The sun is fighting its way through the crappy weather and we have the feeling that those summer evenings where you wanna vibes to some House music and catch up with your friends that you’ve neglected in favour of your central heating are definitely coming.
We caught up with a UK House label that has been making its presence felt at home and in the party capital of IBIZA they are Kinetic Groove and we were lucky enough to get a few minutes with founder and head producer Stefan Cordery.
Stefan Cordery is an electronic music artist from London his first memories of electronic music came from listening to his father’s ELO vinyl collection, along with Jean Michel Jarre’s iconic Oxygene album. Not content with just listening, Stefan wanted to play his own music and started keyboard lessons at an early age. Through the years Stefan began to follow music technology and started to build his own studio, teaching himself music production and picking up tips, tricks and skills from his friends who shared his passion. He also started to build up his own record collection, collecting house music in many forms. This collection of music would later lead to the development of Stefan’s own sound. Through his record collection Stefan started to DJ, Dj’ing his first live performance in 2006 and his first European live performance in 2007 (Bremen, Germany). After feeling the adrenaline and getting positive reactions from the crowds and listeners Stefan decided to set up his own label called “Kinetic Groove”. The label had a number of releases supported by top DJ’s worldwide, a string of parties in London and Germany, as well as a successful podcast series spanning 2 years. During this time Stefan signed to the label “Rainbow Value” and played at some of their notorious parties in London and Ibiza. Stefan also became involved with London promoters “Freitag”, playing many of their parties in the East End and also picking up a residency with London Warehouse party brand “Exstatic Sounds” playing alongside some of London and Berlins finest talent.
We got to ask Stefan some questions about both his talent and his label:
Where did your passion for producing House music come from?
I actually started off collecting and playing UK garage. It was massive when I was at school and it brought lots of people together for parties. My love for House came about when a good friend and I were record shopping and we started listening to imports from the states. The production was amazing but so was the price! Its safe to say that was the start of my love affair with House music and a very expensive hobby!
How do you go about standing out as a DJ and Producer in such a popular genre?
It’s difficult as like you say, House music is so popular and it has lots of sub genres. Making music that you love is a good foundation and remaining consistent is important. Starting a label has helped me get my music out to the masses and also build up a following, but it’s still hard to stand out. Artists today, including myself, have to be a web designer, a graphic designer, a video producer and a social media manager amongst other things to stand out that bit more. It’s a fun challenge though.
As a producer and founder of a record label what qualities are you looking for in new talent?
If their music is great, we sign it. Unfortunately we can’t sign everything, but we do our best! We also look for artists that we can develop.
When you are Djing in front of thousands of people how do you feel?
It’s an amazing feeling when you drop a track and everyone goes crazy. It’s also humbling, knowing that people have paid to come and see you play the music that you love. Nerves are normal, especially with big crowds but it helps you raise your game.
How would you describe your Genre of music to new listeners?
Overall it’s underground House music. My productions have been quite deep recently and I always try and get a garage or old school house vibe in the beats. I can’t help it!
What does the future hold for you and Kinetic Groove?
I’ve got a couple of remixes coming out this year that I’m really excited about. I’m also working on new original material and some collaborations with other artists. For Kinetic Groove we’ll be continuing to seek out new talent and we’ve already got some great tracks lined up for the coming months. We’re at the very beginning of our journey and it’s already been so rewarding and fun. We can’t wait to see what the future holds! To Listen to Kinetic Grooves music and find out more about the label click here: www.kineticgroove.com
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