joined the bar25 booking agency. After all, he has been part of the family ever since his first release on the bar25 label in 2009.

Greatest Inspirations or Influences?

I love the old records from Moritz von Oswald and Roman Flügel. But I hardly listen to dance music at home. I used to work in a record store for six years and that resulted in a diversified taste of music. Radio Dept, Piano Magic and Wechsel Garland are some of my favourite bands. At the moment I get inspired by artists such as Sobrenadar and John Maus.

Most Interesting sets and upcoming tours?

I just came back home from Katerholzig in Berlin. I love to play and party there. The location and the crowd are perfect for my music. I recently released two tracks on their record label Katermukke: http://soundcloud.com/katermukke/sets/canson-kater004/

I also like to play in Hamburg with my friends from Liebe*Detail and Eminor. I just love the relaxed vibe up North. In my home town Zurich I regularly play at Cabaret, Hive and Frieda's Buexe – the club owners are good friends of mine. Of course, I love to be part of nice after hours and open air parties.

I am looking forward to my new release on Cityfox "Night Train", which will finally be out soon: http://soundcloud.com/cityfox/sets/cityfox-ltd-06-canson-night/

Hopefully I will be touring around Europe in summer. And of course I am super excited about my first US gig in NYC this May

( Ninu Nina will surely announce).

Websites, Blogs Publications?