Interview With Dino Psaras
Dino has just released his first sample and loops library ever. We caught Dino on the fly, between his gigs, which he does all around the world. Here we go.
Do you remember your first DJ acts? How long ago was it? What were the times like?
Yeah, well I started when I was very young, DJing at my brother's acid house parties. Then I got asked by Primal Scream at a party to go on the Screamadelica European Tour which was a pretty amazing start playing with Andy Weatherall and Paul Oakenfold. It was a very exciting time of my life, everything new and fresh.
Your musical preferences evolved over time. Where did you start and where do you stand now music-wise?
Well I started with a very eclectic belearic style ranging from classic house to newbeat, techno, funk... you name it. Over the years I still hold a lot of regard for old music but I'm very much in touch with the future development of electronic music of all genres. However, I mainly perform at trance events.
You’ve been spinning records and producing tracks for quite a long time. How do you feel about this new realm of production – samples and loops?
I completely love the sample thing just because of the instant fix factor. It can create such a quick vibe even if in the end you dont use it.
How much does your live setup differ from your studio gear?
Well, live is very different because I'm very much a studio person and I believe that it's very hard to recreate the sound on the stage as good as you can in the studio... unless you have the huge budget. There's alot of fun software making it much more interesting nowadays.
Do you prefer hardware or software? Why so?
I much prefer when it comes to source sounds and compressors, etc. but that's not to say there is not lots of amazing software around. I prefer to keep an open mind on everything because I use a lot of both for different things.
Over the last 15 or 20 years – what do you think were the most significant milestones that propelled the development of music forward? Was it artists that changed our perspective and made the technologies follow? Or was it technology that gave many people the opportunity to compose and produce in the small project studios? Or maybe some other important factors were involved as well?
I think for sure technology has been a massive influence on the music we listen to today, helping people create things we could only dream about before, but at the same time giving people easy access to make music that we would eventually get nightmares from listening to. I think if you really want to make music there should be an element of struggle to learn how to set up MIDI or learn programs because if not it becomes too easy for people who dont really love it and are not prepared to learn their trade for a few years. Then what happens is they start releasing music before they're ready which doesn't do much for the quality control.
What projects are you currently working on? When are they due out?
I am working on my Dino Psaras solo project plus Kromeangels, and my new Tech House project with Mark Adamo Stripper.
Thank you for your time, Dino!
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